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T H E 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA 



HISTORY AiND BIOGRAPHY. 



A COPIOUS DICTIONARY 



MEMORABLE PERSONS, EVENTS, PLACES, AND THINGS, 



NOTICES OF THE PRESENT STATE OF TH K PIUNCIPAL COUNTRIES AND 
NATIONS OF THE KNOWN WORLD, 



CHRONOLOGICAL YIEW OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 



BY ED. M. PIERCE. 

Martf ard : 
A. S. HALE AND COMPANY, 

186 8. 



-f-^y 



Entt'iL'J according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S."J9, ]>\ 

CASK, LOCKWOOD AND COMPANY, 
in the Clerk's OiTice of t'.ie District Court of Connecticut. 



Manufactured by 

CASK, LOCKWOOD &BKAINARD, - 

Publishers, Printers, Electrotypers, aid Book Binders, 
Uautford, Conn. 




PREFACE 



Every reader of a book, a magazine, or a newspaper, is sometimes at 
loss for a date or fact, and meets witli frequent references to. historical 
and biographical subjects which he knows nothing about, or obscurely 
remembers, or only partially understands. If he has at hand a volume 
which will readily answer any inquiries that arise in his mind, he will 
turn to it, and thus remove his ignorance, or clear away the doubt and 
obscurity that rest upon his understanding. If he has no such work at 
easy command, he wilt in most cases let the matter pass, and the need 
for knowledge goes unsatisfied. 

Such extensive works as the Encyclopaidia Britannica and the Ameri- 
can Cyclopedia are costly, and are therefore in the hands of compara- 
tively few persons ; besides, they are too cumbrous for easy and frequent 
reference. The value of a volume like The Cottage Cyclopedia of 
History and Biography, to lie familiarly upon the table or the shelf, 
ready at call to answer the thousand questions that arise, is too plain 
to require discussion. It will prove a great convenience even to those 
who possess ample libraries, and whose minds are stored with historical 
data. But it is more especially designed for family use, and for the 
young. 

The Cottage Cyclopedia is intended to supply to every general reader 
such a book of reference as that of which the need has been shown. 
It is particularly commended to the attention of parents : let them place 



iv PREFACE. 

it witliiu the reach of their children, and inculcate the habit of consult- 
ing it as a dictionary of history and biography, whenever curiosity, 
doubt, or want of information may suggest. There will be thus laid 
up a store of precise practical knowledge, incalculable in value. 

It is not, however, as a mere book of reference, that this volume is 
offered to the public. The materials are, it is true, gathered to a great 
extent from books familiar to the public. The Compiler, however, has 
culled many traits, anecdotes, and adventures, from less common sources ; 
and interspersing these and other illustrative sketches throughout the 
pages, he has sought to enliven the work, and thus render it amusing, 
attractive, and readable. Many of the articles are more extensive than 
in the voluminous encyclopedias. Literesting topics not found in those 
are also introduced. The history of our own country will be found 
fully treated of, under different heads ; and at the close of the volume 
a Chronological View of American History is appended. The present 
condition of the various countries of the earth is sketched in connection 
with their history. The lives of eminent political characters in all ages, 
as well as the lives of those whose greatness in science or literature 
made their names enduring, are given, some of them at considerable 
length, and with many characteristic anecdotes. Extended sketches will 
be found of several royal families ; as the houses of Hanover, Plantag- 
enet, Romanoff, Stuart, Tudor, &c. Such topics as Oracles, Druids, El 
Dorado, Knighthood, Chivalry, Fairies, the Argonauts, the Man in the 
Iron Mask, Don Carlos, the Gulf Stream, Jesuits, &c., &c., which are 
frequently alluded to in literature, are treated of with particularity. 

The dates of important inventions, discoveries, and improvements in 
the arts and sciences, and remarkable and interesting facts generally, 
will be found appropriately arranged. Among such topics may be men- 
tioned the following :— Abdications ; Alliances; Amazons; Ambassadors; 
the Armada; Bachelors; Banks; order of the Bath; Bells; Bible; the 
vicar of Bray; the Cinque Ports; Coin; the Continental Congress; 
Conspiracies and Insurrections; the English Constitution; the Consti- 
tution of the United States; Councils of the Church; Declaration of 
Independence, with those passages in the original draught which were 



PREFACE. V 

omitted or changed by Congress ; Discoveries in modern times , Dress ; 
Earthquakes; order of the Garter; Labor; Libraries; Luxury; Lynch 
Law; Marriage; Massacres; Metals; Naval Battles; North-west Passage ; 
Painting; Plague; Planets; Poet Laureate; Popes; Printing; Time; 
Wandering Jew; Wonders of the World. 

The great battles of the world, ancient and modern, by land and by 
sea, — Thermopylse, Marathon, Cannae, Pharsalia, Blenheim, Austerlitz, 
Marengo, Waterloo, Bunker Hill, Saratoga, Yorktown, New Orleans, 
Buena Vista, Cerro Gordo, Chapultepec, Alma, Inkermann, Balaklava, 
&c.; Salamis, Actium, Aboukir, Trafalgar, Erie, Champlain, &c., — are 
duly chronicled. 

The work is liberally illustrated with wood-cuts, of a superior execu- 
tion ; the most of them designed by Baker & Andrew. A" list of them 
is given on another page. 

The Cottage Cyclopedia is arranged with a view to compress a great 
amount of matter into a small compass, that the bulk of the volume 
may not render it inconvenient, and that its expense may not hinder its 
general circulation. Li preparing so extensive a publication for the 
press, the Compiler can not hope that he has wholly escaped error or 
that omissions may not be noticed ; but he trusts that the volume may 
be found sufficiently accurate and complete to fulfill the proper design 
of such a work, and that it may prove a valuable accession to the 
means of diffusing useful knowledge. 



ILLUSTRATIONS, 



Residence of Adams Family, Quincy, Mass. 

Great Chestnut-tree of Mount ^tna. 

Alabama. 

Alcibiades. 

Cleopatra's Needle, at Alexandria. 

The Court of Lions, -Alhambra. 

Mont Blanc. 

Mount Ararat. 

Arkansas. 

The Hill of the Ai'eopagus. 

Place where Gold was first discovered in 
Australia. 

The Balloon. 

Reading the Bible to the People. 

Diamond Washing in Brazil. 

The Britannia Tubular Bridge. 

California. 

Peak of Teneriflfe. 

Charles the Twelfth. 

The Charter Oak. 

Chinese Lady of Rank. 

Great Wall of China. 

Ashland. 

De Witt Clinton. 

Capitol at Washington. 

Connecticut. 

Delaware. 

Stonehenge. 

A Druid. 

Earthquake at Lisbon. 

Colossi near Thebes. 

Florida. 

Cathedral of Notre Dame at Strasburg. 

Frankhn's Grave at Philadelphia. 

Fulton's First Steamboat. 

Georgia. 

Hamilton's Monument in Trinity Church- 
yard, New York. 

The Hancock House in Boston. 

Hieroglyphics. 

Homer. 

Illinois. 

Indiana. 



Iowa. 

Jackson at the Hermitage. 

Monticello. 

Temple of Jupiter Olympius at Athens. 

Kentucky. 

Louisiana. 

Montpelicr, Madison's Residence. 

Maine. 

Maryland. 

Massachusetts. 

Michigan. 

Minnesota. 

Mississippi. 

Missouri. 

New Hampshire. 

New Jersey. 

New York. 

North Carolina. 

Ohio. 

Pennsylvania. 

Temple of Isis at Pompeii. 

Faust taking First Proof from Moveable Types. 

Rhode Island. 

The Colossus of Rhodes. 

The Coliseum. 

St. Peter's. 

South Carolina. 

Story's House at Cambridge, Mass. 

Tennessee. 

Texas. 

Arch of Titus at Rome. 

Plains of Troy. 

Henry the Eighth. 

Leaning Tower of Pisa. 

Tyrolese Peasants. 

Vermont. 

Vesuvius. 

Virginia. 

Mount Vernon. 

Washington's Tomb. 

Birthplace of Webster. 

Wisconsin. 

The Pyramids and Sphinx. 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA 

; OF 

HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



AARON, the brother and associate of Mo- 
ses, and the first high-priest of the Jews, 
born about b.c. 1574, and died b.c. 1451. 

ABAUZIT, FiRMiN, a ProtestJint author of 
celebrity and learning, born in Languedoc, 
1679, and died in 17G7, having long filled the 
office of public librarian at Geneva. His 
knowledge was great, and embraced the 
whole circle of the sciences. He enjoyed the 
friendship of Sir Isaac Newton. 

ABBAS, Shah, the Great, ascended the 
throne of Persia in 1589, and distinguished 
himself in arms, by his victories over the Ot- 
tomans, and by wresting Ormus from the 
Portuguese in 1622, aided, however, by the 
British. During his reign, Ispalian became 
the capital of Persia. His death tooli place 
in 1629. 

ABBASSIDES. The caliphs who, during 
the eighth and ninth centuries, made Bagdad 
their capital, are distinguished in history as 
the Abbassides. Their sway extended over 
Persia, Arabia, and Syria. Al-Mansur, in 
762, built Bagdad, and raised the Saracenic 
empire to its highest point of splendor and 
fame. Al-Modi, to whom the empire was 
transmitted, did not let its reputation wane, 
and, under Haroun al Raschid, the dignity 
of the caliphate was preserved and adorned. 
After Haroun, reigned Al-Amin and Al-Ma- 
mun. Under Al-Motasser the governors of 
several provinces asserted their independence, 
and Bagdad alone was governed by the caliph. 

ABBEY, or monastery, is a house erected 
for the dwell ng of men or women who have 
taken the monastic vow, which binds them 



to relinquish all worldly interests, and devote 
themselves to the performance of religious 
duties, living in a state of celibacy. A mon- 
astery receives its title from that of the eccle- 
siastic governing it. An abbey is governed 
by an abbot or abbess ; a priory, by a prior 
or prioress, &c. The term nunnery is applied 
to a religious house inhabited by women. 
The buildings inhabited by religious commu- 
nities were originally of the plainest kind, 
but increased in extent and splendor witl: 
their revenues, until, from the humble dwell- 
ings of unpretending ecclesiastics, they be- 
came the abodes of luxury, brilliant with 
costly architectural decorations, and hiding, 
within their lofty walls, the revels of men 
whose piety was but a cloak for unlimited 
indulgence. The buildings constituting an 
abbey or monastery, consisted principally of 
churches, cloisters, refectories, chapters, par- 
lors, dormitories, courts, gardens, &c. The 
choir and interior buildings of convents were 
fenced in by gi-ates, and inaccessible to vis- 
itors. The church consisted of the choir, an 
altar, a nave, aisles, chapels, and a tower. 
The cloister comprehended the galleries or 
covered porticoes of a monastery, in which 
the monks took their exercise, and surround- 
ed an open space, generally devoted to the 
cultivation of flowers, neatly distributed in 
parterres, interspersed with grass-plats, and 
refreshed by careful irrigation. The cloisters 
were sometimes adorned with valuable paint- 
ings, and were generally finished specimens 
of art. The refectory of an abbey was the 
hall in which the fathers ate. The refector}' 



ABB 



COTTAGE CYCLOP KDIA OP 



furnished at first frugal fare, and the holy 
fathers did not tarry long in it ; but with the 
declension of ecclesiastical simplicity, the 
character of their meals was changed, and 
they made the walls ring with the merriment 
of high living and rich wines. The refectory 
of the Abbey of St. Denis, at Paris, has been 
celebrated for its architectural beautj". The 
chapter was for the reception of assemblies 
to discuss the private affairs of the house. 
The chapter-houses were sometimes orna- 
mented with splendid pictures. The parlor 
was a kind of cabinet, where visitors convers- 
ed with the monks or nuns through a grated 
window. Formerly, convents contained par- 
lors, in which novices were allowed the priv- 
ilege of conversing together, at hours of 
recreation, but even then they were over- 
heard by their superiors, who were provided 
with places for eavesdropping. The dormi- 
tories were usually wings in the building, 
containing the cells of its inhabitants. Here 
the monks enjoyed their brief repose, from 
which they were awakened to acts of devo- 
tion, or to bend in solitude befoi-e the crucifix, 
with its accompanying mementos of mortal- 
ity, and lose themselves in the reveries of 
religious enthusiasm. The gardens of mon- 
asteries generally exhibited neatness, and 
were not the least favorite appendage to the 
dwellings of the monks. 

The monks, in the ages of general dark- 
ness (that is, from a.d. 600 to 1500), pre- 
served in their monasteries many valuable 
volumes, and kept alive the spark of learning, 
which, but for their exertions, would have 
been extinguished. Religious houses were, 
for ages, the sole depositories of literature 
and science, and their inhabitants were act- 
ively employed in the duties of education. 
In England, one person or more in each con- 
vent w'as appointed to instruct pupils, and 
these were the childi-cn of those neighbors 
who chose to send them. They were instruct- 
ed in grammar and church music, free of ex- 
pense. In the nunneries, females were taught 
to read and work, and the daughters of noble- 
men and gentlemen, as well as of the poorer 
people, were indebted to the nuns for a large 
part of whatever knowledge they possessed. 
Many poor descendants of noble families 
looked to monasteries for refuge, and having 
taken the vow, made use of the influence of 



ABB 



friends to gain high ecclesiastical ofiiccs. 
Many of the monks were men driven to enter 
religious houses by the pangs of remorse, and 
who hoped to expiate a career of crimes by se- 
clusion from the world, and the observance of 
the most austere rites of the church. These, as 
well as some who were unaffectedly pious,lived 
a blameless life ; but there were others whose 
profligacy was unreprcssed, because hidden 
by that veil of hypocrisy which they closely 
drew around them. Many monks were skill- 
ful painters, as the richly illuminated manu- 
scripts of other days prove, and numerous 
were the legends of saints, gorgeously bla- 
zoned upon pages of vellum, that filled the 
shelves of the holy fathers. Living a life of 
undisturbed seclusion, those who possessed a 
literary turn, had ample time to indulge their 
propensity, though very few literary works 
of any merit issued from the monasteries. 

The year 305 is that in which the earliest 
monasteries were established in Egypt, under 
the conduct of St. Anthony, and hence sprang 
shortly afterward, many others in various 
places. In 3 GO, the earliest monastery in 
France, that of Saint Martin, at Poitiers, was 
established. In the beginning, monasteries 
were inhabited by laymen. For more than 
six centuries all th^ eastern monasteries were 
independent of each other, and governed by 
abbots who were answerable to their bishops 
only. The first monasteries, in times of 
trouble and darkness, preserved the spirit of 
religion, and were sanctuaries in which piety 
and learning sought refuge from the igno- 
rance, irreligion, and persecutions of the 
world. A mild light, denied to the rest of 
mankind, was shed upon those who took 
upon themselves the fulfillment of monastic 
vows. The conduct of the monks was regu- 
lated by the plain commands of the Scriptures, 
and antiquity was followed in the celebration 
of religious ceremonies, and the practice of 
Christian virtues. The monks, as remarked 
above, were, for many centuries, the pre- 
servers of literature, many valuable works of 
the present day having been rescued from 
destruction bj- monastic libraries. But with 
the i-evival of letters, and the triumph of the 
Reformation, the usefulness of monastic es- 
tablishments passed away. 

Constantine r\^ ordered a vast number of 
friars and nuns to appear at Ephesus, where 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



3 



he bade them change their black habits for 
white, and to destroy their images. They 
remonstrated that because of their vows, to 
obey was impossible ; whereupon their eyes 
were put out, they were banished, and their 
monasteries forfeited and sold for the uses 
of the state. The suppression of monastic 
houses has been frequent, even in Roman 
Catholic countries. All those in England 
were swept away by Henry VIII. Their 
revenues, treasures, and lands were either 
retained by the crown or bestowed upon 
favorite courtiers. 

The diminution of the papal power, and 
the enlightened spii'it of the age, in the 
eighteenth century, exerted a strong influ- 
ence upon the public mind with regard to 
monasteries in Catholic countries, and they 
lost many of their privileges and much of 
the protection previously given them by law. 
Joseph II. of Austria, in 1781, abolished 
some orders of monasteries and limited the 
number of inmates in others. In France 
they were all abolished in 1790. During the 
reign of Napoleon, all the states incorporated 
with France, as well as other Catholic coun- 
tries of Europe, abolished them, with the ex- 
ception of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Austria, 
Poland, and Kussia. Pope Pius VII. pro- 
cured means for the maintenance of old, and 
the foundation of new ones in France, Bava- 
ria, and Naples, while in Austria they became 
extinct. 

ABBOT, Georgk, born in 1562, and made 
Archbishop of Canterbury in 1610. He was 
a cloth-worker, and early remarkable for 
polemical skill. He strenuously opposed 
some measures of King James, thereby dis- 
proving the assertion that he owed his rise 
to acts more worthy of a courtier than an 
ecclesiastic. Having the misfortune to kill a 
gamekeeper of Lord Zouch, he ever afterward 
fasted upon Tuesday, the day on which the 
unhappy event took place. He was sup- 
planted in favor at court by Laud, and died 
at the age of seventy-one in 1633. 

ABBOT, Charles, Viscount Colchester, 
was speaker of the British House of Com- 
mons, from 1802 to 1817. He was born in 
1757, and died in 1829. 

ABDICATIONS OF MONARCHS: of 
Sylla as perpetual dictator of Rome, b.c. 79. 
Dioclesian, a.d. 304. Ceawlin, king of the 



West Saxons, 593. Henry IV. of Germany, 
1080. Stephen IL of Hungary, 1114. Al- 
bert of Saxony, 1142. Lestus V. of Poland, 
1200. Uladislaus IIL of Poland, 1206. John 
Baliol of Scotland, 1306. Otho of Hungary, 
1309. Eric IX. of Denmark, 1439. Eric 
XIII. of Sweden, 1441. Amurath IL, em- 
peror of the Turks, 1447. Charles V. of 
Germany, and as Charles I. of Spain, 1556. 
Christina of Sweden, 1654. John Casimir 
of Poland, 1668. James IL of England 
(really dethroned), 1688. Frederick Augus- 
tus IL of Poland, 1704. Philip V. of Spain, 
1724, January 15th, but resumed the scepter 
in about fourteen months afterward, on the 
death of his son Louis, in whose favor he had 
abdicated. Victor Amadeus of Sardinia, 
1730. Charles of Naples, 1759. Stanislaus 
of Poland, 1795. Victor of Sax'dinia, June 
4th, 1802. Francis II. resigns his title as 
Emperor of Germany, August 11th, 1804. 
Charles IV. of Spain, March 19th, 1808. 
Joseph Bonaparte from Naples to take the 
crown of Spain, June 1st, 1808 ; fled before 
the British from Madrid, July 29th, 1808. 
Gustavus Adolphus , IV. of Sweden, March 
19th, 1809. Louis Bonaparte of Holland, 
July 1st, 1810. Jerome Bonaparte of West- 
phalia, Oct. 20th, 1813. Napoleon Bonaparte 
of France, April 5th, 1814. Emmanuel of 
Sardinia, March 13th, 1821. Pedro IV. of 
Portugal, May 2d, 1826. Charles X. of 
France, Aug. 2d, 1830. Pedro I. of Brazil, 
April 7th, 1831. Miguel of Portugal, May 
26th, 1834. William I. of Holland, Oct. 8th, 
1840. Christina of Spain (queen dowager 
and regent), Oct. 12th, 1840. Louis Phil- 
ippe of France, Feb. 24th, 1848 (deposed 
immediately afterward). Louis Charles of 
Bavaria, March 21st, 1848. Ferdinand of 
Austria, Dec. 2d, 1848. Charles Albert of 
Sardinia, March 26th, 1849. 

ABEL, son of Waldemar II. of Denmark, 
gained the scepter by assassinating his brother 
Eric in 1250. A revolt of the Frisons caused 
the loss of his life, in 1252. His appellation 
was certainly a misnomer. 

ABELARD, Peter (properly Abailard, 
Pierre), was born in 1079, of a noble family, 
at Palais, near Nantes in Brittany. The stir- 
ring incidents of his chequered life, and 
especially his passion for Heloise, with its 
melancholy fruits, have thrown a peculiar and 



ABE 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



romantic charm around the name of Abelard. 
From his j^outh he devoted himself to study. 
Coming to Paris at the age of twenty, and 
having soon rivaled and eclipsed his tutor, 
Guillaumc de Champcaux, he removed in two 
years from Paris to ^Iclun, thence to Corbeil, 
and thence to Palais, his birthplace, teaching 
philosophy all the while with great success. 
The attractions of Paris soon drew him again 
to the metropolis, where he attacked the 
realism of his old master with such dialectic 
dexterity and vigor, that Champeaux's school 
was speedily extinguished. By and by his 
antagonist was made Bishop of Chalon-sur- 
Marne, and Abelard commenced to study 
theology under Anselm at Laon. Having, 
by his transcendent talent, made the seminary 
at Laon his envious enemy, he returned to 
Paris, and opened a school of divinity with 
unrivaled popularity. In that school were 
trained many men, from various countries, 
who afterward arrived at high ecclesiastical 
honors; one pope, nineteen cardinals, and 
above fifty bishops. In this zenith of his 
fame, when, according to his own confession, 
pride and luxury had misled him, he loved 
and seduced his pupil, Heloise, a, young and 
fatherless lady, not twenty years of age, and 
a niece of Canon Fulbcrt, a Parisian ecclesi- 
astic. Heloise was conveyed to Brittany, and 
bore a son in the house of Abelard' s sister. 
The canon insisted upon a marriage, which 
accordingly took place ; a union which He- 
loise openly denied, to her uncle's great vexa- 
tion. Abelard placed her in the convent of 
Argenteuil ; but her uncle took a terrible re- 
venge for the abduction of his niece. Hired 
ruffians broke into Abelard's chamber, and 
inflicted on his person a disgraceful mutila- 
tion. Heloise became a nun, and Abelard 
retired as a monk into the abbey of St. Denis. 
At length he resumed his prelections, but 
had the misfortune of being suspected of 
heresy, and was condenmed in 1121, by a 
council which met at Soissons. He retired 
to Troves, and selected a retreat which his 
subdued and chastened spirit named the Par- 
aclete, or Comforter; and in this convent 
Heloise was at length established as superior. 
But the unfortunate recluse provoked the ire 
of his neighbor, Bernard of Clairvaux, and 
ar ain, for suspected heresy, did the council 
ff Sens put its brand upon him. He appeal- 



ed to Rome, but did not follow out his appeal. 
Worn out with fatigue, persecution, and 
infirmity, he at length took refuge in the 
priory of St. Marcel, where he died April 
21st, 1U2, at the age of sixty-three. His 
body, first interred at Cluni, was soon removed 
to the Paraclete ; and twenty years afterward 
Heloise was buried beside him at her own 
request. Their ashes lay undisturbed for 
three hundred years ; but in 1497 they were 
transferred to the church of the abbey ; then 
in 1800 removed to the garden of the Musce 
Francais, in Paris; and lastly, in 1817 they 
were deposited beneath a Gothic shrine in the 
cemetery of Pere la Chaise. The brilliant 
talents and oratory of Abelard are bej'ond 
dispute. As a subtle and accomplished dia- 
lectician he had no rival. 

ABERCROMBIE, John, M. D., a writer of 
some note in intellectual philosophj", born at 
Aberdeen, Scotland, Nov. 11th, 1781 ; attain- 
ed high rank as a physician at Edinburgh ; 
died Nov. 14th, 1844. 

ABERCROMBIE, Sir Ralph, an eminent 
British general, was born in Scotland, in 1738. 
He entered the army at eighteen, and rose 
from cornet to general. He distinguished 
himself in the Duke of York's campaigns in 
Holland, from 1793 to 179-5. He was then 
made commander-in-chief in the West Indies, 
and conquered several islands from the French. 
He commanded the expedition to re-conquer 
Egypt in 1801, and fell at the battle of Alex- 
andria, March 21st. In this action, by whose 
decision Egypt was lost to France, Gen. 
Abercrombie displayed the chivalric valor 
of a kright of the olden time. Dismounted, 
and suffering from two mortal wounds, he 
disarmed his adversary, and gave the sword 
into the hands of Sir Sydney Smith. He 
survived about a week. His memory was 
honored by his countrymen, and a costly 
monument erected in St. Paul's, a public 
token of the respect of England for as brave 
and true a soldier as ever fought beneath her 
banner. 

ABERNETHY, John (1763-1831), was a 
native of the north of Ireland. He was a 
pupil of John Hunter, and became an emi- 
nent s- geon in London. He was as eccen- 
tric and brusque in his manners as he'was 
skillful in his profession. 

ABINGER (James Scaklett), Lord, an 



ABI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



eminent English ban-istcr .ind judge, was 
born in Jamaica, about 1769, of an iniiuential 
West Indian family. He studied at Cam- 
bridge and the Middle Temple, and was called 
to the bar in 1791. He was a successful 
lawyer ; sat in parliament, at first acting with 
the Wuigs ; going over to the Tories, he was 
attorney-general under Canning, and after- 
ward under Wellington. In 1834 he was 
made chief baron of the exchequer, and 
raised to the peerage by the title of Baron 
Abinger. He died April 7th, 1844, of paraly- 
sis, by which he was attacked while on the 
circuit. 

ABOUKIR, the site of the ancient Cano- 
pus, is an Arabian village containing but 
about a hundred inhabitants. Its bay is spa- 
cious, and has, upon the western side, a castle 
of considerable strength. It is thirteen miles 
north-east of Alexandiia, upon the coast of 
Egypt. Aboukir is rendered famous by the 
important naval battle fought here between 
the French and English fleets, the latter com- 
manded by Admiral Nelson, on the 1st of 
August, 1798. Bonaparte's army was con- 
veyed to Egypt by the French fleet, which 
sailed from the harbor of Toulon, on the 19th 
of May, 1798. As soon as intelligence of 
this reached the English fleet before Cadiz, 
Admiral St. Vincent despatched Rear-Admiral 
Nelson with fourteen ships of the line, to the 
Mediten-anean, with orders to find and attack 
the French fleet. Nelson, burning for fome, 
and eager to meet the enemy, at length found 
them in the road of Aboukir. The signal for 
battle was immediately given. The Frcnch 
captains, who had been assembled on board 
the admiral's ship, hastened to their posts, 
and an English ship instantly commenced 
the attack. The French fleet was disposed 
in the form of a crescent, following the curve 
of the bay, and anchored as close as possible 
to an island on which was erected a powerful 
battery of cannon and mortars. Nelson or- 
dered a part of his fleet to break through 
between the island and the French line of 
battle, and to coast along until they gained 
the enemy "fe rear, while the remainder of the 
English fleet approached the enemy's front, 
and anchored within pistol-shot. These or- 
ders were executed with skill and daring, 
and, at half past six in the evenmg, the battle 
i>egan, just as the setting sun tlarew a fiery 



hue upon the fearful scene. The fire of the 
English was well directed and deadly. At 
the end of one hour, five French ships were 
disabled and captm'cd. Admiral Brueys was 
shot as he was directing the fight from his 
ship rOrient. After the admiral was shot, 
Capt. Casablanca and crew, determined to 
maintain the honor of the flag-ship, fought 
her with great spirit. L' Orient blew up after 
having been fought for four hours. She was 
a superb vessel, a hundi-ed-and-twenty gun 
ship, with a crew of a thousand men, out of 
whom but eighty or ninety wei-e saved fi-om 
destniction. This scene of the combat must 
have been awfully sublime, for the cannon- 
ading continued all night, and day davraed 
upon a scene of destruction and dismay. The 
French suffered severely. Only two of their 
ships of the line, and two frigates, got oiF 
clear. Nine ships of the line were taken, 
one blown up, and one frigate sunk. The 
French themselves set fire to and burned a 
ship of the line and a frigate. The success 
of the British was a severe blow to Bona- 
parte, as it cut off his communication with 
France, and inspired his enemies with fresh 
hope and resolution, giving spirit to the coali- 
tion formed against the power which had so 
suddenly attained a giant strength. The con- 
flict is also sometimes called the battle of the 
Nile: it obtained the victorious admiral a 
peerage, by the title of Baron Nelson of the 
Nile. His exclamation upon going into the 
fight was, " Victory or Westminster Abbey ! " 
Aboukir was also the point where Abercrom- 
bie's forces debarked, and it surrendered to 
him after an obstinate and sanguinary strug- 
gle with the French, March 8th, 1801. 

ABRADATES, a king of Susa, of whom 
Xenophon relates that his wife, Panthea, 
having been taken prisoner by Cyrus, was 
well treated, in consequence of which her 
husband joined the troops of the conqueror, 
but was killed in the very first battle which 
he fought for him. His wife, in despair, 
killed herself upon his corpse. Both were 
honored and lamented by Cyrus. 

ABRUZZO is divided into three provinces : 
Abruzzo Citra, and Abruzzo Ultra, I. and II. ; 
so named from their relative position with re- 
gard to Naples. It is the northern extremity 
of the Neapolitan kingdom, and bounded on 
the north and west by the territories of the 



ABR 



6 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ohurch, and on the east by the Adriatic. Its 
population in 1845 was estimated at 825,940. 
The country is crossed in all directions by 
the lofty Apennines and their ofF-shoots. 
The spring rains and thaws often swell the 
streams to such an extent, that bridges are 
swept away, and all communication broken 
up. The inhabitants of the valleys, which 
are fertile, are generally shepherds, and fine 
herds feed upon the eminences and pasturage 
spots of the valleys. Abruzzo is a very im- 
portant division of the Neapolitan states, of 
which it constitutes the chief defense on the 
land side. During the numerous invasions 
and civil wars of that kingdom it has often 
been the scene of protracted contests. The 
chief towns are, Chieti, population 15,000; 
Teramo, population 10,000; Aquila, popula- 
tion 14,000. 

ABULFEDA, or Ishmael, prince of Hamah 
in Syria, an Arabian, famous for his historical 
and geographical writings, and surnamed the 
Pillar of Religion, and the Prince of Victory. 
He was a native of Damascus, and born a.d. 
1273. Although inheriting the throne of 
Hamah from his uncle, he was debarred for a 
long time from the enjoyment of his rights, 
but when gained, the kingdom remained un- 
disturbed under his sway, until the time of 
his death, which took place a.d. 1333. 

ABYDOS, a city on the Asiatic side of the 
Dardanelles, of Milesian origin, famed for the 
bridge of boats constructed by order of 
Xerxes, and familiar to all readers as the res- 
idence of Hero, the mistress of Leander, viho 
swam the Hellespont to meet her, until 

" That night of stormy water, 

When Love — who sent — forgot to save 

The lone, the beautiful, the brave, 
The only hope of Sestos' daughter." 

Lord Byron, whose lines we quote, per- 
formed Leander's feat in company with Mr. 
Ekenhead, an Englishman. The turbulence 
of the currents renders the passage a critical 
undertaking. The inhabitants of Abydos 
gallantly defended their city against Philip 
of Macedon. 

Another Abtdos in Upper Egypt, was 
famed for the magnificence of the palace of 
Memnon and the temple of Osiris. Some 
splendid ruins, manifesting its former grand- 
eur, are to be found in the village of El- 
Kherbeh. 



ABYSSINIA is a large tract of elevated 
table-land in eastern Africa, the north-eastei n 
edge of which is directed toward the Red 
Sea, and is from thirty to sixty miles from 
the coast. It lies between 8° 30' and 15° 40' 
N. lat., and between 35° and 42° E. long., and 
is drained by the principal branches of the 
Nile. The name is thought by most authors 
to be derived from the Arabic Habesh, which 
signifies a mixed people. Tho Portuguese 
gave this country the name of Prester or 
Presbyter John's empire, but it appears that 
there is no foundation for the supposition that 
any such person ever dwelt or was heard of 
in Abyssinia. The ancients, who were very 
little acquainted with the kingdom, represent- 
ed its extent as far greater than the reality 
proved. Its three grand divisions are Tigre, 
Amhara, and Shoa and Efat. There is an 
ancient tradition that Abyssinia was the 
kingdom of Sheba or Seba, the visit of whose 
queen to Solomon is spoken of in the sacred 
writings, and that the Queen of Sheba had a 
son, of whom Solomon was the father. From 
this prince, whose name was Menileh, the 
sovereigns of Abyssinia claimed to be de- 
scended. The Jewish religion, some think, 
was prevalent in Abyssinia until nearly the 
middle of th ' fourth century, when mission- 
aries from Alexandria converted the people 
to Christianity. Others conjecture that Abys- 
sinia was the kingdom of that queen Can- 
dace, whose eunuch was baptized by Philip, 
and that Candace and her people embraced 
the same faith. In the fifteenth centm-y the 
Portuguese assisted the Abyssinian monarch 
against his enemies and in return he adopted 
the Catholic religion. The Romish priests 
were finally expelled in 1032. 

For more than a century this country has 
been in anarchy. There is a sovereign, but 
his authority is only nominal, and civil wars 
arc frequent. The population is estimated at 
between three and four millions. The bulk of 
the people Are of the Circassian race. There 
are many Mohammedans in the land, but the 
prevailing faith is Coptic Christianity. The 
head of the church, called Abuna, (meaning 
"our father"), receives his ordination from 
the Archbishop of Alexandria. Wheat and 
barley are grown; in some places Indian 
corn, and in others cotton. The country is 
poor in minerals. Iron-ore of good quality 



ABY 



HI.STORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



i.-; found. Rock s.ilt i.s found abundantly in the 
eastern extremity of Tigre, and the common 
currency consists of pieces in the shape of 
a whetstone, weighing nineteen or twenty 
ounces. The manufactures are rude, but 
what progress in these the Abyssinians have 
made, is original, for they have had little in- 
tercourse with Europeans. They tan skins 
well, make rough iron implements, and weave 
coarse cotton cloth. Coarse black pottery is 
made in every part of the country. They 
have some traffic with the interior of Africa, 
in slaves, ivory, coffee, civet, gold, cloth, iron, 
and cattle. 

Bruce gives a sony picture of the people. 
The punishments in Abyssinia are severe, 
and frequently as well as unfeelingly inflicted. 
Death on the cross, hanging, stoning to death, 
flaying alive, and plucking out the ej^es, stand 
foremost in the dark catalogue. The bodies 
of those who suffer death for treason, mur- 
der, and the commission of some other crimes, 
rarely receive the rites of sepulture. Pieces 
of dead carcasses are frequent in the streets 
of Gondar, and nightly attract numbers of 
wild beasts. The hyenas, whose craving for 
human fiesh is well known, rush to their 
banquet as soon as night settles on the town, 
howling over the bones for which they have 
contended fiercely. The manners and cus- 
toms of the Abj^ssinians prove the shocking 
cruelty and brutality of this people. Their 
festivities are disgraced by the most revolting 
practices. When the guests are assembled, 
the cooks cut steaks from the cattle at the 
door while they are yet alive, and roaring 
with agony. The guests wipe their fingers 
upon the cakes which they afterward eat. 
The people are illiterate and depraved, and 
their whole country exhibits the appearance 
of hopeless wretchedness and poverty. 

ACARNANIA, a division of ancient Greece, 
now II Carnia, or II Despotato, Albania, was 
formerly called Curetis, a country of Epirus, 
separated from .^tolia by the Achelous, and 
long an independent state. After having 
been conquered by the Romans, it was per- 
mitted to retain its own laws until the de- 
struction of Corinth by Mummius, when it 
was united to the province of Achaia. 

ACHAIA was a narrow strip of the Pelo- 
ponnesus, and stretching along the Bay of 
Gorinth. The name is sometimes employed 



by the early poets to distinguish all Greece. 
After Greece became a Roman province, 
Achaia included all the Grecian states but 
Macedonia and Thessaly. Eighty years after 
the Trojan war, the descendants of Achgeus, 
who first dwelt in the country near Argos, 
being driven out by the Heraclidse, seized 
upon the twelve Ionian cities, and kept them. 
These were Pellene, ^gira, -^ges, Bura, 
Tritaea, JEgion, Rhypae, Olenos, Helice, Pa- 
trae, Dyme, and Pharse. These twelve little 
states of Achaia were independent republics, 
and were combined in the famous confederacy 
known as the Achaian League, about b.c. 
281. This was much like the federal union of 
our own states. Aratus and Philopoemen by 
their talents and bravery raised it to a high 
rank. It was conquered by the Romans 
146 B.C. 

ACHILLAS, a general of Ptolemy, and 
the murderer of Pompey the Great. 

ACHILLES, as the poets tell us, was the 
son of Peleus, a Thessalian king, and Thetis, 
daughter of Nereus, grandson of JSacus. 
Thetis, in order to preserve her beautiful boy 
from the dangers of war, dipped him in the 
Styx (a river of hell), which rendered him 
invulnerable, with the exception of the heel 
by which she held him. Having been warned 
that if Achilles went to the Trojan war, he 
would meet death after a glorious career, while, 
in remaining at home, he would attain a good 
old age, Thetis disguised her boy in a female 
dress, and sent him, under the name of Pyrrha, 
to be educated at the court of Lycomedes, 
king of Scyros, who brought him up with 
his daughters. The Greeks wei'e informed 
by the prophet Chalcas, that Troy could not 
be taken without the aid of Achilles, and 
accordingly, Ulysses, the most wily of the 
Greeks, went as a merchant to the court of 
Lycomedes. Here he was surrounded by the 
princesses, before whose eager eyes he spread 
out his sparkling store, taking care to mingle 
implements of war with feminine articles. 
While the daughters of the king seized upon 
the trinkets, Achilles possessed himself of 
the arms. The gleaming breastplate and the 
burnished spear ill matclied the garb he wore, 
and the fiery young hero was soon induced 
to cast it off^ and take part with the Greeks 
in their expedition. Phoenix and the Cen- 
taur Chiron had instructed him in mental 



AOH 



8 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA ,0F 



and bodily accomplishments, and the former 
accompanied him to Troy. Achilles is one of 
the bravest and most beautiful of the Homeric 
heroes, being the subject of some of the 
finest verses in the " Iliad." The following 
glowing description is from the nineteenth 
book of the immortal poem. 

"In the midst was arm'd the godlike Achilles, 

Grinding his teeth, and whose eyes 

Roll'd glowing like a flash of fire, into whose 
heart 

Enter'd intolerable pain: raving against the 
Trojans, 

He donn'd the gifts divine which the artist Vul- 
can had made for him. 

First around his thighs he placed the cuishes 

Beautifidly form'd, and fix'd with silver clasps. 

Next the cuirass on his chest he placed, 

Then around his shoulders he threw the baldric 
of his sword studded with silver knobs 

And brass : and then his shield, large and broad. 

He took, whose refulgence spread far and wide 
like that of the moon. 

As when from the sea, there shines to mariners 
a beam 

Of flaming fire, which blazed aloft from the 
mountains. 

In a shepherd's solitude: them reluctant, the 
tempests 

Bear far a«'ay from their friends over the fishy 
sea: 

Tn like manner the gleam mounted heavenward 
from Achilles' shield 

Beautiful, Dredalaean. His mighty helmet up- 
lifting 

On ills head he placed ; like a star, shone 

The horsehair-crested helmeS : there waved 
around him the hair 



Chryseis, daughter of Chryses, priest of 
Apollo, was forced to restore the maid to 
avert from the Greeks the plague which 
Apollo, moved by the prayers of his aged 
worshiper, sent upon them. Agamemnon 
offended Achilles by taking from him his 
beautiful captive, Briseis, daughter of Brises, 
and wife of Mines, king of L^^rnessus. En- 
raged at his loss, the formidable warrior re- 
tired from the field, permitting the Trojan 
Hector to cany terror and slaughter through 
the ranks of the Greeks. He, however, suf- 
fered his friend Patroclus to assume his arms, 
and take the field at the" head of his own 
warriors ; but this hero soon fell beneath the 
arm of Hector. Burning to revenge the death 
of his friend, Achilles determined again to 
confront the Trojans. His mother brought 
him the splendid arms which Vulcan had 
forged for him, so finely described above. 
Again he burned with a warrior's ardor, was 
reconciled to Agamemnon, and, refreshed by 
nectar and ambrosia sent by Minerva, plunged 
into the heat of battle. 

Achilles speedily rolled back the tide of 
war. He pursued the retreating Trojans into 
the river Xanthus, which became choked 
with bodies, and crimson with carnage. The 
river-god, resenting this sanguinary pursuit 
as an insult, commanded Achilles to desist, and 
on the refusal of the impetuous warrior, over- 
flowed his banks, and opposed him, assisted 



Of gold, with which in great abundance Vulcan by the waters of Simois. The west and south 



had surrounded the crest, 
The godlike Achilles essayed himself in hi:; 

armor. 
Whether it might fit him, and if his fair limbs 

should move easily : 
To him it was like wings, and buoyed up the 

Shepherd of the people. 
From the sheath his paternal spear he drew. 
Ponderous, huge, strong: which none other of 

the Greeks was a1)le 
To brandish, and which Achilles alone knew how 

to rear, 
— That ashen spear of Peleus which Chiron had 

hewed for his father 
From the summit of Pelion, — to be death to 

heroes ! " 

Achilles proved himself no wavering or 
weak partisan. His presence was a host, but 
he also sailed with fifty ships well manned, 
and destroyed twelve island cities, and eleven 
on the main-land. Minerva and Juno aided 
him. Agamemnon, whom the Greeks had 
chosen their leader, having taken prisoner 



winds, and the aid of Vulcan, sent by Juno, 
chastised the assumption of the river-god and 
reduced him to his original limits. Achilles 
was only prevented from taking the city by 
the interference of Apollo, the pi'otector of 
the Trojans. Hector confronted and fought 
Achilles, by whom he was slain. His body, 
after being attached to the chariot of the vic- 
tor, and dragged round the city, was ran- 
somed by Priam, the venerable fother of the 
slain warrior. Achilles, falling in love with 
Polyxena, daughter of Priam, purchased her 
hand by a promise to defend Troy ; but while 
standing at the altar with her, an arrow from 
the bow of Paris pierced his heel and slew 
him. His body was a prize for which a fierce 
contest arose. The Greeks sacrificed his 
bride upon his tomb, according to his dying 
request, that he might enjoy her society ir, 
the Elysian fields, the paradise of the heathen. 



ACH 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



Alexander the Great, who venerated and im- 
itated Homeric heroes, visited the tomb of 
Achilles, and crowned it, saying, "Achilles 
was happy in having Patroclus for a friend, 
and Homer for a poet." 

ACHMET I., sultan of the Turks, began to 
reign in 1603, and died in 1617. The tran- 
quillity of this sovereign was disturbed by 
insurrections, and the intrigues of a pretender 
to his throne. Achmet II. was sultan of the 
Turks from 1691 to 1695. Aciimet HI., son 
of Mahomet IV., was raised to the throne of 
the Ottoman empire, in 1705, by the revolt 
of the Janizaries, who deposed his brother, 
Mustapha H. Achmet, although he appre- 
hended and punished the leaders of the revolt, 
yet availed himself of the fruits of their 
crime. His reign, however, was by no means 
passed in tranquillity, and repeated changes 
of the viziers marked the insecurity felt b)^ 
the monarch. Achmet placed his principal 
reliance on the power of gold, which he 
sometimes used for good ends. When Charles 
XII. had been defeated at Pultowa, he was 
hospitably received at the Turkish court, 
where his intrigues soon kindled the flame 
of war between Russia and Turkey; but 
Achmet III. was unable to compete with 
Peter the Great, and the military views of 
his vizier were by no means clear. When 
the fortunes of the czar were in the hands 
of the Turks on the borders of the Pruth, the 
Muscovite purchased of the vizier permission 
to retreat, but surrendered Azof to the Otto- 
mans. Against the Venetians Achmet was 
more successful, wresting the Morea jfrom 
their grasp in a single campaign. But the 
imperialists, under the able conduct of Prince 
Eugene of Savoy, trampled on the laurels of 
the Turks, and humbled the pride of their 
sultan. Achmet, by the loss of Peterwaradin, 
and the taking of Belgrade and Temeswar, 
was forced to sign the treaty of Passarowitz. 
In 1718, the sultan lost Temeswar, Orsoa, 
Belgrade, Servia, and part of Wallachia; a 
loss which was compensated, in the ensuing 
year, by his Persian successes. A revolt of 
the Janizaries made Achmet sultan, and a 
similar rebellion hurled him from the throne 
in 1730. The celebrated Caliph Patrona 
headed this revolt. Achmet went in person 
to seek his nephew, Mahmoud I., and, saluting 
him as ruler, said, " Profit by my example. | 



Had I always adhered to my old policy of 
permitting my vizier but a short stay in office, 
I should have ended my reign as triumph- 
antly as I commenced it. Farewell ! May 
your career be happier than mine ! I com- 
mend to your especial care my son." He 
then went into the obscurity of that prison 
from which he had di-awn his nephew. lie 
died of apoplexy, on the 23d of June, 173(j. 
Achmet possessed a brilliant wit, and much 
shrewdness, with a ready turn for public 
business. He loved money, and was the first 
to levy imposts -on the Turks, but he was ni) 
less attached to science, which he patronized. 
He established the first printing-press at Con- 
stantinople, 1727. He was fond of pleasure, 
and the Turks yet cherish the recollection 
of those splendid festivals at Constantinople, 
which sprang from his luxury, and were 
graced by his presence. Achmet gave con- 
certs of nightingales, numbers of those birds 
being inclosed in cages, delighting the court 
with their rare and plaintive melody. 

ACRE, called also, Akka, St. Jean d'Acre, 
and, in the middle ages, Ptolemais, is a town 
on the coast of Syria. The famous Mount 
Carmel overlooks the city, which contaii.s 
16,000 inhabitants, and is the emporium (ji' 
the cotton trade of Syria. Its harbor is good, 
although containing many sand-banks. Acre 
has been a noted scene in war. It was taken 
by Richard I. and other crusaders, July r3th, 
1191, after a siege of two years, which cost 
the lives of six archbishops, twelve bishops, 
forty earls, five hundred barons, and three 
hundred thousand Soldiers. It was held by 
the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem till 
1291, when it was retaken by the Saracens. 
Sixty thousand Christians perished in this 
capture, which was also memorable for the 
slaughter of the nuns, who had mangled 
their faces to avoid the lust of the conquerors. 
In the siege of Acre by Bonaparte in 1799, 
the Turks were relieved by a British fleet 
under Sir Sydney Smith. Twelve assaults 
were repulsed between March 6th and May 
27th. Baffled by the British squadron on 
the water and the Turks on shore, Bonaparte 
raised the siege. On the retreat from St, 
Jean d'Acre, it is said that a body of French 
soldiers, who were sick of the plague, were 
poisoned by order of Bonaparte; but this 
has been frequently denied. Of the kindness 



ACR 



10 



COTTACxE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



of Bonaparte to his sick soldiers we have 
many proofs. Louis Phihppe, when king of 
the French, having his attention called to an 
old veteran who had heen in the army of 
Napoleon, rode up and shook hands with him. 
The old man was not flattered. "When I 
was sick with the plague at Jaffa," said he, 
hluntly, "the emperor shook hands with me; 
hut he didn't have gloves on." The siege of 
St. Jean d'Acre lasted sixty-one days, and 
was attended with great loss to hoth parties. 
Acre was seized by Ibrahim Pacha in 1832 
when Egypt revolted from Turkish rule. In 
1840 it was stormed by an Anglo-Austrian 
fleet, given up by the Egyptians, and restored 
to the sultan. 

ACTIUM, a promontory on the Gulf of 
Arta on the western coast of Greece, at the 
extremity of Acarnania. Here was fought 



the most memorable naval battle of antiquity, 
since the stake was the empire of the world, 
Sept. 2d, B.C. 31. The leaders of the hostile 
forces were Marc Antony and Octavius. The 
latter had 80,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, 
and 260 ships of war; while Antony had 
100,000 infantry, 12,000 cavalry, and 22r. 
ships of war. The battle was hotly contested. 
Cleopatra, the beautiful Egyptian queen who 
had captivated Antony, seized with a panic, 
fled from the battle with her sixty galleys, 
the most brilliant vessels brought into action. 
Antony, whose energies had been prostrated 
by dissipation, followed his leman, and a dis- 
graceful rout among the troops on shore com- 
pleted his ruin, while the sovereignty of the 
world was the prize of Octavius, afterward 
Augustus Caesar. 




KESIDEN'CE OF ADA.MS FA.AIILY, QIINCY, MASS. 



ADAMS, John, the second president of the 
United States, was born October 19th (o.s.), 
1735, in that part of Braintree, Mass., which 
has since been incorporated as the town of 
Quincy. He was the fourth in descent from 
Henry Adams, who fled from persecution in 
Devonshire, and settled in Massachusetts, 
about 1 G30. Another of his ancestors was 
John Alden, ono of the pilgrim founders of 



ADA 



Plymouth. He received his early education 
in his native town, and in 1751 entered Har- 
vard College, where he graduated in regular 
course four years afterward. He commenced 
the study of law at Worcester with Mr. James 
Putnam, defraying his expenses by his in- 
come as instructor in Greek and Latin. In 
1758 Mr. Adams entered the office of Jeremy 
Gridley, attorney-general of the province. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



11 



who had previously directed the law studies 
of James Otis, and who, in allusion to his 
two talented pupils, said, " I have trained up 
two j^oung eagles, who are, one day oi'' other, 
to pick out my eyes." In 1759, Mr. Adams 
was admitted to the Suifolk bar, and com- 
menced practice in Braintree. In 1701, he 
was admitted to the degree of barrister at 
law, and very soon afterward his father's 
decease put him in possession of a small 
landed property. In the February of this 
year the British cabinet enjoined the Massa- 
chusetts custom-house officers . to execute 
their oppressive acts of trade, applying to the 
supreme provincial judicature for writs of 
assistance, 3, kind of general search-warrants. 
The applications made in consequence to the 
court at Salem,' were resisted on the ground 
of their unconstitutionality. When it was 
determined to argue the matter by counsel 
in Boston, Mr. Otis was engaged to defend 
the rights of the Salem and Boston mer- 
chants, and, that he might do it with the 
more freedom, he relinquished his lucrative 
office of advocate-general in the court of 
admiralty. Mr. Adams, who took a deep 
interest in the affiiir, was present at the dis- 
cussion, and thus eulogizes the orator : " Otis 
was a flame of fire ! With a promptitude of 
classical allusion, a depth of research, a rapid 
summary of historical events and dates, a 
profusion of legal authorities, a prophetic 
glance of his eyes into futurity, and a rapid 
torrent of impetuous eloquence, he hurried 
away all before him. Aineriean indeiyendence 
was then and there boi'n.^' 

In 1764, Mr. Adams married Abigail, 
daughter of the Rev. William Smith, of Wey- 
mouth, and grand-daughter of Col. Quincj^ 
She was a lady of uncommon endowments 
and excellent education, and her patriotism 
and piety rendered her worthy of her hus- 
band. He had previously imbibed a preju- 
dice against the prevailing religious opinions 
of New England. He was Unitarian in his 
predilections, and a firm believer in the 
Cliristian faith. In 1765, he published anon- 
ymously a series of articles in the Boston 
Gazette, under the title of "An Essay on 
Canon and Feudal Law," the object of which 
was to show the conspiracy between church 
and state to oppress the people. It was re- 



printed in England and gained high com- 
mendation. 

In 1766, by the advice of Mr. Gridley, he 
removed to Boston, where his superior talents 
soon won him a prosperous practice. At an 
earlier period of life he had turned his 
thoughts to politics and the condition of 
the harassed colonies. Soon after leaving 
college, he wrote a letter to a friend, dated at 
Worcester, Oct, 12th, 1755, which evinces so 
remarkable a foresight that it is fortunate it 
has been preserved. " Soon after the refor- 
mation, a few people came over into this new 
world for conscience' sake. Perhaps this 
apparently trivial incident may transfer the 
great seat of empire into America. It looks 
likely to me, if we can remove the turbulent 
Gallics, our people, according to the exactest 
computation, will, in another century, become 
more numerovis than England herself. The 
only way to keep us from setting up for our- 
selves, is to disunite us. Divide et impcra. 
Keep us in distinct colonies, and then some 
great men in each colonj% desiring the mon- 
archy of the whole, will destroy each other's 
influence and keep the country in equilibrio. 
Be not surprised that I am turned politician : 
the whole town is immersed in politics. I sit 
and heai-, and, after being led through a maze 
of sage observations, I sometimes retire, and, 
by laying things together, form some reflec- 
tions pleasing to myself The produce of one 
of these reveries you have read above." 

After his removal to Boston, the friends of 
the crown attempted to lure him by the ofi:er 
of the office of advocate-general in the court 
of admiralty, but he refused "'decidedly and 
peremptorily, though respectfully." He was 
appointed, in 1769, chairman of the commit- 
tee chosen by the town of Boston to draw up 
instructions to their representatives to resist 
the unpardonable and increasing encroach- 
ments of the crowTi. At this time the indig- 
nation of the friends of liberty was excited 
by the- presence of an armed force in the 
town, while a band of hirelings surrounded ' 
the state-house, and cannon menaced its 
doors. Mr. Adams displayed his sense of 
honor and firmness by advocating the cause 
of the soldiers who, when attacked by the 
mob, in State street, on the 5th of March, 
1770, fired upon them and killed several 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Such was the excitement of the pubHc mind 
that a word in defense of the British was 
almost sure of being punished by the loss of 
popularity, and yet, Adams, in company with 
Josiah Quincy and Mr. Blowers, scrupled not 
to defend the soldiers on their trial In con- 
sequence of this, all were acquitted but two, 
who, being found guilty of manslaughter, 
were dismissed with a slight branding. But 
in May, 1770, Mr. Adams received a proof 
that he had not lost favor with his fellow- 
citizens, being chosen a representative of the 
town of Boston in the legislature. The active 
part which he took in resisting despotism in 
every shape, and espousing the cause of his 
countrymen in every way, brought him under 
the displeasure of Gov. Hutchinson, who 
negatived the choice of Mr. Adams as coun- 
cilor, in 1773. In 1774, Gov. Gage also re- 
jected him, and he was soon chosen member 
of the conmiittec employed to prepare reso- 
lutions on the Boston port-bill. That same 
year Gov. Gage dissolved the assembly. 
Before separation, Thomas Gushing, Samuel 
Adams, John Adams, and Robert Treat Paine 
had been chosen to act as delegates in the 
first continental congress. 

Mr. Adams took his seat in Congress on 
the first day of the session, September 5th, 
1774. He was one of the most efficient and 
able advocates of liberty, and his voice was 
decided for prompt and vigorous action. The 
following spring he was instrumental m put- 
ting Washington at the head of the army. 
He was the adviser and great supporter of 
the Declaration of Independence. May 6th, 
1776, Mr. Adams moved a resolution, recom- 
mending the colonies " to adopt such a gov- 
ernment as would, in the opinion of the 
representatives of the people, best conduce 
to the happiness and safety of their constitu- 
ents and of America." It was pot without a 
hard struggle that this passed on the 15th of 
the same month, and preluded Richard Henry 
Lee's daring resolution of the 7th of June 
following, declaring the dissolution of the 
connection with Great Britain. On the 4th 
of July, the Declaration of Independence, 
with but few alterations from the words of 
Mr. Jefierson, passed The committee who 
had been chosen to prepare it was composed 
of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin 
Franklin, Roger Sherman, and Robert R. 



Livingston. Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Adams 
were deputed a sub-committee to prepare the 
instrument, and the former did so at the in- 
stigation of the latter. The declaration did 
not pass without the most strenuous opposi- 
tion by many members, including some lead- 
ing and able men. Mr. Adams overcame all 
arguments offered against it, by an ovei- 
whelming torrent of splendid eloquence. In 
the words of Mr. Jefferson, "the great j)il!ar 
of support to the Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and its ablest advocate and champion 
on the floor of the house, was John Adams." 
His speech on the subject of independence is 
said to have been unrivaled. Mr. Webster 
has done honor to the style and sentiments 
of Mr. Adams, in alluding to. his brightest 
effort. He tells us that he spoke right on, and 
that the torrent of his manly reasoning car- 
ried conviction along with it. Mr. Webster 
gives what we may well suppose to be a por- 
tion of Mr. Adams's speech, concluding with 
this powerful and patriotic language. "Sink 
or swim, live or die, survive or perish, I am 
for the declaration. Living, it is my living 
sentiment, and, by the blessing of God, it 
shall be my dying sentiment — hidependenee 
now and indejjendence forever ! '''' 

On the recall of Silas Deane, who (with 
Dr. Franklin and Arthur Lee) was a com- 
missioner at the court of Versailles, Mr. 
Adams was appointed to fill his place, Nov. 
28th, 1777. Mr. Adams, embarking on board 
the frigate Boston, arrived safely at his place 
of destination, notwithstanding the efforts of 
an English fleet to intercept him. On his 
return, in the summer of 1779, being chosen 
member of the convention to form a plan of 
government for Massachusetts, he was placed 
upon the sub-committee whose task it was to 
draught the plan of a constitution. His plan 
was, in most of its important features, adopted 
by the convention. He went abroad again 
upon public business and visited Holland and 
France. The definite treaty of peace which 
he visited Paris to negotiate, in 1782, with 
Dr. Franklin, Air. Jay, Mr. Laurens, and Mr. 
Jefferson for colleagues, was ratified, Jan. 
14th, 1784. The next year Mr. Adams was 
appointed the first minister to London, an 
office at that time peculiarly delicate and in- 
teresting. His reception by George III. was 
favorable and courteous, but the cabinet were 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



la 



cold and unfriendly, and Mr. Adiims was 
unable to negotiate a commercial treaty. 
Having assisted in forming treaties with 
Prussia and Morocco, he resigned, and in 
June, 1788, arrived in his native land after 
an absence of nearly nine years. That fall 
he was chosen vice-president, the first elected 
under the new constitution, and was re-elected 
in 1792. On the resignation of Washington, 
Mr. Adams was chosen president, entering 
upon office March 4th, 1797. The adminis- 
tration of Mr. Adams though at first popular, 
was strongly opposed toward its close. At 
the expiration of his term he was the candi- 
date of the Federal party for re-election. He 
was defeated, and was succeeded by Mr. 
Jefferson, his warm personal friend and de- 
cided political adversary. 

After Mr. Adams's retirement from public 
life, he occupied himself with literary and 
agricultural pursuits at his seat at Quincy, 
and with the exception of severe afllictions, 
the loss of his wife in 1818, and the death 
of his only daughter in 1813, his days glided 
calmly away until the ith of July, 1826. 
On that day he died, with the sentiment upon 
his lips which he had uttered with such force 
fifty years before upon the floor of Con^p-ess — 
independence forever ! On the morning of 
that eventful day, the peals of the bells and 
the report of cannon awakeij.ed him. He was 
asked if he knew what day it was. "Oh! 
yes," he replied, "it is the glorious Fourth 
of July : God bless it, God bless you all ! " 
In the course of the day, he said, "It is a 
great and glorious day ! " Before his death, 
he said, " Jefferson survives." He was mis- 
taken. On that very day, an hour after noon, 
Jefferson breathed his last. 

The services of John Adams to the cause 
of independence were unsurpassed. They 
were not so readily appreciated by the people, 
as exploits in the field, and though he was 
of gi'eat worth in the public comicils, others 
may have outshone him there. But he was 
an indefatigable man of business, lofty in his 
patriotism and honest in his devotion to what 
he considered the true interests of the coun- 
try. He has been called the Great Leader of 
the American Revolution. 

ADAMS, John Quincy (sixth president 
of the United States, and the son of John 
Adams, the second president), was born at 



Braintree, July 11th, 1767. The boy was 
cradled and bred amid the most ardent pat- 
riotism, and when but a lad of nine years, 
heard the first reading of the Declaration of 
Independence from the old state-house in 
Boston. His flxther took him abroad, and he 
studied at the public school of Amsterdam 
and the university of Ley den. In 1781, Fran- 
cis Dana, of Massachusetts, who had been 
designated as minister to Russia, selected 
young Adams as his private secretary. In 
the winter of 1782-3 he retui-ned to Holland, 
and till May, 1785, he was chiefly with his 
father in England, Holland, and France. It 
was at this time, that he became acquainted 
with Mr. Jeft'erson, who was his father's in- 
timate friend and then minister at Paris. 
He was now a youth of eighteen. His life 
had been one of unusual wandering and 
changes. His studies had been interrupted 
and irregular. When his father, in 1785, was 
appointed minister to England, he obtained 
permission to return to America, studied at 
Harvard College, and graduated in 1787. 
After preparatory law studies under Theoph- 
ilus Pareons at Newburyport, he began prac- 
tice at Boston. His essays and speculations 
on the politics and public questions of the 
day attracted attention, and won him high 
reputation as a statesman and political think- 
er. They drew upon him the notice, and 
gained him the confidence, of Washington, 
to whom he had been warmly recommended 
by Jefferson; and in 1794 he was honored 
with the mission to the Netherlands, where 
he remained for two years. His father was 
then vice-president, but the appointment was ' 
made by Washington without any intimation 
to him. Toward the close of the administra- 
tion, Washington made Mr. Adams minister 
to Portugal. On his way from the Hague 
to Lisbon he received a new commission, 
changing his destination to the Prussian court. 
This transfer to Berlin was made by his father, 
who had succeeded Washington in the presi- 
dency. Fearful that the change might be 
imputed to paternal partiality, the senior 
Adams had consulted his predecessor, and 
had received the following letter. 

"Monday, February 20, 1797. 
"Dear Sir: I thank you for giving me a 
perusal of the enclosed. The sentiments do 



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u 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Iionor to the licad and heart of the writer; employed in adjusting a commercial conven- 
siiul if my wishes would be of any avail, the}- tion with Great Britain, and in February, 



should go to you in a strong hope that you 
^\•iIl not withhold merited promotion from 
John Q. Adams because he is your son. For, 
without intending to compliment the fathei- 
or the mother, or to censure any others, I 



1815, he was appointed minister to the Brit- 
ish court Mr. Monroe recalled him in 1817 
to take the post of secretary of state in his 
cabinet. During the eight years of Mr. Mon- 
roe's administi'ation, Mr. Adams continued at 



give it as my decided opinion, that Mr. Adams the head of that department, and his expe- 
ls the most valuable public character we have rience abroad was of great service in directing 
abroad ; and that there remains no doubt in the foreign policy of the government With 
my mind, that he will prove himself to be the Mr. Clay he was instrumental in obtaining 
ablest of all our diplomatic corps. If he w;'.." the recognition of the independence of the 
now to be brought into that line, or into any .South American republics. Long standing 
other public walk, I could not, upon the prin- difficulties with Spain were also honorably 
fiple which has regulated my own conduct, ] and successfully closed under his direction, 
disapprove of the caution which is hinted at i and the important acquisition of Florida was 
in the letter. But he is already entered ; the made. 

public, more and more, as he is known, are At the close of Mr. Monroe's second term, 
appreciating his talents and worth ; and his Mr. Adams was a [)rominent candidate for the 
country would sustain a loss, if these were to succession, and of many who preferred Jack- 
be checked by over-delicacy on your part | son, or Claj', or Crawford, he was the second 
"With sincere esteem and affectionate re- j choice. When the votes of the electoral col- 
lege were counted, it was found that Mr. Cal- 



gard, 



I am ever yours, 

"'CiEoiiGE Washington." 



Mr. Adams was recalled by his father in 
1801, and after serving in the state senate, 
was chosen United States senator in 1803. 
He pursued an independent course in the 
senate, and for supporting the embargo rec- 
ommended by Jefferson, was censured in 
1808, by the Federalist legislature of his state. 
Not choosing to represent constituents whose 
confidence he had lost, he resigned his seat. 
Soon after Mr. Madison sent him to Russia, 
the first minister from the United States to 
that country. Through his influence the Em- 
peror Alexander offered himself as a media- 
tor to conclude the difficulties between Great 
Britain and our country ; and although the 
proffer was declined by the British, it led 
them to an offer to treat directly, which re- 
sulted in peace. Mr. Adams was therefore 
fitly put at the head of the American com- 
mission by which the treaty of Ghent was 
negotiated. His colleagues were, James H. 
Bayard, of Delaware, Henry Clay, of Ken- 
tucky, Jonathan Russell, of Rhode Island, 
and Albert Gallatin, of Pennsylvania. In the 
counsels and labors of the important confer- 
ence, Mr. Adams bore his full part With 
Messrs. Clay and Gallatin he was afterward 



houn had been elected vice-president, while 
for president there was no choice. General 
Jackson had received ninety-nine votes, Mr. 
Adams eighty-four, Mr. Crawford forty-one, 
and Mr. Clay thirty-seven. The choice of 
president from the three leading candidates, 
accordingly devolved upon the house of rep- 
resentatives. The fi-iends of Mr. Clay in that 
body voted for Mr. Adams, and his election 
was effected on the first ballot He received 
the votes of thirteen states. General Jack- 
son seven states, and Mr. Crawford four states. 
The Crawford men and Jackson men com- 
bined in opposition to the administration, and 
although Mr. Adams's course was not parti- 
san, but conciliatory to his opponents, his 
efforts to conduct the public affiiirs with in- 
tegi-ity and usefulness could not turn the flood 
of popular opinion that set steadily against 
him; and in 1828, General Jackson was elect- 
ed president by a large majority over him. 
Mr. Adams retired to private life at Quincy, 
esteemed by his political friends and respected 
by his opponents. But his neighbors and 
friends were not willing that the country 
should have no more the benefit of his ser- 
vices, and they elected him to represent the 
district in Congress. In December, 1831, 
being then in the sixty-fifth year of his age, 
and already forty years in active public ser- 



ADA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



15 



vice, he took his seat in the house of reprc- earth." A committee from Congi'ess accom- 
sentatives, a member of which he continued \ panied his remains to the family's place of 
till his death, more than sixteen years after. burial at Quincy, and solemn honors were 
In this position he maintained the stand to paid to his memory in the towns and cities 
which his distinguished services and expe- i through which the corpse was borne, 
rience, no less than his eminent talents, well I Mr. Adams was of middle stature and full 
entitled him. At the opening of the twenty- person, his eyes dark and beaming, and pierc- 
sixth congress, a singular scene was exhibited j ing with intelhgence. He always led an act- 
ive life, and enjoyed good health to an 
advanced age, the fruit, no doubt, of his 



in the house of representatives. Eight seats 
were contested, and the clerk of the last house, 
upon whom it fell to preside till a speaker 
should be chosen, in calling the roll of mem- 
bers elect, refused to call the gentlemen hold- 
ing certificates for the contested seats. An 
angry and discordant debate, amid confusion 
and disorder, ensued for three days, and on 
the fourth there was little better than anar- 
chy. The clerk persisted in his contumacy, 
no speaker could be chosen, and the mode of 
extrication could not be discerned. At this 
point Mr. Adams rose. The tumult hushed. 
After a short, pointed speech, aimed at the 
impudence of the acting clerk, he submitted 
a motion that that official should at once pro- 
ceed with the call of the roll m due and usual 
order. The clerk, as he had previously done, 
refused to entertain the motion. " How shall 
the question be put?" anxiously cried several 
voices. " I intend to put it myself! " replied 
Mr. Adams. This restored order. Richard 
Barnwell Rhett, of South Carolina, sprang to 
the floor and loudly moved that John Quin- 
cy Adams should take the speaker's chair 
until the house should be constitutionally 
oi^anized ; put the question himself, and de- 
clared it carried. Mr. Adams presided several 
days, till Mr. Hunter, of Virginia, was chosen 
speaker. 

A striking feature of Mr. Adams's congres- 
sional career, was the earnestness and firmness 
with which he adhered to the right of the 
people to petition Congress, and to be heard 
tlirough their representatives, on any subject 
whatsoever. He took an active part in debate, 
on nearly every topic of public interest, and 
his speeches were marked with a fervor that 
won him the name of "The Old Man Elo- 
quent." Like Lord Chatham, he died at his 
post. The 22d of February, 1848, he was 
stricken by paralysis in his seat, was borne to 
the speaker's room, and there died the next 
day, being in his eighty-first year of age. 
His last words were, "This is the last of 



early rising and bodily exercise. His mind 
was highly cultivated, and he was considered 
one of the most accomplished among Ameri- 
can scholars and statesmen. In May, 1Y97, 
he was married to Louisa Catherine, daugh- 
ter of Joshua Johnson, Esq., of Maryland, 
who then resided in London. By this lady 
who survived him, he had three sons and one 
daughter. Only one child, Charles Francis, 
survived him. 

ADAMS, Samuel, a distinguished patriot 
in our revolution, born in Boston, Sept. 27th, 
1722, was descended from a family which had 
been among the earliest settlers in New Eng- 
land. Mr. Adams graduated at Harvard, 
with the usual academical honors, in 1740. 
On taking the degree of master of arts he dis- 
cussed the question, "Whether it be lawful 
to resist the supreme magistrate, if the com- 
monwealth can not be otherwise preserved ? " 
and maintained the affirmative with great 
ability. He commenced the study of divin- 
itj% but found his attention completely ab- 
sorbed by politics, which then excited an 
universal interest. His vigorous support of 
republican principles soon endeared him to 
the patriotic party, wlio placed him in the leg- 
islature in 1766. Thenceforward he distin- 
guished himself as one of the most active, 
able, and uncompromising advocates of inde- 
pendence. He was on every committee, his 
hand was employed upon every report, and 
his voice heard upon every subject, involving 
opposition to the tyrannical measures of the 
colonial government. The enemies of Amer- 
ica heard that Mr. Adams was poor, and those 
among them who believed in the omnipotence 
of British gold, asked why this demagogue 
was not silenced by a bribe. Governor Hutch- 
inson answered, "Such is the obstinacy and 
inflexible disposition of the man, that he can 
never be conciliated by any ofiice or gift what- 
ever." In 177-4, he was sent to the first con- 



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16 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



gress of the old confederation. He was one 
of the signers of the Declaration of Independ- 
ence in 1776. He was active in the conven- 
tion which formed the constitution of Massa- 
chusetts, was placed in the senate of the state, 
presided for several years over that body, 
and was elected lieutenant-governor in 1789. 
In 1794, at tlie death of Hancock, he was 
chosen governor, and was yearly re-elected 
until 1797. His retirement from public life 
took place in that year ; and, on October 2d, 
1803, he expired at his house in "Winter 
street, Boston, in the eighty-second year of 
his age. 

Mr. Adams foresaw the course which the 
colonies were obliged to take from the begin- 
ning. He was aware that, upon the side of 
the British, there would be no concessions, 
no retractions ; that they entertained a con- 
temptuous opinion of the force and spirit of 
the colonies, and would abide by their own 
measures. He received warning at Lexing- 
ton, on the night of the 18th of April, of the 
intended British expedition, which turned out 
so disastrously for them, and prepared to 
make his escape at dawn across the fields. 
Turning to the friends who accompanied him, 
he exclaimed, " This is a fine day ! " His re- 
mark was thought to allude to the weather, 
and one of his companions answered, "It is 
really a pleasant day." "I mean," said he, 
his eye lighting up, as he spoke, " I mean, this 
is a glorious day for my country!" There 
was a certain narrowness and sternness in the 
political and religious opinions of Samuel 
Adams. He was a strict Calvinist, and re- 
garded with no favor opinions at variance 
with those of his sect. He was firmly at- 
tached to habits and principles in which he 
had been bred, and too fond of making im- 
portant measures conform to a certain code 
of his own. He vmdervalued the services of 
Washington during the war, thinking him too 
slow and cautious, and being impatient for 
some decisive stroke, which the commander- 
in-chief would not have failed to strike when- 
ever the opportunity occurred. After the war 
was happily concluded, and there could be 
but one opinion of the services of "Washing- 
ton, Mr. Adams feared for his country, when 
the man who had led her through the perils 
of the armed struggle was made her chief mag- 
istrate. He feared the popularity of "Wash- 



ington; but his was the error of judgment. 
No unprejudiced man who had regarded the 
previous course of the Father of his country, 
could fear that he could prove either a Cassar 
or a Cromwell. Mr. Adams possessed those 
manly virtues which eminently fitted him for a 
revolutionary epoch, and when the cloud hun;r 
darkest over his country, his character and 
resources appeared most strikingly. Of v.n 
austere and unyielding mind, he was yet dig- 
nified and courteous to a high degree. He 
was never shackled by pecuniary considera- 
tions, and would have died in poverty, had not 
the death of an only son supplied his wants, 
while it grieved him to the soul. A colleague 
of Mr. Adams thus described him in good- 
humored caricature: " Samuel Adams would 
have the state of Massachusetts govern the 
Union, the town of Boston govern Massachu- 
setts, and that he should govern the town of 
Boston, and then the whole would not be in- 
tentionally ill-governed." 

ADDISON, Joseph, an author of celebrity, 
was the son of a clergyman, and was born at 
Milston, "\Yiltshire, in 1672. He was educated 
at the Charter-House in London, and at Ox- 
ford, where he distinguished himself b}^ his 
Latin poetry. Having obtained a pension, he 
set out on his travels, remaining abroad two 
years. Of his " Travels," which he published 
on his return. Dr. Johnson said, that "they 
might have been written at home." In 1704, 
a poem on the victory of Blenheim procured 
him the office of commissioner of appeals. In 
1796 he was chosen under- seci'etary of state, 
and in 1709 went to Ireland as Lord "Whar- 
ton's secretary, at the same time deriving an 
income of £300 a year fi'om his appointment 
of keeper of the Irish records. The "Tat- 
tler," "Spectator," and "Guardian," periodi- 
cal papers commenced by Steele, owed their 
celebrity in a good degree to the essays of Ad- 
dison. In these papers, which were read with 
avidity by all classes, Addison displayed that 
chaste humor, refined observation, and world- 
ly knowledge, that poetical imagination, deep 
vein of feeling, and purity of style, which 
make his prose a model in our language. 
The success of his tragedy ot "Cato," pro- 
duced in 1713, was owing less to the merits 
of the piece (which is better adapted to pri- 
vate perusal than public exhibition), than to 
the high state of party feeling; anything 



ADD 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



17 



liberal in tone being warmly supported by 
the Whigs. 

The pen of Addison was devoted to politi- 
cal subjects for a long time, and he was em- 
ployed a second time as secretary to the 
viceroy of Ireland, and afterward was ap- 
pointed one of the lords of trade. Having 
fixed his affections on the dowager Countess 
of Warwick, he obtained her hand with diffi- 
culty, and was married in 1716. The union, 
however, was anything but happy. The lady 
awarded him the "heraldry of hands, not 
hearts," treated him with contempt, and 
made his fireside so uncomfortable that he 
often forsook it for a tavern. In 1717 he was 
appointed secretary of state, but finding him- 
self incapable of filling the office with honor, 
he retired with a pension of £1,500. He 
wanted the physical boldness and ready re- 
sources of an effective public speaker, and 
was unable to defend his measures in parlia- 
ment. He is also said to have been slow 
and fastidious in the quieter duties of office. 
When he was undei'-secretary, it fell to him 
to send word to Hanover of the death of 
Queen Anne. The critical nicety of the au- 
thor so distracted him in the choice of ex- 
pressions, that the task was abandoned to a 
clerk, who boasted of having done what was 
too hard for Addison. In retirement he en- 
gaged himself in writing a work on "The 
Evidences of the Christian Keligion," which 
he did not live to complete. Throughout his 
life he was a sincere Christian. He died in 
1719, and on his death-bed he sent for Lord 
Warwick, a youth of dissolute habits, and 
said to him: "I have sent for you, young 
man, to show you with what calmness a 
Christian can die." 

The temper of Addison was jealous and 
taciturn, until cheered by wine. "I have 
never seen a more modest or more awkward 
man," was the remark of Lord Chesterfield, 
one of the best judges and most accurate ob- 
servers of manners that ever lived. Button's 
coffee-house was the favorite resort of Ad- 
dison and contemporary wits in London. 

ADRIAN, or HADEIAN, Publius ^lius, 
the fifteenth emperor of Rome, was born 
A.D. 76, and brought up under the eye of 
Trajan, his father's kinsman, who adopted 
him as his son, and to whom he succeeded, 
117. He was a successful soldier, and a great 



lover of literature and the arts, but disgraced 
by the indulgence of sensuality. In the 
course of his reign he visited nearly every 
part of his dominions, and when in Britain, 
120, built a wall eighty miles in length, from 
the mouth of the Tyne to Solway Frith, to 
prevent the incursions of the Caledonians, 
He was the restorer of Jerusalem, which he 
named ^lia Capitolina, and on Mount Cal- 
vary he erected a temple to Jupiter ; died 138. 

Six popes have also borne the name of 
Adrian. 

ADRIATIC SEA, or Gulf of Venice, wash- 
es the shores of Italy, Illyria, Dalmatia, and 
Albania. It is about 480 miles long, and gen- 
erally 130 broad. Venice claimed the exclu- 
sive sovereignty of this sea. The ceremony 
of the Doge of Venice wedding the Adriatic 
was instituted in 1173. Annually, upon As- 
cension day, the doge dropped a ring into 
its waves from his bucentaur or state barge. 
On these occasions he was attended by all 
the Venetian nobles and the foreign ambassa- 
dors in gondolas. The ceremony was inter- 
mitted, for the first time in centuries, in 
1797. 

^GINA, an island thirty miles in circum- 
ference, between the coasts of Attica and the 
Peloponnesus, formerly independent, popu- 
lous, wealthy, and famed for the commercial 
spirit of its inhabitants. Its capital bore the 
same name. 

yELFRIC, a brave and talented Archbishop 
of Canterbury, who lived in the tenth centu- 
ry. He translated the historical books of the 
Old Testament, and distinguished himself for 
his resistance to the Danes. His death took 
place in 1005. 

^MILIUS PAULUS, a brave and noble 
Roman, father of Scipio Africanus the Young- 
er. He defeated Perseus, king of Macedon, 
and celebrated his success by a triumph, 
B.C. 168, which was rendered memorable 
by the death of his two sons, and the 
heroic fortitude with which he bore their loss, 
thanking the gods that they were chosen for 
victims, so that the Roman people might be 
shielded from calamity. 

J^INEAS, a Trojan prince, the hero of the 
"^neid" of Virgil, who represents him as 
the son of Anchises and the goddess Venus. 
The former he bore in safety, from the flames 
of Troy, which he had defended until valor 



^NB 



18 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



was of no avail. He retired to Mount Ida, 
where he built a fleet, and sailed in quest of 
a settlement. He is said to have been con- 
temporary with Dido, and, after plighting his 
faith to the Carthaginian queen, to have left 
her a prey to pangs so poignant as to deprive 
her of judgment, in which state she threw 
herself upon a funeral pile and was burned 
alive. Tliis, however, is a poetical anach- 
ronism. xEneas, after various adventures, 
and great sufferings, landed on the coast of 
Latium, in Italy, where he was hospitably 
received by king Latinus, who bestowed upon 
the stranger the hand of his daughter Lavin- 
ia. This gift involved ^neas in a war with 
Turnus, a disappointed rival, who was signally 
defeated by the son of Venus. The history 
of iEneas is wholly traditional. 

JilOLIANS, a Thessalian tribe, who estab- 
lished several small states in Greece, while a 
portion settled iEolis, in Asia Minor, in the 
ancient Tread. They united themselves in a 
confederacy, and were free while they pre- 
served it. The name jEolic is applied to a 
dialect of the Greek language, very nearly 
resembling the Doric. 

^SCHIXES, an Athenian orator, the rival 
of Demosthenes, born 393, died 323 B.C. He at 
first led a life of wandering poverty, but be- 
came an actor, a pupil of Plato and Socrates, 
and attained some distinction. Having lost 
the favor of the people, he fled to Samos and 
Rhodes, where he taught rhetoric until his 
death. Another ^schines, a philosopher, 
was a poor disciple of Socrates. 

^SCHYLUS, a celebrated Greek di-amatic 
writei', was born of a noble family at Eleusis 
in Attica, b.c. 525, and died at Gcla in Sic- 
ily, B.C. 456. At the age of twenty-five, 
B.C. 499, he first presented himself at the 
festival of Bacchus as a competitor for the 
public prize, and fifteen years afterward, b.c. 
484, gained his first victory. The pre-emi- 
nence which he thus acquired was success- 
fully maintained till b.c. 468, when he was 
defeated in a similar contest by his younger 
rival, Sophocles. Mortified at the indignity 
he thought thus put upon him, he quitted 
Athens and went to the court of Hiero, king 
of Syracuse. Of the remaining portion of his 
life but little is known, except that he con- 
tinued to prosecute his favorite pursuit ; and 
that his residence in Sicily was of some dura- 



tion, may be inferred from the fact that it was 
sufficient to afiect the purity of his language. 
His thirteenth and last victory was gained 
B.C. 458. On the manner of his death, which 
was singular, the ancient writers are unani- 
mous. While sitting motionless in the fields, 
his bald head was mistaken for a stone by an 
eagle which happened to be flymg over him 
with a tortoise in her bill. The bird dropped 
the tortoise to break the shell, and the poet 
was killed by the blow, ^schylus is said to 
have been the author of seventy tragedies, of 
which only seven . are now extant. The im- 
provements which he introduced in the econ- 
omy of the drama, were so important as to 
gain for him the distinction of the Father of 
Greek Tragedy. To the single actor of Thes- 
pis he added a second, and thus presented the 
regular dialogue. He abridged the length of 
the choral odes and made them subservient to 
the main interest of the plot ; substituted a 
regular stage for the movable wain of his 
predecessor ; provided appropriate scenic dec- 
orations, and dresses for the actors; and 
removed all deeds of murder and bloodshed 
from public view. His style is bold, lofty, 
and sublime, full of gorgeous imagery and 
magnificent expressions, suitable to the ele- 
vated characters of his dramas. His plays 
have little or no plot ; and have therefore been 
blamed as deficient in dramatic interest. But 
^schylus was illustrious not merely as a 
poet. Along with his brother Cyngegirus he 
distinguished himself so highly in the battle 
of Marathon, b.c. 490, that his exploits weie 
commemorated by a descriptive painting in 
the theater of Athens ; and it is probable that 
he took part in the subsequent battles of 
Artcmisium, Salamis and Plataja. 

^SCULAPIUS, believed to have been the 
inventor of medicine, and worshiped as a di- 
vinity in many cities of Greece. He is gen- 
erally represented with a long beard, and 
grasping in one hand a staff entwined by a 
serpent, the emblem of convalescence, the 
other hand supported by a serpent. Some- 
times he was denoted by a serpent only. He 
was believed to be the son of Apollo. 

-SSOP, whose fables have been so celebra- 
ted, was born in Phrygia, a country of Asia 
Minor, about the fifty-second Olympiad, the 
first year of which corresponds with 572 B.C. 
The age in which he lived is noted in Grecian 



MSO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



19 



history as that in which Solon, the famous 
lawgiver, flourished. In his youth /Esop was 
a slave. Among the Greeks the condition of 
the slaves was abject and pitiable indeed ; the 
Spartans, in particular, regarding them in the 
light of brute beasts, whom it was allowable 
to kill upon the least provocation, and even 
without the slightest offense. It docs not, 
however, appear that iEsop experienced any 
great severity of treatment. His first master 
was one Dinarchus, who resided at Athens. 
Msop passed into the hands of Xanthus of 
Samos, who afterward sold him to ladmon of 
the same place. There were no fewer than 
three islands to which the ancients gave the 
name of Samos. That of which we speak 
was situated off the coast of Ionia. It was 
supposed to have been the birthplace of the 
goddess Juno, to whom a magnificent tem- 
ple was erected, no remains of which have 
escaped the ravages of time. The fertility of 
-he island, and the salubrity of its climate, 
gained it universal admiration, and made its 
possession an object of great importance. It 
was formerly not so much noted for its wine 
as it is at present, the Samian wine being con- 
sidered by the moderns as equal to that of 
Cyprus, while it was very much underrated 
by the ancients. 

After he had obtained his freedom, iEsop 
distinguished himself by his art of inculcat- 
ing useful truths under the cloak of fiction. 
This invention is attributed to him, and Phse- 
drus acknowledges this in his own fables. 
"The words," says the latter, "are mine, but 
the invention belongs to ^sop." It is, how- 
ever, probable that fables originated with the 
oriental nations, from whom ^sop borrowed 
them. 

Croesus, king of Lydia, whose wealth was 
so immense, hearing of the fame of yEsop, 
invited him to his court. It has been said 
that the personal appearance of JEso-p was 
far from being prepossessing ; that he was of 
small size and dreadfully deformed; that 
Croesus was at first disgusted at beholding a 
figure so entirely at variance with his precon- 
ceived ideas of the man; and that iEsop 
speaking of his own deformity, said, "It is 
not the exterior of the vase that we should 



court of Croesus, exhibited a marked con- 
trast. The fabulist played well the part 
of an accomplished courtier, but the stern 
lawgiver rigidly adhered to the truth in 
all he said. Solon having ^displeased the 
monarch by the independent tone which he 
assumed, ^sop said to him, "You should 
never speak to kings, or only tell them what 
will flatter them." "Not so," said Solon; 
"we must never speak to kings, or only tell 
them useful truths." 

^sop had lived too long in slavery not to 
have acquired habits of submission and def- 
erence toward those whom circumstances 
made his superiors. He found no difficulty 
in winning the entire confidence of Croesus. 
The latter, wishing to consult the oracle of 
Delphi with regard to Cyrus, who menaced 
him with ruin, sent /Esop with instructions 
to offer up sacrifices to the deity in the name 
of the king of Lydia, and to present to each 
inhabitant of Delphi a considerable sum of 
money. iEsop came to Delphi, and offered 
up his sacrifices, but having quarreled with 
the Delphians, he sent away the money which 
the Lydian monarch had intended for them, 
and declared that they were unworthy of 
such benefactions. The cause of this quarrel 
is not exactly known, but perhaps the nat- 
ural shrewdness and intelligence of ^sop 
enabled him to make a discovery of the arti- 
fices employed to deceive those who referred 
to the oracle for instruction, and his indigna- 
tion impelled him to reproach the priests with 
their imposition. The Delphians, enraged at 
the conduct of the bold stranger, and fearing 
that, if permitted to depart, he might reveal 
enough to destroy their character and hopes 
forever, determined, if possible, to effect his 
ruin. To accomplish their purposes, they 
hid a golden cup which had been consecrated 
to. Apollo, among his effects, and then charged 
him with having stolen it. He indignantly 
denied the charge. His enemies were inex- 
orable ; a search was made, and the golden 
cup having been found in his possession, he 
was condemned to death, and, pursuant to 
his unjust sentence, hurled from the summit 
of a high rock. Soon after this bloody deed, 
heavy calamities fell upon the Delphians, 



regard, but the quality of the wine which it i which they did not fail to attribute to the ih- 
contains." The conduct of .^sop and Solon, dignation of the gods, aroused at their inhu- 
both of whom were at the same time at the i man conduct. Various methods were resorts 

iESO 



20 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ed to in order to appease the just indignation 
of their deities. At length they offered to 
malvc restitution to the descendants of ^sop, 
if any such existed, ^sop, however, was a 
solitary being, tlie last of his race. But a 
relation of laclmon, his last master, came 
forward, claimed, and received, the proffered 
indemnity. 

The authorship of the fables attributed to 
^Esop has been a source of much dispute 
among different writers. It is thought that 
many of the fables which have descended to 
us with his name were not of his invention. 
The fables of yEsop attained a very great ce- 
lebrity in Greece. yEsop was peculiarly hap- 
py in the application of his fables. Having 
visited Athens soon after Pisistratus had 
usurped the authority, and found the Athen- 
ians shrinking beneath the yoke which had 
been imposed upon them, he related to them 
the following fable. "Once upon a time, 
the frogs, thinking it a fine thing to have a 
ruler, petitioned Jupiter to give them a king. 
Yielding to their wishes, he threw down a 
huge log, from which they at first fled in dis- 
may. But finding it quiet and harmless, 
they at length ventured to approach, and 
soon after grew weary of its inaction, and 
complained bitterly to Jupiter of their stupid 
ruler, desiring one more active. Indignant 
at their querulous cries, Jupiter sent down a 
stork, whose activity made up for the long 
sloth of the log ; in fact, he was never idle, 
but darting here and there, preyed upon his 
subjects with restless ferocity, until the rem- 
nant of the frogs groaned to be restored to 
their former liberty." The moral of this 
fable was apparent to the meanest under- 
standing. The Athenians honored the mem- 
ory of J5sop, by erecting a fine statue, 
executed by Lysippus, to the man who was 
once a slave. Its design was to show that 
the road to fame was open to all, and that, 
with perseverance and mental power, a man 
requires few external advantages, to succeed 
in what he undertakes. The life of JEsop 
was checkered with light and shade : perhaps 
the latter predominated, for, in allusion to 
the misfortunes of humanity, he was wont to 
say that "Prometheus formed man of clay, 
and tempered it with tears." His death took 
place about the year 531 B.C. 

iETIUS, the brave general of Valentinian 



III., who repulsed Attila, and was stabbed 
by his suspicious master in 454. 

^TNA, the greatest volcano in Europe, is 
on the north-eastern coast of Sicily, and now 
called Mongibello. Its elevation above the 
surface of the sea is 10,784 feet. Towns and 
villages are scattered on its sides. It exhib- 
its three distinct climates, the hot, temperate, 
and frigid; and three distinct regions, the 
fertile, woody, and barren. It measures nine- 
ty miles round the base, and its crater forms 
a circle of three or four miles in circumfer- 
ence. The crater's shape and size are liable 
to constant change from the eruptions. The 
summit is enveloped in smoke and snow at 
the same time, while the sides of the moun- 
tain present a rich prospect of cultivated fields 
and smiling vineyards. The mountain fur- 
nishes snow and ice to Sicily and Malta, and 
thus jaelds quite an income to the Bishop of 
Catania, the exclusive proprietor of the trade. 
A chestnut-tree, wonderful for its gigantic 
size, stands upon the side of Mount ^Etna. 
It is known by the name of the Castagno de 
Cento Cavilli, because it is said to be capable 
of sheltering a hundred horses beneath its 
boughs. It still bears rich foliage and much 
small fruit, though the heart of the trunk is 
decayed, and a road leads through it wide 
enough for two coaches abreast. 

Here were the fabled forges of the Cyclops. 
Diodorus Siculus mentions an eruption as hav- 
ing happened 1693 B.C. Thucydidcs speaks 
of three eruptions, occurring 734, 477 and 
425 B.C. To the second of these, both ^s- 
chylus and Pindar allude. The awful erui>- 
tion of 1169 overwhelmed Catania, and fifteen 
thousand persons perished among the burn- 
ing ruins. There were destructive eruptions 
in 1329, 1408, 1444, 'l536, 1537, 1564. In 
that of 1669, tens of thousands lost their lives 
in the streams of lava that flooded the land. 
The hot flood reached the walls of Catanin, 
which had been raised to save the town, 
swelled over the barrier, and fell in a fiery 
cascade. The wall was not thrown down, and 
the solid lava may still be seen, curling ovci- 
4;he rampart like a torrent in the act of fall- 
ing. There were eruptions in 1766, 1787, 
1809, 1811, and in Maj-, 1830, when several 
villages were destroyed and showers of lava 
reached near to Rome. By the violent out- 
break of November, 1832, Bronte, a town of 



iETN 



Blf^TOKY AND BIOGBAPHY.. 



21 




GREAT CHESTNCT-TREE OF MOUNT jETNA. 



13,000 inhabitants was destroyed. A violent 
eruption occurred in August and September, 
1852. 

^TOLIA, a country of antiquity, in the 
middle of Greece, whose boundaries varied 
greatly from time to time. It was strong, 
but unfruitful, and the inhabitants illiberal, 
given to plunder and avaricious. Divided 
into small tribes, they were proud of their in- 
dependence, and ardent lovers of freedom. 
After the ruin of Athens and Sparta, they 
attained an eminence which they had not be- 
fore possessed, and ranked with the Mace- 
donians and Achaians as a leading power in 
Greece. As allies of the Romans, they ren- 
dered themselves formidable, and were no less 
so when they forsook the former for the Mace- 
donians. They were conquered by Fulvius. 
In war, their fine cavalry was famed for the 
fierce impetus of its attacks. Their common- 
wealth was much like that of Achaia. 



AFGHANISTAN, in Asia, has an area 
somewhat larger than that of France. To 
the north of it is Turkistan, to the east the 
Punjaub, to the south Beloochistan, and on 
the west Persia. Beloochistan is properly a 
part of Afghanistan, but is at present polit- 
ically separated from it. Afghanistan is an 
elevated table-land, the eastern base of which 
is washed by the Indus. The mountain 
range of Hindoo-Coosh on the north, rises to 
eighteen and twenty thousand feet, and may 
be considered as an offshoot of the Himalaya 
chain. The valleys are fertile. The snow 
on the mountains feeds numerous streams, 
but there are no navigable rivers. The pop- 
ulation is estimated at 14,000,000, inclusive 
of Beloochistan. The large towns, such as 
Cabul, Candahar, Ghuznee, Jellalabad, and 
Herat, are inhabited chiefly by Persians and 
Hindoos ; an Afghan never keeps a shop or 
labors at a trade. The only Afghans found 



AFG 



22 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



in the towns are officers of government, and 
their followers, with ' soldiers and priests. 
The Afghans, who number little more than a 
third of the people, are of moderate stature, 
remarkably hardy and athletic. Their high 
cheek-bones and prominent noses distinguish 
them essentially from the Tartars. Their 
manners are frank and open. Little respect 
is paid to rank, but great reverence is shown 
for old age. They are sociable, and like sing- 
ing, dancing, and music. Of games of chance 
or skill they are fond. In long genealogies 
they feel pride, scarcely allowing a man to be 
a genuine Afghan, if he can not prove six 
descents. Hospitality is a point of honor. 
A man may travel without money from one 
end of the country to the other, and the bit- 
terest enemy is safe if he claims the protection 
of hospitality. They have, however, more of 
such honor than conscience, and robberies 
are frequent in the more remote districts. 
Social intercourse with women is less re- 
strained than among other Mohammedans. 
Women are generally well treated, not being 
permitted to engage promiscuously in the 
labors of the men, but being employed in 
domestic avocations. Wives, are, however, 
regarded as property, being invariably pur- 
."hased, and those of the upper classes live in 
total seclusion, though their privacy is lux- 
urious, and their style of life magnificent. 
Want of feeling is not in general a fault of 
the Afghans, and the females are frequently 
regarded with a tenderness and devotion 
worthy of the chivalric age. Many a young 
Afghan, in consequence of passionate attach- 
ment to some young woman to whom his 
plighted faith belongs, resolutely bids a fare- 
well to home, and labors for a long time in 
a distant place, until he procures sufficient 
money to buy her from her father. Instances 
of cruelty to women are of infrequent occur- 
rence. The Afghans are not insensible to the 
advantages of education, and are rather liber- 
al m their allotments of land for the support 
of public teachers, who are also ministers of 
religion. They are an imagniative people, 
and take delight in those wild narratives 
which it is the sport and province of oriental 
imaginations to create. The spirited lyrics 
of their poets breathe a strong love for liberty. 
The Afghans are divided into ti-ibes, almost 
independent in their government. Their re- 



publican spirit has saved them from sinking 
into the common oriental despotism. The 
Durances and the Ghiljies are the leading 
tribes. The tribes are subdivided into clans, 
often at feud with one another. To an En- 
glish traveler, who expatiated on the freedom 
from alarm, blood, and discord, that a stead- 
ier government would give, this reply was 
made : " We are content with discord, we are 
content with alarms, we are content with 
blood, but we will never be content with a 
master." There are three independent po- 
litical states, Cabul, Candahar, and Herat, the 
chiefs of which have but a limited authority. 
Afghanistan was known to the Greeks as 
Ariana. As part of tlw Persian empire, it 
passed under the dominion of Alexander the 
Great. The origin of the Afghan race and 
the date of its settlement in the land are un- 
certain. They have a tradition that they are 
the descendants of Afghan, the son of Irmia, 
or Berkia, son of Saul, king of Israel ; and 
their histories begin with narrating the trans- 
actions of the Jews, from Abraham down to 
the captivity. Various tides of conquest, 
Scythian, Arab, Tartar, and Mogul, have 
swept over the land. Ahmed Khan estab- 
lished its independence of Persia in 1747, and 
founded the Durance dynasty. In the early 
part of this century the sway was disputed 
by various rivals. In 1838 the British es- 
poused the cause of Shah Soojah against 
Dost Mahomed. Candahar, Ghuznee, and 
Cabul were taken ; Shah Soojah was put on 
the throne ; the conquest was considered com- 
plete ; and the main body of the British army 
returned to India. The next year insurrec- 
tions broke out and grew more and more 
troublous. In September, 1841, the neigh- 
borhood of Cabul swarmed with predatory 
bands. On the 2d of November, the house 
of Sir Alexander Burnes, one of the British 
envoys at Cabul, was fired, and he and every 
man, woman, and child on the premises, 
murdered. The British officers seemed to be 
stupefied. General Elphinstone held the chief 
command, but was in such a state of nervous 
weakness from ill health as to be utterly in- 
capable of acting with the energy necessary 
for such an emergency. The Afghans grew 
bolder; the Bi'itish became more confused 
and indecisive. The 23d of December, Sir 
William MacNaghten, the other envoy, was 



AFG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



23 



murdered by Akbar Khan, (son of Dost Ma- 
homed), who had invited him to a conference. 
Three days later the despairing Europeans 
agreed to yield all but six guns, to relinquish 
all the treasure, to leave four oflScers as host- 
ages, and to pay forty thousand rupees, in 
bills drawn upon India, but negotiated on the 
spot by Hindoo bankers, for a safe escort to 
Peshawur. Akbar Khan undertook to con- 
duct them in safety to Jellalabad. The disas- 
trous retreat from Cabul was commenced on 
the 6th of January, 1842. The British force 
was estimated at forty-five hundred soldiers, 
twelve thousand men of camp-followers, be- 
sides a great number of women and children. 
. Massacre began at once. The cold was in- 
tense ; the attacks of the Afghans were inces- 
sant ; the fugitives were almost without food ; 
only a handful escaped ; twenty-six thousand 
individuals were destroyed. This terrible 
reverse aroused the British to great effort; 
victories were gained, and before the close of 
1842 the war was at an end, and the British 
army withdrawn. Shah Soojah had been 
assassinated, and Dost Mahomed regained the 
sovereignty. 

AFRICA formed a third part of the world, 
known to the ancients. They gave it the 
name of Libya, and divided it into Africa 
Propria and Africa Interior. The former of 
these, or the territory of Carthage, included 
several countries inhabited by twenty-six dif- 
ferent nations, comprehending two provinces, 
the Regio Zeugitana "and Byzacium, corre- 
sponding with the kingdom of Tunis. Ham 
and his descendants are thought to have first 
peopled Africa. Egypt was peopled by Miz- 
raim. Africa Interior included the distant 
portions of Africa little known to the ancients, 
whose knowledge did not extend much be- 
yond the tropic of Cancer, the limit of both 
their victories and researches. Those parts 
of Africa which they did not visit, their fer- 
tile fancies peopled with various races of men 
endowed with strange attributes ; and singu- 
lar tales, thus originating, have been handed 
down even to modern times. Thus we hear 
of nations of curious dwarfs, of men who 
dwelt in trees like monkeys, of races forming 
a connecting link between man and the brutes, 
and tribes whose history has been invented 
by wild imaginations in their wildest flights. 
Herodotus states that Africa is surroundd 



with water except at the narrow neck of 
Suez. He reports its circumnavigation by 
Phenician mariners between the years 610 
and 594 b.c. "Necho, king of Egypt," he 
says, " dispatched some Phenicians in vessels, 
with instructions to sail round Libya and 
through the Pillars of Hercules [straits of 
Gibraltar] into the northern [Mediterranean] 
sea, and so to return to Egypt. They set out 
from the Red Sea and navigated the southern 
ocean. When the rainy season came on, 
they would land on whatever part of the coast 
they happened to be, sow the ground, and 
wait for the harvest. After reaping it, they 
would again put to sea ; and thus after two 
years had gone, in the third they passed 
through the Pillars of Hercules and arrived 
at Egypt. And they said (but for my part I 
do not believe the assertion, though others 
may) that in their voyage round Libya, they 
had the sun on their right hand." 

Africa was an important division of the 
ancient world. Many of her nations and 
states, at a very early period, had made great 
advancement in the liberal arts. The north- 
ern part was inhabited by several enterprising 
nations, whose extensive commerce rolled 
abundant wealth into the land. With their 
riches the power of these states increased: 
Egypt and Ethiopia became famous, and 
Carthage sent forth her fleets to every part of 
the then known world. The career of dis- 
covery by which Africa has become known 
to the modern world, was commenced by the 
Portuguese in the fifteenth century. Prince 
Henry, a younger son of John I., devoted his 
life to the task. The Azores, the Cape Verde 
Isles, and various points on the coast, were 
colonized under his auspices. His zeal excit- 
ed long-continued ridicule and opposition, but 
Afi'ican discovery became a national passion, 
and after his death, was prosecuted by the 
government. Bartholomew Diaz rounded the 
continent's farthest promontory in 1487. 
The storms that tossed him there led him to 
call it the Cape of Tempests, but John II., 
thinking the discovery a precursor of brighter 
revelations beyond, changed the name to the 
Cape of Good Hope. Vasco de Gama doubled 
it in 1497, sailed along the eastern coast, and 
found the path to India. Portuguese mar- 
incTS had now navigated the whole extent 
r>f the African coast, from the Straits of Gib- 



AFR 



24 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



raltar to the Straits of Bab-el-mandeb, with 
the exception of the thousand miles between 
the latter point and Magadoxa. They had as- 
certained the general shape of the continent 
to this extent, and the position of most of the 
principal rivers and headlands. At the be- 
ginning of the century, the line of coast thus 
traced was entirely unknown to the nations 
of Europe, excepting the extent of six hund- 
red miles between the Straits of Gibraltar and 
Cape Nun. But the Arabs had long been ac- 
quainted with the greater part of the eastern 
coast along which Vasco de Gama passed after 
doubling the Cape of Good Hope; and the 
great towns which he saw or heard of, from 
Sofala onward to Magadoxa, were for the most 
part settlements that they had founded. The 
chief of these was the town of Quiloa. In 
course of time the Portuguese gained consid- 
erable knowledge of the interior also, partly 
by means of the establishments they formed 
at divers points, and partly from information 
brought them from other parts by the natives. 
Very early they heard of a great Christian 
potentate whom they called Priest John ; 
anglicized to Prester John. The expeditions 
to find the domains of this mysterious person- 
age, and the missions of a later date, all help- 
ed to increase the scanty and confused knowl- 
edge of the vast country. The French, the En- 
glish, the Dutch, and others, followed the lead 
of Portugal, and founded settlements on the 
coast, and penetrated a little into the interior. 
The discoveries of Bruce in his long and 
perilous journey toward the sources of the 
Nile, gave a new impetus to African explora- 
tion at the close of the last century. An 
association for its promotion was formed in 
London, under whose auspices Mungo Park 
searched for the secret of the Niger's course. 
Since then important discoveries have been 
made ; discoveries bought by the lives of the 
explorers, the most of whom have died either 
from the malaria of the clime or at the hand 
of treacherous barbarians. Eminent are the 
names of Park, Burckhardt, Ledyard, Horne- 
mann, Laing, Denham and Clapperton, Lan- 
der, Richardson, Overweg and Barth, in the 
north ; and Sparrman, Vaillant, Cowan and 
Donovan, Lichtenstein, Campbell, Alexander, 
and Livingston, in the southern part. Dr. 
Livingston, who was a missionary at Kolo- 
beng, (240 30' S. lat., 26o E. long.,) made 



several journeys thence into the interior, and 
in 1849, reached Lake Ngami. The exist- 
ence of this large inland sea had been report- 
ed to the Portuguese as early as 1508. In a 
subsequent journey Dr. Livingston penetrated 
as far north as 10° S. lat., came out unexpect- 
edly at the Portuguese settlement of Loanda, 
pushed back into the wilderness, and at last 
returned to England in 1856. The river Lee- 
ambye, after innumerable windings, he traced 
to the river Zambezi, which discharges itself 
into the Mozambique Channel. The Leeam- 
bye consists of a system of rivers, which 
spread out periodically into a great sea, filling 
hundreds of lateral channels. The principal 
stream is about a thousand yards broad. But 
a small portion of its waters reaches the sea, 
the remainder being absorbed by vast lakes and 
marshes. It is so diminutive when it reaches 
the sea as not to be navigable for vessels. It 
will, however, be of great use, as a means of 
communication with the interior. Dr. Liv- 
ingston ascertained that a large portion of the 
blank in South x\frican maps consists of fer» 
tile countries, inhabited by populous tribes, 
and intersected by large rivers. The farther 
he traveled into the interior of Africa, the 
more civilized and numerous he found the 
inhabitants. They were less ferocious and 
suspicious, had better and more settled forms 
of government, and more comforts than the 
coast tribes. He met with tribes who practic- 
ed inoculation, knew the medicinal virtues of 
quinine, and had a tradition of Noah's deluge. 
He found the climate of eastern Africa more 
humid than the other sections. The natives 
were athletic and brave. The next or middle 
zone is comparatively arid and fiat. The in- 
habitants are not as well developed as the Kaf- 
firs. The western portion is nearly flat and 
sandy, but it is not a desert. There is abund- 
ance of vegetation, but water is scarce. The 
inhabitants manage to subsist on a very small 
supply of the precious fluid, some of which 
is obtained from tuberous roots, which con- 
tain in their cellular tissues supplies of pure 
water. In the plains are immense numbers 
of ostriches and antelopes, which can subsist 
for months without water. 

Mr. Anderssen, in 1851, penetrated from 
the western coast to Lake Ngami. He there 
heard of the existence of a large town called 
Liberbe, nineteen days journey to the north- 



AFR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



25 



east, which was said to be a great place 
of trade. Between 1847 and 1850, Messrs. 
Krapf and Rebmann, missionaries stationed 
near Mombaz on the eastern coast, made scv- 
eraljourneys inland, and discovered two lofty 
mountains, crowned with everlasting snow, 
Kilimandjaro and Kenia. From the latter 
a river flows northward, which is conjectured 
to feed the Nile. 

One of the most important expeditions ever 
undertaken to the interior of Africa was that 
sent out by the British and Prussian govern- 
ments in 1849, and conducted by Messrs. 
Richardson, Barth, and Overweg. The trav- 
elers departed from Tripoli in March, 1850. 
On the way across the desert Dr. Barth vis- 
ited Agadez, the capital of Air, a city of 
eight thousand inhabitants, situated in a fer- 
tile valley. The kingdom has a population 
of seventy thousand. The climate is healthy 
for Europeans. The people are tall and fine- 
ly formed. The children are taught to read 
the Koran and to write. No European had 
wandered there before Dr. Barth. The par- 
ty arrived on the borders of Soudan Jan. 1st, 
1851. Here they separated. Richardson 
sickened under the heat and fatigue, and 
died in the following ]\Iarch. Dr. Overweg 
visited Mariadi and Guber, two independent 
pagan nations toward Sackatoo, where he was 
kindly received by the natives, who are a 
cross between the Tuaricks and the negro 
races, and obtained much curious information. 
Dr. Barth at Kano heard of a large kingdom 
in the south, called Adamawa, said to be the 
most beautiful portion of Central Afi'ica. 
The sultan of Bornou furnished him an escort ; 
he traveled three weeks over broad, fertile 
plains and through a forest infested with 
lions and elephants. He found Adamawa 
thickly populated. The inhabitants have 
large herds of cattle. The soil is tilled by 
slaves, who gi-eatly outnumber the free inhab- 
itants. On the 18th of June Dr. Barth came 
to the great river Benueh. The name signi- 
fies the 'mother of waters,' and the stream is 
half a mile wide and nine feet deep in the 
channel. His conjecture that it was the same 
as the Chadda, the eastern arm of the Niger, 
has been confirmed. Yola, the capital of 
Adamawa, is a town two miles and a half in 
length by one and a half in breadth, sited on 
a. plain at the foot of Alantika, a mountain 



ten thousand feet in height. Dr. Barth was 
allowed to tarry in Yola only three days, re- 
turned by the route he came, and rejoined Dr. 
Overweg at Kuka the 22d of July. During 
his absence the latter had launched his boat 
on Lake Tchad, and explored the islands and 
shores. He found the lake to be about eighty 
miles in breadth, quite shallow, and filled 
with islands inhabited by the Biddumas, who 
treated him with great kmdness. Barth and 
Overbeg planned an excursion to Kanem and 
Borgou, an unexplored region north-cast of 
Lake Tchad, and extending midway to Egypt. 
Their party was driven back by the Zibboos, 
and they returned to Kuka. They accompa- 
nied an expedition sent to subjugate Mandara, 
a country north-east of Bornou. The campaign 
lasted from the 25th of November to the 1st 
of February, 1852. The army of twenty 
thousand men penetrated to the distance of 
two hundred miles, and returned with a booty 
of five thousand slaves and ten thousand head 
of cattle. The country was level, and abound- 
ed with marshes. The next year. Dr. Barth 
after great difficulties and dangers, succeeded 
in reaching Masena, the capital of Baghirmi, 
a powerful kingdom east of Bornou, never 
before visited by an European. Unable to 
penetrate further to the east, he returned to 
Kuka in August. Dr. Overbeg had unsuc- 
cessfully attempted to enter the great Fellatah 
kingdom of Yakoba, on the river Benueh. 
He succumbed to the heat, and died at Kuka 
in September. Thus left alone Dr. Barth 
relinquished the design of journeying from 
Kuka to the shores of the Indian Ocean, and 
turned his steps toward the Niger. He left 
Kuka on the 25th of November, 1852, reach- 
ed Sackatoo in April, 1853, and entered the 
famous city of Timbuctoo on the 7th of Sep- 
tember. Nothing was heard of him for a 
long time ; then rumors reached Tripoli that 
he had been murdered. At last came the 
joyful news that he was yet alive. He had 
tarried in Timbuctoo nearly a year, had ex- 
plored the whole middle course of the Niger, 
and had found two large kingdoms, Gando 
and Hamd-Allahi, the very names of which 
were before unknown. He finally returned 
safe to Europe in the autumn of 1855. 

The country traversed by Dr. Barth in this 
expedition extended over twenty-four degrees 
of latitude and twenty of longitude. He had 



AFR 



26 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



crossed deserts of frightful desolation, and 
traversed fertile lands watered by navigable 
rivers and large central lakes, covered with 
the finest timber and fruitful in grain, rice, 
nuts, sugar-cane, cotton, and indigo, products 
found abundantly all over Central Africa. 
The people wear cotton of their own weav- 
ing, and dyed with native indigo. The Niger, 
by means of its eastern branch, affords unin- 
terrupted navigation into the interior for six 
hundred miles. At a distance of about three 
hundred miles from the coast, the western 
branch is interrupted by rapids and cataracts, 
but higher up, the river opens an unobstruct- 
-ed highway a thousand miles long, into the 
heart of western Africa, so rich in vegetable, 
animal, and mineral products. These regions 
exhibit an equal variety in the human race. 
Starting from Tripoli, on the north, the trav- 
eler proceeds from the Arab villages, rem- 
nants of the empires of the middle ages, into 
a country dotted with ruins of the Roman 
dominion, through the wild roving hordes of 
the Tuaricks, to the Negro ti-ibes and the na- 
tives of Southern Africa. Throughout this 
vast region the greatest diversity of race and 
idiom prevails. Mohammedan learning is 
ingrafted on ignorance, and magnificent cere- 
monial rises side by side with the simplicity 
of barbarous Negi-o tribes. A thread of his- 
tory, even, can be traced through this laby- 
rinth of tribes and overthrown kingdoms, 
and a commerce is found radiating from Kano, 
the great emporium of Central Africa, in 
every direction, and spreading far and wide 
the manufactures of that industrious region. 
Dr. Barth says that the people of the interior, 
although in a low, are not at all in a degrad- 
ed state of civilization. Between the farthest 
points reached by Barth ^nd Livingston, only 
a strip of fifteen degrees in latitude remains. 
We venture the prediction that before the 
•close of the present century Ethiopia, so long 
unknown to the world, will be explored and 
her casket of wealth opened to traffic and 
industry. 

Africa comprises an area of 10,786,000 
square miles. Its population, roughly estima- 
ted of course, is set down at 61,689,000. 
Its chief rivers are the Nile, in Egypt ; the 
Senegal and Gambia, in Senegambia; the 
Niger or Quorra, the Congo or Zaire; the 
Orange, the northern boundary of the Cape 



colony ; and the Zambezi on the eastern coast 
The great feature of Northern Africa is the 
Sahara or Great Desert, the most barren, 
parched, and terrific waste on the globe. The 
mineral treasures of this immense continent 
are of course as imperfectly known as its 
geography. Salt is widely diffused ; gold dust 
is found in the sands of almost all the streams ; 
copper, iron, and some tin are also met with. 
The southern regions of this continent are 
occupied by two distinct races, Hottentots and 
Kaffirs ; the former one of the most indolent, 
shiftless, and dirty of the human family ; the 
latter higher in the scale. The most widely 
extended race in Africa is the Negro, varying 
in intelligence and power with different local- 
ities. The Moors of the north are of mixed 
descent, since the Barbary region has been 
occupied by various races. The Arab stock 
has produced the most marked effect. 

AGAMEMNON, leader of the Greeks in the 
Trojan war, was king of Mj^ccne and Argos, 
son of Plisthenes, and brother of Menelaus, 
the seduction of whose wife lighted the flames 
of war. Returning, after the destruction of 
the city, he was murdered by his wife, Cljt- 
emnestra, either from jealousy, or on account 
of her love for another. 

AGATHOCLES, a potter, who, from being 
a private soldier, made himself master of Syr- 
acuse and Sicily, b.c. 317. This he accom- 
plished by the death of thousands. Although 
defeated by the Carthaginians in Sicily, he 
carried the war into Africa, where he was 
successful. After having lost his sons and 
army by a mutiny in Africa, he succeeded in 
establishing tranquillity, B.C. 306. In Italy 
he conquered the Brutii, and took and sacked 
Crotona. He was killed by his favorite, 
Ma3non, who poisoned the feather with which 
the king usually cleansed his teeth after 
dinner. 

AGESILAUS, king of Sparta, signalized 
himself bj' his valorous resistance to the Per- 
sians, and successfully opposed the arms of 
the Thebans under Epaminondas. Agesilaus 
was lame and of small stature, but brave, and 
almost idolized by his troops. He was eighty- 
four years old at the time of his death, b.c. 
360. 

AGINCOURT, or Azincocr, a village in 
the department of Pas de Calais, France, 
where Henry V. of England, with an army of 



AGI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



27 



little more than fifteen thousand men, defeat- 
ed the flower of the French troops, amount- 
ing to seventy or a hundred thousand. Hen- 
ry entrenched his archers against onsets of 
cavalry, within fences of pointed stakes, then 
first used, and in modern times, known under 
the name of chevaux de frise. The rashness 
and disordered impetuosity of the French, 
and the coolness and orderly intrepidity of 
the English, produced the same effects at Ag- 
incourt as at Poictiers. The English had 
spent the previous evening-in preparing their 
weapons, confessing themselves, and receiving 
the sacrament ; while the French gamed and 
drank the night away. The narrowness of 
the field prevented the French from profiting 
by their superior force. The Constable d'Al- 
bret, the Count de Nevers, and the Duke of 
Brabant, the Dukes of Alcncon and Bar, the 
Counts of Vaudemont and Marie, scorning to 
survive defeat, rushed into the thickest of the 
fight and died, with upward of ten thousand 
of their followers. The number of captives 
taken by the English was fourteen thousand, 
a number about equal to that of the conquer- 
ors. Among the captives were the Dukes of 
Orleans and Bourbon. The loss of the Eng- 
lish was about twelve hundred, and the Duke 
of York almost the only person of rank who 
fell. This nobleman was Henry's uncle, and 
was slain in defending the king against the 
Duke of Alencon, who rode furiously upon 
him. Alencon dashed Henry's crown fiom 
his head, with a blow of his battle-axe, and 
was preparing to dispatch him, when the 
king's attendants closed around him in a 
steely circle, and he fell, covered with wounds, 
the blood pouring from every joint of his ar- 
mor. This great battle was fought October 
25th, 1415. 

AGNESI, Maria Gaetana, born at Milan, 
in 1718. In a Latin oration, delivered in her 
ninth year, she advocated the study of the 
ancient languages by females. At the age of 
eleven, she was conversant with Greek, which 
she spoke with great fluency, and she after- 
ward mastered the oriental languages. Ge- 
ometry and philosophy next engaged her 
attention. She was the ornament of brilliant 
and talented circles, and her loveliness added 
to the magic of her words. In mathematics 
she was no less successful, and at thirty 
she published a treatise on the rudiments of 



analysis, thought to be the best introduction 
to Euler's works extant. She acquired such 
fame by this performance, that she was ap- 
pointed professor of mathematics in the mii- 
versity of Bologna. Incessant application 
seems finally to have rendered her melan- 
choly ; she renounced society, and died in a 
nunnery, 1799. 

AGRICOLA, Cneius Julius, a brave Ro- 
man commander, and a distinguished states- 
man. He subjected a great part of Britain, 
A.D. 70. Domitian recalled him, and he died 
in retirement, a.d. 93. 

AGRIPPA, Henry Cornelius, a native of 
Cologne, born in 1486, and noted for his 
acquirements, talents, and eccentricity. For 
his military services, he was knighted. He 
was acquainted with eight languages, and 
made pretensions to magic, which procured 
him invitations from various personages of 
celebrity, who sought to acquire a knowledge 
of futurity. After a life full of change and 
incident, he died at Grenoble, in 1535. 

AGRIPPA I., grandson of Herod the 
Great, and king of Judea. St. James per- 
ished in a persecution commenced by him. 
The occasion and manner of his death are 
related. Acts xii. 20-23, under his patronymic 
name of Herod. 

AGRIPPA, Marcus Vipsanius, the son-in- 
law and friend of Augustus, whose fleet he 
commanded in the battle of Actium ; died 
B.C. 12. 

AGRIPPINA, the elder, daughter of the 
above, wife of Germanicus Caesar, whom 
she accompanied in his German expeditions. 
She was banished a.d. 33, by the cruel Tibe- 
rius, who hated her for her virtues and popu- 
larity, to the island of Pandataria, where she 
starved herself to death. 

AGRIPPINA, the younger, daughter of the 
former, was born at Cologne. She was pos- 
sessed of talents, but intriguing, dissolute, and 
ambitious. She was married to her uncle 
Claudius, the emperor, whom she poisoned to 
clear the throne for her wicked son Nero, who 
assassinated her when she became trouble- 
some after his elevation. 

AHASUERUS, the king of Persia whose 
marriage with Esther, and protection of the 
Jews, are described in the Scriptures. He is 
probably the Artaxerxes Longimanus of the 
Greeks, whose reign began B.C. 465. 



AHA 



28 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



AIX-LA-CHAPELLE (Aachen), a Prus- 
sian city on the borders of Belgium, lying be- 
tween the Rhine and Mouse, in a rich valley 
encompjissed by hills ; population 45,000. It 
was the birth-place of Charlemagne, accord- 
ing to some authors, and contains many build- 
ings and monuments of historical interest. 
It was the northern capital of Charlemagne, 
who held a splendid court here, and was 
buried in its cathedral. Succeeding empe- 
rors conferred so many privileges on the city, 
that it was remarked that "the air of Aix- 
la-Chapelle gave freedom even to the outlaws." 
By the celebrated treaty signed here in 
1784, peace was concluded between England, 
France, Holland, Hungary, Spain, and Genoa. 
A congress of the sovereigns of Austria, Rus- 
sia, and Prussia, with ambassadors from 
England and France, was held at Aix-la- 
Chapelle in 1818, to decide upon the terms 
for the evacuation of France by the allied 
army. 

AKBAH, a Saracen conqueror, who over- 
ran Africa from Cairo to the Atlantic, was 
killed in a revolt of the Greeks and Africans, 
682. 

AKENSIDE, Mark, the son of a butcher, 
born at Newcastle-upOn-Tync, November 9th, 
1721. He was intended for the ministry, but 
preferred the study of medicine. He never 
had much success in the practice of his pro- 
fession, but as a poet acquired renown. His 
"Pleasures of the Imagination" is bis best 
poem. He died of a fever, June 23d, 1770. 
ALABAMA was originally settled by 
Frenchmen and Spaniards. In 1800 the 
region between Georgia and the Mississippi 
river was organized as a territory. It was 
divided in 1817, the western portion forming 
the state of Mississippi ; the eastern the ter- 
ritory of Alabama, now the state of that name, 
having been so constituted by Congress in 
1819. It contains 50,722 square miles. The 
state is divided into several regular terraces, 
or belts, as it were, which rise above each 
other from the Gulf of Mexico. Of these the 
southern is flat and swampy, containing sev- 
eral savannahs. In the center of the state 
the wide spread plains or gently waving lands 
of the prairies are covered with herbage, 
grass, and flowers. The greater part of Ala- 
bama is separated from the Tennessee valley 
by abrupt and precipitous hills, or rather 



mountains, which, in some places, rise to an 
elevation of two thousand feet above the gulf 
level. The swamps in the vicinity of Florida 
are numerous, and covered with cypress, gum, 
and loblolly pine-trees, while the uplands are 
timbered with the long-leaved pine. What 
are termed the hummock lands, the fertility of 
which is lasting, form a belt between the pine 
ridges and the bottoms. The French imag- 
ined that they were well adapted to the 
rearing of grape-vines. Attention is now 
being more than ever turned to wine-grow- 
ing, and it may not be long before these 
slopes will be clustered with smiling vine- 
yards, and echo the joyous song of the vine- 
dresser, and the merriment of the autumnal 
vintage. Corn, cotton, wheat, and rice con- 
stitute the main products of the state. Groves 
of orange-trees, undoubtedly of Spanish or- 
igin, are not infrecjuent. Tobacco and sugar 
are growTi to some extent. Iron and coal are 
found in various parts of the state. Nearly 
every part of the state is amply watered by 
large streams, admitting of extensive steam- 
boat navigation. The most important of 
these rivers are the Tennessee, Chattahoo- 
chee, Alabama, and Tombigbee. 

The French who settled on the borders of 
the Mississippi at an eai'ly period, did not 
meet with much success at first, and for a 
long time the French settlements were insig- 
nificant and unnoticed. Instead of di-awing 
their support ft-om the fertile bosom of the 
earth beneath their feet, they are said to have 
subsisted on provisions obtained from France 
and the Spanish colonies. So slow were they 
in appreciating the richness of the soil, and 
so tenacious of established opinions and pre- 
judices, that on a superficial examination of 
focts, we are surprised to find that, in the 
northern and more sterile parts of North 
America, where a thousand obstacles pre- 
sented themselves in the path of the adven- 
turer, the work of colonization went on with 
the greatest rapidity. This appears to have 
been a wise ordination of providence. The 
French settlers, while they wanted the per- 
severance of the English and the colonial 
experience of the Spaniards, had a singular 
fecility in winning the friendship and esteem 
of- the savages. Yet, in spite of this advan- 
tage, few of the colonies they founded at the 
south, went on without many interruptions. 



ALA 



HISTOHV^ AND BIOOUAPHY. 



29 




while the Spanish settlements were generally 
permanent. 

After the English had obtained possession 
of the whole country cast of the Mississippi, 
which was ceded to them by the French, in 
the treaty of peace concluded between France 
and Great Britain, Feb. 10th, 1763, they en- 
countered the hostility of the Spanish, who 
were in possession of Louisiana, and were 
inflamed against the English by hostiKty and 
j ealousy. The war of the American revolu- 
tion placed the British colonists in this section 
in a peculiarly embarrassing and dangerous 
situation. On the one hand they were threat- 
ened by the Spanish colonists of Louisiana, 
while, on the other, they feared the hostility 
of the new states. The Spanish colonists in 
turn, although fearful of the spread of liberal 
principles, and aware that the discomfiture 
of the British in the south-west would be a 
source of congratulation to th^ Americans, 
yet so ardently desired the conquest, that 
they laid aside all minor considerations, and 
determined on attempting it. At this time, 
Galvez, a gallant and enterprising officer, was 
the Spanish commander of Louisiana. He 
took the field against the British with twenty- 
three hundred men. Natchez and Pensa- 
cola capitulated, and Galvez, in 1780, sailed 
against Mobile with a powerful armament. 
A storm overtook him in the gulf, and the 
wreck of one of his armed vessels, with the 
wetting ofhis provision and ammunition, gave 



no good omen of ultimate success. Manj' 
commanders so circumstanced, would have 
despaired, but Galvez, keeping up a tolerable 
appearance, landed near Mobile, and halted 
in the momentary expectation of an attack 
from the British. He saw that such an attack 
would be ruinous, and entertaining no doubt 
that the British would commence hostilities, 
made preparations for relinquishing his artil- 
lery and military stores, and falling back, in 
what order he might, upon New Orleans. 
Whether from want of foresight, or from 
cowardice, the English did not attempt to 
disturb him. 

Finding himself, much to his surprise, un- 
molested, Galvez took heart again, and having 
carefully dried his stores and ammunition, 
which, upon examination, were found not 
to have been spoiled, though badly wet, he 
marched upon Mobile, which was garrisoned 
and defended by regulars and militia. Six 
Spanish batteries, playing, with well-directed 
aim, upon the place, opened a breach, and the 
garrison immediately capitulated! At Pen- 
sacola, only sixty miles oflF, General Camp- 
bell was stationed with an overwhelming 
force ; yet he marched not to the relief of Mo- 
bile, until it was in the hands of Galvez. 

Toward the close of the year 1811, the 
troops of the United States were employed 
against the Indians, who formed powerful 
hostile combinations in the western country. 
During the war with Great Britain, many 



ALA 



80 



C T T A (J E CYCLOPEDIA OF 



bloody engagements were fought with the ; with enviable facility. What praise is too 



Indians. After the surrender of Detroit, an 
event which produced such an universal feel- 
ing of shame and degradation in the west, 
the Indians sent news of their triumph even 
to the most southerly extremity of the Union, 
and invited the neutral tribes of the south 
to assume the hatchet. The Creeks and Sem- 
inoles, with many other tribes, were not slow 
in responding to the summons, and became 
involved in the war, which was felt, in hostile 
incursions, bj^ the entire frontier, from Ten- 
nessee to the bay of Mobile. Tecumseh, 
arming himself with the persuasive predic- 
tions of his brother, the Prophet, arrived 
among the Creeks in 1812, and urged them 
forward to deed^of blood. The most dread- 
ful outrages were consequently perpetrated 
by the Creeks along the Alabama frontier, 
which suffered extremely during this war. 

In 1814, Mobile was attacked by the Brit- 
ish, and defended by Major Lawrence, with a 
gallantry which gained him no inconsiderable 
renown. His Spartan band of one hundred 
and thirty men were resolved to suffer no 
stain to dim the brilliancy of their starred 
banner, and to uphold it while life-blood ran 
warm in their veins. On the 12th of Sep- 
tember, intelligence was received at the fort 
of the landing of a pretty large force of In- 
dians and Spaniards in its vicinity. In the 
course of that day two British brigs and 
sloops hove in sight, and anchored at no in- 
considerable distance. At half after four in 
the evening of the 15th, the Hermes, Charon, 
Sophia, and Anaconda, with ninety guns, 
anchored at such a distance from the fort, as 
to admit of firing upon it conveniently. A 
simultaneous land attack was begun by Cap- 
tains Nicholls and "Woodbine. Their fortifi- 
cations were made of sand, and they brought 
a howitzer to bear upon the fort at point 
blank distance ; but they were soon compelled 
to abandon their position. Still a severe 
firing was maintained by the ships and fort. 
The Hermes, receiving a raking fire, ran 
ashore, was abandoned, and blew up. The 
Charon was almost wholly disabled. When 
the flag-staflf of the fort was shot away. 
Woodbine and Nicholls, thinking the foe van- 
quished, rushed forward to the fort, but were 
awakened to a sense of their error by a mur- 
derous fire which sent them to the right about 



ALA 



warm for the conduct of the few who com- 
posed the garrison, when we consider the 
numbers and advantages of the enemj^ ? Six 
hundred men attacked the fort by sea, sup- 
ported by ninety heavy guns. Four hund- 
red Indians and others made an attack in the 
rear. Captain Lawrence had but about a 
seventh of the enemy's numerical force, and 
twenty guns, all badly mounted, and some of 
them quite ineffective. Yet, while he lost 
but ten men, he compelled the enemy to 
retire with a loss of their very best ship, and 
two hundred and thirty men. 

The state secaded January 11, 1861 ; at its 
eapital, Montgomery, the rebel congress as- 
sembled, Feb. 4, inaugurated the rebel gov- 
ernment, and adjourned to Richmond, March 
IG, 1861. It underwent a fair share of the 
miseries of war, having been penetrated and 
traversed a number of times by the Union 
troops, particularly by Gen. Rousseau with a 
strong cavalry force in July, 1864, during 
Sherman's investment of Atlanta, by Gen. 
Wilson with an army of 10,000 cavalry in 
March and April, 1865, and by the forces 
operating against Mobile, in 1864 and '65. 
Farragut, with a fleet of 32 vessels and 2;)1 
guns, forced an enti*ance into Mobile Bay, 
Aug. 5, 1864, defeating the rebel fleet and tak- 
ing the ram Tennessee. Operations against 
the city itself began March 25th, 1805, when 
Smith and Canby broke ground before Span- 
ish Fort. Mobile was evacuated Apr. 10th 
and 11th, and Gen. Canby's troops entered it 
on the 12tb. This was the last important 
fighting of the rebellion, Lee having surren- 
dered to Grant some days before 

Alabama has a long death code. Murder, 
treason, rape, man-stealing, arson, robbery, 
burglary, counterfeiting and forgery, are pun- 
ishable with death. Killing in a duel is made 
willful murder. A system of common schools 
was established in 1854, and a state univer- 
sity is sustained at Tuscaloosa. 

The capital of Alabama is Montgomery, a 
thriving city, built on a high bluff at the 
head of steamboat navigation on the Alabama 
river; population in 1860, 35,902. The most 
important town is Mobile, Mhich except New 
Orleans is the largest cotton mart in the 
United States. It is a handsome city, and 
rapidly growing in business and prosperity. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



SI 



Population in 1860, 29,258. Tuscaloosa, the 
former capital, stands at the head of steam- 
boat na^^gation on the Tuscaloosa River; 
population in 1853, 3,500. 

By the U. S. census of 1860, Alabama had 
a population of 964,201 : consisting of 
526,431 whites, 435,080 slaves and 2,690 free 
colored There were IT colleges, 160 acade- 
mies, 1,074 common schools, 40,280 children 
at school, and 93,443 white children between 
eight and sixteen years of age. 

AL ANI, or Alans, a warlike tribe that left 
their abodes near Mount Caucasus, in Asia, 
when the Roman empire was declining, and 
aided in its overthrow. After 412, they be- 
came lost among the Vandals. 

ALARIC, king of the Visigoths, and con- 
queror of Rome. But little is known of his 
early history. His wald ambition was excited 
by overtures from intriguers against Arca- 
dius, emperor of the eastern empire, and he 
commenced his famous march from, the Dan- 
ube, through Thrace, Dacia, Macedonia, and 
Thessaly, into Achaia. Everywhere the 
Goths were victorious, and in their ravages 
some of the finest monuments of Grecian art 
were lost. Honorius, the emperor of the west, 
sent an army to the aid of his brother, and 
for a few years a truce was had between 
Alaric and the Romans. But in 405 his 
army entered the eternal city. The Romans 
bought his forbearance by a ransom of five 
thousand pounds of gold, thirty thousand 
pounds of silver, four thousand garments of 
silk, three thousand pieces of fine scarlet 
cloth, and three thousand pounds of pepper. 
In 410 his bands returned and sacked the 
city. The treasures which had been accu- 
mulated during a thousand years, vanished in 
three days beneath the hands of the rapacious 
conquerors. The flames destroyed works of 
art which the barbarians were unable to carry 
off, but Alaric spared tire churches and those 
who had sought refuge in them. Alaric died 
at a Oalabrian town (Cosenza), a.D'. 410, 
when he was preparing to lay waste Sicily 
and Africa. In order to conceal his remains 
from the Romans, slaves were employed to 
divert the waters of the Busento, and hollow 
his last resting-place in the channel of the 
stream. When the earth had received the 
body of the conqueror, the waves were per- 
mitted to rush in above it, and the slaves 



were murdered, that Alaric's secret might 
]ye in the keeping of the waters and the 
voiceless dead. 

ALBERT I., emperor and duke of Aus- 
tria, the son and successor of Rudolph of 
Hapsburg. He was crowned in 1298, after 
defeating and slaying Adolphus of Nassau, 
his competitor. The rival leaders engaged 
in single combat, and Adolphus exclaimed, 
"Your crown and life are lost!" "Heaven 
will decide," was the answer of Albert, as 
he forced his lance into the face of his adver- 
sary and unhorsed him. Albert was assassin- 
ated in 1308, by his nephew John, son of the 
Duke of Suabia, whose paternal estates he 
had seized. John had often asserted his 
claims, and uj'ged them upon Albert when 
he was departing for Switzerland, on account 
of the revolt of the Swiss. The emperor con- 
temptuously oiFered his nephew a garland of 
flowers. " Take this," said he, "amuse j'our- 
self #ith botanical investigations, but leave 
the cares of government to those who are old 
and wise enough to understand them." Al- 
bert breathed his last in the arms of a poor 
w^oman, who was sitting by the road-side at 
the time of his assassination. 

ALBERTUS MAGNUS, or Albektus Gro- 
TUS, was born in Lauingen, in Suabia, about 
the commencement of the thirteenth century. 
In youth he is said to have been singularly 
obtuse; but he afterward studied at Paris, 
Padua, and Bologna, displayed prodigious 
capacity, and became a wonder of erudition. 
He was a Dominican, and was made Bishop 
of Ratisbon in 1260 ; resigned his episcopate 
in 1263, and died in 1280. Cologne was his 
chief place of residence. Thomas Aquinas 
was among his pupils. 

ALBIGENSES, the Protestants of Savoy 
and Piedmont, in the middle ages ; the ob- 
jects of cruel persecution and of several cru- 
sades. They are said to have originated at 
Albigeois, m Languedoc, 'about 1160. They 
professed a hatred of the corruptions of the 
Church of Rome. 

ALBRET, Jeanne d', daughter of Marga- 
ret, Queen of Navarre, was married at the age 
of eleven to the Duke of Cleves, but the mar- 
riage was annulled in 1548, when she espous- 
ed Anthony de Bourbon, Duke of Vendomc, 
by whom she became mother of Henry IV. 
In 1555, her father dying, she became Queen 



ALB 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



of Navarre, and in 1562, the death of her 
husband left her independent. She then set 
herself to establish the Reformation in her 
kingdom, although opposed by France and 
Spain. She expired suddenly, at Versailles, 
in 1572, and her death was attributed to 
poison. 

ALBUERA, Battle of. Between the 
French, commanded by ]\Iarshal Soult, and 
the British and Anglo-Spanish army, com- 
manded by Marshal Beresford, May lOtli, 
1811. After an obstinate and sanguinary 
engagement, the latter obtained the victory, 
one of the most brilliant achievements of the 
peninsular war. The French loss exceeded 
7,000 men, and the allies lost an equal 
number. 

ALBUQUERQUE, the name of two Portu- 
guese brothers, distinguished for bravery, 
who founded the Portuguese dominion m the 
Indies. They took Cochin, in India, in 1505. 
Francis was lost on his passage home. #Vhen 
Alphonso captured Ormus, the Persian king 
demanded the tribute which he had been 
accustomed to receive from the princes of the 
island. Upon this Albuquerque laid down 
a sword and a bullet, saying haughtily, 
" This is the coin in which Portugal pays her 
tribute." After a rash and unsuccessful at- 
tempt upon Calicut, he took Goa and Malacca. 
The envy of courtiers, and the suspicions of 
King Emmanuel, did not spare even the dis- 
tinguished merit of Albuquerque, who died 
at Goa, in 1515, after his ungrateful master 
had appointed his personal enemy, Lopez 
Soarez, to fill his post. 

ALCIBIADES, an Athenian, famous for 
his enterprise, gallantry, versatility, and nat- 
ural foibles. He was the son of Clinias and 
Dinomache, and was born at Athens, about 
450 B.C. He inherited high rank and vast 
wealth, while nature had endowed him with 
a person unusually handsome, manners the 
most fascinating, and talents of high order. 
Left early an orphan, he was educated in the 
house of Pericles, who was too much occu- 
pied with state affairs to pay much attention 
to the youth. The impetuosity of Alcibiades 
displayed itself early, as the following anec- 
dote shows. "VMiile he was playing dice in 
the street with some juvenile companions, a 
wagon came up. Alcibiades requested the 
driver to stop, but he refused. The daring 




alcieial; 



youth then threw himself before the wheel, and 
exclaimed, " Drive on, if thou darest ! " The 
instructions of Socrates restrained for a time 
his vain and wanton propensities. Socrates 
fought by his side in his first battle, and, 
when he w^as wounded, defended him, and 
bore him off safe. The dissipation and ex- 
travagance of Alcibiades were unbounded. 
One night, being at a banquet, he laid a 
wager that he would box the ears of the rich 
Hipponicus, and did so. This excited gen- 
eral indignation, but Alcibiades went to the 
injured party, threw off his garment, and, 
placing a rod in his hand, bade him strike 
and revenge himself. Hipponicus not only 
pardoned him freely, but gave him his daugh- 
ter in marriage with a goodly portion. At 
the Olympic games, xVlcibiades would enter 
seven chariots, and at one time won three 
prizes. 

In the Peloponnesian war he encouraged the 
Athenians to engage in an expedition against 
Syracuse. He was chosen general in that 
war, and in his absence, his enemies, having 
found all the statues of Mercury broken, 
charged him with being concerned in the 
deed and confiscated all his property. He 
then fled to Sparta, where he attempted to 
gain popularity by adopting the temperate 
habits of the Spartans, whom he wished to 
rouse against the Athenians. Finding this 
of no avail, he went to Tissaphernes, the 



ALC 



HI ST OK Y AND BIOGRAPHY. 



satrap of Lydia. He was afteru-ard recalled 
by the Athenians, and having compelled the 
Spartans to sue for peace, and been success- 
ful in Asia, was welcomed to Athens with high 
honors. The failure of an expedition, with 
the command of which he was intrusted, 
again aroused the resentment of the people, 
and Alcibiades fled to Pharnabazes, satrap 
of Bithynia. Lysander, the Spartan general, 
induced Pharnabazes to assassinate him. The 
attendants sent for that purpose, found him 
in a castle in Phrygia, in company witli his 
favorite Timandra. They set the building on 
fire, and the warrior rushed out sword in 
hand. Dreading his valor, the cowardly as- 
sassins retreated to a safe distance, and shot 
him with their arrows. Thus perished Alci- 
biades, in the forty -fifth year of his age, about 
404 B.C. Though he wanted firm moral prin- 
ciples, he was generous, brave, persevering, 
and gifted with distinguished qualities. Plis 
eloquence won the hearts of men impercep- 
tibly and unostentatiously ; although it is said 
that he stuttered, and was unable to pro- 
nounce the letter 'r.' 

ALEMANNI, the ancient inhabitants of 
Suabia and Switzerland, united in a league, 
from wlience Germany derives its French 
name of Allemagne. They were the deter- 
mined opponents of the Romans. They 
finalljr submitted to the Franks. 

ALEXANDER the Great, son of Philip 
of Macedon, was born at Pella, b.c. 356. 
Olympias, daughter of Neoptolemus of Epi- 
rus, was his mother. At an early age, he 
showed a veneration for great deeds and a 
determination to achieve them. Hearing of 
the victories of Philip, he exclaimed, "My 
father will leave nothing for me to do." Ar- 
istotle instructed him in the most elegant as 
well as the most profound branches of knowl- 
edge, and never for a moment forgot that it 
was his duty to fit him for governing a great 
kingdom. That he might become acquainted 
with military virtues and ambition, Aristotle 
put the "Iliad" into the hands of his noble 
pupil. Alexander was so fond of this, that 
he never lay down without having read some 
' iges in it. His exclusive ambition is' well 
ustrated by the letter which he wrote his 
■eceptor on the publication of his " Meta- 
lysics." "You did wrong in publishing 
lose branches of science hitherto not to be 



3 



acquired but from oral instruction. In what 
shall I excel others, if the more profound 
knowledge I gained from you be communicat- 
ed to all ? For my part, I had rather surpass 
the majority of mankind in the sublimcr 
branches of learning, than in the extent of 
power and dominion." 

It was no part of the ancient Grecian plan 
of education, to permit the culture of the 
mind to supersede that of the body. The 
instructors of the young trained the intellec- 
tual and corporeal powers at the same time. 
Alexander was early accustomed to gymnas- 
tic exercises, and at a tender age, displayed 
his strength and skill in an extraordinary 
manner. His father had been presented with 
a superb charger (Bucephalus), which no one 
dared to mount. Alexander sprang upon 
his back and succeeded in completely taming 
him, after which the steed would permit none 
but the noble youth to mount him. He bore 
him through some of the most perilous scenes 
of his career, and, when he died, was honored 
by a splendid memorial, the erection of a city 
called Bucephalia. At the age of sixteen 
years, Alexander was appointed by his father, 
regent of Macedon, when the latter departed 
on his expedition to Byzantium. In 338, at 
the battle of Chajronea, he so distinguished 
himself, that Philip, embracing him, exclaim- 
ed, "My son, seek another empire, for that 
you will inherit is unworthy of you." 

When Philip married Cleopatra, and di- 
vorced, or at least disgraced, Olympias, Al- 
exander, having taken the part of his mother, 
incurred the displeasure of his father, and 
was forced to fly to Epirus, whence, however, 
he was soon recalled. Soon after this he 
saved his father's life in an expedition against 
the TribaUi. Philip was assassinated, b.c. 
336, when preparing to make war upon Per- 
sia, at the head of all the Grecian forces. 
Alexander, then twenty years of age, ascended 
the throne, and soon gave proof of talents to 
govern and to conquer. He conquered the 
Illyrii and Triballi, and forced a triumphant 
passage through Thrace. Urged by the elo- 
quence of Demosthenes, the Athenians were 
about to join the Thebans, who had taken up 
arms, to throw off the yoke of Macedon. 
Alexander promptly repaired to Thebes, and 
on the refusal of the citizens to surrender, 
took it and destroyed it, with the exception 



ALE 



^4 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



of the poet Pindar's house. Six thousand 
individuals were put to the sword, and thirty 
thousand reduced to captivity. The Athen- 
ians, although punished, were not so severely 
handled, and the fate of Thebes had the 
intended effect of striking terror into all 
Greece. The general assembly of the Greeks 
confirmed Alexander in the chief command 
against Persia, and he determined to leave 
Antipater, who had been a minister of his 
father, at the head of the government. The 
confidence reposed in this man was great, as 
appears from the following anecdote. Philip 
was fond of wine, and occasionally indulged 
himself to excess. One night, observing one 
of his companions unwilling to drink deeply, 
"Drink, drink," said he, "all's safe, for An- 
tipater is awake." 

In the spring of 334, Alexander crossed 
into Asia with 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse. 
In the plains of Ilium, he offered sacrifices 
to Minerva, and crowned the tomb of Achilles. 
Approaching the Granicus, he learned that 
Persian satraps, with 600,000 foot and 20,000 
horse, were prepared to oppose his progress. 
The passage of the river was effected in the 
teeth of this force, and Alexander was com- 
pletely triumphant. During the heat of battle, 
the Macedonian monarch was a mark for the 
weapons of the enemy, by the splendor of his 
equipments, and the conspicuous beauty of 
his superb charger. The cities of Asia Minor, 
with few exceptions, now opened their gates to 
the youthful conqueror. In passing through 
Gordium, Alexander cut the Gordian knot. 
Lycia, Ionia, Caria, Pamphylia, and Cappa- 
docia, were successively conquered. The con- 
queror was seized with a severe illness in 
consequence of imprudently bathing in the 
Cydnus, which proved a check to his career. 
While in a dangerous state, he received a 
letter from Parmenio, his general, warning 
him against his physician Philip, whom Par- 
menio accused of the design of poisoning his 
master. Philip was at that time preparing a 
potion for the king; and Alexander, hand- 
ing him the letter, looked steadily in his 
face while he drank off the draught. He 
recovered. 

Darius, instead of waiting for Alexander on 
the plains of Assyria, had advanced with an 
immense army to the defiles of Cilicia, whither 
the Macedonian followed, defeating the Per^ 



sians in the battle of Issus, which placed the 
treasures, and the mother, wife, and children 
of Darius in the hands of the conqueror. 
His generous treatment of the family of Da- 
rius conferred as much honor upon Alexander, 
as the victory which preceded it. He turned 
toward Coelosyria and Phoenicia for the pur- 
pose of cutting off Darius, who had fled 
toward the Euphrates. The Persian monarch 
sent a letter to Alexander suing for peace, and 
the latter answered him, that if he would 
come to him, he should receive his mother, his 
wife, his children, and his empire ; but no 
notice was taken of this liberal proposal. 
Damascus, and all the towns along the Med- 
iterranean, were entered and taken possession 
of by Alexander. The resistance of Tyre 
was severely punished ; it stood a siege of 
seven months ; the inhabitants were massa- 
cred or sold as slaves. This is one of the 
blackest acts in Alexander's career. In Pal- 
estine, Gaza, which resisted the conqueror 
like Tyre, shared a like fate. Gaza was the 
emporium for the productions of Arabia, and 
a place of considerable wealth and import- 
ance. Among the plunder, the conquer- 
or gained great quantities of fi-ankincense, 
myrrh, and other aromatics, the sight of 
which recalled a long forgotten incident of 
his juvenile days. His governor, Leonatus, 
observing him one day at a sacrifice throw 
incense into the flame by handfuls, remon- 
strated, and said, "Alexander, when you 
have conquered the spice countries, you may 
be thus lavish of your incense ; meantime use 
what you have more sparingly." Alexander 
now sent his governor several large bales of 
spices, with the following note: "Leonatus, 
I have sent you frankincense and myrrh in 
abundance ; so be no longer a churl to the 
gods." On his way through Palestine it is 
said that Alexander marched against Jerusa- 
lem to destroy it ; but when he saw Jaddus 
the high-priest clad in his solemn robes, he 
declared he had seen such a figure in a vision 
in Macedonia, inviting him to Asia and prom- 
ising to deliver the Persian empire into his 
hands. The holy city was spared, and in the 
temple Alexander offered sacrifices to the 
God of the Jews. 

He proceeded into Egypt, and founded the 
city of Alexandria. The Egyptians, to whom 
the Persian yoke had been a galling burden. 



ALE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



35 



were well pleased with the arrival of Alex- 
ander, whom they gratefully regarded as a 
deliverer. His next expedition was a visit 
to the temple of Jupiter Amnion, in the des- 
erts of Libya, where, having consulted the 
oracle, the crafty god is said to have acknowl- 
edged him as his son. In the ensuing spring, 
learning that Darius had gathered an im- 
mense force in Assyria, and was determined 
to fight to the last, rejecting all proposals for 
peace, Alexander marched in that direction. 
In 331, a furious battle was fought at Gauga- 
mela, not far from Arbela, in which the army 
of Darius was not less than 500,000 strong. 
Notwithstanding this overwhelming force, 
the Macedonian was irresistible, and scattered 
the thronged Persians like leaves before the 
tempest. Alexander's principal object was 
to capture the Persian monarch, or prevent 
his flight by death. In the midst of the 
crowd and crush of battle, Darius was no incon- 
siderable figure, for he was mounted on a char- 
iot of great height, and surrounded by guards 
splendidly armed and equipped. These, 
however, no sooner perceived the extraordi- 
nary success of Alexander, than, forgetful of 
their duty, they took to flight. Darius was 
saved by the speed of a horse upon which he 
hastily threw himself 

The immense wealth of the East was de- 
posited in Babylon and Susa, both of which 
opened their gates without hesitation to the 
mighty victor, who continued his march to- 
ward Persepolis, then the capital of Persia. 
Ariobarzanes, with 40,000 men, had thrown 
himself into the only passage which opened 
on Persepolis, to defend it as long as he was 
able. He did not hold out long, for the 
troops of Alexander, flushed with success, 
and impatient of opposition, swept away all 
obstacles. Persepolis, with all its wealth 
and luxury, was won. In Persepolis, Alex- 
ander forgot his duty and his interest in 
unexampled riot and dissipation. He was 
intoxicated with success, and inclined to 
believe himself the god which his flatterers 
would have made him. In a moment of in- 
toxication and unbridled pleasure. Alexander, 
yielding to the persuasions of an abandoned 
woman, Thais, the Athenian, fired the cap- 
ital of Persia, which was soon reduced to 
ruins. On the right bank of the Medus and 
Araxes, near Istakar, the ruins of the royal 



palace of Persepolis are still visible ; tall col- 
umns yet attesting its former magnificence, 
before the vengeance of the Greek was 
wreaked upon the pride of art. 

The burning of Persepolis filled Alexander 
with remorse, and he set forth in pursuit of 
Darius. He soon learned that Bessus, the per- 
fidious satrap of Bactria, kept his master in 
custody, but before he could save Darius, Bes- 
sus had the unfortunate monarch assassinated, 
B.C. 330. He was found lying in his chariot 
covered with wounds. The perfidy of Bessus 
was subsequently punished with death. Da- 
rius was interred with great solemnity, and 
Alexander caused himself to be proclaimed 
king of Asia. While occupied in the for- 
mation of plans of vast importance, a conspir- 
acy broke out in the camp of Alexander, in 
which Philotas, the son of Parmenio, was 
found to be concerned. Philotas, though 
brave and hardy, was addicted to pleasure, 
to expensive amusements, and given to boast- 
ing. He frequently spoke slightingly of 
Alexander to the companions of his pleasures, 
calling him the loy^ and saying that the 
victories were rather the result of his own 
exertions and those of his father, than of the 
bravery and skill of Alexander. Parmenio 
endeavored to check his son, saying, "Make 
yourself less conspicuous," but his counsel 
was of no avail. Alexander heard of the 
boastings of Philotas with indignation ; and 
when the conspiracy broke forth, his anger 
knew no bounds. Philotas was executed, 
and, by the orders of Alexander, the veteran 
Parmenio was secretly put to death, a crim- 
inal act which excited the displeasure of the 
whole army. 

Meanwhile Agis, king of Sparta, tlireatened 
the destruction of the power of Alexander in 
Greece, and raised a powerful army to obtain 
independence, but he was defeated by Anti- 
pater, and the dissolution of the Grecian 
league ensued. Neither the severity of the 
winter nor the want of local knowledge pre- 
vented Alexander from marching into the 
north of Asia and reaching the Caspian Sea. 
He attacked the Scythians, urged on by an 
insatiable thirst for distinction. On his re- 
turn to Bactria, he assumed the dress of the 
Persians, which disgusted the Macedonians, 
who thought the flowing robes of the orien- 
tals too effeminate. The Persians were dis- 



ALE 



36 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



pleased at beholding the Macedonian oflBecrs 
entering the royal presence without those 
tokens of respect, which the kings of their 
nation invariably exacted from their subjects. 
The low inclinations of reverence could omly 
be claimed from the Greeks on the plea that 
Alexander, as a god, was entitled to them. 
A blunt Spartan once satisfied the master of 
ceremonies and his own scruples, by first 
dropping a ring and then stooping to pick it 
up in the presence of the king. Offended 
witlvthe independence and freedom of Clitus, 
Alexander slew him with his own hand at a 
banquet. As soon as he saw the lifeless body 
of his most faithful friend and bravest general 
stretched before him, he was seized with all 
the agonies of remorse. 

The next year Alexander subdued Sogdi- 
ana, and married the Bactrian Roxana, love- 
liest of Asiatic women. Tlio Asiatic women, 
but particularly the ladies of Persia, were 
famous for the richness of their attire, and 
the art with which they heightened their 
native beauty. The Persian ladies wore the 
tiara or turban, richly adorned with jewels. 
They wore their hair long, and both plaited 
and curled it ; nor, if the natural failed, did 
they scruple to use false locks. They pen- 
ciled the eye-brows, and tinged the eye-lid, 
with a dye that was supposed to add a pecu- 
liar brilliancy to the eyes. They were fond 
of perfumes, and the delightful attar was the 
favorite. Their tunic and drawers were of 
fine linen ; the robe or gown, of silk, with a 
long train that on state occasions required a 
supporter. Round the waist they wore a 
broad zone or cincture, flounced on both 
edges, and embroidered and jeweled in the 
centre. They also wore stockings and gloves, 
but history docs not record their materials. 
They used no sandals ; a light and ornamental 
shoe was worn in the house ; and for walking 
they had a kind of coarse half boot. They 
used shawls and wrappers for the person, and 
veils for the head ; the veil was large and 
square, and when thrown over the head 
descended low on all sides. They were fond 
of glowing colors, especially of purple, scar- 
let, and light-blue dresses. Their favorite 
ornaments were pearls ; they wreathed these 
in their hair, wore them as necklaces, ear- 
drops, amulets, bracelets, anklets, and worked 
them into conspicuous parts of their dresses. 



Of the precious stones they preferred eme- 
ralds, rubies, and turquoises, which were set 
in gold and worn like the pearls. No fewer 
than ten thousand Greeks, captivated with 
their charms, married Asiatic brides, and 
each couple received a present from Alexan- 
der. 

Soon after the marriage of Alexander with 
Roxana, a conspiracy was discovered among 
his troops, headed by Ilermolaus. All were 
condemned to death but Callisthenes, who 
was mutilated and carried about with the 
army in an iron cage, until his tortures be- 
came insufferable, and he killed himself by 
poison. Alexander penetrated into India and 
was highly successful. His most determined 
enemy was Porus, an Indian king, whom 
he effectually subdued. When this warlike 
monarch was asked how he should be treated, 
he answered Alexander, "Like a king," and 
was consequently restored to his kingdom. 

Alexander established Greek colonies in 
India, and is said to have built no fewer than 
seventy towns, one of which was erected in 
honor of his horse Bucephalus, "killed on the 
banks of the Hydaspes. He would have pen- 
etrated as far as the Ganges, but for the mur- 
murs of his fatigued army. He returned to 
the Hydaspes, and built a fleet upon its banks, 
dispatching part of his army by water, 
while the remainder marched down by land. 
His march through the country was not 
unopposed, and he himself received a severe 
wound, from which, however, he recovered, 
and sailing down the Indus, reached the sea. 
Nearchus, the admiral of Alexander, sailed 
to the Persian gulf, while the conqueror 
reached Babj'lon by land, in the spring 
of 824 B.C., after encountering incredible 
fatigues, which cost him the loss of many 
men. At Susa, he was married to two Per- 
sian princesses. At Opis, on the Tigris, he 
sent home the invalids with presents, and 
quelled a mutiny of his troops. Not long 
after this, his friend and favorite, Ilephajstion, 
died. It is asserted that the fever of He- 
phajstion was brought on by hard drinking. 
Alexander's grief at the loss of his favorite 
was excessive, and even endangered his rea- 
son ; for three days he tasted no food, and lay 
stretched upon the ground, either in silent 
sorrow or loud lamentation. The monej- 
expended on the funeral pile might have 



ALE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



37 



erected a palace ; and all the barbarian sub- 
jects of Alexander were ordered to go into 
mourning. 

When Alexander went from Ecbatana to 
Babj^lon, which he meant to make the capital 
of his empire, he is said to have been warned 
by the astrologers that the latter place would 
prove fatal to him. Despising these warnings, 
he went to Babylon and gave audience to the 
several foreign ambassadors who awaited his 
arrival. His mind was engaged in forming 
vast plans of future conquest, when he was 
seized with sickness, after a banquet, and 
died in the spring of 323 B.C. Alexander had 
reigned twelve years and eight months, and 
was thirty-two years old at the time of his 
death. The vast possessions which he had 
acquired by force, were deluged by continual 
bloodshed when he was no more. When 
asked to whom he left his kingdom, he an- 
swered, "to the worthiest." The body of 
Alexander was interred with all the pomp and 
circumstance of regal burial at Alexandria, 
where Ptolemy inclosed his remains in a 
golden coffin. The Egyptians and other na- 
tions paid divine honors to him after his 
deith. A modern writer has said: "The 
history of Alexander forms an important 
epoch in the history of mankind. Unlike 
other Asiatic conquerors, his progress was 
marked by something more than devastation 
and ruin ; at every step of his course the 
Greek language and civilization took root and 
flourished ; and after his death, Greek king- 
doms were formed in all parts of Asia, which 
continued to exist for centuries. By his con- 
quests the knowledge of mankind w\as in- 
creased; the sciences of geography, natural 
history, and others received vast additions ; 
and it was through him that a road was 
opened to India, and that Europeans became 
acquainted with the products of the remote 
East." 

ALEXANDER SEVERUS, a Phoenician 
by birth, related to Heliogabalus, who at- 
tempted his life, in consequence of which the 
pr;etorian guards slew the monster, and 
made Alexander emperor in his seventeenth 
year. He proved himself worthy of the 
sceptre, and having gained a great victory 
over the Persians, on his return to Rome was 
honored by a triumph. When he marched 
into Gaul, where an irruption of the Germans 



required his presence, he fell, by a mutiny of 
his troops, in the year 235, after a reign of 
twelve years. He was temperate, frugal, 
humane, and so favorably disposed to Chris- 
tianity, that he placed the statue of Jesus in 
his private chapel. 

ALEXANDER, the name of seven popes, 
the first of whom introduced the use of holy 
water. The sixth was remarkable for his 
cruelty and the infamy of his son, Caesar 
Borgia. He died in 1503, having greatly 
extended the papal dominions in Italy. 

ALEXANDER NEVSKOI, grand 'duke 
of Russia, a hero and saint of the Russian 
church, was born in 1218, and died 1263 

ALEXANDER I., of Russia. [Bee Roman- 
off.] 

ALEXANDRIA was the Greek capital of 
ancient Egypt, and under the Ptolemies, 
wliose favorite residence it was, was cele- 
brated for its wealth, splendor, and arts. It 
was founded in 332 b.c. by Alexander, who 
employed the celebrated architect, Dinocrates, 
in beautifying and embellishing it, and sprang 
at once into beauty and importance. The 
situation of Alexandria, and the excellence 
of its fine harbors, appeared to adapt it to 
the rank which its founder hoped that it 
would hold among the cities of the world. 
Ptolemy Soter, or the Savior, and Ptolemy 
Philadelphus, conferred great benefits upon 
the city, which became the seat of literature, 
the resort of the learned of all countries, and 
an important mart. Its earliest inhabitants 
were Greeks and Egyptians. The population 
was augmented by colonies of Jews trans- 
ported thither for that purpose. These peo- 
ple made themselves familiar with Grecian 
lore, and translated into the Greek language 
the whole of the Old Testament, a version 
called the Septuagint. Four hundred thoiu 
sand volumes of the royal library were con- 
tained in a magnificent edifice belonging to 
the academ.y and museum, in which Euclid 
taught; 300,000 more were deposited in the 
temple of Jupiter Serapis. As all these works 
were in manuscript, their value was immense. 
The Ptolemies spared no pains to enrich their 
library, which became the finest in the world. 
AVhen Julius Caesar besieged Alexandria, 47 
B.C., the library was injured by fire, but the 
loss was repaired by the library of Pergamus 
which Antony presented to Queen Cleopatra. 



ALE 



'dS 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 




CLEOPATRA S NEEDLE. 



It was much injured by the Christians under 
Theodosius the Great, and the Arabs com- 
pleted the devastation. When the division 
of the Roman empire was effected, Alexan- 
dria, together with the country of which it 
was the capital, was included in the Eastern 
empire. Alexandria came into the hands of 
the Arabs in 640. It received the attention 
of the Caliph Motawakel, who, mindful of 
its former state, restored both the library and 
academy, in 845. In 868, it was taken by 
the Turks, and under their sway, very rap- 
idly declined. Still its commerce was in a 
flourishing state, and continued so until the 
close of the fifteenth century, when the Por- 
tuguese, by the discovery of the passage to 
the Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, altered 
the commercial channel, and enriched them- 
selves at the expense of the Egyptians. The 
modern city of Alexandria occupies only a part 



ALE 



of the site of the ancient city. The remains 
of ancient Alexandria are unimportant, the 
red granite obelisks called Cleopatra's needles, 
and Pompey's pillar, being the most conspic- 
uous. The latter was erected by a prefect of 
Egypt, in honor of the Emperor Diocletian ; 
but the equestrian statue which formerly 
surmounted it, is gone. Some years past, a 
party of English sailors resolved to amuse 
themselves, and astonish the natives, by 
mounting to the top, and refi-esliing them- 
selves at an elevation which should put them 
above the cares and turmoils of humanity. 
How to accomplish their purpose was the 
next question. This was soon settled. They 
raised a line by means of a kite, and dropped 
it over the pillar, and by this means drew up 
a rope, by which they gained tlie top, whence, 
looking down upon the spectators from a 
giddy elevation of eighty-eight feet, they con- 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



39 



gratulated themselves on their success. The 
island of Pharos yet bears the ruins of the 
light-house erected by the Ptolemies. This 
celebrated building was of white marble. 
Ptolemy directed his name to be inscribed 
upon the tower, but the cunning architect 
carved the name of his employer upon a 
tablet of plaster, which, decaying in time, 
displayed the name of the builder, with a 
dedication to the gods, claiming for himself 
all the honors due to his sovereign. One 
of Cleopatra's needles was presented to En- 
gland by the pacha, but its weight, 400,000 
pounds, was a serious bar to its transportation. 
The ancient Alexandria had a population of 
600,000; the modern contains about 60,000. 
It is the seat of a patriarch. It is the only 
port of Egypt, and the ancient canal com- 
munication with the Nile has been reopened. 
This, and the establishment of the overland 
route to India, have increased its importance. 

A battle was fought at Alexandria, March 
21st, 1801, between the French under Mcnou 
and the British under Abercrombie. The 
latter gained the day. Abercrombie was 
mortally wounded. 

ALFIERI, Victor, Count, was born at 
Asti in Piedmont, in 1749. His family was 
rich and distinguished, but, an orphan from 
childhood, his education was neglected, like 
that of most of the young Italian nobles of 
his age and rank. Thus he quitted the 
academy of Turin, with an undisciplined and 
uninformed mind, and joined a regiment in 
the hope of finding something exciting in 
military pursuits. But here he was disap- 
pointed : the regiment was mustered only a 
few days in the year, and he was compelled 
to seek some other mode of killing time. For 
several years he led a dissipated and wander- 
ing life through Italy, France, England, and 
Holland, but wanted the information to ren- 
der his wanderings profitable. A love for 
horses and horsemanship was one of his two 
strongest passions. The other involved him 
in a swarm of profligate amours. Yet by one 
of these affairs, his poetical susceptibility 
and his literary ambition were for the first 
time aroused. Aware of his deficiencies, he 
resolved to educate himself He studied as- 
siduously Latin and Tuscan. In Tuscany, 
he became acquainted with the Countess of 
Albany, the unhappy wife of the Chevalier 



Charles Edward Stuart. To her love he 
owed much of his inspiration. Settling his 
fortune on his sister, he resided alternately 
at Florence and Rome, until the death of 
Charles Stuart put an end to the woes of 
the Countess of Albany, and enabled her to 
marry him. They lived together in Alsace 
and at Paris, until the revolution in France 
drove Alfieri from a country he loved, to his 
native land, where he resided at Florence till 
his death, in 1803. Alfieri's talents were 
great, but misapplied, and his tragedies are 
rather valuable as indicating his powers, than 
as establishing his fame. 

ALFRED TUE Gkeat, was born 849, and 
died 900. He was the youngest son of Eth- 
elwolf, king of the West Saxons, and was 
born at Wantage, in Berkshire. He went to 
Rome at the age of five years, and was 
annointed by the pope, although he then had 
an elder brother. This brother, Etheldred, 
fell in battle with the Danes, and in 872, 
Alfred ascended the throne. This was an 
unpropitious time, for the power of the Danes 
was then great and employed in harassing 
the Saxons, whose country they ravaged in 
various directions. Alfred concluded some 
treaties with them, but they were not kept, 
and unable to make head against the invaders, 
he was compelled to fly, and in concealment 
to await a moment when his reappearance 
would be advantageous for his country. The 
old chronicles tell that he fovmd refuge in a 
peasant's hut at Athelney in Somersetshire. 
The goodwife set the disguised monarch to 
watch the baking of cakes. His mind was 
busy with the Danes ; the cakes burned to a 
coal ; and the words of his mistress were 
loud and sharp. In the disguise of a harper, 
he penetrated the Danish camp to gain infor- 
mation of the strength and hopes of his foes. 
Having satisfied himself of both, he directed 
his nobles and their vassals to assemble at 
Selwood. Here he headed the troops, and, 
attacking the Danes at Eddington, gained a 
signal victory. A series of successes soon 
restored him his throne. He permitted those 
Danes who were willing to embrace the 
Christian religion, to remain in the kingdom 
of East Anglia, which he surrendered to 
them. He built forts to secure his subjects, 
augmented and strengthened his navy, and 
established the prosperity of London on a 



ALF 



40 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



firm basis. He defeated the Danes who still 
persisted in attempting to obtain footing in 
England, and made his name a terror to the 
pirates. He had fought fifty-six battles by 
sea and land, in every one of which he was 
personally engaged. His zeal for the reforma- 
tion of laws and manners is as honorable to 
him as his military prowess. He composed 
a valuable code. By some he is said to have 
instituted the trial by jury, and to have 
divided England into shires, hundreds and 
tithings. But it is probable that the jury 
trial and these municipal divisions had pre- 
viously subsisted among the Anglo-Saxons, 
and that Alfred confirmed them upon a surer 
basis. He so arranged the business of the 
nation that all measures passed through three 
councils. To the first of these only those 
high in the king's confidence were admitted, 
and here were debated all afiiiirs that were to 
be laid before the second council, which con- 
sisted of bishops and nobles, appointed by 
the king. The third was a general assembly 
of the nation, called Wittenagemote, to sit 
in which quality and ofiiccs gave a right in- 
dependent of the king. In these councils we 
discern the origin of the present cabinet, 
privy council, and parliament of England. 

Alfred was an ardent lover of learning, and 
was himself a distinguished scholar. He in- 
vited learned men from all parts, and estab- 
lished schools throughout his kingdom. He 
is said to have been the founder of the uni- 
versity of Oxford, or, at least, to have exalted 
it to a height which it had never before 
attained. University College sprang from 
his liberality. He composed several works, 
and translated others into Anglo-Saxon for 
the benefit of his subjects. Among his trans- 
lations may be mentioned the "Consolations 
of Philosophy" of Bocthius, and perhaps the 
Psalms of David and the Fables of yEsop. 
He was industrious and fond of order, divid- 
ing the twenty-four hours into three equal 
portions; one devoted to religious duties, 
another to public affairs, and the third to 
rest. Alfred laid the foundation of the navy 
of England, by building galleys of a size 
superior to that of any of the age. In pri- 
vate life, he was distinguished by piety, 
affability, and cheerfulness. His person was 
commanding and stately. 

ALGIERS. The state formely known as 



the regency of Algiers is now in possession 
of the French, and called by them L'Algerie. 
It comprises the territory of the kingdom of 
Numidia, which was reduced to a Roman 
province 44 B.C., and afterward subjugated bj^ 
the Vandals, then by the Byzantine Greeks, 
and finally by the Arabs, who invaded the 
north of Africa at the beginning of the eighth 
century and established Islamism. The city 
of Algiers was founded by Zeiri, an Arab of 
distinction, in 944, and his family were en- 
dowed with hereditary power by one of the 
Fatimite caliphs. 

TheZeirite dynasty ruled until 1148, when 
Roger, king of Sicily, and the Moravites, 
possessed themselves at diff'erent times of the 
whole of the territory of Hassad Ben Ali. 
Algiers was again an independent sovereignty 
after 1270. The regency of Algiers, tributary 
to the Turkish sultan, Avas founded about 
1518, by Horush (nicknamed Barharossa) 
and his brother Khair-ed-din, two Turkish 
corsairs who were summoned by the Algerines 
to beat back Ferdinand of Spain, and who 
usurped the government. It was about this 
time that the Christian knights, having war- 
red against the Mohammedan states, and al- 
most annihilated the Moorish commerce, the 
Moslem rulers exhorted their subjects to 
make reprisals, and to annoy their foes by 
extensive piracies. The call was obeyed 
without reluctance, and the Mohammedans, 
crowded beneath the crescent, spread the 
terror of their name upon the seas. The 
piratical republic founded by the fierce 
chieftains above named, was the stronghold 
of religious fonaticism and authorized piracy. 
The barks of the corsairs swept the seas 
in triumph, and the Algerines distinguished 
themselves above the inhabitants of the other 
Barbary states, by the fierce perseverance with 
which they pursued their career of crime. 

Charles V. undertook the siege of Algiers, 
in the latter part of 1541, with an armament 
of two hundred sail and thirty thousand men. 
But his ships and camp were destroyed bj' 
storms of uncommon violence, followed by 
the ravages of earthquakes. He lost his 
cannon, military stores, and baggage, and was 
compelled to abandon some of his scattered 
troops, while fifteen ships of war, a hundred 
and forty transports, and eight thousand 
men perished in the storm. This success 



ALG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



41 



inspired the Moors with the liveliest joy, but 
they attributed it entirely to the pious exer- 
tions of Sid-Atica, a marabout who employed 
himself diligently in beating the sea with his 
stick, until the waves lost all patience, and, 
rising in a body, destroyed the Christian 
fleet. The worthy old gentleman was buried 
with great solemnity, and his bones rested 
beneath a monument erected by his country- 
men. They were said to be gifted with the 
magic power of his stick, and, employed upon 
the waves with proper emphasis, capable 
of raising the wind to an incredible extent. 
Antiquity fii -nishes precedent for a belief in 
the efficacy of chastising the waters, for 
Xerxes, enraged at the turbulence of the Gre- 
cian waves, caused them to be. whipped with 
rods. 

The corsairs continued the scourge of Chris- 
tendom. On even the coasts of England and 
Ireland they swooped, and " took prey of men 
to be made slaves." " They carried their En- 
glish captives to France, drove them in chains 
overland to Marseilles, to ship them thence 
with greater safety for slaves to Algiers," an 
old historian says. Admiral Blake taught the 
pirates to respect the flag of England, in 1G53 ; 
but they repulsed later attacks of that and 
other European powers. Many nations paid 
tribute to the dey, and thus bought freedom 
for their flags. In 1815 Commodore Decatur 
compelled the Algerines not only to renounce 
their claim to black mail from our shipping, 
but to make indemnification for the losses 
which we had experienced from their pira- 
cies. The city of Algiers was vigorously 
bombarded by a British fleet under Lord 
Exmouth, Aug. 27th, 1816. The dey was 
forced to conclude a treaty, by which all 
Christian slaves were set free, and he prom- 
ised that no more captives should be reduced 
to that ignominious condition. This last 
stipulation was afterward evaded. The Al- 
gerines claimed the right, as an independent 
power, of declaring war against any state 
they chose, and of seizing its merchantmen, 
and keeping the crews in prison till peace 
was agreed on. In 1817 their corsairs pene- 
trated the North Sea, and there, with sur- 
prising audacity, captured ships which did 
not belong to tributary powers, or to those 
who were exempted from their depredations 
by treaty. Prisoners were only ransomed at 



enormous prices. Their treatment, now, in- 
stead of being ameliorated was more harsh 
than ever, and the corsairs, although they 
respected the flags of America and other 
strong powers, warred with the ships of 
weaker states, and enforced the superiority of 
might over right. The jealousy of the Eu- 
ropean states for a long time favored the 
encroachments of the Algerines, until the 
French prepared for conflict with stern de- 
cision. One of the last events in the reign of 
Charles X., was the entire prostration of the 
power of Algiers. The dey, with his personal 
treasures and his women, was permitted to 
retire, and selected Italy as a retreat. The 
French took possession of the town, the castle,, 
and all public property whatsoever. Among 
the spoil were twelve ships of war, fifteen 
hundred brass cannon, and forty-eight mil- 
lion francs in gold and silver. They secured 
their conquest, and since then Algiers has 
been a military province of France. 

During the prosperity of Algiers, a strug- 
gle was kept up with the Sublime Porte about 
the appointment of the dcys, till the sultan 
finally relinquished the claim of choosing 
them to the soldiery, and retained but a nom- 
inal authority over Algiers. The deys, when- 
ever they displeased the ferocious soldiery 
they afiected to rule, were deposed and put 
to death. The lives of these men were pro- 
verbially short, but we admit an exception in 
the person of Mohammed III., who died in 
1791, after a reign of twenty -three years, at the 
age of ninety -three. Omar Pacha, the oppo- 
nent of Lord Exmouth, was murdered in 1817. 
Ali Hodya, his successor, shut himself up in 
the castle of Casaba, where, by means of his 
fifty-six cannon, a;id a garrison on which he 
could rely, he maintained ascendency over the 
city and the cruel Tui'kish troops, who had 
murdered Omar. Hussein, successor of Hodya, 
rendered cautious by experience, likewise 
occupied this strong castle. The government 
of Algiers was despotic, the dey possessing 
unlimited power, but being assisted by a 
divan composed of his chief officei-s of state 
and first ministers. The common soldiers 
elected the dey, but no election was permit- 
ted without unanimity in the electors. There- 
fore, when there was a difference, the majority 
compelled the weaker party to concur with 
them. The new dey espoused the principle 



ALG 



42 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



of proscription, and frequentl}^ put to death 
incumbents, for the sake of opening state 
oflBccs to his partisans. He held a court of 
justice on four days in the week, where pro- 
ceedings were summary, and condemnation 
was followed by punishment at no long 
interval. 

By the capitulation of the dey, the French 
became possessed "of the city of Algiers, 
and the forts and harbors depending on it." 
No mention was made of the provinces, or of 
the native tribes in the interior, over which 
the authority of the dey was little else than 
nominal. Ahmed Bey of Constantine and 
the Bej^ of Titteri refused allegiance, and 
were not subdued for several years. The 
grasping policy of the French alienated the 
Arab tribes moreover. In May, 1833, Abd- 
el-Kader, the Emir of Mascara, took up arms 
against the invaders, and his leadership was 
soon recognized by all the Arabs. The con- 
test between him and the French was not 
closed till December, 1847, when he surren- 
dered and was sent with his family and 
attendants to France. There he remained a 
prisoner, treated however with much cour- 
tesy, till October, 1852, when he was 
released by Louis Napoleon. He swore upon 
the Koran never to disturb Africa again, and 
was to reside thenceforward at Broussa, in 
Asia Minor. In consequence of the earth- 
quake at that place, Feb. 28th, 1855, he 
removed to Coastantinople. 

The French keep a large army in the col- 
ony. The European emigration settled in 
Algeria up to 1852, amounted to about sev- 
enty thousand, and it has since been rapidly 
augmented. The native races of the country 
consist of Berbers or Kabyles (the aboriginal 
inhabitant^'), Arabs, ]\Ioors, Kooloolis (de- 
scendants of Turks), Jews (who flocked hither 
when extirpated from Spain and Portugal), 
and negro slaves from Soudan. Slavery has 
been abolished by the French. The popula- 
tion of the city of Algiers in 1852 was 
54,041, of whom 24,649 were native Mussul- 
mans and Jews. The French have much 
improved its appearance ; they have opened 
wide streets and squares, built fine houses in 
the European style, hotels, coffee-houses, a 
theatre, &c. The activity of the new settlers 
wiU soon change the look of the whole coun- 



try. Constantine, the ancient Cirta, has a 
population of about 30,000. 

ALHAMBRA was the fortified palace of 
the Moorish kings of Granada, a possession 
to which they clung with their latest grasp, 
and which was the best beloved spot in their 
terrestrial paradise. The meaning of the 
Moorish name is 'the red,' and it was so 
called from the deep red brick of which the 
pile is built. The Spanish term it the Sierra 
del Sol, because, from its situation on an emi- 
nence, it catches and reflects the first beams 
of the rising sun. The palace composes but 
a small portion of the fortress, whose walls 
encompass the crest of a lofty hill rising from 
the Sierra Nevada, or 'snowy mountain.' 
The fortress was at one time capable of con- 
taining forty thousand men. The Alhambra 
originally consisted of a summer palace and 
a winter palace. The latter was pulled down 
to make room for the palace commenced and 
never finished by Charles Y. The pile that 
remains exhibits traces of the splendor of the 
arts among the Moors. A striking portion 
of the palace is the Court of Lion.s, which 
is a hundred feet in length, and fifty in 
breadth, surrounded by a beautiful colon- 
nade seven feet broad at the sides, and 
ten at the ends Two splendid porticoes, 
fifteen feet square, project into this court. 
The square is paved with tiles, the colonnade 
with white marble. The walls are covered 
with arabesques. The columns upon which 
the roof and gallery rest, are grotesquely or- 
namented and irregularly distributed. Over 
the columns is inscribed in Cufic characters, 
"And there is no conqueror but God." The 
capitals abound with curious devices. The 
fountain consists of twelve ill-shaped lions, 
bearing on their backs a large basin, out of 
which rises a smaller one. Here Avater gushed 
from the inner basin, and, passing through 
the lions, communicated by channels with 
other apartments. The fountain is of white 
marble and inscribed with Arabian distiches, 
like the following: "See'st thou hoAV the 
water flows copiously like the Nile ? " "The 
fiiir princess that walks by this garden, cov- 
ered with pearls, ornaments its beauty so 
much, that thou may est doubt whether it be 
a fountain that flows or the tears of her 
admirers." 



ALH 



HISTORY A iN U B 1 U G R A F U y . 



43 



S if 




u 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



The hall beyond the colonnade on the south 
side was the place chosen by Boabdil for the 
execution of the chiefs of the Abencerrages, 
and their bleeding heads fell, as fast as they 
were decapitated, into the limpid waters of 
the fountain. The hall of the Two Sisters 
{Toi're de las dos Hernuinas) was named from 
two beautiful slabs of white marljle, inserted 
in the pavement. El Toeadoi\ or the Tiring 
Tower, was appropriated to the toilette of the 
sultana, who in one part had a marble slab 
in the floor perforated with holes, to admit 
vapor and perfumes for the purification of 
her person. The king's bed-chamber was 
furnished with . fountains to cool the atmos- 
phere, and the royal baths were commodious 
and superb. Beneath were vaults used as a 
cemetery by the Moorish monarchs. The 
regret of the Mooi*s at leaving this place, 
which wealth, art, and taste had brought to 
such splendor, can easily be conceived. They 
never ceased to offer up prayers in their 
mosques for their restoration to Granada. 
After it fcU into the hands of the believers, 
Alhambra continued to be a royal dejnesne. 
Charles V. abandoned it as a residence in 
consequence of earthquakes; and Philip V., 
with his beautiful queen, Elizabeth of Parma, 
was the last roj'al tenant of this princely 
, abode. Subsequently it became infested by 
a lawless population ; this was expelled ; but, 
owing to culpable negligence, the palace was 
permitted to fall into decaj', from which the 
^Moorish portion was partially rescued by the 
exertions of .the French troops gaiTisoned in 
it from 1810 to 1812. The French, on their 
departure, blew up part of the walls of the 
fortress, and destroyed its importance as a 
military post To the historian, the poet, 
the antiquary, and the artist, this relic of 
Moorish splendor possesses an indisputable 
interest Nothing could be more plain and 
unattractive than its exterior, but within it 
was probably the most gorgeous specimen of 
Moorish architecture and decoration that has 
ever existed. 

ALT, the cousin and son-in-law of Mahomet. 
When Mahomet, assembling his kinsmen, 
and making known to them his pretended 
mission, asked who would be his vizier, Ali, 
then only fourteen years of age, started up 
and exclaimed : " I will ! Let but a man 



advance against thee, I will pluck out his 

ALL 



eyes, dash in his jaws, break his legs, and 
tear up his belly. prophet, I am thy 
vizier." So wefl did he keep his word, that 
he was called the 'lion of the Lord,' the 
'ever victorious.' He should have succeeded 
Mahomet, but being opposed successfully by 
Omar and Othman, he formed a sect of his 
own, and gained many followers. On the 
death of Othman, he was declared caliph, 
but was assassinated in a mosque, at Cufa, in 
the sixty-third year of his age, 669. The 
Persians belong to the sect of Ali. 

ALT, Pacha of Janina, commonly called 
Ali Pacha, was born in Albania, in 1744, and 
at the age of sixteen, headed the followers 
whom the death of his father left with no other 
leader. In freebooting he was so unsucces.s- 
ful, that he was forced to pawn his sabre to 
keep himself from starving. As he was sit- 
ting, ruminating upon his hard luck, and 
carelessly turning up the ground with his 
staff, he struck upon something hard. Cu- 
riosity induced him to search fm-ther, and he 
dug up a chest of gold ! He now equipped 
a band of followers whose cruelty and rapac- 
ity made them formidable. Having rendered 
some service to the Porte, he obtained the 
pachalic of Janina in southern Albania, and 
maintained himself in almost independent 
sovereignty. He subjugated the Suliotes, be- 
came a formidable military potentate between 
1790 and 1821, and raised Albania to power 
and renown that recalled the memory of its 
ancient Epirote princes. Having declared 
himself independent, and his capital, Janina, 
being taken, he was put to death by order of 
the sultan, in 1822. He was brave and able, 
but cruel, rapacious, false, ambitious, and 
suspicious. He had a Greek lady, Euphros- 
yne, and fifteen other women thrown into 
the sea, because he suspected that they ex- 
erted an undue influence over his son. Tf he 
wished to possess himself of a beautiful 
Greek girl, he sent his executioner to her 
parents, with this message, "Your daughter 
has found favor in the eyes of Ali." They 
were forced to surrender her, or fly. 

ALLEN, Ethan, brigadier-general in our 
revolutionary army, was born in Litchfield, 
Conn., Jan. 10th, 1737. His parents re- 
moved to Vermont, when he was quite j^oung. 
Tn the contest bet-ween the settlers of Ver- 
mont and the colony r f New York, which 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



45 



began about 1770, he took so active a part 
that he was outlawed by New York and five 
hundi-ed guhieas were offered for his capture. 
Soon after the battle of Lexington, in com- 
pliance with the request of the legislature of 
Connecticut, he headed two hundred and 
thirty Green Mountain boys, and marched 
against the fortresses of Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point. At Castleton he was to have 
been joined by a reinforcement under Bene- 
dict Arnold, but the latter, unable to raise the 
proposed force, set forward with the Spartan 
band of Allen. On the night of the 9th of 
May, 1775, Allen landed eighty -three men 
near Ticonderoga, having with difficulty pro- 
cured boats for that purpose. Day surprised 
him before his rear-guard was brought over, 
and he found himself compelled to attack the 
fort. He concluded an animated speech by 
saying, "lam going to lead you forward/ 
The attempt is desperate. I wish to urge no 
man onward against his will. Those who 
will follow me, poise firelocks ! " Every fire- 
lock was immediately poised. "On then, 
my boys ! " said Allen, and led the central 
file to the wicket gate. He was opposed by 
a sentry, but brought his men through the 
covered way, and formed them on the parade. 
The huzzas of the assailants roused the com- 
manding officer, Captain de la Place, from 
his slumbers. He awoke to find Allen hold- 
ing a drawn sword over his head and demand- 
ing the surrender of the fortress. " In Avhose 
name?" asked the commander. "In the 
name of the Great Jehovah, and the Conti- 
nental Congress." On the same day, by 
the capture of Crown Point, and the only 
armed vessel on Lake Champlain, that im- 
portant lake was placed in Allen's power. 

In the autumn, in conjunction with Col. 
Brown, he attempted the reduction of Mon- 
treal, but being attacked by the British 
before Col. Brown's troops came up, he was 
defeated and made prisoner. He was treated 
with great barbarity in his captivity ; carried 
to England, and then to Halifax ; thence to 



denl}^, at his estate at Colchester, Feb. 13 th, 
1789. He pubhshed some pamphlets, one of 
which contained an open declaration of infi- 
delity. He adopted the most absurd ideas 
of the ancients, with regard to the transmi- 
gration of souls, often saying that he expected 
to live again in the form of a large Avhite 
horse ; but if we may believe the following 
anecdote, his atheism was insincere. When 
his daughter was dying, she sent for him, and 
said, "Father, I am about to die: shall I be- 
lieve in what you have taught me, or in the 
Christian principles my mother teaches." 
After a moment of convulsive agitation, he 
replied, "Believe in what your mother has 
taught you." 

ALLIANCES. Between the confederate 
Greeks, against Troy, b.c. 1194-84. Between 
the Romans and the Carthaginians, B.C. 508. 
Between the Athenians, Thebans, Corin- 
thians, and Argives, against the Lacedemo- 
nians, B.C. 395. It is not a little remarkable, 
that in the long course of Roman conquest, 
not one well arranged and conducted alliance 
was formed and contributed to restrain her 
power. In modern ages, alliances in the true 
sense of the term, are recent. The crusades 
were really a species of alliance, but with 
very little of the system of modern alliances. 
The league of Cambray, formed Dec. 10th, 
1508, between Louis XTI. of France, Maxi- 
milian of Germany, Pope Julius II., and 
Ferdinand of Spain, against the Venetians, 
was the first of those coalitions so disastrous 
or beneficial, as the case may be, which have 
so deeply influenced modern European policy. 
By it Venice was forced to cede to Spain her 
possessions in the kingdom of Naples. Those 
of most importance since have been, a league 
between Henry VIII. of England and the Em- 
peror Charles V., against Francis of France. 
The league of the princes of Germany in 
favor of Protestantism, at Smalcald, Dec. 
22d, 1530. Between Francis I. of France and 
Sultan Solyman, against Charles V., 1536; 
renewed in 1542. Between Charles V. and 



New York, where he remained a year and a Pope Paul IIL, against the Protestants, 1546. 



half, before he was exchanged. His health 
having been greatly impaired, he returned to 
Vermont, where he was appointed to com- 
mand the militia. He indignantly rejected 
the bribes offered by the British to attempt a 
union of Vermont with Canada. He died sud- 



Betwcen Spain, Venice, and Pope Pius V., 
against the Turks, 1570. Between England 
and the states-general of Holland, against 
Spain, 1578. Union of Utrecht, whereby 
began the Dutch republic of the Seven 
United Provinces, 1579. Evangelical league, 



ALL 



4(5 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



formed in 1G26, between the Protestant 
princes of Germany and Denmarlc (Sweden 
afterward acceded), against the Emperor 
Ferdinand I. Triple alliance between En- 
gland, Sweden, and the states-general of 
Holland, against France, 1GG8. Alliance of 
the empire and Holland against France, July 
loth, 1672. League of Augsburg against 
France, July 11th, IGSG. Grand alliance 
between Emperor Leopold L, the states-gen- 
eral of Holland, and William HL of England, 
against France, May 12tli, 1689. First 
treaty of partition, between England and 
Holland, for regulating the Spanish succes- 
sion, 1G98. Second treaty of partition, be- 
tween France, England, and Holland, declar- 
ing the Archduke Charles heir presumptive 
of the Spanish kingdom, 1700. Alliance of 
Germany, England, and Holland, against 
France, Spain, and Portugal, 1701. Barrier 
treaty of Antwerp, between Germany, Hol- 
land, and England, by which the Low Coun- 
tries were ceded to the empire, Nov. 15th, 
1715. Quadruple alliance between Great 
Britain, France, Germany, and Holland, to 
guarantee the succession of the reigning 
families in Great Britain and France, and to 
settle the partition of the Spanish monarchy, 
Aug. 2d, 1718. Defensive alliance between 
Great Britain and Prussia, 1742. Between 
Great Britain and Prussia, Feb. 16th, 1756; 
renewed April 11th, 1758, without any regu- 
lar compact. France, Austria, Russia and 
Sweden, were at the epoch of the last men- 
tioned alliance between Great Britain and 
Prussia, actually in the field against Prussia. 
To the United States, if not to the world, the 
most important of all alliances or confedera- 
tions was that of the British North Ameri- 
can colonies. This great union, not for war, 
but defense, after many incipient steps, was 
formed in 1775; announced to the world as 
free and independent, July 4th, 1776; received 
the general name of the United States, by a 
resolution of Congress, Sept., 1776, and was 
consummated by the adoption of a federal 
constitution of government, March 3d, 1789. 
First coalition against France, by Great Brit- 
ain, Prussia, Austria, Sardinia, &c., 1793. 
Second, by Great Britain, Germany, Russia, 
Naples, Portugal, and Turkey, June 22d, 
1799. Third, by Great Britain, Austria, and 
Naples, Aug. 5th, 1805. Fourth, by Great 



Britain, Russia, Prussia, and Saxony, Aug. 
Gth, 1806. Fifth, by Great Britain and 
Austria, April Gth, 1809. Sixth, by Russia 
and Prussia, March 17th, 1813. Sweden 
joined the grand alliance against Napoleon, 
March 13th, 1813. Alliance of Toplitz be- 
tween Austria, Russia, Prussia, and Great 
Britain, Sept. 13th, 1813. Holy Alliance, 
between Austria, Russia, and Prussia, 1815. 
Alliance of England, France, and Turkey, 
against Russia, signed at Constantinople, 
March 12th, 1854; ratified by the first two 
powers, April 3d, 1854; joined by Sardinia, 
Jan. 26th, 1855. 

ALLSTON, TTAsniNGTOx, was born in 
Charleston, S. C, Nov. 5th, 1779. He fitted 
for college at Newport, R. L, and entered 
Hai-vard University in 1796, graduating four 
years after. He had inherited a handsome 
patrimony, and he determined to devote him- 
self to art. For this purpose he repaired to 
London in 1801, and entered as a student in 
the Royal Acadcmj^ Benjamin "West, who 
had just succeeded Sir Joshua Reynolds as 
president of the institution, warmly wel- 
comed his young countryman. Two years 
were well spent in London; then Allston 
enriched his pencil awhile amid the rich col- 
lection of the Louvre, richer than ever with 
the spoils that Napoleon had borne there ; 
and soon after we find him settled in Rome, 
where he dwelt four years. There he formed 
an acquaintance with Coleridge, which be- 
came a close friendship. He studied his art 
diligently, and by fellow-artists was held in 
high esteem. He returned to America in 
1809. The public mind was absorbed in pol- 
itics, and Art could not gain its attention. 
Allston had married, and needed that the pro- 
fession in which his genius and skill were so 
great, should support him. After two years' 
trial he repaired to London again. There he 
was embarrassed by the hostilities which 
arose between the two countries. He lost 
heart, was laid low by a long and serious 
illness, and had but a little while recovered 
when he was bereft of his cherished and 
lovely consort. "When again he resumed the 
pencil, he found his pictures sought for by 
the most approved judges, and he was no less 
beloved for the qualities of his heart than 
admired for his genius. He returned to 
America in 1818, and for the remaining 



ALL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



47 



twenty -five years of his life Boston or its 
vicinity was his residence. Here he found 
cordial welcome from a wide circle of friends, 
and a patronage only limited by his power of 
producing. His great historical painting, 
"Belshazzar's Feast," unfinished as it is, fur- 
nishes decisive proof that in the highest 
branch of the art he has had no equal in the 
present century. His relative, Mr. Dana, in 
the preface to Mr. Alls ton's "Lectures on 
Art," thus describes his last hours: "His 
death occurred at his own house, in Cam- 
bridge, a littla past midnight, on the morning 
of Sunday, the 0th of July, 1843. He had 
finished a day and week of labor in his 
studio, upon his great picture of ' Belshaz- 
zar's Feast;' the fresh paint denoting that 
the last touches of his pencil were given to 
that glorious but melancholy monument of 
the best years of his later life. Having con- 
versed with his retiring family with peculiar 
solemnity and earnestness upon the obliga- 
tion and beauty of a pure spiritual life, and 
on the realities of the world to come, he had 
seated himself at his nightly employment of 
reading and writing, which he usually carried 
into the early hours of the morning. In the 
silence and solitude of this occupation, in a 
moment, ' with a touch as gentle as the morn- 
ing light,' which was even then approaching, 
his spirit was called away to its proper home." 
Allston was an author as well as an artist, 
and published a volume of poems and several 
works of fiction. 

ALMA, Battle of the. The English and 
French armies moved out of their first en- 
campment in the Crimea, Sept. 19th, 1854, 
and bivouacked for the night on the left 
bank of the Bulganac. The Russians (com- 
manded by Prince Menschikoff) mustering 
40,000 infantry, had 180 field-pieces on the 
heights of the Alma, and on the morning of 
the 20th were joined by 6,000 cavalry. The 
English force, under Lord Raglan, consisted 
of 25,000 men ; the French, under Marshal 
St. Arnaud, of 23,000. At twelve o'clock 
the signal to advance was made, and the river 
Alma crossed under the severe fire of the 
Russian batteries. After four sanguinary 
hours the allies were completely victorious. 
The Russians flung away their arms and 
knapsacks in their hasty flight, having lost 
about 5,000 men, of whom 900 were made 



prisoners. The loss of the English was 853 
killed, 1,612 wounded; that of. the French, 
236 killed, 1,087 wounded. 

ALPS, the loftiest system of mountains 
in Europe. Mont Blanc, the highest, is 
15,777 feet high, Monte Rosa, 15,206 and 
Monte Cervin, 14,835. Separating Italy from 
Spain, France, and Germany, it would seem 
as if they opposed an insurmountable barrier 
to the march of conquest ; but thej' have 
been several times crossed by large armies, 
the expeditions of Hannibal and Bonaparte 
being the most celebrated. Bonaparte passed 
the Great St. Bernard, in the year 1800, and 
swooped like a hawk upon the plains of Italy. 
His army met with obstacles which only 
genuine enthusiasm enabled them to sur- 
mount. They had to draw their artillery 
along narrow paths, in many places almost 
perpendicular, and over mountains of snow. 
A very small force would have arrested their 
progress, but they met no opposition. They 
reached St. Peter, near the Great St. Bernard, 
on the 15th of May, General Berthier acting 
as Bonaparte's lieutenant. Here the whole 
park of artillery was collected. The moun- 
tain they had to pass over was wild and bar- 
reri, with a vast extent of snow and ice, 
mingled with terrific silence. Over this 
frightful route the mind of Bonaparte had con- 
ceived the possibility of passing his army 
with all its artillery, baggage, &c. The can- 
non, caissons, forges, &c., were immediately 
dismounted, piece by piece; a number of 
trees were hollowed like troughs, in which 
the pieces of cannon might safely slide, and 
five or six hundred men drew them up these 
tremendous heights ; the wheels were carried 
on poles ; sledges conveyed the axle-trees ; 
and empty caissons and mules were loaded 
with the ammunition-boxes made of fir. 

The consul took no more baggage than was 
absolutely necessary. Five hours were con- 
sumed in climbing as high as the monastery 
of the Bernardines, where the good fathers 
gave each individual a glass of wine ; this, 
though frozen, was to them delicious, and 
not one would have exchanged it for all the 
gold of Peru. There were still six leagues to 
go, and the rapidity of the descent made that 
distance truly terrible ; men and horses con- 
stantly falling, and often recovering with the 
greatest diflBculty. The march commenced 



ALP 



48 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 




MONT BLANC. 



at midnight, and did not finish till about nine 
o'clock the next evening. For nearly fourteen 
leagues the army had scarcely had a meal, 
or any repose, and at the end of the journey, 
sleep hung so heavily even upon the most 
robust of them, that they resigned them- 
selves to it M-ithout a struggle, or a thought 
of their evening repast. Bonaparte traversed 
a portion of the way attended only by a 
peasant. He was dressed in the little gray 
surtout and cocked hat, in which artists 
delight to repi'esent him. He conversed 
with his companion, and learned that his 
wishes centered in the possession of a little 
farm. The farm was afterward presented to 
the peasant, whose delight and surprise may 
be readily imagined. 

Over the pass of the Simplon a magnificent 
road leading from Switzerland into Italy was 
constructed by order of Napoleon in 1801-6. 



It winds up passes, crosses cataracts, and 
tunnels through solid rock. It has eight 
principal bridges. Between thirty and forty 
thousand workmen were employed upon this 
undertaking at once. 

ALYA, Ferdinand Alvarez, Duke of, 
descended from a high Castilian family, born 
in 1508, distinguished himself in the career 
of arms at the age of seventeen, and was at 
the siege of Pavia. Charles V. made him a 
general, and he was commander at the siege 
of Mentz, where he fought with desperate 
but unavailing valor, for the siege was raised. 
He was noted for excessive cruelty and super- 
stition. In the campaign against the pope, 
Alva compelled the pontiff to sue for peace, 
and then went to Rome to supplicate pardon 
for the offense. In 1567, he was sent to the 
Netherlands by Philip II., to reduce them 
more completely to the Spanish yoke, and 



ALV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



49 



extirpate the Protestant heres)'. The Cruelty 
of the Council of Blood, a military ti-ibunal 
which he established, deluged the United 
Provinces in their best blood. At first the 
arms of Alva were successful, but the mad- 
dened malcontents afterward gaining head, 
he was recalled. In Portugal, he acquired 
renown by his success in driving Don Anto- 
nio from the throne. He died in 1582. 

AMADEUS, the name of several of the 
Counts of Savoy, of whom Amadeus VI. was 
the most famous. He lent his powerful aid 
to John of France, against Edward of En- 
gland, and was the ally of John Paleologus 
(Emperor of Greece), in 1365. His reign of 
forty years was glorious, and his death in 
1383, deeply lamented. 

AMAZONS, a fabulous race of female war- 
riors in antiquity. They are said to have 
been the descendants of Scythians in Cappa- 
docia, whose husbands were all slain in war. 
The widows resolved to form a female domin- 
ion. Having firmly established themselves, 
they decreed that matrimony was a shameful 
state. They were said to have been con- 
quered by Theseus about 1281 b.c. These 
warlike women burned their right breasts 
off, that they might hurl the javelin with 
more force; whence their name, from the 
Greek o (no) and /^a^oj (ireast). Orellana, the 
discoverer of the river Amazon, saw bands 
of armed women on its banks, whence he 
gave the stream that name. 

AMBASSxiDORS and ministers plenipoten- 
tiary, have been from time immemorial, con- 
sidered in some measure, privileged charac- 
ters. Those of King David, about 1030 b.c, 
being insulted by the king of the Ammonites, 
led to a war destructive to the aggressors. 
The Roman ambassadors at Clusium, b.c. 390, 
mixing with the inhabitants in battle with the 
Gauls, Brennus, king of the latter, considered 
their conduct an act of hostility on the part 
of their country, raised the siege of Clusium, 
marched toward Rome, defeated the Romans 
at the Alia, and took, plundered, and burned 
Rome. In modern times the privileges of 
ambassadors have been more distinctly de- 
fined. In England during the protectorship 
of Oliver Cromwell, Don Pantaleon Sa, brother 
to the Portuguese ambassador in London, 
committed a murder in open day, and sought 
refuge in his brother's house; but the pro- 



: tector refused to sanction svich an asylum iu 
a case of murder, and Sa was seized, tried, 
and hanged, 1653. About twenty years af- 
terward, the Prince of Furstenbiirg was ar- 
rested at the diet of Ratisbon, for murder, by 
order of the Emperor of Germany, and the 
case of Sa given as a justification. In 1709, 
in England, the Russian ambassador was ar- 
rested for debt by a lace merchant, which led 
to an act of parliament exempting ambassa- 
dors, or their immediate suit, from arrest in 
civil cases. 

The first ambassador from Russia to Eng- 
land, arrived in London, 1556. First from 
India to any part of Europe, was from Tippoo 
Saib to France, 1778. First from the United 
States was Silas Deane to France, 1776. First 
from the Ottoman emperor to Great Britain, 
1793. The first from the United States to 
England was John Adams, presented to 
George IIL June 2d, 1785. The first from 
England to America was Mr. Hammond, in 
1791. 

AMBROSE, St., was born at Treves about 
340. He was Bishop of Milan, and died in 
397. He introduced anthems into the church 
service, and the glorious " Te Deum Lwiida- 
mus" is ascribed to him and Augustin, al- 
though some say a later date belongs to it. 

AMERICA, one of the t^\an continents of 
the earth, including a vast extent of territory, 
embracing every variety of climate, and bear- 
ing within it, besides its precious ore and 
gems, the germs of immense wealth, remained 
undiscovered until the 11th of October, 1492, 
when Christopher Columbus, a native of Ge- 
noa, who had sailed from Spain with three 
small vessels under the patronage of Ferdinand 
and Isabella, seeking a westward way to In- 
dia, first beheld a light on the shores of the 
new world, two hours before midnight. On 
the ensuing day he set foot in the virgin isle. 
Columbus felt the importance of the discovery, 
as, erecting the cross, and surrounded by his 
crew and the wild and wonder-stricken na- 
tives, he took possession of the new country 
in the name of the sovereigns of Spain. The 
Christian adventurers did not fail to kneel 
upon the sand, and offer up their thanks for 
having been preserved through the perils of 
a long voyage, and favored with such brilliant 
success to compensate for all their perils. 
This island was called Guanahani by the na- 



AME 



50 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



tives, a name which Cohimbus altered to St. 
Salvador, and was one of the Bahamas. He 
then visited other adjacent islands, and pro- 
ceeded to Cuba and Hay ti ; the latter he called 
Hispaniola. In subsequent voyages he dis- 
covered Jamaica and Trinidad, and landed on 
the coast of South America near the mouth of 
the Orinoco. 

It is worthy of remark, that the vast conti- 
nent which Columbus discovered was not 
called by his name, but derived its appellation 
from Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine naviga- 
tor, who made some subsequent discoveries, 
in company with Alonzo de Ojeda, in 1499, 
and was the first to publish an account of the 
new countries. The work which he issued 
became very popular and was soon translated 
into several different languages. Thus Amerigo 
Vespucci attained a greater degree of celebrity 
than he merited, and, bj^ the concurrence of 
all classes, gave his name to that extensive 
and important country which another had dis- 
covered. Neither was Columbus the first to 
reach the continent. He did not touch upon 
South America till May 30th, 1498. Almost a 
year sooner, Jime 24th, 1497, Sebastian Cabot 
had reached the coast of North America. 

The wondrous field for exploration and dis- 
covery that Columbus had opened was soon 
thickly occupied. In 1498, Cabot in a second 
expedition visited Newfoundland. In 1500, 
Pedro Alvarez Cabral, admiral of a Portuguese 
fleet bound for the East Indies around the 
Cape of Good Hope, blundered upon Brazil. 
Nunez de Balljoa saw the Pacific Ocean from 
a mountain near Panama, in 1513. He was 
transported with delight as he beheld its waves 
sparkling in the light of the sun, and appearing 
to glitter with that gold which the natives told 
him abounded in the country to the south. 
He imagined that he had found the Indies, a 
region then the greatest ambition of European 
adventurers to reach. He acquainted the 
Spanish court with his discovery, and solicited 
an appointment proportionate to the extent of 
his services. He was, however, grievously 
disappointed ; the government of Darien was 
obtained by Davila, and this rival, finding a 
pretext for wreaking his vengeance upon Bal- 
boa, had him executed publicly in 1517. In 
1513, Diaz de Solis landed on the south-east 
coast of South America, about the mouth of 
the Rio de la Plata, where he and several of 



[ his crew were killed, roasted, and eaten by 
I the savages. In 1 520 Magellan passed through 



the straits that bear his name and crossed the 
Pacific. 

The Spaniards entertained the most exag- 
gerated ideas of the wonders of the New 
World. To most of them, it appeared a realm 
of magic, a fairy-land, in which supernatural 
occurrences were by no means infrequent. 
Thus Juan Ponce de Leon, in 1512, fitted out 
three ships from Porto Rico, of which he was 
governor, and set forth in search of a fountain 
which was fabled to restore all who bathed in 
it, even if they were tormented by the infirm- 
ities of extreme old age, to the freshness, vigor, 
and beauty of youth. Although he failed to 
find the fountain, he made the discovery of 
Florida. As the Spaniards had been foremost 
in American discover}'', so they were first in 
conquest and settlement. Early in the six- 
teenth century Cortez conquered Mexico, and 
not long after Pizarro subjugated Peru. More 
than a hundred years elapsed after North 
America was first visited by Cabot, before an 
English colony was established in the country. 

The external appearance of the New World 
has much which presents a very marked con- 
trast to the superficial features of the Old. 
A stupendous chain of elevated mountains 
traverses the whole continent, running from 
north to south, and even under the equator, 
where, upon the low lands the most intense 
heat is felt, these tall mountains elevate their 
heads into the region of intense cold. Every- 
thing in the New World appears to be of 
greater magnitude than the corresponding- 
objects in the Old. The lakes are vast inland 
oceans, exhibiting in storms the striking and 
sublime aspects of the great deep, rolli% as 
mighty waves, and shaken by an equal con- 
vulsion. The rivers are of prodigious size, 
and the plains of extraordinary extent. Over 
those of South and North America, countless 
herds of wild cattle roam at will. The Amer- 
ican continent stretches from the icy ocean of 
the north to the cold regions of the south. It 
is composed of two great peninsulas linked by 
an isthmus. The Atlantic washes its eastern 
coast, the Pacific its western. Its length, 
from 80° N. lat. to 55° S. lat, exceeds 9,000 
miles ; its greatest breadth is between Cape 
St. Roque in Brazil and Cape Parina in Peru, 
where it is upward of 3,250 miles wide. The 



AME 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



51 



narrowest part is the Isthmus of Panama, 
which divides it into North and South Amer- 
ica ; the isthmus is only twenty-eight miles 
wide. The area of North America, not includ- 
ing the West Indies, may be estimated at 
7,779,218 square miles, and its population at 
35,774,4:98; the area of South America at 
6,199,080 square miles, and its population at 
18,033,465. About half the population of the 
continent are whites ; the other half, native 
Indians, negroes, and mixed races. 

The New World was inhabited by a race of 
men differing, in many respects, from the na- 
tives of the eastern hemisphere. The Indians 
of North America varied, in many particulars, 
from those of the southern portion of this vast 
continent, and the aboriginal inhabitants of 
Mexico, at the time when they were first vis- 
ited by the Spaniards, had attained a greater 
degree of refinement than was found by the 
Europeans in any other quarter of the New 
World. Malte Brun has thus described the 
general personal appearance of the aborigines : 
" The natives of this part of the globe are in 
general large, of a robust frame, well propor- 
tioned, and without defects of conformation. 
They have a bronzed or coppery red complex- 
ion, as it were ferruginous, and very like cin- 
namon or tannin ; the hair black, long, coarse, 
shining, and scanty ; the beard thin, growing 
in tufts ; the forehead short, the eyes elonga- 
ted, and having the corners pointing upward 
to the temples ; the eyebrows high, the cheek 
bones projecting, the nose a little flattened, 
but marked ; the lips wide, the teeth serrated 
and sharp ; * in the mouth an expression of 
mildness, which is contrasted with a sombre, 
and severe, and even hard expression of coun- 
tenance; the head rather square, -the face 
large without being flat, but diminishing to- 
ward the chin ; the features taken in profile, 
projecting and strongly marked; the belly 
high, the thighs large, the legs bowed, the 
foot large, and the whole body squat." Such 
are said to be the general characteristics of 
the aborigines of this continent, with perhaps 
two exceptions, the Esquimaux at the north- 
ern extremity and the Patagonians at the 
southern. The copper or bronze hue of the 
skin is, with some slight exceptions, common 
to almost all the native nations of America, 
whatever the climate, the situation, or the 
mode of living. 



In regard to the peopling of the continent, 
various conjectu-res have been formed, and no- 
thing is known. Some have supposed that 
the lost tribes of Israel wandered hither; 
others that the Mexicans were of Egyptian 
ancestry ; some that the Carthaginians, and 
others that the ancient Celts, made expeditions 
to America. What surmise too fanciful to 
meet with supporters, when facts are few and 
doubtful. Perhaps the theory of the Asiatic 
origin of the Americans has been most gener- 
ally accepted. The question is buried in ob- 
scurity. The great number of separate lan- 
guages goes to show that the American tribes 
must have long existed in the savage solitude 
in which the Europeans found them plunged. 
There are scattered over the continent traces 
of the labor of man that belong to no race 
known since its discovery by Europeans. The 
mounds in our western states, overgrown with 
primeval trees ; the teocallis of Mexico, the 
strange remains of Central America, and the 
ruins of Peru ; these, their buried trinkets 
and utensils, their hieroglyphics, idols, orna- 
ments, and sculpture, sjieak variously of arts, 
religions, civilizations, and races that were 
above the savage, and were gone before the 
European came. 

North America is politically divided into 
the republics of the United States, Mexico 
and Central America, the British and Russian 
possessions, and the tracts still possessed by 
native tribes. The north-western coast has 
been discovered and held by the Russians. 
Greenland is subject to Denmark. The pop- 
ulation of Danish America is stated at 10,000, 
that of Russian America at 66,000. Over the 
broad tract usually called British America the 
Hudson's Bay Company have control. The 
British provinces lie between this territory 
and the United States. They consist of Can- 
ada, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Cape Bre- 
ton, Prince Edward Island, and Newfound- 
land. The extent of these, in square miles, is 
about 2,425,000, and the present population 
may be computed at 2,515,000. [See Canada, 
United States, Mexico, Central America.] 
The Bermudas are under the control of En- 
gland, and the West Indies are possessed by 
various European powers. [See West Indies. ] 
South America is thus divided. The north- 
ern portion, formerly Colombia, is now cut 
into the three republics of New Grenada, Ven- 



AME 



52 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ezuela, and Ecuador. To the south of these 
on the western coast, lie the repubUcs of Peru, 
Bolivia, and ChiU. The states of the Argen- 
tine Confederation, formerly known as the 
United Provinces of La Plata, lie between the 
two last-mentioned states and the Atlantic. 
Buenos Ayres once belonged to this confeder- 
acy, but is now a distinct republic. The em- 
pire of Brazil is the largest of South American 
states. South of it lies the republic of Uru- 
guay. Paraguay lies south-west of Brazil, 
between the rivers Paraguay and Parana. 
Guiana is a tract on the north-eastern coast 
between the mouths of the Amazon and the 
Orinoco. The southern part of the continent 
is called Patagonia. Further information 
concerning the countries of America will be 
found under the articles devoted to them sep- 
arately. 

AMERICUS VESPUCCIUS, a Florentine 
navigator, of an ancient family, born 1451. 
His first voyage to America was made under 
Ojeda, a year after its discovery by Columbus, 
and yet the vast continent bears his name, 
while that of the great discoverer is applied to 
it only by poetical courtesy. In the glowing 
narrative which he wrote, he appropriated the 
laurels of Columbus to his own brow, and 
strengthened his claims by a tale of a voyage 
made before that in which Columbus touched 
South America. This was afterward proved 
a falsehood, but the old world had already 
named its new-born sister America. Ves- 
pucci died in Spain in 1512 or 1514. 

AMES, Fisher, was born in Dedham, Mass., 
April 9th, 1 758. He was educated at Harvard 
College, which he left with high character. 
After instructing a school for some years, in 
1781 he commenced the practice of law, and 
becoming distinguished for his oratorical 
powers, and his success as a political essayist, 
was chosen member of the legislature. He 
was the first representative of the Suffolk dis- 
trict in the Congress of the United States, in 
which he remained during Washington's ad- 
ministration. On the retirement of TTashing- 
ton, Mr. Ames, whose health had been im- 
paired, occupied himself in farming at Ded- 
ham, and practicing law. But although his 
voice was unheard in public, his pen was not 
inactive, and the publication of various essays 
proved the interest which he continued to 
take in politics until the time of his deat-h, 



July 4th, 1808. Fisher Ames had fine fea- 
tures, and a commanding person, and his 
manner in speaking was expressive, although 
not characterized by studied grace. His con- 
versational abilities are said to have been of 
the highest order. His father, Nathaniel, 
was a phj^sician, and well versed in astronomy. 
AMHERST, Jeffery, Lord, was born in 
1717. He commenced his military career in 
1731, and regularly rose to the rank of field- 
marshal. He was at Dettingen, Fontcnoy, 
Piocoux, commanded at the siege of Louis- 
burg, and reduced the Canadas. He was 
successively governor of Virginia, and of the 
isle of Jersey, and commander-in-chief of the 
British army. He died in 1798. 

AMIENS, an ancient city of the old prov- 
ince of Picardy in France, ninety -two miles 
north of Paris, having a population of 47,000. 
Its cathedral is one of the most magnificent 
Gothic edifices in the world. Here, March 
27th, 1802, peace was concluded between 
Great Britain, Holland, France, and Sjjain. 

AMPHICTYONIC COUNCIL, established 
at Thermopylae by Amphictyon, for the man- 
agement of all affairs relative to Greece, 1498 
B.C. It consisted of twelve delegates. Other 
cities in process of time sent also some of their 
wisest and most virtuous men, till the num- 
ber was increased to thirty. This is the first 
instance on record, of a fi-ee representation of 
independent states, meeting to deliberate and 
settle their concerns by the force of reason, in 
place of arms. 

ANABAPTISTS, a fanatical sect which 
arose about 1525 in Germany. They taught 
that infant baptism was a contrivance of the 
devil, that there is no' original sin, and that 
men have a free will in spiritual things. 
Munster in "Westphalia they called Mount 
Zion, and one Mathias a baker was declared 
to be the king of Zion. Their enthusiasm led 
them to the maddest practices, and at length 
they rose in arms under pretense of gospel 
liberty. Their fanatical leader, John of Ley- 
den, a tailor, defended himself in Munster for 
a whole year. After this, the execution of 
the leaders quelled the insurrection. Munster 
was taken, June 24th, 1535. 

ANACREON, a Greek lyric poet of Teos, 
in Ionia, who flourished in the sixth century 
B.C. Poly crates. King of Samos, was his pat- 
ron until his death. At Athens he was en- 



ANA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



53 



couraged by Hipparchus, but the fall of the 
latter drove hhn from Athens, and he passed 
an old age of gayety at Abdera, where he was 
choked by a grape-stone in his eighty-fifth 
year. He was the poet of love and wine, 
practiced what he praised, and was much 
honored by the Greeks. Verse of a jovial or 
bacchanalian strain is called Anacreontic. 

ANAXAGORAS, one of the Ionic philoso- 
phers, born at Clazomene, in Ionia, 500 b.c. 
died at Lampsacus at the age of seventy -two. 
Anaxagoras is celebrated as the friend of Per- 
icles, and for his trial and condemnation at 
Athens for alleged impiety and a suspicion of 
favoring the interests of Persia. The inter- 
cession of Pericles softened his sentence from 
death into banishment. The researches of 
the Ionic school were confined to the nature 
and laws of phj^sical phenomena, and Anaxa- 
goras in his investigations groped near the 
thought of a great First Cause. 

ANAXIMANDER, a disciple of Thales, 
whose chief study was mathematics and as- 
tronomy, born at Miletus, GIG B.C., died 546 
B.C. He is said to have been the first who 
constructed maps and spheres. 

ANDRE, John. Among the various events 
which contributed to give a distinctive char- 
acter to the war of our Revolution, the fate of 
Major Andre, a young English oflBcer, can 
never be forgotten, nor the sad story of the 
close of his life ever read without a deep and 
painful interest. This young man was hand- 
some, talented, brave, entliusiastic, generous, 
and accomplished, beloved by all his acquaint- 
ance, without distinction of country. He 
was born in England in 1749, entered the 
royal army with high hopes in 1771, and was 
well fitted to adorn an elevated station. His 
history is connected with that of the worst 
traitor who ever disgraced the name of Amer- 
ica. This man was Benedict Arnold. His 
unrepressed extravagance had led him to incur 
heavy debts which he saw no means of dis- 
charging but by accepting the gold of the 
British as the price of treason to his country. 
In September, 1780, Arnold was in command 
of West Point, a post on the Hudson, of vast 
importance to the Americans. Arnold had 
selected for betrayal this fortress, which was 
almost impregnable from natural defenses, 
and from fortifications on which no care or 
expense had been spared. Arnold had opened 



a correspondence with Sir Heniy Clinton, 
under fictitious names and the pretense of 
mercantile business, through Major Andre, 
then holdix^-g the rank of adjutant-general. 
The young officer was conveyed up the river 
in the Vulture sloop-of-war, and, under a pass 
for John Anderson, came on shore in the 
night, and had an interview with Arnold. 
Morning surprised them before their business 
was transacted, and, as it was impossible for 
Andre to get on board the Vulture by day- 
light, he consented to remain hidden till the 
next night. In the course of the day, the 
Vulture altered her position, in consequence 
of a gun being brought to bear upon her, and 
the boatmen, at night, refused to take Andre 
on board. 

The young officer found himself compelled 
to attempt to get to New York by land. Ar- 
nold gave him a pass, granting permission to 
John Anderson "to go to the lines of "White 
Plains, or lower if he thought proper, he being 
on public business." Changing his uniform, 
which he had previously worn under a sur- 
tout, for a plain coat, he mounted a horse, 
passed the American guards in safety, and 
was congratulating himself on his escape, 
when three militia men, suddenly appearing, 
seized his bridle-rein, and demanded his busi- 
ness. Surprised, and oif his- guard, he did 
not produce his pass, but hastily asked the 
men where they belonged. "Down below," 
was the answer. " So do I," replied Andre, 
rejoiced to find them fi-iends. But he was 
mistaken, and being pressed, he finally de- 
clared that he was a British officer. He beg- 
ged them to suffer him to pursue his way, 
offering them gold, and a watch of great value. 
John Paulding, David Williams, and Isaac 
Van Wert were poor men; their dress be- 
spoke it ; but they loved their country, and 
despised a bribe. They might have answered 
Andre, in the words of another American, on 
another occasion, "Your king has not gold 
enough to buy us." They carried Andre be- 
fore Lieutenant-Colonel Jameson, who com- 
manded the troops on the lines. The captors 
of Andre were rewarded by Congress with 
an annual pension of two hundred dollars 
each, and a silver medal bearing on one side 
a shield inscribed "Fidelity;" and on the 
other the motto "Amor Patrige." 

Andre still passed as John Anderson. He 



AND 



54 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



generously wished to save Arnold, and asked 
permission to write to him. This the com- 
manding otficer incautiously permitted, al- 
though in Andre's boots there had been found, 
in the handwriting of Arnold, returns of the 
state of the forces, and the condition of West 
Point, with other important papers. Arnold 
was at dinner when the letter arrived. Ab- 
ruptly leaving the table, he ran down a steep 
bank, threw himself into a boat, and was 
rowed to the Vulture, which immediately got 
under sail, and carried the traitor to New 
York. Gen. Washington was soon apprised 
of the circumstances, and the same express 
which conveyed the intelligence, carried a let- 
ter from the prisoner, frankly avowing his 
name and the circumstances under which he 
had been forced to appear as an impostor. 
All the American officers who saw Andi-e, 
were struck with his candor and manliness, 
and there was not one who did not feel for 
his situation. 

The consideration of his case was referred 
by Gen. Washington to a board of fourteen 
general officers, of which Gen. Green was 
president, and Steuben, Knox, and La Fayette 
were members. It was decided that he ought 
to be regarded as a spy, and the stern rules 
of war, and the necessity of an example, re- 
quired that he should die upon the gibbet. 
He begged of Washington to be allowed to 
(fie as a soldier, but the patriotism of the gen- 
eral refused what his feelings would have 
granted. Led to the place of execution, An- 
dre, surveying the instrument of his fate, 
asked with concern, " Must I die by this ? I 
am reconciled to my death, but oh ! not to 
the mode." Recovering his composure, he 
added, "It will be but a momentary pang." 
His countenance was unruffled and calm, to 
the very last moment of his life ; the instant 
before he was launched into eternity, it ex- 
hibited a sunny serenity and high magnanim- 
ity which touched the hearts of all ! At the 
last moment he was asked if he wished to say 
anything. "But this," he replied: "You 
will witness to the world, that I die like a 
brave man." 

The kindest attentions were bestowed on 
Andre by the American officers, particularly 
by Alexander Hamilton, who did all in his 
power to soothe him. Far different was the 
treatment of the pious and patriotic Captain 



Hale, a young American oflBcer, who was 
taken as a spy, and ordered to be executed 
the next morning. He begged the use of a 
Bible, which was refused; to be allowed to 
write a letter to his mother, which poor priv- 
ilege was also denied him. " The Americans," 
said the British commander, " shall not know 
that they have a rebel in their army who can 
die with so much firmness." On the occasion 
of the capture of some 3'oung American offi- 
cers upon Long Island, they were brought be- 
fore Sir Henry Clinton, who thus addressed 
them : " Gentlemen, do you know that I can 
hang every man of you as rebels, taken in 
arms against the king." "Hang and be 
hanged !" blimtly exclaimed Lieut. Dunscomb, 
with the energy of a rough soldier; "I have 
lived for my country, and I am not afi-aid to 
die for her." 

Andre's ashes, several years ago, were se- 
cured by the British, and convej^ed to Eng- 
land, where a monument was erected to him 
in Westminster Abbe)^ 

ANDROCLUS, a Dacian slave, of whom a 
story is told that he was exposed in the arena 
of a Roman circus, to fight a lion ; but the 
animal forbore to injure him, because he had 
formerly extracted a thorn from his foot while 
in the Dacian wilds. Androclus was released, 
and used to lead the friendly lion about the 
city. 

ANDROMACHE, the faithful and affection- 
ate wife of Hector, prince of Troy, of whom 
she was so fond, as to feed his horses with 
her ovra hands. After his death, she was 
married to Neoptolemus, to whose share the 
lovely captive fell, and afterward to Helenus, 
son of Priam. 

ANDROMEDA, daughter of Cepheus, king 
of Ethiopia, by Cassiopeia. She is fabled to 
have been exposed by Neptune to a sea-mon- 
ster, from which she was delivered by Perse- 
us. An explanation of the fable is offered in 
the supposition that she was courted by the 
captain of a ship, who attempted to carry her 
away, but was baffled by the enterprise and 
activity of a more faithful lover. 

ANDROS, Sir Edmund, royal governor of 
New York from 1674 to 1682, of New England 
from 1686 to 1689, and of Virginia from 1692 
to 1698. His tyrannical administration in 
New England rendered his name obnoxious. 
His failure to seize the charter of Connecticut 



AND 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



is told in another place. [See Charter Oak.] 
In April, 1689, the people of Massachusetts, 
irritated by his exactions, deposed Andros, 
put him in prison, and declared for William 
and Mary. The subsequent career of Andros 
in Virginia was more moderate. He died in 
England in 1714. 

ANGLES, a tribe which occupied the coun- 
try between the Weser and the Elbe, now a 
part of Prussia. In the fifth century, uniting 
with the Saxons, their powerful neighbors of 
the north, under the name of Anglo-Saxons, 
they effected the conquest of England. A 
small tract of land near the Danish peninsula, 
where some of them remained, is called at the 
present day Angeln. 

ANGLESEY, Henry William Paget, 
Marquis of, was born May IVth, 1768, the eld- 
est son of the Earl of Ux bridge. At" an early 
age he entered the army, and his first active 
service was in Flanders under the Duke of York 
in 1794. Toward the close of the year 1808, 
having been raised to the rank of a major- 
general, he joined Sir John Moore, and took 
a brilliant share in the Peninsular campaign. 
On his return to England he was a member 
of the Commons from 1806 to 1812. On the 
death of his father in the latter year, he took 
his seat in the upper house, as Lord Uxbridge. 
When Napoleon returned from Elba, Lord 
Uxbridge was given the command of the 
British cavalry in Flanders, and fought with 
great gallantry at Waterloo, where he lost 
a leg. "Five days after the battle he was 
created Marquis of Anglesey. During the 
trial of Queen Caroline, the wife of George 
IV., he took the unpopular side in favor 
of the king, and when he was surrounded 
by a crowd who insisted upon his hurrah- 
ing for the queen, he cried out at last, "Well 
then, the queen ! may all your wives be like 
her!" In April, 1827, he held office under 
Canning, and in 1828 was lord-lieutenant of 
Ireland under Wellington. Having expressed 
a strong sympathy with Catholic emanci- 
pation, he was recalled from Ireland and 
resumed his place in parliament, where he 
continued to advocate the Irish cause. The 
bill of Catholic emancipation having passed. 
Lord Anglesey was restored to the lord-lieu- 
tenancy of Ireland, and continued at that 
post until his resignation in 1833. He died 
in 1854. 



ANHALT was an ancient principality in 
the north of Germany. The house of Anhalt 
traced their origin to Ascanius, grandson of 
Japhet the son of Noah ! whose descendants 
were reputed to have migrated from the 
marshes of Ascania in Bithynia, and at last to 
have settled among the forests of Germany. 
Whether this somewhat lengthy pedigree be 
correct or not, it is certain that no family in 
Germany has produced a greater number of 
brave and skillful warriors than the house of 
Anhalt ; beginning with Bernhard, who de- 
clined the imperial sceptre in 1198, because 
he deemed himself "too corpulent" for such 
a dignity ; or from Wolfgang, one of the 
staunchest soldiers of the Reformation, who 
on being reinstated in his possessions ex- 
claimed, " Old and poor as I am, I would 
give a thousand florins could I gibbet a 
pope;" down to Leopold, at the beginning 
of the last century, who led the Branden- 
burg troops to victory in the Low Coun- 
tries and Italy, created the Prussian infantry, 
and invented the iron ramrod. The prin- 
cipality is now divided into three duchies, 
the former two of which are under the same 
monarch: Anhalt-Dessau, area 360 square 
miles, Anhalt- Kothen, area 318 square 
miJes, population, of the united duchies in 
1855, 114,850; Anhalt-Bernburg, area 339 
squitre miles, population in 1855, 53,475. 

ANNA, a heathen goddess, in whose honor 
the Romans instituted festivals. Several 
fabulous explanations of the origin of these 
celebrations have been given, but the most 
probable is the least poetic ; that Anna was an 
industrious old lady of Bovilte, and her apo- 
theosis the reward of her kindness in daily sup- 
plying the Romans at Mount Sacer with cakes. 

ANNA COMNENA, daughter of Alexis I., 
Emperor of the East, celebrated for her beauty 
and acquirements, born in 1083. Being de- 
feated in a conspiracy for placing the crown 
on the head of her husband, she devoted her 
life to letters, and wrote the history of her 
father's reign. She died in 1148. 

ANNE of Austria, was daughter of Philip 
III., of Spain, and was born in 1602. She 
became the wife of Louis XIII. of France, in 
1615, but lived upon bad terms with him. 
On the death of Louis, she became sole regent 
during the minority of her son, Louis XIV., 
but made herself unpopular among her sub- 



ANN 



56 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



jccts by reposing unbounded confidence in 
Cardinal Mazarin. Affairs assumed so threat- 
ening an aspect, that she was compelled to 
leave Paris. Tranquillity was restored at 
length, and when her son assumed the reins 
of power, in 1661, she went into retirement, 
in which she lived till her death, in 166G. 

ANNE, daughter of John III., Duke of 
Cleves, was married in 1540, to Henrj^ VIII. 
of England, who had fallen in love with her 
picture. He was soon, however, disgusted 
with the Flanders mare, as he coarsely termed 
her, and she quietly returned to her native 
land, where she died in 1557, happy in escap- 
ing the dangers by which Henry's queens 
were beset. 

ANNE, Queen of England. [See Stuart.] 
ANSON, Geokge, Loi-d, was born in 1697, 
in Staffordshire, and entered the navy at an 
early age. In his twenty-seventh year he 
gained the rank of post-captain, and when, 
in 1739, a war with Spain appeared inevitable, 
he was made commander of a squadron for 
the South Pacific. He sailed Sept. 18th, 
1740, but encountering a violent storm, was 
prevented, for three months, from doubling 
Cape Horn, and was rejoined at Juan Fer- 
nandez, by only three of his eight vessels, in 
a wretched condition. He sailed for the coast 
of Peru, made some prizes, and burned the 
town of Paita, but found himself compelled 
to destroy all his disabled vessels but one. 
Having equipped this one, the Centurion, 
he retreated to Tinian, one of the Ladrone 
Islands. He refitted at Macao, and there 
formed the plan of taking the Acapulco gal- 
leon, which brought every year treasure from 
Mexico to exchange for goods at Manilla. 
To accomplish this bold purpose, he gave out 
that he had returned to England. Mean- 
while, he directed his course to the Philip- 
pines, cruising in the vicinity of Cape Espir- 
itu Santo. After about a month, the long 
expected galleon appeared, and, confident in 
her superior strength, eagerly commenced the 
fight. The British fought with cool, daunt- 
less valor, and succpeded in making a prize of 
the galleon, whose gold and precious wares 
some have estimated at the worth of a million 
sterling. The whole amount of the booty 
previously taken was £600,000. Anson then 
returned to Macao, where he disposed of his 
prize. The Chinese were inclined to insult 



his flag, but he maintained his rights with his 
characteristic pertinacity. From Macao, he 
sailed for England, which he reached June 
15th, 1744, having escaped the French fleet 
which lay in the channel. Anson's perilous 
voyage threw new light upon the geography 
and navigation of the southern ocean. 

He was liberally rewarded for his bravery 
and perseverance, being made, soon after his 
return, rear-admiral of the blue, and at no gi-eat 
distance from that period, rear-admiral of the 
white. In 1747, he gained a brilliant victory 
over the French under Admii-al Jonquiere, off 
Cape Finisterre, and was consequently raised 
to the peerage with the title of Baron Anson 
of Soberton. L' Invincible and La Gloire, two 
French vessels, were taken by Anson on this 
occasion, and the captain of the former, on 
surrendering his sword, said, "Monsieur, you 
have conquered the Invincible, and Glory 
follows you." 

Lord Anson was made first lord of the ad- 
miralty, four years after his elevation to the 
peerage. In 1758, he commanded the fleet 
before Brest, protecting the landing of the 
English, and receiving them after their re- 
pulse. He died in 1762. 

ANT.EUS, the fabulous son of Neptune 
and Terra (the Earth), of a gigantic stature. 
He resided in Libya, where he challenged 
every stranger to single combat. What made 
him peculiarly formidable, was the circum- 
stance of the renewal of his strength by his 
mother, every time he was thrown to the 
earth. Hercules, having found out the secret 
of his prowess, overcame him by lifting him 
in the air, and crushing him in his iron grasp. 
The dwelling of this monster was adorned 
with the skulls of his vanquished adversaries. 

ANTARCTIC OCEAN, a name properly 
applied to the seas between the Antarctic Cir- 
cle and the South Pole, and used to denote 
generally those cold oceanic regions without 
strict regard to the limits of the Antartic 
Circle. It was long considered beyond the 
pale of navigation because of the ice, which 
extends much farther than in the polar re- 
gions of the north. During the present 
century important discoveries have been 
made in these high southern latitudes. The 
South Shetland and the South Orkneys were 
discovered, and various navigators saw bits 
of apparent coast. The expedition under 
ANT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



0/ 



Capt. "Wilkes, sent out by the United States 
in 1839, found a coast line in 154° 27' E. 
long., and in a westward course as far as 97° 
30' E. long., had either always a coast in 
sight or unequivocal indications that land was 
not far. The same year (1840), a French 
expedition under d'Urville reached this coast 
in 140° 41' E. long., traced it to 130° E. long., 
and called it Adtlie Land. This coast, as 
well as Trinity Laud, Palmer's Land, Gra- 
ham's Land, and Alexander's Land, points 
previously seen between 36" and 70° W. long., 
and Enderby's Land (between 49° and 51o E. 
long.), all lie close upon the Antarctic Circle. 
In January, 1841, Sir James Clarke Ross 
' discovered a mountainous coast, on which he 
landed, trending to the southward, near 70" 
41' S. lat. and 170° 3G' E. long. He traced a 
continuous shore over six hundred miles as 
far as 78° S. lat. To this tract he gave the 
name of Victoria Land, and he supposed it 
to be a continent. In 77° 30' S. lat. and 
167° E. long., he placed Mount Erebus, an 
active volcano, about 12,'400 feet high, and an 
extinct crater of somewhat less elevation, 
to which he gave the name of Mouiit Ter- 
ror. A main object of his expedition was 
to seek the position of the south magnetic 
pole. This he found to be 75° 5' S. lat., 
154° 8' E. long. No traces of vegetation 
have been observed on these far southern 
coasts, and no quadrupeds. Some birds, 
whales, and seals are found. 

ANTHONY, St., the Great, first institutor 
of the monastic life. His native place was 
Coma, a town of Upper Egypt, where he was 
born, A.D. 251. In 285, he retired into soli- 
tude from a devotional spirit, and in 305, 
established the first community of monks. 
Being disappointed in his attempts to gaii 
the honor of martyrdom at Alexandria, he 
left the cottages of his monks to the car.e of 
his pupil Pachomius, and, in company with 
two of the brethren, retired to a very remote 
desert, where he died, a.d. 356. The disease, 
called from him St. Anthony's fire, is a mal- 
ady of peculiar violence with frightful accom- 
paniments, in which every limb attacked, 
becomes withered, shrunk, and blackened, as 
if under the influence of flame. The life of 
St. Anthony in the wilderness, was believed 
to have been fearfully eventful, in combats 
with devils. 



ANTIGONE, a daughter of (Edipus, king 
of Thebes, by his incestuous connection 
with Jocasta. Antigone was ihe faithful 
guide of (Edipus, after his loss of sight; 
having buried the corpse of her brother 
Polynices, against the express commands of 
Creon, the tyrant ordered her to be buried 
alive, but she killed herself before the execu- 
tion of the sentence. [See GEdipus.] 

ANTIGONUS, 'the Cyclops,' one of the 
generals of Alexander the Great, after whose 
death he attempted to gain the sovereignty 
of xisia, but was defeated by Seleucus, Ptol- 
emy, Lysimachus, and Cassander, at Ipsus, 
301 B.C. In this battle Antigonus fell. The 
first profile on record is that of this Anti- 
gonus, whose likeness was thus taken because 
of the loss of one of his eyes. 

ANTINOUS, a Bithynian youth, of whom 
the Emperor Adrian was excessively fond. 
When the latter was on his travels, Antinous 
threw himself into the Nile and was drowned, 
A.D. 132, but whether the act was conmiitted 
with the intention of saving the life of the 
emperor, or from weariness of existence, has 
not yet been decided. The grief of Adrian 
was intense, and the honors of divinity were, 
by his command, paid to his yoimg and 
unfortunate favorite. He named a newly 
discovered star Antinous, and gave this name 
to cities, while various images of the lost 
youth emanated from the hands of different 
artists. Those w4iich have come down to us 
bearing the name of Antinous, are distin- 
guished for a languid loveliness, and a round- 
ness of contour, which resemble the traits of 
female rather than manly beauty. 

ANTIOCHUS. Several distinguished kings 
of Syria bore this name. [See Syria.] The 
first was the general of king Philip, a Mace- 
donian by birth, whose fame_ was eclipsed by 
that of his son Seleucus. Antiocuus Soter, 
the son of Seleucus, was unsuccessful in 
war, but is chiefly distinguished by his pas- 
sion for his step-mother, the beautiful Strat- 
onice. His struggles to quell his misplaced 
affection, threw him into a lingering disorder, 
the cause of which he was unwilling to 
divulge. Erasistratus, the king's physician, 
penetrated his secret in the following man- 
ner. As he was holding the hand of his 
patient, he perceived by the accelerated 
motion of his pulse on the entrance of Strat- 



ANT 



58 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



onice, that love for her was the cause of his 
disorder. The king, to save the hfe of his 
son, reUnquished to him his young and lovely 
bride. Antiochus the Gkeat succeeded 
his brother, Seleucus Ceraunus, 223 b.c. 
Molo, governor of Media, felt the power of 
his arms, and Ptolemy Philopater was by 
him compelled to give up the whole of Syria. 
Over the Parthians, also, he was completely 
triimiphant, and favoring the cause of Hanni- 
bal, he made war upon the Romans. He was, 
however, dispirited by ill success in the com- 
mencement of this contest, and not fully 
comprehending or seconding the views of the 
Carthaginian general, was several times de- 
feated, but signally at Magnesia, the conse- 
quence of which was the conclusion of a 
peace disgraceful to the Syrian monarch. 
He was killed in an attempt to plunder a 
temple of Jupiter. 

ANTIOCHL'S EPIPHANES, second son 
of Antiochus the Great, oppressed the Jews 
cruelly and laid siege to Alexandria. He 
was compelled to desist by the interference 
of the Romans in behalf of their ally Ptolemy. 
Nothing can show in a more striking light the 
terror of tlie Roman name, than the follow- 
ing anecdote. "When Antiochus was on the 
point of marching against Ptolemy, Popilius 
Lajnas arrived at his court as ambassador 
from the Roman senate. He was instructed 
to command Antiochus to relinquish his hos- 
tile project. Any other but a Roman citizen 
would have been awed at the presence of the 
courtiers and army of the king, sitting as he 
was, surrounded by all the imposing splen- 
dors of a regal camp. But Popilius sternly 
delivered the message of the senate, and with 
such an air of haughty authority, that Anti- 
ochus was embarrassed. He endeavored, 
however, to satisfy the ambassador with an 
evasive answer ; but Popilius, with his staff; 
drew a circle around the king's seat, and said 
sternly, " Pass not that boundary, I command 
you, king, until you have given a plain 
answer to the senate's demand." The king 
overawed by this boldness, promised to 
sacrifice his project to the wishes of the 
Romans. 

ANTIPATER, a Macedonian, the faithful 
minister of Philip and Alexander, and pupil 



war with the states of Greece terminated 
successfully. He died, b.c. 317. 

ANTISTHENES, founder of the sect of the 
Cynics, was born at Athens between 424 and 
431 B.C. From Socrates he imbibed an 
enthusiastic love of virtue. He thought that 
virtue consisted in independence of circum- 
stances, and to maintain this, he thought it 
requisite that our wants should be reduced 
to the smallest number. He affected a con- 
tempt for wealth, honor, the delights of 
the senses, and knowledge, and sturdily 
walked the streets, in the ragged garb of a 
beggar. Plato was one of the first to pene- 
trate his whims, and guess at their design, 
and his brilliant remark to the Cynic, has 
not escaped oblivion : " I see your vanity," 
said the sage, "through the holes of your 
coat." Antisthenes is worthy of high praise, 
if it be true that he attacked the accusers of 
Soci'ates, and by his perseverance obtained 
the banishment of one, and the death of 
another. 

ANTIUM, a city of the Yolsci on the Tuscan 
Sea, traces of which are still visible in Porto 
d'Anzo. Camillus took it, b.c. 337, and car- 
rying the beaks of the vessels to Rome, 
employed them in ornamenting a tribunal in 
the forum, thence called the Bostra (beaks). 
The city was dedicated to the goddess of For- 
tune, whose statue nodded answers, when 
consulted as an oracle, being probably formed 
upon some simple mechanical principle. In 
Antium Coriolanus sought refuge. It be- 
came a favorite residence for the opulent 
Romans. Cicero had a splendid villa here, 
Augustus a palace, and here Caligula and 
Nero were born. In the excavations made 
among the ruins of the imperial villa, two of 
the noblest works of ancient sculpture were 
found, the Apollo Belvidere and the Fighting 
Gladiator. 

ANTONINUS, Annius Verus, best known 
by the name of Marcus Aurelius, born a.d. 
121, assumed the imperial dignity, a.d. 161, 
on the death of Antoninus Pius. He chose 
for his colleague, Lucius Verus, but the latter, 
dying a few years after, left the govern- 
ment solely in the hands of Antoninus. In 
the prosecution of the war against the Quadi, 
his &rmy was on the point of perishing of 



of Aristotle. He obtained the European I thirst, when there fell an abundant shower 
provinces on the death of Alexander. His | of rain, which was attributed to the prayers 

ANT 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



69 



of the tenth (a Christian) legion, and they 
were thenceforth termed the 'thundering- 
legion.' Though justly celebrated for benefi- 
cence and equity, Antoninus was not free 
from religious fanaticism, and authorized a 
persecution of the Christians in Gaul. His 
want of foresight in introducing the profligate 
Commodus, his son, into the government, was 
productive of most unhappy consequences. 
After his death, which took place in the fifty- 
ninth year of his age, and the nineteenth of 
his reign, he was deified by the Romans. 

ANTONINUS PIUS, Titus Aukelius Ful- 
vius, originally of a Gallic family, was born 
near Eome, a.d. 86. He succeeded to the 
consulate in a.d. 120, and was adopted by, 
and succeeded Adrian in 138. He was toler- 
ant to the Christians, humane, dignified, and 
just, and his reign was one of undisturbed 
tranquillity. He was wont to say, with 
Scipio, " I had rather save the life of a single 
citizen, than destroy a thousand of my 
enemies. He died a.d. 161. 

ANTONY, Mark (Marcus Antonius), the 
triumvir, was born 86 b.c. He attracted 
notice at an early age by his bravery and 
dissipation. He attached himself to the party 
of Ogesar, whose favor he gained by the em- 
ployment of all the arts of which he was 
master, and was appointed by Caesar his 
colleague in the consulship, b.c. 44. After 
the fall of Caesar, Antony obtained from the 
senate a confirmation of the acts of his col- 
league, and a pubUc funeral, at which he 
delivered an harangue so eloquent and stir- 
ring that he roused the indignation of the 
people, and forced Brutus and Cassius to fly. 
Octavius, the heir of Caesar, was supported 
by the enemies of Antony, who wished to 
curtail the authority of this ambitious man, 
but Antony, uniting with Lepidus and Octa- 
vius, formed the triumvirate, which speed- 
ily manifested the most sanguinary designs. 
Each of the triumvirs agreed to sacrifice his 
friends, and their alliance was cemented by 
the blood of Rome's bravest and best citizens. 
Antony alfixed the head and hand of Cicero 
to the rostrum dignified by his eloquence. 
Brutus and Cassius being defeated at Philippi, 
Antony went to the East, and surrounded by 
Asiatic luxuries, forgot the manliness he had 
once possessed. Captivated by Cleopatra, 
his ambition was lost in the indulgence of his 



passions. Fulvia, his wife, having taken up 
arms against Octavius, the latter quarreled 
with Antony, but a reconciliation was efiected, 
and Antony, on the death of his wife, mar- 
ried Octavia, the sister of his colleague, to 
strengthen the bonds which united them. 
His renewal of the amour with Cleopatra 
di-ew down upon him the vengeance of Octa- 
vius, and war was declared against Egypt by 
the Romans. How Antony fought and fled 
at Actium has been described. [See Actium.] 
Finding himself deserted on all sides, and 
hearing of the death of Cleopatra, Antony 
desired his slave Eros to slay him. This 
humble friend, affecting to consent, requested 
his master to turn away his face, and then 
falhng on Antony's sword, died at his feet. 
Antony, touched at this heroism, snatched 
the weapon, and gave himself a mortal wound, 
but had strength enough left to be cai-ried 
into the 2)resence of Cleopatra, in whose arms 
he died, b.c. 30. 

APELLES, a celebrated painter of anti- 
quity, was born about 365 B.C. at Cos, or at 
Colophon in Ionia. The date of his death is 
unknown. He seems to have earned skill 
and reputation by his unflagging industry, 
which became proverbial among the Romans, 
and their saying. Nulla dies sine linea, "no 
day without a line," is reported to have had 
its origin with Apelles. His most celebrated 
work was "Venus Anadyomene," (Venus 
rising out of the ocean), which centuries 
after was such a favorite with the Romans, 
that Ovid says but for this picture, Venus 
would still have remained buried beneath 
the waves of the sea. He received the patron- 
age of Alexander the Great, and for a paint- 
ing representing the Macedonian monarch as 
Jupiter hurling his thunderbolts, he is said 
to have received twenty talents of gold, about 
$250,000. Having limned Campaspe, a beau- 
tiful slave and favorite of Alexander, he had 
her in recompense for the picture. The pic- 
tures of Apelles were probably mostly painted 
upon panels of larch, in distemper. They 
were celebrated for the beauty of the horses 
introduced in them. It is said that he had 
painted a horse which was severely criticised 
by a person who examined it, and in such 
a manner that the pride of the artist was 
wounded. Resolved to put his performance 
to the test, he had a horse led into his paint- 



APE 



60 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



ing-rooni, where the animal, on beholding 
the picture, neighed, and thus secured the 
triumph of Apelles. 

APOLLO, the fabled son of Jupiter and 
Latona, and twin brother of Diana, born on 
the island of Delos. He was the god of 
all the fine arts, of medicine, music, poetry, 
and eloquence, and considered by physi- 
cians, shepherds, and founders of cities, 
as their patron. A few days after his birth, 
he killed the serpent Python with an arrow, 
and is generally represented with a bow and 
quiver. He fought bravely against the Ti- 
tans, under Jupiter. When his son Mscu- 
lapius was killed by Jove's thunder-bolt, 
Apollo slew the Cyclops, who forged the 
thunderer's weapons. Having conquered the 
satyr Mar.«yas, in a musical dispute, Apollo 
flayed him alive. Pan having disputed the 
superiority of Apollo in music, a day was 
appointed for deciding their merits, and 
Timolus and Midas were judges. The lat- 
ter, denying the merit of Apollo, was pun- 
ished by having a pair of ass's ears aflBxed 
to his head. When he built the walls of 
Megara, he laid his hite upon a stone, which 
ever afterward sent forth a strain of music 
upon being touched. The Romans celebrated 
games in his honor which were called Apol- 
linaria, and consisted of bull-fights, contests 
of athletse, and theatrical shows. Temples 
and statues were erected to him in Egypt, 
Greece, and Italy. The most splendid shrine 
of Apollo was at Delphi, built 1263 b.c. 
The laurel was sacred to Apollo, and fi-om 
the earliest times was used for crowning 
successful poets and victorious generals. 

APOLLODORUS, of Damascus, one of the 
most celebrated architects of antiquity, built 
the forum and column of Trajan at Rome, of 
which there are still magnificent remains, 
A.D. 113. His most remarkable work, how- 
ever, was the great bridge over the Danube 
in Bulgaria. It stood on twenty piers, one 
hundred and fifty feet high above the founda- 
tions, sixty feet wide, and one hundred and 
seventy feet apart. It was built for the 
emperor Trajan ; thebridge was of wood, the 
piers of stone. The woodwork was after- 
ward, destroyed by Hadrian, as it gave the 
barbarians too great facilities for crossing the 
Danube. Remains of the piers are still stand- 
ing. ApoUodorus is said to have fallen " 



victim to the jealousy of Hadrian, who dab- 
bled in architecture as well as in other arts. 

APPIUS CLAUDIUS CRASSINUS, the 
profligate decemvir, who attempted to destroy 
the virtue of Virginia. His conduct pro- 
duced a revolution, and he killed himself in 
prison, according to Livy. He was at the 
height of his power about 450 b.c. 

AQUINAS, Thomas (often called the An- 
gelic Doctor), was a younger son of the Count 
of Aquino, and was born at the castle of Rocca 
Sicca in Italy, in 1227. From his earliest 
years he was smitten with a love for solitary 
study. Force was used to prevent his be- 
coming a monk, but in vain ; he entered the 
Dominican order when a very young man. 
So much was the youthful scholar wrapt up 
in his own cogitations, that when he studied 
under Albertus Magnus at Cologne, his fellow- 
pupils nicknamed him Bos Mutus (mute ox) 
on account of his taciturnity and apparent 
stupidity. He received a doctorate in theol- 
ogy fi-om the university of Paris in 1255, and 
lectured with brilliant success in Paris, in 
several Italian universities, and afterward at 
Naples. Being summoned by the pope to at- 
tend a general council at Lyons in 1274, he 
died at Merracina on his way thither. He 
was canonized by Pope John XXII. in 1328. 
His works are numerous, but his mental vigor 
surpassed even his amazing industry. He is 
the most famous of the medieval schoolmen 
and divines. 

ARABIA has an area about four times that 
of France. It presents the form of a vast pe- 
ninsula, lying between 12° and oO® N. lat, 
and 32° and 59° E. long., partly within and 
partly north of the tropical region. Arabia 
is mostly populated by independent tribes 
each governed by its own sheikh. Muscat or 
Oman is quite an important state. The fol- 
lowing are the other principal divisions now 
generally adopted: Yemen, bordering upon 
the Red Sea and upon the territories of Hejaz, 
Nejd, and Hadramaut. It includes the towns 
of Sana, Mocha, and Aden, M'hich is now in 
the hands of the British as a depot for the 
overland mail to India. Eadramaut, on the 
southern coast, a country once famous for its 
trade in frankincense. Hrjaz is the holy land 
of the Mohammedans, and contains the cities 
of Mecca and Medina [which see]. The greater 
portion of Arabia is occupied by long, dreary 



ARA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



61 



deserts of sand ; while, in some parts, as on 
the western side of the Arabian desert, the 
soil is rendered fertile by the irrigation of 
rivulets, and various flowers, both indigenous, 
and transplanted from India, spring up, bud, 
and blossom, filling the air with their ravish- 
ing perfume. Some precious stones are found 
in Arabia, but its principal riches are flocks 
and herds. Of the natural history of Arabia 
we can say but little. Ferocious animals 
pursue their prey in the deserts, which they 
render terrific by their presence and ferocity, 
while the mountains produce animals yielding 
many and great advantages to commerce. Of 
these we may mention the civet-cat, the be- 
zoar-goat, the musk-rat, and others of domes- 
tic habits and importance. 

Concerning the old Arabians, who are now 
destroyed, or merged and lost in other tribes, 
there is no distinct history extant. Kahtan 
or Joktan, son of Eber, and Adnan, the direct 
descendent of Ishmael,'were the ancestors of 
the present races of Arabians. The posterity 
of Joktan are termed genuine or pure Arabs, 
that of Ishmael, naturalized Arabs, or Mosta- 
rabi. More than thirty-six hundred years 
ago, Yarab, Joktan's eldest son, is said to have 
succeeded his father in the kingdom of Yemen, 
while Jorham, the younger, founded the king- 
dom of Hejaz, which his posterity possessed 
until the time of Ishmael. In the time of Al- 
exander the Great, the inundation of Arem 
overwhelmed with misery the tribes settled in 
Yemen, eight of which were forced to fly their 
dwellings and migrate to other lands. Ish- 
mael, marrying the daughter of Modab, one 
of the princes of Hejaz, had twelve sons. The 
descendants of Ishmael, driving out the Jor- 
hamites, took possession of their country. 
The government appears to have been in the 
hands not of one ruler, but of the leaders of 
the different tribes. An aristocracy prevailed 
at Mecca until the time of Mahomet. Sesos- 
tris, of whom Josephus speaks under the 
name of Sesac, conquered Arabia. Yet this 
conquest was but in name, for the Arabs were 
too proud and independent to bow their necks 
beneath the tread of the conqueror, and sub- 
sequent events show, that even during his 
reign, they made themselves formidable to the 
Egyptians, and Sesostris was forced to erect 
a wall between Heliopolis and Pelusium, to 
guard his native subjects against the attacks 



of the Arabs. Although he had a powerful 
fleet upon the Red Sea, he did no more than 
skirt the shores of Arabia Felix, or at most, 
take possession of some of its maritime prov- 
inces. It may safely be asserted that the 
whole peninsula of Arabia never was, or at 
least never for any length of time, subjected 
to the Egyptians. 

The Hycsos or Shepherd Kings, who in- 
vaded Egypt, and for a long time held undis- 
puted sway in that country, were Arabians. 
Neither the Assyrians, the Medes, nor the 
Persians, ever obtained firm footing in Arabia. 
The Persian monarchs were regarded by the 
Arab chiefs in the light of friends, and received 
annually a voluntary present of frankincense 
as a tribute of respect, but other ties than 
those of the heart never bound the free dwell- 
ers of Arabia to the proud potentates of Persia. 
Cambyses, when flushed with ambitious pride, 
and rushing forward to the conquest of Egypt, 
paused in his impetuous career, and respect- 
fully asked of the Arabians permission to pass 
through their country. The Spartans, war- 
like and daring as they were, had reason to 
repent of an incursion which they made upon 
the Arabs. Alexander the Great, when in- 
flated with the success of his arms, was sur- 
prised to find that the Arabs so little dreaded 
his tremendous power, as to neglect sending 
ambassadors to him. This gave the Macedo- 
nian a high opinion of them as "warriors 
worthy of his steel ;" but death put an end to 
his hostile projects. His successors attempted 
the conquest of Arabia, but were completely 
defeated. The Eomans made different incur- 
sions into Arabia with but partial successes 
to compensate for heavy losses, luitil ^Elius 
Gallus, in the reign of Augustus, penetrated 
into the interior of the country, and gained 
victories which the deadly heats his army en- 
countered rendered unavailing. The Arabs 
were not again disturbed by the Romans until 
the reign of Trajan. The north-western part 
of Arabia, the country of the Nabachasi, was 
called Arabia Petrsea, from their chief town, 
Petra. In the reign of Trajan it became a 
Roman province. Petra sunk into insignifi- 
cance ; its dwellers forsook it for the freedom 
of the deserts ; even its site was forgotten till 
Burckhardt discovered the ruins of its temple 
and tombs in the Wady Musa. 

At the commencement of the seventh cen- 



ARA 



62 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



tmy a few small provinces in the north were 
subject to the Byzantine empire, while those 
bordering on the Euphrates acknowledged 
Persian supremacy, and an Ethiopian dynastj- 
ruled temporarily at Yemen. This latter fact 
had a melancholy importance for the world, 
through the small-pox which the victors 
brought into Arabia and which, by the con- 
quests of the Mohammedans, was soon carried 
far and wide. But the great mass of the land 
was possessed by wandering tribes whose 
freedom, even of each other, was unbounded. 
The union of these tribes into a nation, a na- 
tion which conquered old empires and founded 
new, dates from the day of Mohammed. Be- 
fore the close of the century the Saracens had 
overcome a large part of Europe, Asia, and Af- 
rica. Disunion had heretofore weakened their 
forces, but now, uniting, they showed their 
power was indeed formidable. If they had no 
knowledge of those military arts by which 
alone the strongholds of power are prostrated, 
they possessed that wild and desperate valor 
which carried them triumphantly through 
their predatory expeditions. Mohammed, and 
after him the caliphs, called forth the energies 
of the Arabs and the display of every quality 
which fitted them to bear arms, but that of 
hnplicit obedience. The Arabs were too proud 
of their hereditary independence to submit 
blindly to the yoke of any man or combination 
of men, and they accordingly, for the most 
part, acknowledged only the spiritual author- 
ity of the caliphate. When the power of the 
Turks gained the ascendant, the Arabs shook 
themselves free from fetters, rejoicing in the 
chainless spirit of liberty. It is not difficult 
to conceive the wild delight of roaming the 
desert on a fleet horse, and beholding all 
around a plain which seems interminable, and 
presents to the Arab horseman the idea of 
solitary existence in a world of his own. 

In the sixteenth century, during the war 
between the Turks and Portuguese, Solyman 
Pacha seized upon all the towns on the Ara- 
bian Gulf His successors also were victori- 
ous, and almost all Arabia became subject to 
the Ottoman empire. These events occurred 
between 1538 and 1568. Still all the sheikhs 
and princes were not subdued, but many of 
them, remaining independent, continvied to 
harass the Turks, until, about the middle of 
the seventeenth century, the latter were forced 



to relinquish all the conquered places on the 
coast of Arabia. The independent spirit of 
the Arabs has gained them gi-eat celebrity. 

Arabia is celebrated as being the scene of 
many of those wonderful events which are 
commemorated in the Holy Scriptures! It 
was for a long time the dwelling-place of Mo- 
ses, who married thg daughter of Jethro and 
fed his flocks upon Mount Horeb. The chil- 
di-en of Israel, under the guidance of the Lord, 
passed into Arabia, when they went from the 
grinding bondage of the Egyptians. In the 
desert of Sinai, rises that lofty mount which 
was clad in thunder and lightning, when God 
gave his commandments to the people. Mount 
Sinai commands a view of Mount Horeb, 
where again the Lord appeared in the burning 
bush to Moses. There is still to be seen that 
rock, which, when the people thirsted for 
water, Moses smote; where, from twelve 
mouths, the living waters gushed profusely. 
Again, when they were in want of water, in 
the wilderness of Paran, Moses smote a rock 
twice before the water flowed. That rock also 
remains at the present day, an impressive 
memorial of the miracle, exhibiting the vari- 
ous fissures whence the clear element gushed 
forth, cheering, by its presence, the many 
hearts of those who had panted for the succor. 

The Bedouin Arabs, although possessed of 
not a few good qualities, are inveterate rob- 
bers. When a Bedouin descries a traveler at 
a distance, he puts his horse to his speed, and 
rides furiously up, exclaiming loudly, "Un- 
dress thyself, thy aunt [my wife] is without 
a garment." There is no way to avoid death 
in this case but submission, as the possession 
of the meanest article of wearing apparel is an 
object important enough to warrant the shed- 
ding of human blood, in the eyes of the Arabs. 
There are many singular contradictions in the 
character of these wild people. A stranger 
who confides his safety to their honor will be 
treated with the utmost kindness, and share 
the wealth or poverty of his entertainer, who 
bids him welcome to what is his. The patri- 
archal form "of government has ever subsisted 
among the Arabs. The dignity of grand 
sheikh is hereditary in certain families, but 
the inferior sheikhs choose a successor out of 
his family, on the death of a grand sheikh. 
The greater portion of the inhabitants are ill 
fed and clad, simply because they prefer a 



ARA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



63 



wandering life of freedom, to one of confine- 
ment and restraint, even if it bring tlie great- 
est luxuries. These they profess to despise. 
One trait in their character is highly praise- 
worthy ; their extreme kindness to the do- 
mestic animals to which they owe so much. 
They free these creatures from work in their 
old age, and permit them to die a natural 
death. The Arab horses are reared with ex- 
treme care ; spirited, docile, fleet, handsome, 
and hardy, they always command the highest 
prices. The Arabs, proud of the antiquity of 
their own origin, are no less careful of the 
fame of their horses, of which they preserve 
authenticated pedigrees. For chargers, the 
Arab horses are unrivaled. A war-horse of 
this country appears delighted with the din 
of battle. His spirit rises with the ardor of 
the conflict, and he dashes into the " current 
of a heady fight," reckless of the volleys of 
musketry and cannon pealing around him, 
even when struck with shot, 

"Staggering, yet stemming all, his lord, un- 
harmed he bears." 

He will watch his master if he falls from his 
saddle in the fight, and not only s^iield him, 
but neigh for assistance. The price in Eng- 
land for an Arabian horse has been 1,000, 
2,000, or even 3,000 pounds sterling. Some- 
times even the poorest Arabs will not part 
with their faithful chargers, even though the 
most tempting offers be held out. "No, my 
jewel, was the affectionate exclamation ad- 
dressed to his mare by that Arab who, after 
he had agreed to relinquish the beautiful crea- 
ture to grace the stud of the King of France, 
at an enormous price, could not find it in his 
heart to tear himself from his faithful servant : 
" No, my jewel ! they shall never part us ! we 
have lived and we will die together." Saying 
this with tears in his eyes, he sprang upon 
her back, and rushed back to the desert, happj' 
in having escaped the temptation and the sac- 
rifice. The camel, which the natives call the 
ship of the desert, is also an invaluable treas- 
ure. Like the Bedouins themselves it learns 
from early youth to endure hunger, thirst, 
and fatigue. 

ARAGO, Francois Dominique, was born in 
Estagel, in the south of France, Feb. 26th, 
1786. His father had originally intended 
him, in accordance with his himible position, 
for a simple agricultural life. But the taste 



and aptitude he evinced for the natural sci- 
ences were such, that he was presented for 
admission into the Polytechnic school of Paris, 
His examiner sent him to the institution, with 
high compliments of his ability and attain- 
ments. He distinguished himself by the ardor 
and success of his studies while a student of 
the Polytechnic, and was attached to the ob- 
servatory of Paris. Such was the rapid ac- 
knowledgment of his ability, that in 1806 he 
received the appointment of assistant to M. 
Biot, in the scientific commission for the 
measurement of an arc of the meridian in 
Spain. While Arago was at Galazo in the 
island of Majorca, engaged in this scientific 
duty, war broke out between France and 
Spain. The fires which he made, to aid his 
observations, excited the suspicions of the ig- 
norant populace, who, fancying them beacons 
to guide the French in their march, attempted 
to seize the young philosopher. He escaped 
to the coast in disguise, could not get off, and 
sought security for his life by yielding him- 
self to the authorities. On his way to the 
prison he was beset by a rabble, and his life 
put in great danger. By the connivance of 
the Spanish captain-general he escaped to Al- 
giers. There he embarked on an Algerine 
vessel for Marseilles. In sight of that port 
the vessel was captured by a Spanish priva- 
teer, and Arago was thrown into prison at 
Rosas. An attempt was made to frighten 
him, by the show of preparation for his exe- 
cution, into a confession that he was a rene- 
gade Spaniard, that the government might 
confiscate the vessel. He lay in a loathsome 
dungeon, overrun with vermin, and almost 
starved to death. Two lions had been sent by 
the Dey of Algiers as a present to Napoleon, 
in the vessel in which Arago had taken pas- 
sage and which had been captured. One of 
these animals had died, and Arago bethought 
himself of writing word to the dey that it had 
been starved to death by the Spaniards. He 
succeeded in sending off a letter to that pur- 
port, Avhich was received by the dey, who, 
much enraged at the treatment of his beast, 
called the Spanish government to account, 
and demanding compensation for the seizure 
of the vessel, threatened war if the demand 
was not instantly complied with. Arago was 
now permitted to set sail for Marseilles, but 
under the guidance of an ignorant pilot, his 



ARA 



rrv 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



vessel drifted about for several days, until by 
hazard the coast of Africa was made. The 
vessel had been so much damaged that it was 
determined to abandon her. Arago resolved 
to make his way to Algiers by land, and dis- 
guising himself as an Arab, he succeeded in 
reaching that place with safety. He found 
that the dey had just died, and a revolution 
resulted in the death of the legitimate suc- 
cessor. The usurper made a demand upon 
France for a pretended debt, and as the French 
government positively refused compHance, the 
names of the French residents were placed on 
the list of slaves. The galleys threatened the 
philosopher. After much suffering and anx- 
iety, Arago, in 1809, obtained permission to 
leave Algiers Avith a convoy of Algerine ves- 
sels and a corsair of that nation, in which he 
himself embarked. The convoy had not sailed 
Out of sight of Algiers when they were 
pomiced upon by a brace of English frigates. 
The corsair, on board of which Arago had 
taken passage, succeeded in eluding the Eng- 
lish, and landed him in safety on the French 
coast. 

On his arrival at Paris he was welcomed 
with great enthusiasm and elected with ac- 
clamation a member of the institute. It is 
impossible here to enumerate all the brilliant 
discoveries with which Arago has illuminated 
natural science. The determination of the 
diameters of the planets, the discovery of col- 
ored polarization of light, and of magnetism 
by rotation, are among the most remarkable. 
The "Transactions of the Academy of Scien- 
ces," of which society he was secretary, are 
enriched by his scientific contributions ; and 
various published memoirs testify to his in- 
dustry and philosophical genius. Arago al- 
ways advocated the cause of progress, and in 
the revolution of 1830 he boldly presented 
himself as a champion of democracy. During 
the reign of Louis Philippe he was a member 
of the chamber of deputies and sat on the ex- 
treme left. His interest in politics was never 
allowed to interfere with his philosophic pur- 
suits. He was appointed head of the Paris 
observatory, and directed with undiminished 
ardor its astronomical observations. In the 
provisional government of 1848 he held the 
oflBce of minister of marine, and fulfilled its 
duties to the manifest advantage of the repub- 
lic, of which he was an ardent supporter. On 



the violent accession of Louis Napoleon to the 
imperial throne, Arago refused to take the 
oath of allegiance to the usurper, but m con^ 
sequence of his fame and the glory he had 
shed over his country, he was left undisturbed 
in his position at the head of the observatory, 
and continued to devote himself with exclusive 
ardor to his scientific pursuits until his death 
in the year 1853. 

ARAM, Eugene, whose erudition and fate 
have rendered him remarkable, was born in 
Yorkshire, England, in the year 1V04. His 
father was forced to contend with depressing 
poverty. Eugene was sent to school, and 
learned to read the New Testament in English ; 
but from that period, with the exception of a 
month's tuition fi-om a clergyman, Aram owed 
nothing to teachers, all his learning being 
self-acquired. His father Avas gardener to Sir 
Edward Blackett, at Newby ; and, when about 
thirteen or fourteen years of age, Aram joined 
him. In the house of the baronet, Eugene 
first displayed his love of literature and sci- 
ence. Apart from the bustle and turmoil of 
the world, he passed his solitary hours in in- 
cessant study. Mathematics early engaged 
his attention, and he became a proficient in 
the exact sciences ; indeed, his fondness for 
mathematics recommended him to Mr. Chris- 
topher Blackett, of London, whom he served 
for some time in the cajiacity of book-keeper, 
commencing his London life at sixteen years 
of age. After residing with Mr. Blackett for 
a year and a half, he was taken with the 
small-pox, and suifered greatly from the ter- 
rible disorder. 

He afterward returned to Yorkshire, where 
he pursued his studies with increasing avidity, 
but with altered views, having discovered that 
polite literature possessed greater charms for 
him than mathematics. He made himself ac- 
quainted with the works of the most celebra- 
ted poets, and went through a course of his- 
torical reading. He went to Netherdale for 
the purpose of engaging in teaching, and here, 
considering himself satisfactorily settled, he. 
married. IFis marriage proved unhappy, and 
to his matrimonial connection he afterward 
attributed the evils which befell him, and the 
crime which he committed. Finding himself 
deficient in classical learning, he resolved to 
master the learned languages and applied 
himself to the study of the Latin and Greek 



ARA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



65 



grammars with great spirit. He soon perused 
the Latin classics, poets, and historians. He 
next read the Greek Testament, and finished 
his course with Hesiod, Homer, Theocritus, 
Herodotus, and Thucydides, with the Greek 
tragic poets. 

At the seat of his friend, WiUiam Norton, 
Esq., of Knaresborough, he learned the He- 
brew language, and read the Pentateuch, in 
1734. In 1744, he was engaged in London, 
as usher, and gave instruction in Latin and 
writing. Here he became acquainted with 
the French language. Afterward, he was 
employed as usher and tutor in various semi- 
naries in England, and never suffered a single 
opportunity of making new acquisitions to 
escape. He was acquainted with the volum- 
inous and quaint details of heraldry, and with 
the gentle lore of flowers. He acquired the 
Ohaldee and Arabic languages, and investi- 
gated the Celtic dialects. Having discovered 
an affinity between the Celtic, English, Latin, 
Greek, and Hebrew tongues, he was employed 
upon a comparative lexicon of these languages, 
when a frightful event arrested his literary 
progress. Aram was accused of having mur- 
dered Daniel Clark, a shoemaker. The mur- 
der had been concealed for nearly fourteen 
years, when the discovery of a skeleton, at 
first supposed to be that of Clark, set on foot 
investigations which resulted in the arrest of 
Aram. At the time of his being taken into 
custody, he was usher of a school at Lynn, in 
Norfolk. The murder was committed on the 
8th of December, 1744-5. Its object was a 
little paltry gain, although the murderer as- 
signed jealousy as the motive. Remorse had 
preyed upon the spirits of Aram from the time 
of the commission of the deed, and he is said 
to have conversed with the boj^s at Lj^nn on 
the subject of murder, and related to them 
tales of murders, commencing with the crime 
of Cain. 

Upon his trial at York assizes, on the 3d of 
August, 1759, he displayed great calmness 
and self-possession. The principal evidence 
against him was his wife, from whom he had 
been a long time separated. Circumstantial 
evidence, in addition to that of Richard House- 
man, helped to convict him. His defense dis- 
played talent and consummate address ac- 
knowledged by the judges. He was found 



5 



ARC 



guilty. He subsequently confessed his crime, 
and acknowledged the justice of his sentence. 
While in prison, he attempted to commit sui- 
cide by opening his arm in two places with a 
knife which he had concealed for the purpose. 
He almost succeeded, and was in a state of 
excessive weakness, when conducted to the 
scaffold. Standing beneath the fatal tree, he 
was asked if he had anything to say, " but he 
silently shook his head. He was instantly 
executed, and his body hung in chains in 
Knaresborough forest. 

ARAR^^fr, a mountain in Armenia, where 
it is supposed Noah's ark rested. It rises 
majestically from a fertile plain in two conical 
peaks, one of which rises fnv above the limits 
of perpetual snow, and is the highest point in 
western Asia. The whole country is full of 
traditions about the ark and the flood. Vari- 
ous attempts have been made to gain the top 
of Ararat ; none of which were successful till 
Jul}'-,' 1856, when the toilsome and perilous 
ascent was achieved by five Englishmen. The 
dwellers about its base regard the snowy 
summit with mingled awe and veneration, and 
as a spot not to be profaned by the impious 
tread of man. None had stood there since 
the days of Noah. Ararat shows traces that 
at some period it has been subjected to violent 
volcanic action. Major Stuart, one of the 
party mentioned above, pronounces the sum- 
mit an extinct crater filled with snow. The 
highest peak of Ararat is 17,328 feet above 
the sea, and 14,300 feet above the table-land 
on which it stands. 

ARCADIA, a mountain country in the 
heart of the Peloponnesus. Originally called 
Pelasgia, from the Pelasgi, its first inhabit- 
ants, it received its name of Arcadia, from 
Areas, grandson of Lycaon. The shepherds 
inhabiting the sequestered valleys were for a 
long time rude and uncivilized, but when they 
cultivated the arts of agriculture, and sweet- 
ened their labors by occasional intervals of 
relaxation, in which they occupied themselves 
with music and dancing, they became famous 
in song, and Arcadian felicity was a phrase 
expressive of unalloyed enjoyment. But Ar- 
cadia was far from being a paradise, and its 
inhabitants were not so devoted to pastoral 
pursuits, that they forgot the excitements of 
war. On the contrary, when no quaiTels of 



GG 



COTTAGE CYCLOP KDI A OF 




MOUNT AKAKAT. 



their own occupied them, thej^ engaged in the 
service of other states. It was finally united 
to the Achaian league. 

ARCHIMEDES, the most celebrated geom- 
etrician of antiquity, born at Syracuse, 287 
B.C. He was famed for the mechanical con- 
trivances which he employed to defend his 
native city, when besieged by the Romans 
(212 B.C.), whose fleet, Lucian says, he 
fire with burning-glasses. Marcellus, who 
took the city, wished to spare the life of Ar- 
chimedes. When the Romans entered the 
city, Archimedes was found by a soldier, 
poring over some figures which he had drawn 
in the sand. He begged the Roman to spare 
his circle, but the man heedless of his re- 
quest, rushed forward and killed him with a 
blow. He was then seventy-five years old. 
He is said to have declared that he could 
move the globe, if he only had a place to 
stand upon. To Archimedes we ascribe the 
discovery of the fundamental properties of 
the lever, inclined plane, and pullej^, of the 
screw for raising water, which yet bears his 
name, and much advancement in geometry 
and mensuration. * 

ARCOLA, Battle of. Between the French 
under Bonaparte, and the Austrians under 
Marshal Alvinzy, fought Nov. 19th, 1796. 
This bloody conflict continued eight success- 
ive days and resulted in a disastrous defeat 
to the Austrians, who at the outset had the 
advantage^ 



ARGENTINE CONFEDERATION, com^ 
prises an area of 927,000 square miles, and 
has a population of 800,000. This estimate 
does not include Buenos Ayres, which is now 
a distinct republic. [See Buenos Ayres.] 
The population consists of descendants of 
Spaniards and wandering tribes of Indians. 
There are twelve states in the confederacy, 
on Santa Fe, Entre Rios, Corrientes, Cordova, 
Santiago, Tucuman, Salta, Catamarea, La Ri- 
oja, San Luis, Mendoza, and San Juan. Diaz 
de Solis visited the mouth of the La Plata in 
1512, but formed no settlement. Before the 
end of the century the Spaniards founded the 
towns of Salta, Tucuman, Cordova, Buenos 
Ayres, &c. These regions formed a part of 
the viceroyalty of Peru till 1777, when they 
were made into the separate viceroyalty of 
Buenos Ayres. Like the other colonies of 
Spain in South America, these provinces did 
not submit to the authority of Joseph Bona- 
parte, and in 1810 they organized an inde- 
pendent government in the name of Ferdinand 
YIL In 1816 they threw oif Spanish domin- 
ion altogether. Since then they have been 
torn by intestine commotions. Rosas was 
placed at the head of affairs in 1835. His 
commercial policy had for its object to secure 
Buenos Ayres the monopoly of the trade of 
the Plata; his political policy was to obtain 
a similar superiority. His sway was marked 
by cruelty and despotism, and his ambitious 
designs against Paraguay, Uruguay, and Bra- 



ARG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



67 



zil, interfering with commerce and the rights 
of European merchants, caused the interposi- 
tion of England and France. Buenos Ayres 
was blockaded by their fleets from 18-i5 to 
1847, and the free navigation of the Parana 
thus maintained. Rosas was at last deposed 
in 1851, and fled to Europe. Civil war con- 
tinued between Buenos Ayres and the other 
states, which resulted in the establishment, in 
1856, of the Argentine Confederation and the 
distinct republic of Buenos Ayres. In 1865 
the Confederation under President Mitre, 
took sides with Brazil and Buenos Ayres, 
against Paraguay, after having long endeav- 
ored to remain neutral. The seat of govern- 
ment for the confederation is Parana, the cap- 
ital of Entre Rios, population, 6,000. 

ARGOLIS lay in the eastern part of the 
Peloponnesus, bounded on the north by Achaia 
and Corinth, on the north-east by the Sar- 
onic gulf and on the west by Arcadia, and 
on the south by Laconia. The Argolic gulf 
lies upon the south-west. Fertile plains and 
swelling hills vary the surface of this region. 
Pelops, who reigned over Argos, gave his 
name to the peninsula. It was the kingdom 
of Atreusand Agamemnon, Adrastus, Eurys- 
theus, and Diomedes, the birth-place of 
Hercules, and the scene of his victory over 
the Lernaean Hydra. The fine arts, and 
music in particular, were successfully cul- 
tivated by the Argives. The modern Ar- 
golis is but a shadow of the ancient city. 
Argos was anciently divided into small, inde- 
pendent states. These were Argos, Mycenae, 
Tirynthus, Troezen (now Damala), Hermione 
(now Castri), and Epidaurus. 

ARGONAUTS. The story of the expe- 
dition of Jason and his adventurous compan- 
ions, to procure the golden fleece of Colchis, 
is chiefly fobulous, and has probably little 
connection with any known facts. Jason was 
not permitted to ascend the throne of his 
father by Pelias, who filled it, except on con- 
dition of bringing from Colchis the golden 
fleece of the ram, which bore Phryxus and 
Helle away from their cruel step-mother, 
Ino. Most of the heroes of Greece embarked 
with Jason in the Argo, a splendid vessel 
built for the adventure, and superior to any 
which had previously floated on the waves. 
After encountering many vicissitudes, they 
came to the country of ^etes. This monarch. 



whose life depended on the preservation of 
the golden fleece, without refusing to surren- 
der it, first imposed upon Jason three labors 
which he hoped would destroy him. He was 
to yoke the bulls of Vulcan to a plough of 
adamant, and turn up a field consecrated to 
Mars, which had never been opened ; in the 
furrows thus formed, he was to sow the 
serpent's teeth of Cadmus, which would in- 
stantly start forth as armed men, whom he 
was to slay ; and finally, he was to kill the 
dragon that was the watchful guardian of 
the golden fleece. The magical arts of Me- 
dea, who had fJiUen in love with the young 
hero, assisted him to achieve these enter- 
prises with success, and when the king deter- 
mined on the murder of the Argonauts, 
enabled him to possess himself of the fleece, 
and escape with the enamored lady and all 
his companions. The king soon missing the 
fleece and the fleet, pursued and came in 
sight of them ; Medea then murdered her 
brother Absyrtus, whose limbs she strewed 
upon her father's path. The afflicted old 
man, by staying to collect them, gave the 
fugitives time to escape. After many adven- 
tures, the Argo returned safely. The time 
of the undertaking is placed in the middle of 
the thirteenth century b.c. 

ARGUS, the fabled son of Arestor, whose 
hundred eyes caused him to be selected by 
Juno as the keeper of lo. Having been slain 
by Mercury, he was changed into a peacock, 
and his eyes were placed in his tail. 

ARION, a musician and poet, born at Me- 
thymna, in Lesbos, and flourished b.c. 625. 
His fabulous fate has been often celebrated. 
When at sea with all his treasures, the mar- 
iners sought his life ; but he leaped overboard, 
and it is related that a dolphin, charmed with 
his music, carried him safe to land. 

ARIOSTO, LuDovico, the author of the 
celebrated " Orlando Furioso," was born at 
Reggio, Sept. 8th, 1474, and died at Ferrara, 
in 1533. Having lost the favor of Cardinal 
d'Este, he entered the service of Duke Al- 
fonso of Ferrara, whose rewards, how- 
ever, were but trifling. He experienced 
many vicissitudes. His minor works alone 
would entitle him to high rank in Italian 
literature. 

ARISTIDES, son of Lysimachus, a noble 
Athenian, surnamed, from his high integrity, 



ARI 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the Just. lie was instrumental in gaining 
the battle of Marathon. There were ten 
generals, of whom he was one, each having 
the command of the army for one day. 
Thinking this arrangement injurious to the 
troops, Aristide,? prevailed on the other gen- 
erals to give up their days of command to 
j\liltiades, and this measm-e secured the 
triumph of the Greeks. Becoming obnox- 
ious to the party of Themistocles, he was 
banished by ostracism. Each person wrote 
the name of the man he wished banished, on 
a shell (ostrahon) ; these were then counted, 
and the person whose name occurred most 
frequently was banished. An ignorant fel- 
low, in the public assembly, not knowing 
him, turned to Aristides, and asked him to 
write Aristides. "What reason have you 
for disliking him ? " asked Aristides. " Oh," 
replied the fellow, " I am tired of hearing 
him called the Just." "When the Athenians 
were alarmed by the approach of Xerxes, 
they recalled Aristides, who, casting away 
the remembrance of former wrongs, assisted 
Themistocles in the public cause. At the 
battle of Salamis his services were eminent. 
Aristides refused to countenance the banish- 
ment of Themistocles, when he incurred the 
displeasure of his countrymen. Nothing dis- 
plays more clearly the reputation of Aristides, 
than his being appointed to apportion the 
contributions to be paid by the several states 
of Greece toward the expenses of the Avar. 
This delicate duty he discharged to the sat- 
isfaction of all. He died poor about 467 
B.C. His countrymen bestowed a magnifi- 
cent funeral upon him, pensioned his son, 
and portioned his two daughters. 

ARISTIPPUS of Gyrene, a pupil of So- 
crates and founder of the Cyrenaici, 392 b.c. 
This sect, which flourished for several ages, 
maintained that the supreme good of man in 
this life is sensual pleasure, and that virtue 
ought to be commended only so far as it con- 
duced to delight. He had no sternness. 
(Jaj^ brilliant, careless, and enjoying, Aris- 
tippus became the ornament and delight of 
the court of Dionysius, already made illus- 
trious by the splendid genius of Plato and the 
rigid abstinence, of Diogenes. The grave 
deportment of Plato and the savage virtue 
of Diogenes had less charms for the tyrant 
than the easy graces of Aristippus, whose 



very vices were elegant. His ready wit 
was often put to the test. On one occasion 
three hetmrce were presented for him to make 
a choice : he took them all three, observing 
that it had been fatal even to Paris to make 
a choice. On another occasion, in a dispute 
with ^schines, who was becoming violent, 
he said, " Let us give over ; we have quar- 
reled, it is true ; but I, as your senior, have 
a right to claim the precedency in the recon- 
ciliation." Scinus, the treasurer of Diony- 
sius, a man of low character, but immense 
wealth, once showed Aristippus over his 
house. While he was expatiating on the 
splendor of every part, even to the floors, the 
philosopher spat in his face. Scinus was 
furious. "Pardon me," exclaimed Aristip- 
pus, "there was no other place where I could 
have spat with decency." One day, when 
interceding with the tyrant for a friend, he 
threw himself on his knees. Being reproach- 
ed for such a want of dignity, he answered, 
"Is it my fault if Dionysius has his^ears in 
his feet?" 

ARISTOGITON, and Hakmodius, two of 
the most famous patriots of Athens ; finding 
their country oppressed by Hipparchus and 
Hippias; sons of Pisistratus, they formed a 
conspiracy against them. Hipparchus was 
slain 514 b.c, but owing to the backward- 
ness of the people, Harmodius was killed by 
the guards, and Aristogiton seized. Being 
tortured to make him disclose the names of 
his accomplices, he named the friends of the 
tjTant, and they were put to death in rapid 
succession. "Now," said Aristogiton to 
Hippias, " there only remains yourself worthy 
of death." Hippias was expelled three years 
afterward, and the Athenians paid the greatest 
honors to the memory of the two friends. 
Praxiteles executed their statues, which 
were erected in the forum, their praise was 
sung in hymns, and it was forbidden to give 
the name of either to a slave. 

ARISTOPHANES, a celebrated Greek 
dramatist, author of numerous comedies 
equally remarkable for the beauty of their 
composition and their pvmgent satire, flour- 
ished in the fifth century b.c. But little is 
known of his life. Out of forty -four compo- 
sitions of his, only eleven are extant. 

ARISTOTLE, the most famous philosopher 
of Greece, founder of the Peripatetic sect, was 



ARI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 




born at Stagira, a city of Thrace, 384 B.C. 
He died 322 B.C., having taken poison to 
avoid the persecution of his enemies. He 
enjoyed the instructions of Plato. He was 
selected by Philip of Macedon as the pre- 
ceptor of Alexander. When the latter vrent 
forth on his Asiatic campaign, Aristotle re- 
paired to Athens. There in the charming 
retreat of the Lyceum, he delivered his teach- 
ings to a throng of pupils, while walking ! 
amid the groves and fountains. Envy of his 
fame rankled into persecution, and he was 
forced to flee to Chalcis, where he died. He 
is considered the founder of the philosophy 
of botany ; he was the first to write of 
mechanics; and with him the term 'meta- 
physics ' originated. His writings, on various 
branches of science, have been of great value 
to the world, although much of his philoso- 
phy has been supplanted in the progress of 
truth. 

ARIUS, the noted schismatic, was born 
about the middle of the third century. His 
entire life was embroiled with disputes, prin- 
cipally with Bishop Alexander and with 
Athanasius, on the divinity of Christ. He 
held that God created the Son, that the Son 
liad not existed from eternity, and was not 
ia dignity and essence equal with the Father. 
This doctrine was condemned by the great 
council which met at Nice in 325. After 
numerous vicissitudes, intrigues, and strifes, 
Arius was in the act of celebrating a triumph 



at Constantinople, and suddenly died at a 
verj' advanced age. 

ARKANSAS derives its name from a tribe 
of Indians now extinct. It is between 33° 
and 360 30' N. lat., and 89° 40' and 94° 40' 
W. long., having an area of 52,198 square 
miles. By the U. S. census of 1860, the state 
had a population of 324,191 whites, 111,115 
slaves, and 144 free negroes, in all 435,450. 
This was a very rapid increase since the 
year 1854, when the whole population was 
only 251,458. The land on the Missis- 
sippi, and from forty to fifty miles back from 
it, is low, interspersed with lakes and swamps, 
and, with few exceptions, annually overflowed 
by that river and its tributaries. West of 
this tract, the ground rises, and near the 
centre of the state, becomes hilly, and ferther 
west, mountainous. Its rivers are the Ar- 
kansas, which has a course of 2,000 miles and 
traverses the whole state, the Mississippi, 
which washes its eastern side, the Red River, 
which furnishes steamboat transportation to 
the southern section, the St. Francis, the 
White River, and the Washita. 

The Ozark Mountains run through the 
western part of the state. The soil on the 
river bottoms is fertile, the other parts gen- 
erally are sterile. Cotton and Indian corn 
are the staple productions. Wild fowls and 
animals are abundant. A variety of mine- 
rals are found in the state, such as iron, 
gypsum, coal. Some salt is obtained. The 



ARK 



70 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



country is well adapted for raising horses 
and cattle. Considerable quantities of wheat, 
oats, sweet potatoes, and tobacco are raised. 
The peach is cultivated with success, but the 
apple does not flourish. 

Arkansas was included in the Louisiana 
territory purchased from France in 1803. 
Settlements were made within its limits by 
French adventurers as early as 1685. It was 
organized as a territory in 1819, and was 
admitted into the Union in 1836. 

Arkansas seceded March 20, 1861, ajid 
was during the rebellion more or less pene- 
trated by Union troops, several desperate bat- 
tles having teen fought in the rugged, moun- 
tainous country in the north-west corner of 
the state, the north-eastern part having been 
long held by the Union forces, and the Union 
navy controlling the chief rivers and their 
banks. The state returned to the Union ap- 
parently with readier and kinder feelings than 
most of the seceding states. A loyal state 
government was early organized with Isaac 
Murphy at its head, and at an election held 
March 16, 1864, this government was con- 
firmed and a new constitution adopted abol- 
ishing and prohibiting slavery. Tracts of land 
i;ave been set apart for school purposes, but 
an indifference on the subject of education 
has pervaded the public mind. The prevail- 
ing religious denominations in Arkansas are 
Methodists and Baptists, while there are also 
considerable bodies of Episcopalians, Presby- 
terians, and Roman Catholics. 

Little Rock, the seat of government, is on 
the Arkansas, about a hundred and fifty miles 
from its confluence with the Mississippi. 
The river is navigable for steamers to this 
point at all stages of water. The rocky bluff 
on which the town stands is the first stone 
met on the Arkansas west of the Mississippi. 
The town was founded in 1820, and in 1850 
had 2,167 inhabitants. None of the other 
towns are very populous. Among the chief 
are Fulton, on the Red River, Helena, on the 
Mississippi, and Fort Smith, a government 
post on the western frontier. 

ARKWRIGHT, Sir Richard, was born in 
Preston in 1732, and in early life was a 
barber. He became interested in machinery 
for spinning cotton, and in 1769 obtained a 
patent for an improvement upon Hargreaves' 
spinning-jenny. Combinations were formed 



against him, and his patent was set aside in 
1785. His business energy was equal to his 
mechanical skill ; he could not be crushed. 
"When he died in 1792, he had accumulated a 
property of £500,000, which his heirs, in 
their generation, increased to one of the most 
colossal fortunes ever realized in the king- 
dom. 

ARMADA, THE Invincible, a famous ar- 
mament fitted out against England in the 
time of Elizabeth (1588), by Philip II. of 
Spain. It consisted of one hundred and fifty 
large ships, with 20,000 soldiers, 8,250 sea- 
men, and 2,000 volunteers, under the Duke of 
Medina Sidouia. The number of guns the 
ships bore was 2,650, some of them of extra- 
ordinary calibre. The English navy at that 
time consisted of but thirty ships of war. 
It was reinforced, however, by volunteers. 
The proud armament was shattered by storms. 
The size of the Spanish vessels prevented 
them from acting with advantage on the seas 
in which they were engaged. Admiral How- 
ard, ably seconded by the officers under him, 
attacked and beat the fleet for several days, 
and very few of the Spanish vessels entered 
port again. Sir Francis Drake, Captain 
Hawkins, and others, greatly distinguished 
themselves at this time. The preparations 
on land, superintended by the queen herself, 
were fully commensurate to those at sea. 

ARMENIA, a country of western Asia, 
lying south of the Caucasus, in ancient 
times a powerful kingdom. The name lingers 
merely in geography ; the greater portion of 
the territory is in the hands of the Turks, the 
eastern part belongs to Persia, the northern 
to Russia. The early history of Armenia is 
not well known. The Assyrians, Medes, 
Persians, and Macedonians by turns pos- 
sessed it. After the death of Alexander, it 
was united to Syria, of which it formed a 
part until it revolted from Antiochus the 
Great, when it was possessed by two difierent 
rulers and divided into Armenia Major and 
Minor. Tigranes, king of the former in 95 
B.C., reduced Armenia Minor, and other prov- 
inces, and united the two countries. Under 
him it became tributary to Rome, in 63 B.C., 
and Trajan made it a Roman province in 
106. After Sapor of Persia vainly attempted 
its conquest from the Romans, it was gov- 
erned by native princes, until the Arabians 



ARM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



71 



conquered it in about 650. It was conquered 
by the Seljukiun Turks about 104(3, after 
which it suffered many changes, till it was 
reduced by the prince of Kharasm in 1201, 
who was driven out of it by Genghis Khan in 
1218. In 1335, the Ilkanian dynasty began 
here, and continued till 1885, when Armenia 
was conquered by Tamerlane, from whom it 
was soon after recovered by the Ilkanian 
princes. On the death of Ahmed Jalayr, the 
last of the line, in 1405, Kara Yusef, the 
chief of the Turcomans, got possession of it. 
This dynasty had the name of the Black 
Sheep, and in 1488, it fell by conquest to the 
family of the White Sheep. In 1500, it 
was conquered by Ishmael Sosi, and reduced 
by Selim I. in 1514. During the late war 
between Eussia, and England, France, and 
Turkey, Armenia was a seat of hostilities, 
and the siege of Kars attracted much interest. 
The population is scanty, considering the 
extent of the country, and consists of Arme- 
nians, Turks, and the wild Kurds. Oppres- 
sion has driven the Armenians somewhat 
widely from the land of their fathers. They 
have much aptitude for business, and Arme- 
nian merchants are now established in nearly 
all the countries of Europe and Asia. At 
almost every great fair or mart, from Leip- 
zig and London to Bombay and Calcutta, 
they are to be seen. Originally the Arme- 
nians were worshipers of fire, but toward 
the close of the third century they became 
converts to Christianity. To their fidelity 
to their faith they owe their existence as a 
separate people through long centuries of 
servitude. The Armenian church is a cor- 
rupt form of the Roman Catholic. It does 
not acknowledge the supremacy of the pope, 
and is govci-ned by patriarchs. 

ARMINIUS (Van Hakmine) was born at 
Oudewater, South Holland, in 1560. After 
studying at Leyden, he went to Geneva and 
enjoyed the prelections of Beza. His mind 
seems to have had an early itching to oppose 
established forms of thought and belief, and 
he became a romantic supporter of the phi- 
losophy of Peter Ramus. At twenty-six he 
was ordained minister of one of the churches 
in Amsterdam, and there preached with great 
acceptance. He was soon entangled in con- 
troversy. In 1603 he succeeded Junius in the 
chair of theology at Leyden. There he 



attacked the doctrine of predestination, and 
based it upon foi-eknowledge of faith and 
merit. From this a hot theological war 
grew. Arminius died in 1609. His candor 
is unimpeached and his ability undoubted. 
The system that bears his name, was elab- 
orated after his death, several of its distinct- 
ive tenets not being held by Arminius. 

ARMSTRONG, John, a native of Penn- 
sylvania, was a brigadier-general in the 
Continental army, and fought well at Fort 
JMoultrie, Germantown, and Brandywine. 
Piqued at certain promotions, he resigned 
his commission in 1777, and afterward sat jn 
Congress. He died in 1795. 

ARMSTRONG, John, son of the former, 
was the author of the celebrated " Newburgh 
Addresses." He was aid-de-camp to Gates. 
He was United States senator from New 
York, and minister to France from 1804 to 
1811. Mr. Madison made him secretary of 
war. The capture of Washington by the 
British, led to his retirement from office. 
He died in 1843, in his eighty-fifth year. 

ARNE, Thomas Augustine, was the son of 
an upholsterer, and born in London in 1710. 
His father educated him at Eton and placed 
him in an attorney's office ; but such was his 
love for music, that he had no relish for the 
quiddities of law. After a few lessons from a 
German violinist, he made such progress with 
the bow, that he left his master the attorney, 
and took music for a profession. His father 
happening accidentally to call at the house of 
a neighboring gentleman, was amazed and 
consternated to find his Thomas Augustine 
playing the leading violin. But the old gen- 
tleman acquiesced. The world gained an ex- 
cellent musician and lost a discontented pet- 
tifogger. Arne became a popular Ij^ical 
composer, writing several pleasing operas, 
many charming songs, besides a large number 
of fine glees, catches, and canons. His song 
and chorus, " Rule Britannia," has been said 
"to have wafted his name over the greater 
half of the habitable world." In 1769, the 
university of Oxford conferred upon Arne the 
degree of doctor in music. He died March 
5th, 1778. His last moments were cheered 
by a Hallelujah sung by himself. 

ARNOLD, Benedict, was born in Norwich, 
Conn., Jan. 3d, 1740, and before the outbreak 
of the Revolution was a druggist and book- 



ARN 



72 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



seller in New Haven. He engaged early in 
the struggle between the colonies and the 
mother country, espousing the cause of the 
former. His reckless bravery gained him 
general applause. He was at the taking of 
Ticonderoga, and his expedition to Canada 
lias been celebrated as a great military enter- 
l-rise. The troops marched to Canada by the 
way of Maine, encountering the severity of 
midwinter, tlireading tangled forests, and suf- 
fering every hardship. In 1777, Arnold dis- 
played great gallantry, and bore a conspicuous 
part in those efforts which led to the capitula- 
tion of Burgoyne. Being unfitted for active 
service by a severe wound received in the 
battle of Stillwater, he was placed in command 
of Philadelphia. He plunged into expensive 
pleasures, soon became involved in debt, and 
saw no means of escaping from his embarrass- 
ments, but by flying into the arms of the 
British, and earning their gold by treason to 
his country. Having been reprimanded by 
Washington for misbehavior, he solicited and 
obtained the command of West Point, for the 
basest of purposes. The ill success of his 
traitorous scheme to yield this important for- 
tress to the British has been told in our sketch 
of Andre. Arnold escaped to the British 
camp. After joining the enemy, he published 
two manifestoes, in which he attributed the 
change in his opinions to the declaration of 
independence, and the alliance of America 
witli France, although long after the adoption 
of these measures, he had fought beneath the 
colonial colors, had been wounded at Quebec, 
and was pledged to support the cause of his 
country. A large sum of money, and the 
rank of brigadier-general in the British army, 
were the rewards of his apostasy. After his 
treason, he made war upon his former friends 
more after the manner of a bandit chieftain, 
than that of a high-souled warrior. Upon the 
recognition of the independence of the United 
States, Arnold retired to England, where he 
died in June, 1801. In the country for which 
he had given up his own, his reception was 
anything but flattering. . On one occasion 
the British monarch desired to make Arnold 
known to the high-minded Earl of Balcarras. 
After the usual form of introduction, Arnold 
extended his hand to the earl. " What, sir ! " 
said the latter to the king, drawing himself up 



to his proudest height ; "is this the traitor 
Arnold ? " He walked haughtily away. 
"The hand of Douglas was his owu." 

Arnold challenged the earl. They met, 
and Arnold missed his antagonist. The proud 
nobleman, instead of discharging his pistol, 
dashed it to the ground. " Stay, my lord," 
exclaimed Arnold, " you have not had jour 
shot!" "No," replied the earl indignantly, 
"I leave you to the hangman." 

ARNOLD, Thomas, D. D., was born at 
West Cowes in the Isle of Wight, June 13th, 
1795. After completing his collegiate studios 
at Oxford, and receiving deacon's orders, he 
was for nine years the principal of a private 
school of high repute, at Laleham near Staines. 
His success as a Christian teacher caused him 
to be chosen head-master of Rugby school in 
1827. It was Dr. Arnold's aim to combine 
Christian with secular instruction. 

He taught the upper classes, governed and 
guided the whole great school, edited classics 
and wrote histories, and yet found time to 
watch over the careers of all his pupils, with- 
out taking the least credit to himself, or seem- 
ing to know, or let any one else know, that 
he ever thought particularly of any boy at all. 
It is related by an old Rugby pupil that one 
of the boys died, on a bright Saturday after- 
noon, while the cricket was going on as usual. 
The doctor coming from the death-bed, passed 
the merry crew cheerfully, and no one knew 
what had happened till the next day. His 
allusion, in the afternoon discourse, to the fact 
that while they were at their sports, their 
playmate was dying, was at once cheerful, 
grand, and impressive. " When I came yes- 
terday from visiting all but the very death-bed 
of him who has been taken from us, and 
looked around upon all familiar objects and 
scenes within our own ground, where your 
common amusements were going on, with 
your common cheerfulness and activity, I felt 
there was nothing painful in witnessing that ; 
it did not seem in any way shocking or out of 
tune with those feelings which the sight of a 
dying Christian must be supposed to awaken. 
The unsuitableness in point of natural feeling 
between scenes of mourning and scenes of 
liveliness did not at all present itself But T 
did feel that if at that moment any of those 
faults had been brought before me which 



ARN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



sometimes occur amongst us; had I heard 
that any among you had been guilty of false- 
hood, of drunkenness, or of any such sin; 
had I heard from any quarter the language of 
profaneness, or of unkindness, or of indecen- 
cy ; had I heard or seen any signs of that 
wretched folly, which courts the laugh of fools 
Ijy affecting not to th-ead evil and not to care 
for good, then the unsuitahleness of any of 
these things with the scene I had just quitted 
would indeed have been most intensely pain- 
ful. And why ? Not because such things 
would really have been worse than at any 
other time, but because at such a moment the 
eyes are opened really to know good and evil, 
because we then feel what it is so to live that 
death becomes an infinite blessing." 

He is known as an author by several vol- 
umes of discourses and by a "History of 
Rome " written on Niebuhr's plan. He was 
appointed to the chair of modern history at 
Oxford ; but he had only given his inaugural 
lecture, when a spasmodic affection of the 
heart cut him off suddenly at Rugby, June 
12 th, 1842. 

ARTHUR, a mythical prince of ancient 
Britain, whose story Hume thinks has some 
foundation in fact. He is said to have been 
born about 501, and died 542. The institution 
of an order of chivalry, called the Knights of 
the Round Table, is attributed to him, and 
also the establishment of Christianity at York. 
ARUNDELIAN MARBLES, containing a 
chronology of ancient history from 1582 to 
355 B.C., and said to have been sculptured 
264 B.C. They consist of thirtj^-seven statues 
and one hundred and twenty-eight busts, with 
two hundred and fifty inscriptions in Greek 
characters. They were found in the isle of 
Paros about 1610, purchased by the Earl of 
Arundel, and given to the university of Ox- 
ford, 1627. 

ARUSPICES, or Haruspices, priests among 
the Romans who foretold future events by 
observing the entrails of the animals sacri- 
ficed, and the manner in which the victim 
behaved. They existed from the time of 
Romulus to that of Constantine (337 a.d.), 
when all soothsaying was prohibited on pain 
of death. Their number at this time was 
seventy. 

ASBURY, Francis, a Methodist preacher 
who came hither from England in 1771, and 



was one of the first bishops of the Methodist 
Episcopal church in the United States. His 
labors were crowned with great good. He 
died suddenly at Spottsylvania, Va., March 
31st, 1816, aged seventy. 

ASCALON. In this battle, Sept. 7th, 1191, 
Richard I. of England, conmianding the cru- 
saders, reduced to 30,000, defeated ten times 
that number of Saracens under Saladin. It 
is said that 30,000 of the paynim foe were left 
dead on the field of battle. • 

ASHANTEE, a nation of negroes, on and 
near the Gold Coast of Guinea. They are in 
the vicinity of Cape Coast Castle, the British 
settlement at Sierra Leone. Warlike and un- 
yielding, they carried on a bloody war with 
the English from 1807 to 1826. The kingdom 
of the Ashantees has been in existence more 
than a hundred years. The king has a band 
of devoted attendants, one hundred in number, 
who are slain upon his tomb, that he may be 
properly accompanied on his arrival in the in- 
fernal regions. His 3, 333 wives are regarded 
with reverence, and on that mystical number 
the safety of the state depends. The empire 
of Ashantee, consisting of several conquered 
states, has a population of three million souls. 
The Ashantees display some ingenuity and 
taste in their architecture, and manufjicture 
cloths which are skillfully dyed in brilliant 
colors. Coomassie, the residence of the king, 
has been forcibly described by an intelligent 
traveler. "A prospect of the capital (if such 
it may be called) at last opened in front of us ; 
it was a partial glimpse, at the distance of 
twenty or thirty paces, of a few mud-built 
hovels, surrounded in part by plantations, 
and some straggling walls of the same mate- 
rial, covering a contracted space gained from 
the surrounding waste." 

ASIA is the largest of the great divisions of 
the earth. Hesiod and Herodotus give a 
mythical origin of the name from the nymph 
Asia, daughter of Oceanus and Zethys, and 
mother or wife of Prometheus. Strabo pre- 
serves an old statement that Asia was the 
original name of Lydia. Orientalists have 
concluded that the root-syllable . in ' Asia ' 
means the ' Sun,' especially as an object of 
religious worship ; that the Asians are ' the 
people of the Sun,' or ' the people from the 
east;' and that 'Asia' is thus the correlative 
of ' Europa,' which is derived from the Phoe- 



ASI 



.COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



nician or Hebrew word 'Ereb' or 'Oreb,' 
signifying 'evening,' 'sunset,' and hence the 
' West.' The ancient Greeks were acquaint- 
ed with little more than Asia Minor. The 
establishment of the Persian empire, B.C. 550, 
advanced geographical knowledge, because 
many nations and extensive regions being 
gathered under one rule, the intercourse be- 
tween them, which before had been difficult, 
was much facilitated. The conquests of Alex- 
ander brought still farther advance. He had 
almost reached the valley of the Ganges, when 
a mutiny in his wearied army forced him to 
give over his scheme of penetrating India. 
He founded the city of Alexandria at the 
mouth of the Nile ; the commerce of Tyre and 
the Phoenicians was diverted thither; and 
Egyptian vessels pushed from the Red Sea as 
far as the shores of Malabar and the isle of 
Oeylon. The extreme eastern boundary of 
the Roman empire was formed by the Tigris, 
the Euphrates, and the mountains of Armenia. 
In one instance their armies passed beyond 
the limits of the known world. When war- 
ring with Mithridates they arrived at Mount 
Caucasus, and on the shores of the 4)aspian 
Sea they learned of a commercial road through 
Bactria, by which an active traffic was had 
with India. Shortly after another route was 
discovered, leading over the high table-land 
of upper Asia to the Seres, or Chinese ; prob- 
ably the road which still passes through the 
town of Kashghar. Though the Roman eagles 
did not swoop in victory over these regions of 
the remote East, the wealth of the imperial 
city caused a demand for the productions and 
the luxuries of the oi'ient ; so that these newly 
discovered paths were much frequented by 
merchants, while the maritime trade was also 
duly enhanced. The dominion of the Saracens 
cut off the intercourse of Europe with Asia, 
and till the time of the crusades no new 
knowledge was gained by Europeans of its 
geography. The Arabians, however, began 
to nourish geography among other sciences. 
To them we owe its establishment upon math- 
ematical and astronomical principles. They 
renewed trading intercourse with India, and 
extended it to the Chinese seas. Zeal for 
propagating their creed inspired them, as well 
as the love of gain. 

In the thirteenth century, Genoa, Venice, 
and Florence commenced their lucrative trade 



with the East. In this century too, the Mon- 
gols under Genghis Khan crossed the Volga, 
sulijected Russia, and laid prostrate the power 
of Poland. All Europe trembled, but the 
death of Genghis stayed the Tartars in their 
western march. The policy of Innocent IV. 
and of Louis IX. of France suggested the plan 
of turning the Mongols against the Saracens. 
For this it seemed necessary to convert the 
barbarians to the Christian faith. Friars were 
accordingly sent among them. They did not 
succeed in their mission, but their journeyings 
made Europeans for the first time acquainted 
with the immense extent of those regions 
vaguely known as Scythia, which thenceforth 
were called Mongolia or Tartary. Genghis 
Khan had extended his dominion over all in- 
land Asia, from the boundary of Siberia to 
that of India and Thibet. After his death the 
Mongols continued in their career of victory, 
and at length in the reign of his most able 
successor, Kublai Khan (1259-1294), China 
came under their sway. At the court of this 
monarch at Pekin, Marco Polo dwelt from 
1275 to 1292, and under his favor had the best 
opportunities for visiting the wide Mongol 
realm. The account which he published of 
his travels added more to geographical knowl- 
edge of Asia than all that was previously 
known. It very materially influenced the 
views of Columbus, and directed the course of 
Vasco de Gama. [See Polo.] 

After the circumnavigation of Africa by 
Vasco de Gama in 1498, the Portuguese rap- 
idly explored the Indian seas, founded many 
colonies, and carried on a rich commerce. At 
the close of the sixteenth century, Portugal 
passed under the yoke of Spain ; and one 
result of the struggle of the Netherlands 
against Philip II., was the gradual transfer 
of the Portuguese possessions in the Indies 
into the hands of the Dutch. About this 
time Siberia was subjected by Russia, and 
the Jesuits obtained a footing at the Chinese 
court which gained them considerable knowl- 
edge of that vast empire. India was longer 
involved in obscurity than almost any part 
of Asia. The progress of the East India 
Company of England during the last two 
centuries, has rapidly opened its recesses. 

Yet this quarter of the world, concerning 
which modern civilization has so slowly and 
imperfectly gained any information, was the 



ASI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



75 



first peopled ; here the law of God was first and Tonkm, East of China is the insular 



promulgated; here many of the greatest 
monarchies of the world have had their rise ; 
and hence most of the arts and sciences have 
been derived. To its immensity of extent, 
the importance of its history, and the 
vastness of its monumental remains, justly 
correspond. It has been the theatre of 
some of the most important events which 
history records, the clime of wonders and 
of wealth, the chosen region of romance. If 
we search for the fate of proud monarchies, 
for the tale of powerful dynasties, for the 
doom of splendid cities, we shall find the 
name of Asia constantly recurring, and the 
fame of Asia the theme of unfailing wonder 
and of praise. 

Its extent is estimated at 17,500,000 square 
miles, and its population set down at more 
than 600,000,000. We give a summary of 
the principal divisions of Asia. More detailed 
accounts may be sought in the appropriate 
place. Siberia, a division of the Russian 
empire, occupies the north. The Chinese 
empire comprises one-fourth of the surfoce of 
Asia, and one-half the inhabitants. The Brit- 
ish dominions are for the most part in India, 
the peninsula within the Ganges, but their 
rule has extended over a great number of 
dependent native sovereigns. Nepaul and 
Ava are the only important states of India 
that have remained independent of the Brit- 
ish. The Portuguese have saved from the 
wreck of their once mighty possessions little 
more than Goa on the Malabar coast. Daman, 
a small portion of the peninsula of Guzerat, 
the island of Macao in the bay of Canton, 
and some districts in the island of Timor. 
These are supposed to contain about 60,000 
square miles and 600,000 inhabitans. The 
French have a small foothold in Asia at Pon- 
dicherry, at Chandernagore in Bengal, and at 
Nahe on the coast of Malabar. The Dutch 
have been driven from the mainland. Their 
power begins on the west with Sumatra, and 
extends beyond Java to the Moluccas or Spice 
Islands. Their possessions are roughly 
guessed to comprehend about 612,000 square 
miles, with 16,500,000 inhabitants. In the 
south-eastern corner of Asia lie the empires 
of Birmah, and the kingdoms of Siam and 
Annam, which latter comprehends the an- 
cient sovereignties of Camboja, Cochin China, 



empire of Japan. In the west we have Af- 
ghanistan, Beloochistan, Arabia, Turkey in 
Asia, and Persia. The tract between Persia 
and China, sometimes called Independent 
Tartary, is inhabited mostly by nomadic 
tribes. Here are the states of Bokhara and 
Khiva, and many petty sovereignties in the 
mountain regions. But none of these have 
any fixed government. 

The islands in the Asian seas are many and 
important. Besides those belonging to Japan, 
the larger are Borneo, Sumatra, Java, Celebes, 
the Philippines, the Moluccas, Ceylon, and 
Formosa. 

ASPERNE, Battle of. Between the Aus- 
trian army under the Archduke Charles, and 
the French ; fought on the 21st, 22d, and 
23d of May, 1809. In this very sanguinary 
fight the loss of the Austrians exceeded 
20,000, and that of the French was more than 
30,000. It ended in the defeat of Bonaparte, 
who commanded in person, and was the 
severest check that he had yet received. 
This success, however, benefited the Aus- 
trians but little in the end. 

ASSASSINS, the followers of an Arab 
chief in the time of the crusades, who pro- 
fessed a blind devotion to his will. When 
Henry, Count of Champagne, was passing 
through the dominions of their chief, Alo- 
addin, the " Old Man of the Mountains," he 
boasted of his power at home. " Are any of 
your vassals as devoted as my followers ? " 
asked the chieftain. On this he gave a 
signal to ten young men, clad in white, 
standing on the top of a tall tower, and they 
instantly threw themselves from it and were 
dashed to pieces ! To the stealth with which 
they took the lives of those they hated, the 
word 'assassin' owes its adoption and its 
meaning in European languages. 

ASSAYE. The British army under Gen. 
Arthur Wellesley (afterward the Duke of 
Wellington), entered the Mahratta states on 
the south, took the fort of Ahmednugger 
Aug. 12th, and defeated Scindiah and the 
Rajah of Berar at Assaye, Sept. 23d, 1803. 
This was the future Wellington's first great 
battle, and the opposing force was ten times 
his own. The enemy retired in great dis- 
order, forsaking all their artillery, ammuni- 
tion, and stores. 



ASS 



76 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



ASSYRIA, a kingdom of Asia, said to have 
been founded by Asher, whose boundaries 
varied greatly at different times. It was 
anciently bounded as follows : north by the 
mountains Niphates, and Armenia Major, 
east by Media, south by Susiana, and west 
by Mesopotamia. Ninus, the son of Belus, 
(2069-2017), subdued the Babylonians and 
Medes, and Semiramis, his wife and successor, 
increased the fame of the kingdom. The 
kings of Assyria degenerated fi-om this re- 
Tiown. Such were the indolence and volup- 
tuousness of Sardanapalus as to encourage 
the successful revolt of Arbaces the Mede, 
and Assj^ria was then divided into the Me- 
dian, Assyrian, and Babylonian kingdoms. 
It was over this second Assyrian kingdom 
that Sennacherib reigned, whose great army 
besieged Jerusalem and was swept away in a 
single night by the angel of the Lord. Nin- 
eveh was razed by the Medes and Babylo- 
nians, 621 B.C., and the Assyrian monarchy 
divided by the conquerors. Through the 
conquest of Cyrus these countries became 
one of the most important satrapies of the 
Pei'sian empire, sometimes called Babylonia 
and sometimes Assyria. 

ASTRONOMY. The history of the science 
of the heavens dates backward into the 
morning of time. Observations on the appa- 
rent and real revolutions of the stars must 
have been made, and a really gi-eat advance 
attained in the science, long before any form 
of record preserved the fruits of discovery. 
Some of the principal constellations, as they 
are now named, are mentioned in Job. The 
earliest accounts we have of the science are 
those of Babylon, about 2234 b.c. The study 
of astronomy was much advanced in Chaldea 
under Nabonassar. It was known to the 
Chinese about 1100 b.c, some say many 
centuries before. One tradition is that the 
Chinese knew the periods of the sun, moon, 
and planets, and were acute astronomers, in 
the reign of Jao, which is set down 2357 b.c. 
Lunar eclipses were observed at Babylon 
with exceeding accuracy, 720 b.c. Thales 
taught the spherical form of the earth, and 
the true cause of lunar eclipses, 640 b.c. 
Pythagoras, who made further discoveries, 
true doctrine of celestial 



taught nearly the 

motions and believed in a plm^ality of habit- 1 the sun's disk, Nov. 24th, 1639 (o.s.) 

AST 



able worlds, 500 b.c. Hipparchus began his 
observations at Rhodes, 1()7 b.c, and contin- 
ued them thirty-four j'ears, making great 
advances. He began his new lunar cycles 
from the new moon of Sept. 28th, 143 b.c 
The precession of the equinoxes w^as con- 
firmed, and the places and distances of the 
planets discovered, by Ptolemy, a.d. 130. 
The system he taught, in which the earth 
was made the immovable centre of the uni- 
verse, remained in vogue till the time of 
Copernicus. After the lapse of nearly seven 
centm-ies, during which astronomy was neg- 
lected, it was resumed by the Arabs, about 
800, and was brought into Europe by the 
Moors of Barbary and Spain, about 1200, 
geography being introduced at the same time. 
The celebrated tables known as the Alj^hon- 
sine, were composed by command, and under 
the direction, of Alphonsus X. of Castile, at 
an expense of four hundred thousand crowns, 
in 1284. Alphonsus was justly surnamed 
the Wise. Clocks were first used in astron- 
omy about 1500. In 1530 Copernicus com-' 
pleted his immortal work, "Astronomia 
Instaurata," although it was not published 
until the year of his death, 1543. This 
treatise, in which the true doctrine of the 
motions of the planetary bodies was revived, 
did more for astronomy than was ever done 
for any other science by a single production. 
The science was also greatly advanced by 
Tycho Brahe in the la,tter part of the same 
century. Kepler discovered the true laws of 
the planetary motions in 1019. Nearly a 
century before Copernicus had shown that 
the planets moved round the sun ; now Kep- 
ler showed in what manner and by what 
laws they moved : it was left for Newton to 
show why they moved. Kepler had before 
found that the planetary orbits were elliptical, 
and had demonstrated the equality of the 
spaces described by the radii vecfores in 
equal times ; and now he enunciated the im- 
portant law that the square of the periodic 
times of the planets' revolutions are as the 
cubes of their distances. Telescopes and 
other instruments were used about 1627. 
The discoveries of Galileo were made about 
1631. Horrox, an Englishman, was the first 
who ever observed a transit of Venus over 

Hor- 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



'7 . 



rebow, in 1659, discovered the aberration of 
the light of the fixed stars. Hevelius con- 
structed a map of the moon, 16T0. Halley 
demonstrated the motion of the sun round its 
own axis, 1 676. Huygens discovered the rings 
of Saturn, 1686. In 1687 Newton's "Prin- 
L'ii)ia " was published, and the system initiated 
by Copernicus and confirmed by Kepler, was 
iucontrovertibly established. Flamstead cat- 
alogued the stars, 1688. La Grange demon- 
strated the harmony of the perturbations of 
the solar system, 1780. Herschel discovered 
Uranus, 1781. The "Mccanique Celeste" of 
La Place was published in 1796. Ceres was 
discovered in 1801 ; Pallas, in 1802; Juno, 
ill 1804; Vesta, in 1807. [For the several 
planets recently discovered, see Planets.] 

The distances of the fixed stars is supposed 
to be about four hundred thovisand times 
greater from us than we are from the sun ; 
that is to say, thirty-eight millions of mil- 
lions of miles ; so that a cannon-ball would 
be nine millions of years in reaching one of 
them, supposing there was nothing to hinder 
it from pursuing its course thither. As light 
takes about eight minutes and a quarter to 
reach us from the sun, it would be about six 
years in coming from one of those stars : yet 
the calciriations of later astronomers prove 
some stars to be so distant, that their light 
must take centuries before it can reach us, 
and the light by which we now see these 
started on its journey three or four hundred 
years ago. 

ATHANASIUS, a great theological cham- 
pion in the fourth century, was born about 
296. He was an active member of the coun- 
cil of Nice. His rising fame led to his eleva- 
tion to the see of Alexandria, upon the death 
of his patron. Bishop Alexander. He was 
immediately involved in contests with the 
Arians concerning the divinity of Christ, that 
ended only with his life. Deposed most 
unjustly in 335, he was reinstated in 338. 
Deposed again in 340, he was reinstated in 
342. The unscrupulous charges of his foes 
he refuted with overwhelming proof and 
eloquence. But in 355 he was again sen- 
tenced to be banished, when he retired to the 
deserts, till again he was welcomed back to 
the Egyptian capital. Once more, Julian the 
apostate exiled him, and once more he was 
restored. A fifth time was he banished by 



the Emperor Valens, who soon recalled him, 
however, and Athanasius, after holding the 
primacy for the long space of forty-six years, 
passed into peace in 373. He was a man of 
devout life, an orator of ready and forcible 
eloquence, and a prelate of heroic and inde- 
fatigable activity. 

ATHENS. The early period of Athenian 
history is so far beyond our ken as to be but 
dimly discerned. It is not till the time of 
Solon that the story becomes definite. Some- 
thing is said of Ogyges, who reigned in 
Boeotia, and was master of Attica, then 
called Ionia. In his reign a deluge took place 
(by some supposed to be no other than the 
great flood), that laid waste the land, and so 
it remained until the arrival of Cecrops and 
his colony, by whom it was peopled, 1556 
B.C. Originally Athens was called from its 
founder, Cccropia, but in time his name was 
only retained by the citadel, the xicropolis, 
while the Greek name of Minerva (Athena) 
was applied to the city. The position of 
Athens is peculiar, and the surrounding 
scenery luxuriant and interesting. The blue 
Saronic Gulf, so often swept by victorious 
navies, the opposite shore of the Pelopon- 
nesus, the rocky steep of the Acropolis, and 
the beauty of the surrounding plains, are 
prominent features in a landscape which 
antiquity has jnade interesting, and fame 
immortaL Nor were the natural beauties of 
the scene its chief recommendation. Art 
here successfully vied with nature, and erec- 
tion of most noble edifices bore witness to 
the taste, industry, skill, and public spirit of 
the Athenians. Cecrops, the fomider of 
Athens, was an Egyptian, skilled in the arts 
of his countrymen, and possessing more than 
their customary enterprise; he founded the 
kingdom of Athens, dividing the country into 
twelve districts, over which he ruled for a 
long time with the title of king. He insti- 
tuted the senate called the Areopagus, which 
met upon a hill in the vicinity of the citadel, 
dedicated to Mars. This court acquired an 
active influence in the aiFairs of government. 
To it the examination of the laws and state 
of public morals was committed, v/hile crimes 
against religion and the state, required its 
peculiar attention. In 1498 B.C., Amphic- 
tyon, one of the successors of Cecrops, 
established the Amphictyonic council, an 



ATH 



78 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 




THE niLL OF THE AREOPAGUS. 



assembly which ultimately attained a high 
degree of celeljrity. At first they assembled 
at Delphi, where was the oracle of Apollo, 
hut finally at Anthela, a village in the vicinity 
of the famous Thermopylae. 

To both of these monarchs the Athenians 
owed much. If Cecrops softened the man- 
ners of the inhabitants of Attica, taught them 
how to clothe their lands with the verdure of 
the olive and the vine, and instructed them in 
the love of order, the worship of the gods, 
the rites of Hymen, and those of sepulture, 
Amphictyon strengthened and secured the 
advantages which his subjects had begun to 
reap. No longer they feared the incursions 
of predatory neighbors, but sat in the shade 
of their vineyards, enjoying the happiness 
which security and peace bestow. Theseus 
was the greatest warrior among these early 
kings of Athens. He is said to have united 
in one confederation the hitherto independ- 
ent twelve states of Attica founded by Ce- 
crops. Codrus was the last of the line. In 
a battle with the HeraclidfB, 1068 B.C., he 
sought and found death, for the oracle had 
promised that victory should rest with the 
side whose leader was slain. The govern- 
ment assumed a republican form. The 



change vras but in name, for the archon had 
nearly all the power of the king, whose 
place in the state he filled. The archon was 
orginally chosen for life. After a lapse of little 
more than three centuries, the term of office 
was curtailed to ten years, and less than a 
century afterward, the number of archons 
was increased to nine, and they served for a 
term of one year only. 

Originally all the Grecian states had a 
regal government, which was abolished in 
consequence of the tyranny of the various 
princes, and supplanted by republican forms. 
Recovering their liberty at an early period, 
the Greeks acquired that love of freedom 
which characterized them throughout their 
long career, and it was only when luxury 
and wealth had banished the temperate and 
unostentatious life of their ancestors, that 
the Greeks found themselves unable to con- 
tend against the encroachments of hostile 
power, and fell beneath the arms of more 
enterprising rivals. The rivalry of Athens 
and Sparta produced, together with much 
good, an infinity of evil. The Spartans were 
of a sterner cast than the Athenians, and 
even more distinguished for their love of 
fi'cedom and their invincible courage. They 



ATE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



79 



despised those triumphs of the arts which 
the Athenians made their glory, and relied 
for fame on stern contempt of the elegan- 
ces and the common comforts of life. 

What their Lycurgus was to them, Solon 
was to the Athenians. Solon v/as one of 
those great characters whom their country- 
men regard with veneration for ages, and 
whose memory they recall even in the' midst 
of oppression, and the darkness of disgrace ; 
one oi^those rare spirits whose virtues and 
self-possession are most conspicuous when 
most needed, and whose knowledge, like the 
lamp of the glow-worm, shines brightest 
when the darkness is most heavy. At a 
time (B.C. 594r-578) when the turbulence and 
ambition of the archons threatened the Athe- 
nians with a multitude of evils, all eyes 
were turned upon Solon, as the pilot who 
alone could, guide the vessel of state through 
the rocks and surges that surrounded it. He 
was at once created archon extraordinary 
with unlimited power, for his high character 
and calm demeanor inspired confidence among 
the people he was destined to assist. Solon 
introduced a mild code of laws, in opposi- 
tion to that of Draco, his predecessor in legis- 
lation, whose appalling severity had raised 
him maijy enemies. The government was 
placed in the hands of a senate of four hun- 
dred members chosen by the people. After 
an acquittal of their debts, the people were 
divided into four classes. The members of 
the three first classes were eligible to office, 
while those of the fourth, whose poverty was 
thought to incapacitate them from serving, 
were yet allowed the privilege of voting in 
the popular assemblies. The power of the 
commonwealth was vested in these assem- 
blies, but there was a restrictive influence in 
the senate. 

Whatever merit we may be disposed to 
allow the constitution of Solon, framed as it 
was at a very early period, it was much 
too artificial to be permanently successful. 
Solon lived to see this. During his retire- 
ment from Athens, factions disturbed the 
peace of the people, and Solon, after having 
vainly endeavored to stem the current, re- 
tired to the isle of Cyprus, where he died, 
B.C. 560. A change of government was 
effected by Pisistratus, a popular but am- 
bitious man, who headed the poorer class of 



people (a class who considered themselves 
peculiarly oppressed by the constitution of 
Solon) and gained possession of the supreme 
power. The plans of the usurper possessed 
plausibility and brilliancy. His benevolence 
was undoubted; he governed with equity 
and moderation. At his death Pisistratus 
bequeathed his power to his two sons, Hip- 
parchus and Hippias, who, for a long time, 
by a liberal patronage of the arts and of 
learned men, gave a brilliancy to their admin- 
istration which was mihappily not destined to 
endure. Among thcniiost brilliant ornaments 
of the court was Anacreon, the elegant though 
effeminate poet of love and wine. The cru- 
elty of Hippias at length roused the spirit of 
the Athenians, who broke forth into an open 
revolt, in which Hipparchus was slain, and 
Hippias banished. Pisistratus and his sons 
governed under the title of tyrants, a term 
at that time not necessarily implying an 
abuse of power. They held the tyranny for 
thirty-six years, during which time we ma}' 
naturally infer that all tendency toward ;; 
democratical form of government was sup- 
pressed, but under their rule the arts began 
to flourish. Upon the downfall of Hippias, 
two factions contended for the mastery in 
Athens; the one headed by Cleisthenes, of 
the aristocratical family of the Alcmaeonidfe, 
the other by Isagoras, son of Tisander. Cle- 
isthenes effected some changes in the laws of 
Solon, increasing the number of the divis- 
ions of the people to ten, and of the members 
of the senate to five hundred, and by these 
and other measures he gained the favor of tin- 
Athenians. His rival called in the aid of 
Cleomenes, the mad king of Lacedgemon. 
But Cleomenes was baffled, his allies the 
Boeotians and Chalcidians defeated by the 
Athenians, and the territory of Chalcis in the 
fertile isle of Euboea colonized by four thou- 
sand Athenians. Athens lent some aid to 
the Ionian Greeks, who were in revolt against 
Darius. Hippias had fi.nally sought refuge 
at the Persian court, and when the Athenian 
force burned Sardis he easily excited thc- 
hostility of Darius against the city of his 
former rule. But the bravery of the Athe- 
nians was not wasted in words, and they 
joined against the invaders with heart and 
hand. When the heralds of Darius came 
with the insolent demand of earth and water, 



ATH 



80 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the usual signs of submission, they were 
seized and thrown, the one into a ditch and 
the other into a well, whence they were con- 
temptuously told to satisfy their wants. The 
troops of Darius entered Attica, encamping 
at Marathon, a small town upon the sea-coast. 
Against an army of 500,000 horse and foot, 
the brave Miltiades led forth a band of 10,000 
Athenians, who were victorious in the most 
sacred of causes, 490 b.c. Ten years after- 
ward when Xerxes poured his forces into 
Greece, the Athcniam, under Themistocles, 
were triumphant, ancf the victory of Salamis 
bore witness to the terrible energy and roused 
spirit of freemen. Yet it is painful to mark the 
fickleness and ingratitude of the Athenians. 
One would think that while Marathon was 
remembered, the services of Miltiades could 
not be forgotten. Yet the noble Athenian, in 
consequence of misfortune, was thrown into 
a prison where he perished. Aristides, whose 
virtue procured him the surname of " the 
just," was banished by ostracism, without 
any adequate cause. The practice of ostra- 
cism was so called, because the citizens wrote 
upon a tile or shell {ostraTcon) the names of 
those who were obnoxious to them. The 
shells being counted, the person whose name 
occurred most frequently, was banished. 
Themistocles was also persecuted and forced 
to seek refuge at the Persian court ; yet so 
fond was he of his ungrateful country, that 
rather than serve against her, he killed him- 
self. It was men like these who reflected a 
lustre on the Athenian name. 

Xerxes in his march through Attica had 
entered Athens. After his defeat at Salamis 
he hastily retreated into Asia, leaving his 
general Mardonius with 300,000 men. Mar- 
donius re-entered Athens, applied the torch, 
and reduced the city almost utterly to ruins. 
His defeat at Platfea, b.c. 479, by the com- 
bined Greeks, rid the land of its invaders. 

When the Persians, humbled to the ^ust, 
no longer had the audacity to threaten Greece, 
the glory of the Athenians brightened, day 
by day. The people saw with delight the 
extension of their privileges. All orders, 
feeling the benefit of equal institutions, lab- 
ored in common for the aggrandizement of 
their country. Members of all classes were 
now made eligible to ofBce, and the poor felt 
that they stood upon an equal footing with 



the rich, and might, by exertion, rise superior 
to them. The period from the close of the 
Persian war, b.c. 470, to the time of the Pelo- 
ponnesian war, B.C. 431, includes days of un- 
common splendor in the history of Athens. 
The naval supremacy of Attica arose. Cimon 
and Pericles introduced elegance into Athens, 
and the age of the latter is commonly quoted 
as the golden era of the country. The arts 
under his liberal patronage, flourished to a 
great degree. In his time, that glorious tem- 
ple to Minerva, the most perfect example of 
Grecian art, the Parthenon, was erected. 
Magnificent temples sprang up in every direc- 
tion, the marble breathed, the pencil glowed, 
and the lips of the orator and poet were gifted 
with kindling eloquence. To this age belong 
the tragic verse of ^schylus, the loft jf dramas 
of Sophocles and Euripides, and the biting 
satire of Aristophanes. In this time, too, 
Herodotus read his history publicly in the 
Athenian council. Yet, in the midst of much 
apparent prosperity, the foundation of mis- 
fortune was laid. The abundance of wealth 
was not without deteriorating influence, and 
the Athenians became so enamored of the 
elegances of life, that they began to prefer 
them to manliness and independence. Peri- 
cles was at the zenith of his greatness b.c. 
444. He engaged in the Peloponnesian war, 
B.C. 431, the end of which, after twenty-seven 
years, was that the Lacedaemonians, ever 
more hardy if not more brave than the ele- 
gant Athenians, made themselves masters of 
Athens, and granted peace to the vanquished 
on the most humiliating conditions. For 
eight months the Athenians groaned under 
the yoke of the thirty magistrates, or, as 
they were called, the thirty tyrants, whom 
the Lacedaemonians imposed upon them, and 
kept under the protection of their garrison. 
The man who led to the overthrow of this 
oppression, was Thrasybulus. Again the 
star of Athens rose to the zenith, bright as 
if no cloud had ever covered it and hid its 
silvery brilliancy beneath a veil. The Athe- 
nians joined the Thebans against Sparta and 
were successful. They were yet to feel, 
however, the importance of a power hitherto 
unacknowledged or despised. Philip of Mac- 
edon descended from the north. In vain did 
Demosthenes urge the Athenians to die in 
defense of their liberty. In vain did this 



ATH 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



SI 



extraordinary man hurl his tremendous anath- 
emas against PhiHp. He was doomed to see 
the subjugation of his countrymen. Phihp 
was neither daunted by eloquence, nor re- 
pulsed by bravery. The battle of Oheronasa, 
li.c. 338, struck, a death-blow to Grecian 
liberty. Athens remained, with the other 
states of Greece, dependent upon the Mace- 
donian power for existence. She did not 
sink without a struggle, but all her struggles 
^vere of no avail against the giant power 
which had prostrated her, and fettered her 
with bonds of adamant. 

When Athens was taken by Oassander 
(B.C. 317), the oligarchy was restored, and 
Demetrius Phalerius, upheld by a Macedo- 
nian garrison, enjoyed the office of governor 
of the state for ten years. The Athenians 
entreated the assistance of Demetrius Polior- 
cetes, who, having taken the city, restored 
the form of the ancient constitution. To this 
dissolute ruler the corrupt Athenians paid 
the honors due only to the gods ; temples were 
erected to his mistresses ; nor did the abode 
of the Virgin Goddess herself, on the Acrop- 
olis, escape desecration from the unbridled 
licentiousness of the time. Demetrius was 
overthrown, 287 B.C. Antigonus Gonatas of 
Macedon conquered the Athenians, 208 b.c. 
After twelve years under his yoke they were 
delivered by Aratus, and joined the Achaean 
league. The Romans gladly availed them- 
selves of the co-operation of the Athenians 
against the last Philip of Macedon. After 
having drawn down upon themselves the 
vengeance of Rome by espousing the side of 
Mithridates, 88 B.C., the Athenians trembled 
for the consequences. Sylla took their city, 
B.C. 86, and the show of liberty which it after- 
ward retained, was but a bitter mockery. 
Yet under the Romans, Athens continued to 
be the centre of the arts,' of philosophy, and 
of all the learning of the time. Vespasian 
made Athens a Roman province, and it was 
included in the empire of the east, after the 
division of the Roman empire. But it was 
destined to feel the terror of that power 
beneath which the queen of cities was pros- 
trated to the dust. Alaric the Goth, a.d. 
396, conquered and devastated the country, 
From this period, the liberty of Athens ex- 
isted but in the recollection of the past. In 
420, paganism was abohshed in Athens, and 



the Parthenon converted into a church of the 
Virgin Mary. In 1456, the Turks gained 
possession of the city. A black eunuch held 
the place which Pericles once adorned, and 
the Parthenon, no longer a Christian church, 
was forced to answer as a mosque. In 1687, 
the Venetians besieged Athens, and some of 
the works of the immortal Phidias, the sculp- 
tor, were destroyed by the explosion of a 
magazine, fired by a bomb thrown into the 
Parthenon by the besiegers. On the 29th 
of September, Athens came into the hands of 
the Venetians, after its inhabitants had suf- 
fered severely from the siege, but was again 
relinquished to the Turks in 1088. From the 
erection of manj^ barbaric structures, some 
of the most valuable remains of antiquity 
have been covered and concealed, to be 
brought to light by the researches of the 
curious of later days. From the Turks, 
the Greeks of Athens experienced a milder 
treatment than many of their brethren, and 
were permitted to retain many of their an- 
cient observances. In 1822, the Acropolis 
sustained a long siege, which was terminated 
by its falling into the hands of the patriots. 
News of this was heard with delight by all 
the Greeks, who loved their country, and 
rejoiced to behold 

" The flag of freedom wave once more 
Above the lofty Parthenon." 

When at last Grecian independence was 
established, Athens was made the capital of 
the new kingdom. 

ATHOS, a mountain of ancient Macedonia, 
now Agion-oros, or Monte Santo, in the Turk- 
ish province of Saloniki. On its sides are 
many hermitages, and twenty monasteries, 
with over eight thousand monks, chiefly Rus- 
sians and Greeks, of the order of St. Basil. 
No female, even of the animal kind, is allowed 
to enter the peninsula on which the holy 
mountain stands. Some of the monasteries 
are said to contain very ancient and valuable 
manuscripts. Not long since, a manuscript 
of the eighth century, a translation of the Bi- 
ble into the Georgian language by St. Euphe- 
mius, was discovered here. The summit of 
this mountain is about 6,350 feet above the 
level of the sea. At the foot of it, Xerxes 
caused a trench a mile and a half long, to be 
cut and filled with sea-water. This was for 



ATH 



82 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the passage of his fleet, and of such width that 
two ships could sail abreast. 

ATLANTIC OCEAN. There is not in the 
multitude of natural wonders, a more sublime 
spectacle than that afforded by the world of 
waters, under whatever view it is contempla- 
ted. Impressive and beautiful it is, when 
stretched out in the tranquil repose of an un- 
broken calm, reflecting the still splendor of 
the heavens by day, or their diamond bril- 
liancy by night. Far as the eye can reach, 
there is hardly a ripple on the wave, and at 
the horizon, the azure of the air and that of 
the ocean join in the bridal of the sea and sky. 
Yet more impressive is the aspect of the deep 
sea in a tempest; when the elements are 
awakened from their slumber, and abroad in 
their terrible strength, and the wild winds of 
heaven sport with gigantic mountains of wa- 
ter, heaving them to and fro, with the ease of 
zephyrs sporting with dew-drops. 

The formation of the bed of the Atlantic, 
from latitude 20^^ S., up to the north pole, 
has been ascribed to the concussion of im- 
mense masses of water, produced by the del- 
uge, when, it is conceived, the waters of the 
great southern ocean below the equator, 
rushed upon the northern hemisphere. From 
Cape Frio to the river of the Amazons, in 
vSouth America, there is a vast protuberance 
answering to the incurvation of the African 
shore fi-om the river of Congo to Cape Palmas ; 
while, from the Straits of Gibraltar to Cape 
Palmas, there is an immense protuberance, 
corresponding to the incurvation between 
New York and Cape St. Roque. This con- 
jecture is thought probable, since the depres- 
sion caused by such an innuense bodj^ of wa- 
ter could not be otherwise than enormous, 
considering the shock and weight of the op- 
posing body. 

Until the successful issue of the voyages of 
Columbus, it was imagined that there was 
one unbroken extent of water between the 
western shores of Europe and Africa, and the 
East Indies ; and the great navigator himself 
imagined that he had reached the Indian 
realms, by a shorter route than that pursued 
by the Portuguese. The name of the Atlantic 
Ocean is connected with a tradition which is 
lost in the night of antiquity, and which, 
reaching the Greeks from the Egyptians, has 
been commemorated by Plato. It was said 



that there originally existed an isle called At- 
lantis, which rose from the bosom of the 
ocean, and surpassed in extent Asia and Libya 
together. Plato's testimony has caused a 
controversy among modern authors respecting 
the situation and nature of Atlantis. Of 
course, it is impossible to determine the situ- 
ation of an isle which existed before the ages 
of history, but still shall we disregard the 
truth of the tale? What interest had the 
Greeks in imagining a fable, which bore no 
relation to their history, and which was not 
calculated to affect their religious belief? 
Why should the Greeks have adopted it? 
" The islanders," says Plato, " subdued Libya, 
Egypt, and Europe, as far as Asia Minor ; i;t 
last, Atlantis was swallowed by the waters, 
and for a long time afterward, the sea was 
full of earth and sand-banks, in the vicinity of 
the place which the island had occupied." 
This last passage proves the existence of a 
tradition of a terrible outbreak of the waters 
of the Atlantic Ocean, which overwhelmed 
Atlantis. 

The depth of the Atlantic is various, being 
in some parts unfathomable. Its saltness and 
si)ecific gi-avity diminish gradually from the 
equator to the poles. Near the British islands, 
the salt is said to be one thirty-eighth of the 
weight of the water. The temperature of the 
Atlantic is influenced, considerablj^ by the 
masses of ice which float from the northward 
toward the equator, reaching frequently the 
fortieth degree of latitude. Dangerous as are 
these icebergs to the mariner, they yet pre- 
sent a splendid appearance as they float on- 
ward to southern latitudes, gleaming in the 
sunbeams, which, while they impart dazzling 
brilliancy, hasten the dissolutionof thefloating 
masses. The continual melting gives a very 
fanciful appearance to the icebergs, which is 
heightened by the rivulets pouring from point 
to point, like the streams trickling down a 
cavern of stalactites. Passages between North 
America and Europe in the months of June 
and July, are sometimes rendered perilous by 
the frequency of icebergs from the northward. 

Much important information concerning the 
currents and winds of the Atlantic has been 
gained by the observations planned and di- 
rected by Lieut. Maury. The waters of the 
tropical seas have a westward motion, known 
as the equatorial current. This oceanic stream 



ATL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



83 



eows from the African coast to Cape St. Roque, 
where dividing, one branch sets southward 
along the coast of Brazil, while the larger 
branch rushes impetuously along the shore 
of Guiana, and through the Caribbean Sea. 
The Gulf Stream, the most famous of all the 
Atlantic currents, is described in a separate 
article. A powerful current takes its start 
from the sea between Ireland and Spain, and 
sweeps down the African coast as far as the 
shores of Guinea. The Arctic current has its 
origin in the polar seas of the north, skirts 
the coasts of Greenland and Labrador, and oif 
the banks of Newfoundland is bifurcated by 
the Gulf Stream. The forks continue south- 
ward in deep submarine currents. These 
are the great arteries of the Atlantic. The 
heart of the ocean never ceases to beat. A 
strong current, far down in the depths of the 
sea, is supposed to flow from the Atlantic into 
the Arctic seas. Lieut. Maury tells us of a 
Grassy (Sargasso) Sea, midway the Atlantic, 
in the triangular space between the Azores, 
Canaries, and Cape Verde Islands. Covering 
an area equal in extent to the Mississippi val- 
ley, it is so thickly matted over with gulf- 
Vv-eed that the speed of vessels passing through 
it is often much retarded. The comrades of 
Columbus thought it marked the limits of 
navigation, and were much alarmed. Patches 
of the weed are always to be seen floating 
along the Gulf Stream. Now, if bits of cork 
be put into a basin, and a circular motion 
given to the water, they will be found crowding 
near the centre of the pool, where there is 
the least motion. Such a basin is the Atlantic 
to the Gulf Stream, and the Sargasso Sea is 
the centre of the whirl. Columbus found this 
grassy sea, and there it is at this day. 

The steady easterly breezes that prevail 
within the tropics are known as trade-winds. 
Without this region the winds are variable, 
but generally westerly. In the latitude of 
the equator and of the two tropics, calms pre- 
vail. Those of the tropic of Cancer have long 
been known as the 'horse latitudes,' from 
the fact that vessels carrying horses from New 
England to the West Indies were often be- 
calmed here till their water was almost ex- 
hausted, and some of the cargo must be thrown 
overboard, to save the remainder. By taking 
advantage of the prevailing winds and cur- 
rents, voyages have been almost incredibly 



shortened, and the old adage made true, that 
"the longest way round is the shortest way 
home." 

ATLAS is the historical and geographical 
name of the extensive mountain system whose 
ranges, branches, and table-lands cover the 
north-west of Africa, and form a barrier be- 
tween the Barbary states and the sands of the 
Sahara. 

ATTERBURY, Francis, Bishop of Roches- 
ter, an eloquent English preacher, born in 
1G62, arrested on a charge of conspiracy in 
favor of the Stuarts, 1722 ; died in exile, 1732. 

ATTICA, a country of ancient Greece, is a 
peninsula, united with Boeotia toward the 
north, and partially with Megaris on the west. 
At Cape Sunium (now Colonna), it jjrojects 
far into the yEgean Sea. [See Athens.] At- 
tica was once famous for its gold and silver 
mines, which constituted the best part of the 
public revenues, and were worked by twenty 
thousand men. The inhabitants were num- 
bered, in the sixteenth Olympiad, at 31,000 
citizens, and 400,000 slaves, in a hundred and 
seventy-four villages, some of which were 
considerable towns. The fragi-ance and abun- 
dance of flowers in Attica made the mountain 
slopes of Hymettus famous for their honey. 

ATTILA, king of the Huns, ravaged Europe 
between 434 and 453. He rendered the Greek 
empire tributary, and invaded Gaul, but was 
defeated on the j\Iaine. He threatened Rome, 
but was induced by a vast ransom to retire. 
Attila was given to excess, and died from the 
bursting of a blood-vessel on the night of his 
nuptials with the beautiful Ildico, 453. His 
body was put in three coffins, the outer of 
iron, the next of silver, and the inner one of 
gold. His personal appearance has been de- 
scribed by Jornandes. He had a large head, 
a flat nose, broad shoulders, and a short, mis- 
shapen body. The dread inspired by this 
fierce warrior, at the head of hundi'cds of 
thousands of barbarians, gained him the sur- 
names of the ' terror of the world ' and the 
' scourge of God.' 

AUDUBON, John James, born inLouisiana 
1782, died Jan. 27th, 1851. His life was de- 
voted to ornithology, and his great work, 
"The Birds of America," was pronounced by 
Cuvier, "the most gigantic and most magnif- 
icent monument ever erected to Nature." 
His parentage was French, and in youth he 



AUD 



84 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



enjoyed the tuition of the great painter David. 
His love of nature led him to the forest, and 
he had crowded portfolios with drawings of 
birds long before he had any thought of pub- 
lishing. " The Birds of America " was a costly 
publication. There were one hundred and 
seventy-five subscriptions of a thousand dol- 
lars each, eighty of which were obtained in 
this country, and the remainder in Europe. 
The work was issued in Edinburgh. 

AUERSTADT. In this bloody conflict be- 
tween the French and Prussian armies, Oct. 
14th, 1806, they were commanded by their 
respective sovereigns, and Napoleon gained a 
decisive victory. The Prussians, routed on 
every side, lost two hundred pieces of cannon, 
thirty standards, and 28,000 prisoners, leaving 
30,000 slain upon the field. Napoleon at once 
entered Berlin. 

AUGEREAU, Pierre Francois Charles, 
Duke of Castiglione, was one of those men 
who emerged from obscurity, and obtained a 
high rank among the officers that surrounded 
Napoleon, giving such unrivaled brilliancy to 
his court and camp. Augereau was the son 
of a fruit-merchant, and was bom at Paris, 
1757; serving, as soon as he was able, as a 
carbineer in the French army. Having sub- 
sequently entered the Neapolitan service, he 
was banished from Naples, in 1792. He then 
served as a volunteer in the army of Italy, 
and attracted attention by his bravery and 
military talent. In 1794, we find him a gen- 
eral of brigade, and, in 1796, general of divis- 
ion. He distinguished himself, at the pass 
of Millesimo, at Lodi, at Castiglione, at Ar- 
eola, &c. In 1799, he was chosen member of 
the council of five hundred. He was intrusted 
by Bonaparte with the command of the army 
in Holland, joined Moreau, and fought with 
varying fortune, until the campaign was ended 
by the battle of Hohenlinden. In 1803, he 
was appointed to head the expedition against 
Portugal, which enterprise failed. Returning 
to Paris, he was named, in 1804, marshal of 
the empire, and grand officer of the legion of 
honor and the next year, Duke of Castiglione. 
In 1805, he was in Germany, contributing to 
the successes of the French. Wounded in 
the battle of Eylau, he was forced to return 
to France. In 1811, he had a command in 
Spain. In 1813, he was engaged in the battle 
of Leipsic. After the success of the allies, 



Louis XYIII. named him a peer. In conse- 
quence of his speaking disrespectfully of Na- 
poleon after his fall, the latter, on his return 
from Elba, declared him a traitor, although 
Augereau had again acknowledged him as 
emperor. Augereau took no active part in 
affairs until the return of the king, when he 
resumed his seat in the chamber of peers. He 
died of the dropsy, June 11th, 1816. 

AUGSBURG, Battle of. Between the 
Austrians and the French, the latter com- 
manded b)'' Moreau, who gained a victory so 
decisive, that Augsburg and Munich were 
opened to him ; fought Aug. 24th, 1796. Mo- 
reau, Sept. 2d, again defeated the Austrians 
on the Inn, and again Sept. 7th, at Mainburg. 

AUGUSTINE, Bishop of Hippo, eminent 
among the church fathers, was born in Nu- 
midia, a.d. 354. In early life he was loose, 
roving, and sensual, but he was rescued for 
a higher existence by the influence of his 
mother, Monica, and the preaching of St. Am- 
brose. AVhen Hippo was menaced by the 
Vandals, the good bishop died in the third 
month of the siege, at the ripe age of seventy- 
six. 

AUGUSTIN, or Austin, St., has been sur- 
named the Apostle of the English. The 
time at which he flourished, was the reign of 
Ethelbert, toward the close of the sixth cen- 
tury. Ethclbert was then seated on the 
throne of Kent, to which he had succeeded on 
the death of his father Hermenric, about 560. 
After a determined struggle, he had mastered 
all the states of the heptarchy, with the 
exception of Northumberland. Ethelbert 
formed a matrimonial alliance with France, 
claiming in marriage the hand of Bertha, a 
Christian princess, from her father, Caribert, 
king of Paris. The princess, distinguished 
for her piety and virtue, exacted a promise 
from her husband that she should not be 
molested in the enjoyment of her religion, 
and that, on the contrary, she should be per- 
mitted to bring over to England with her a 
French bishop. Ethelbert, who was tenderly 
attached to her, made no objections, and 
the French bishop was received with every 
mark of respect. The conduct of the queen 
w^as such as to reflect honor on herself and 
the court of her husband, and excited the 
admiration of Ethelbert and his subjects. 
The king could not but perceive the salutary 



AUG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



85 



influence of Christianity, and was strongly- 
prepossessed in its favor. Pope Gi-egory 
the Great received the intelhgence of the 
favorable disposition of the king with un- 
feigned gladness, and dispatched a mission of 
forty monks, headed by Augustin, a.d. 596. 

Augustin found the king ready to lend a 
willing ear to his arguments, and displaj^ed 
in a striking and happy light the truth and 
beauty of the gospel. The king was not 
long in avowing his belief in the doctrines of 
Christianity. AYith his subjects, Augustin 
was no less successful ; they embraced the 
true religion with readiness, and crowded to 
baptism. It is said that Augustin baptized 
no fewer than ten thousand in one day. He 
desired to be made Archbishop of Cantei-bury, 
with supreme authority over all the churches 
in England. The pope was by no means dis- 
posed to refuse any of his requests, consider- 
ing that he had fairly earned any distinction 
which it was in papal power to bestow. The 
archiepiscopal pall was granted him, with 
•permission to establish twelve sees in the 
province. The British bishops in Wales 
refused to acknowledge the authority of the 
church of Rome, under whose jurisdiction 
they had never placed themselves. They 
were descendants of the British converts 
of the .second century, and sternly resolved 
to maintain their independence. Augustin 
urged, then threatened. The bishops were 
neither pliant nor timid, and adhered to their 
original determination. A dreadful tragedy 
was acted, twelve hundred Welsh monks 
being ruthlessly put to the sword. Augus- 
tin was suspected not only of having sanc- 
tioned, but of having instigated the massacre. 
He had been irritated by the refusal of the 
Welsh ecclesiastics to unite with the English 
church, and he thought their contumacy de- 
servmg of the severest punishment. He died 
in 604 or 614, and his relics were deposited 
in the Cathedral of Canterbury. 

AUGUSTUS, Caius Julius C^sar Octa- 
vius, son of Caius Octavius and Accia, niece 
of Julius Caesar, was born during the consul- 
ate of Cicero, 63 years b.c. His education 
was carefully attended to, and he was adopted 
by Julius Caesar. He was studying eloquence 
at Apollonia, when his grand-uncle was assas- 
sinated, and at nineteen years of age, placing 
himself at the head of the veterans, he 



marched to Rome, which he found distracted 
by the republicans and the followers of Antony 
and Lepidus. Here he announced publicly 
his adoption, and took his uncle's name. An- 
tony treated him with a contempt which the 
magistrates and leading men were far from 
feeling, and Octavius joined the army that 
was sent against Antony after his proscrip- 
tion. Thinking it politic, however, to con- 
ciliate him, he joined Antony, and they with 
Lepidus formed the triumvirate, which was 
to last for five j^ears, each enjoying an equal 
share of authority. Octavius sacrified Cicero 
to the malice of his associates, and Rome be- 
came the theatre of the most sanguinary 
tragedies. Brutus and Cassius having been 
defeated, a new partition of spoils took place, 
Octavius and Antony obtaining the Roman 
empire, while Lepidus was forced to content 
himself with the African provinces, and was 
finally deposed. Octavius gave his sister 
Octavia in marriage to Antony. The con- 
duct and fate of Antony have been related. 
[See Antony.] Octavius was soon firmly 
established in the empire. The senate gave 
him the title of Augustus, and, finding his 
power confirmed, he seems to have endeavored 
strenuously to render his conduct worthy of 
his dignity. He made regulations for the 
safe conduct of the government ; reducing 
the number of senators from a thousand to 
six hundred, and raising the degree of wealth 
which was to qualify them for a seat. He 
set about the reform of the public manners 
and morals, and carried his arms successfully 
into Gaul, Germany, and the east. In the 
latter part of his reign, however, he met with 
severe losses in Germany, when Hermann 
roused his enthralled countrj^men to arms. 
He died at Nola, a.d. 14, in the seventy- 
sixth year of his age, and forty-first of his 
reign. On the approach of death, he called 
for a mirror, and arranged his hair. He then 
asked those about him, if he had played his 
part well ? On their answering in the affirm- 
ative, he said, after the manner of the actors, 
" Then farewell— and applaud ! " He greatly 
improved the appearance of the capital, and 
it was said, that "he had found Rome brick, 
and had left it marble. ' ' He liberally patron- 
ized men of letters, and ,' Augustan age' is 
a phrase applied to any era distinguished for 
literature and the arts. Virgil and Horace 



AUG 



86 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



were among the brightest ornaments of his 
reign. Two conspiracies formed against him 
miscarried, Cinna, the leader of one, being 
generously pardoned. The emperor's private 
griefs were heavy, and he suffered great 
misery from the debauchery of his daughter 
Julia. 

AURELIAN, Lucius Domitius, emperor of 
Rome, distinguished for his military talents 
and severity, was the son of a peasant of 
Illyricum, born a.d. 212, and having served 
with distinction under Valerian II. and Clau- 
dius II., was recommended as his successor 
by the latter, and raised to the throne to the 
satisfaction of all. He subdued Zenobia, 
queen of Palmyra, erected a new wall round 
Rome, and was assassinated, a.d. 275. 

AURENG-ZEBE (' ornament of the thi'one ') 
was born October 20th, 1G19. His father. 
Shah Jchan, succeeded to the :Mogul throne 
when Aureng-zebe was in his ninth year. 
In youth, he was distinguished by his great 
sanctity of appearance, and he used the arts 
of hypocrisy to cloak his designs. He looked 
forward to the possession of the throne of 
Hindostan, in the life-time of his father. In 
1658, he seized Agra, and imprisoned his 
fiither. Having murdered his relatives in 
succession, he ascended the throne in 1659, 
and took the 'name of Aalem Guyr. Not- 
withstanding his crimes in gaining the throne, 
he governed with ability and success. He 
greatly enlarged his dominions, and became 
so formidable, that all the eastern princes 
sent him ambassadors. He died at the age 
of eighty-nine, bequeathing his possessions 
to his sons. Wars broke out immediately 
after his decease, and many of the conquered 
provinces sought their former independence. 

AUSTERLITZ, a town of Moravia, in the 
circle of Brunn, has been rendered famous 
by the battle fought in its neighborhood, on 
the 2d of December, 1805, in which the troops 
of France, under the command of Napoleon, 
defeated the combined forces of Russia and 
Austria, headed by their respective emperors. 
The combined troops amounted to 100,000 
men, of whom one-fourth were Austrians ; 
while Napoleon had but 80,000, twenty bat- 
talions of which, with forty pieces of artillery, 
he kept back as a reserve. At sunrise the 
battle began, and shortly afterward, a most 
furious cannonade wrapped the combatants 



in fire and smoke. Two hundred pieces of 
cannon created an appalling uproar. At one 
o'clock in the afternoon, the French were vic- 
torious, and the Russians and Austrians 
retreated. The French found themselves in 
possession of forty stands of colors, and a 
hundred and fiftj^ pieces of cannon, while 
twenty generals, and upward of 30,000 pris- 
oners were taken. 

An artillery officer of the Russian imperial 
guard, having just lost his guns, met Napo- 
leon: "Sire," said he, "order me to be shot, 
fori have lost my pieces." "Young man," 
replied the emperor, " I appreciate your tears ; 
but you may have been defeated by my army 
and yet have indisputable claims to glory." 
The French artillery caused a heavy loss to 
the enemy, and Napoleon in noticing their 
exploits, said, "Your success has given me 
great pleasure, for I do not forget that in 
your ranks I commenced my military career." 
The soldiers called this battle the day of the 
three emperors, while Napoleon named it the 
day of Austerlitz. The commencement of 
the action was striking. The French empe- 
ror, surrounded by his marshals, in brilliant 
unif(fnns, refrained from giving his orders 
until the first rays of the sun shot a splendor 
on the scene, and the horizon became illumi- 
nated. He then issued his orders distinctly 
but rapidly, and the marshals parted at full 
gallop, each to his corps. The emperor, 
passing in front of several regiments, thus 
addressed them : "Soldiers! we must finish 
this campaign by a thunder-clap, which will 
astound our enemies and crush their pride ! " 
Thousands of hats waved on bayonets, and 
cries of " Long live the emperor," were the 
signals of attack. " Never," said Napoleon, 
"was field of battle more dreadful." 

On the 4th of December, Napoleon had an 
interview with the Emperor of Germany, in 
which an armistice and the principal condi- 
tions of peace were agi'eed upon. Meanwhile, 
the French troops having nearly surrounded 
the retreating Russians, Savarj^ Napoleon's 
aid-de-camp, was dispatched to the Emperor 
of Russia, to inform him that he could retire 
in safety if he adhered to the capitulation, 
retreating by stages regulated by Napoleon, 
and would evacuate Germany and Poland. 
"On this condition," added Savary, "lam 
commanded by the emperor to repair to our 



AUS 



HISTORY AND BIOGKAPHV 



87 



m^^^ 




PLACE WHERE GOLD WAS FIRST DISCOVERED IN AUSTRALIA. 



advanced posts, which have ah-eady turned 
you, and give them his orders to protect 
your retreat, the emperor wishing to respect 
the friend of the first consul." " What guar- 
antee must I give you V" " Sire, your word." 
" I give it." Orders were accordingly given, 
and the retreat of the Russians protected. 

This decisive battle led to the treaty of 
Presburg, by which Austria confirmed the 
independence of the Helvetic republic, aban- 
doned the Venetian territories to the king- 
dom of Italy, and renounced her possessions 
in the Tyrol and Suabia. The latter, Napo- 
leon transferred to the sovereigns of Bava- 
ria, Wurtemburg, and Baden, in reward for 
their aid. 

AUSTRALIA is the present name of a 
large island formerly known as New Holland, 
lying south-east of Asia. The Dutch discov- 
ered it in ICjOe. The British began the 
transportation of convicts to Botany Bay in 
1787, and abandoned it in 1853. The dis- 
covery of gold has worked a startling revul- 



sion in Lhe condition of Australia. As early 
as 1841 Sir R. I. Murchison called attention 
to the similarity of the geological formations 
of the mountains of Australia to those of the 
Ural range in Russia, and asserted his belief 
that gold must exist in Australia. In 1849, 
a Mr. Smith informed the colonial govern- 
ment that he had found gold, and offered to 
make known the locality for a certain reward. 
Smith and the government could not agree 
upon the amount of bonus, and the matter 
dropped till 1851, when Mr. liar graves, who 
had come from gold-digging in California, 
also found gold, and disclosed the places. 
The colony was seized with a frenzy, and 
almost the entire population sought the golden 
realm. An immense emigration from Great 
Britain ensued, and has steadily continued 
The precious metal has been found in profu- 
sion, and to all appearance this golden garner 
of ages will not be exhausted for years to 
come. Copper, iron, lead, and coal have also 
been found in abundance. 



AUS 



88 



COTTACxE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Australia is divided into the colonies of 
New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, 
Western Australia, and the district of North 
Australia. By the immigration rapidly pour- 
ing in, and the consequent swift development 
of its resources, Australia is in a transition 
state which precludes a detailed description. 
The truth to-day is far outstripped to- 
morrow. New South Wales, occupying the 
south-eastern portion, is the oldest colony. 
Sydney, its capital, a city on the south shore 
of Port Jackson, had a population of 50,000 
in 1851. Bathurst, two hundred miles north- 
west, is a thriving town. Victoria, or Port 
Phillip, the most prosperous of the Australian 
colonies, lies between New South Wales and 
South Australia, and was first settled in 
1835. Melbourne, its capital, is on the Yar- 
ra-Yarra Eiver, near the head of Port Phillip 
Bay. It is a spacious cit}^, the seat of ex- 
tensive commerce, and had a population of 
100,000 in 1852. Geelong is an important 
port on the south-western shore of Port 
Phillip. The discovery of the gold-fields of 
New South Wales and Victoria checked for a 
while the growth of South Australia, but 
could not destroy its prosperity. Adelaide is 
its capital. Western Australia, or Swan 
River Settlement, is the least of the colonies. 
Perth is its seat of government. 

We have mentioned only the principal 
towns of Australia. Myriads of villages and 
settlements are springing from the wilderness. 
Eailroads are being constructed. The com- 
merce is an important item in the merchandis- 
ing of the mother country. From the fertile 
soil excellent crops of all the common grains 
are gained. Sheep and cattle are largely bred. 
Nearly all the vegetables of Europe are culti- 
vated. Australia was destitute of indigenous 
edible fruits, but those of almost every land 
and clime are successfully raised, and the 
grape and olive bid fair to take rank among 
the most valuable productions. The most 
unfavorable characteristics of the climate are 
the long droughts that prevail, apparently 
every ten or a dozen years, and the sudden 
transitions from heat to cold. In spite of 
these, the climate in the settled parts is com- 
monly delightful, and not unhealthy. 

AUSTRIA. The Austrian empire occupies 
nearly a twelfth of the surface of Europe. In 
its dominions are comprised, the archduchy 



of Austria and circle of Salzburg ; the ducliy 
of Styria ; the earldom of the Tyrol and ter- 
ritory of Voralberg ; the kingdom of Bolic- 
mia ; the margraviate of Moravia and Austrian 
Silesia; the kingdom of Illyria, comprising 
Cariiithia, Carniola, Trieste, and circle of 
Carlstadt ; the kingdom of Galicia and Lodo- 
meria, including the duchy of Aufschwitz 
and Zator and the Buckowine ; the kingdom 
of Hungary, with Sclavonia, Croatia, and the 
military frontier ; the principality of Transsyl- 
vania with the military frontier ; the kingdom 
of Dalmatia ; the kingdom of Lombardy and 
Venice ; and the territory of Cracow. These 
have an area of 255,722 square miles, and had 
in 1854 a population of 39,411,309. The only 
sea-coast which this great empire possesses is 
on the Adi'iatic, so that its commerce is re- 
stricted. Vienna, on the Danube, is the capi- 
tal of the empire, and the principal seat of 
trade and manufactures. [See Vienna.] 

The house of Hapsburg has been one of the 
most illustrious families in Europe. Hapsburg 
was an ancient castle of Switzerland, on a 
lofty eminence in the canton of Berne. This 
castle was the cradle as it were of the imperial 
line of Austria, whose ancestors may be traced 
back to the thirteenth century, when Rodolph, 
Count of Hapsburg, was chosen to wear the 
imperial diadem of Germany. He wrested 
the Austrian duchy from Bohemia, and confer- 
red its sovereignty upon his son Albert, as an 
appendage to the Hapsburg possessions. The 
house thus founded was much indebted for 
its rise to power, to the good fortune of suc- 
cessive marriages and the beauty of its daugh- 
ters ; whence it came to be a common saying, 
that "Venus was more favorable to it than 
Mars." Albert succeeded to the imperial 
crown. This monarch deputed harsh and ty- 
rannical governors to rule the Swiss, and, in 
consequence of continued oppression, that 
brave people revolted in 130T, headed by the 
famous Tell. Frederick, son of Albert, found 
himself forced to rehnquish the empire into 
the hands of Louis of Bavaria. The crowns 
of Germany, Hungary, and Bohemia, were 
united in the person of Albert II., Duke of 
Austria, who ascended the throne, a.d. 1438. 
Hungary and Bohemia were his by inherit- 
ance, and the empire by universal suffrage. 

The Emperor Maximilian, grandfather of 
Charles V., married the heiress of Burgundy, 



AUS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



89 



in consequence of which aUiance, the Nether- 
lands were subjected to Austria in 1477. In 
1496, the marriage of his son Phihp to the 
heiress of Castile and Arragon, led to the 
junction of the broad domains of Spain with 
the already ample territories of Austria. 
Charles V., desirous of retiring from public 
life and passing his da3^s in gloomy seclusion, 
resigned the crown in 1556 ; Philip II., his 
son, gained possession of Spain and the Neth- 
erlands; Ferdinand, his brother, received 
Austria, Bohemia, and Hungarj^, and was also 
chosen Emperor of Germany. The house of 
Austria was noted for its bigotry and cruel 
intolerance. In 1570, Maximilian granted 
liberty of conscience (a great grant in a mon- 
arch!) to the Protestants of Austria, but 
those in other portions of his dominions, par- 
ticularly in Bohemia, were most cruelly per- 
secuted. In their distress the Protestant Ger- 
man princes finally sought the assistance of 
the famous Gustavus Adolphus, King of Swe- 
den. This famous warrior, the "Lion of the 
North," as he was called, broke upo%the em- 
pire like a whirlwind, and its very foundations 
tottered beneath the shock. France, espous- 
ing the cau.se of the Protestants, hoped thus 
to weaken the power of Austria, and the coun- 
try experienced no release from the tumults 
and horrors of war, until the treaty of West- 
phalia was signed in 1648. 

The sword was idle for a time, but the war 
with France broke out afresh during the reign 
of Leopold I., and was continued under his 
successor. The Turks, emboldened by suc- 
cess, in 1688, pushed their arms into the heart 
of the empire, and the walls of Vienna echoed 
back the clangor of the oriental cymbals. The 
siege of Vienna by the Turks, is a memorable 
and impressive event. In the war of the allies 
with France, Joseph I., son of Leopold, joined 
with heart and hand, and acquired a share of 
their good fortune. His queen was a daugh- 
ter of John Frederick, Duke of Hanover. 
Charles VI. dying without issue, on the 20th 
of October, 1740, the extinction of the male 
line of the house of Austria was the signal for 
the movement of the Elector of Bavaria, to 
contest the succession. He seized the king- 
dom of Bohemia, was elected emperor in 1742, 
and died in 1745. Francis of Lorraine suc- 
ceeded to the Austrian dominions in right of 
his queen, Maria Theresa, daughter of Charles 



VI. The throne is still occupied by his de- 
scendants. He was elected Emperor of 
Germany in 1745, and the crown, thougli 
nominally elective, descended to his suc- 
cessors with the regularity of an hereditary 
sovereignty. 

Francis II. was crowned emperor in 1792. 
In 1795, when the second division of Poland 
took place, Austria received an immense ac- 
cession of territory. In 1797, she relinquished 
to France her possessions in the Netherlands, 
as well as the duchies of Milan and Mantua. 
To compensate for this, the greater part of the 
Venetian states was transferred to Austria. 
The military power of France was so formid- 
able, that even the strongest sovereignties of 
Europe feared they should be unable to resist 
its encroacliments. The French threatened 
to attain the empire of the world by rapid 
strides. Involved in the wars of 1799 and 
1805, Austria met with repeated defeats and 
continued discomfiture. After she had lost 
the great battles of Marengo and Hohenlinden, 
Ulm and Austerlitz, her Venetian possessions, 
the Tyrol, and other territories were wrested 
from her grasp. In 1809, Austria took the 
field against Napoleon, but having to contend, 
not only against the French, but against Rus- 
sia, and the confederation of the Rhine, found 
herself defeated, and when Bonaparte entered 
the capital, she was compelled to relinquish 
again immense territories. After a hopeless 
inaction of some years, the failure of Napole- 
on's Russian expedition roused the Austrians 
to arms, and the subsequent success of the 
allied powers restored the power and splendor 
of the Austrian empire, which gained the ad- 
dition of some Italian territories. Of the sub- 
ject kingdoms and states of Austria, Hungary 
since 1563 has continued an appanage of the 
house of Austria ; Transsylvania came into 
possession of the Austrians in 1699 ; Croatia, 
anciently a part of Illyricum, was annexed to 
Austria in 1540 ; Sclavonia, also anciently a 
part of Illyricum, fell into the hands of the 
Austrians in 1687; the cro^;^^l of Bohemia 
passed to the house of Austria in 1526. 

In the eventful year of 1848, revolutions 
broke out in Lombardy and Venice, in Hun- 
gary, and in Austria proper. At first they 
were everywhere successful: the Austrian 
troops were driven back from Hungary and 
Italy, and the insurgents held Vienna. Hun- 



AUS 



90 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



gary asserted its independence ; Venice united 
itself to Sardinia ; and this vast empire seemed 
rapidly falling to pieces. Ferdinand abdicated 
in favor of his nephew Francis Joseph ; a lib- 
eral constitution was proclaimed for a sop, in 
March, 18-i9, and the German subjects were 
satisfied or silenced. Radetzky conquered 
obedience in Italy, and with the assistance of 
Russia Hungary was crushed. In 1852 the 
constitution of 1849 was revoked, and the 
emperor now wields an absolute power. 

The early sovereigns of Austria will be 
found in the list of emperors of Germany. 
Francis II. surrendered the dignity of the 
empire, Aug. 11, 1804, and took the title of 
Francis I., Emperor of Austria. The Austrian 
emperor was one of the six leading members 
of the German confederation, by virtue of his 
sovereignt}" over certain states of Germany. 

This Confederation after half a century 
ceased to exist on the 14th of June, 1866. 
Early in the year trouble began between 
Austria and Prussia respecting the Danish 
Duchies, which Prussia desired for the devel- 
opment of her naval force. Austrian influ- 
ence prevailing in the German Diet it au- 
thorized overt measures against Prussia. The 
very next day, June 15th, Prussia, who 
had been girding herself for war, invaded 
Saxony. Austria counted upon her foe being 
as slow as herself, and relying upon her mili- 
tary resources, thought hers would be an 
easy victory. Her General Benedek arro- 
gantly cast disdain upon the soldiery and 
militaiy science of Prussia. The armies, 
after several small affairs, met at Gitschin on 
the 24th of June, and at Sadowa July 3d, in 
decisive conflict. The Austrians were thor- 
oughly routed. The battle of Sadowa will 
rank among the greatest of battles, there 
being 195,000 Austrians and Saxons, and 250,- 
000 Prussians engaged. And thus, in 19 
days, Austria was so thoroughly broken and 
humbled by her foe that she surrendered Von- 
etia, lost her place and provinces in Germa- 
ny, and her position as one of the leading 
continental governments. Peace negotia- 
tions were concluded August 2.3d, just 70 
days after the decision of the Diet. 

EMPERORS OF AUSTRIA. 

1804. Francis I.: died March 2d, 18S5. 
1835. Ferdinand, his son March 2d: abdicated 
in favor of liis nephew, Dec. 2d, 1848. 
1848. Francis Joseph, Dec. 2d. 



AZT 



AZORES, or Western Islands, a group of 
nine islands, lying in the x\tlantic, about 800 
miles west of Portugal. Population in 1843, 
214,300. They were discovered by the Por- 
tuguese, prior to 1439, and have ever since 
belonged to that nation. The name was 
given from the abundance of falcons (azores) 
found here. "When discovered by the Portu- 
guese they were void of inhabitants. In 
1466 these islands were presented to the 
Duchess of Burgundy, by her brother, the 
King of Portugal. They were colonized by 
Germans and Flemings, who appear, however, 
always to have acknowledged the sovereignty 
of Portugal. The Azores are recognized at 
sea from a great distance, by Pico, a tall 
mountain, which, like the Peak of Teneriffe, 
towers far above the deep, and stands a last- 
ing landmark to mariners. The islands are 
subject to earthquakes and volcanic erup- 
tion, and, in 1574, St. George's, Pico, Fayal, 
and Terceira, although detached and distant 
from each other, were violently convulsed. 
The oceaji overflowed from the shock, which 
produced eighteen little islands. A similar 
convulsion of nature occurred in July, 1638. 
And after a commotion of six weeks, an island 
of nearly six miles in circumference, arose 
near St. Michael's, but was subsequently ab- 
sorbed. In 1720, the most horrible and tu- 
multuous scenes occuri-ed, and, amidst an 
almost unequaled combination of horrors, 
causing the death of many persons from 
fright, an island nearly as large as that of 
1638, emerged from its submarine birth-place. 
The islands are supposed to rest on volcanic 
foundations, which extend to the western 
shores of Portugal, though the communica- 
tion may be in many parts obstructed. In 
1811 a volcano appeared in the sea near St. 
Michael's, where the water was eighty fj^th- 
oms.deep, throwing up an island a mile in 
circumference. This new isle was called Sa- 
brina. It gradually disappeared. Fayal is 
frequently visited by American and European 
ships for provisions or refitting. 

AZTECS, a race supposed to have migrated 
from the region north of the Gulf of Califor- 
nia, to Mexico, where they founded the ex- 
tensive empire which was conquered by the 
Spaniards. They were possessed of knowl- 
edge in astronomy, architecture, sculpture, 
and other arts of social life, and their antiq- 
uities have been a puzzle for the learned. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



91 



B. 



BAALBEC, a ruined city in Syria, forty- 
two miles east-north-cast of Beirut. The 
name signifies 'tlie city of the sun;' and 
accordingly by tlie Greeks and Romans it 
was called Heliopolis. Its origin and history 
are obscure. By some it is conjectured to be 
the Baalath reared by Solomon in Lebanon, 
as mentioned in the eighth chapter of the 
second book of Chronicles. Its ruins are 
magnificent. 

B AB YLONj a famous city of Assyria, and 
once the greatest in the world. Its ruins 
still exist on the banks of the Euphrates, 
near Hillah. Herodotus tells us that its 
walls, three hundred and fifty feet high, and 
eighty-seven feet thick, were cemented with 
bitumen, and were more than sixty miles in 
circuit. They had a hundred brazen gates, 
and two hundred and fifty towers. Nothing 
is left of this mighty town but rubbish and 
desolation, among which the recent excava- 
tions of Mr. Layard, Col. Rawlinson, and M. 
Botta, have brought to light many relics of 
interest. According to the Mosaic record. 
the Babylonian empire was founded by Nim- 
rod, supposed to be the Belus of profane 
' history, 2245 B.C. After the destruction of 
Nineveh, b. c. C04, Babylon was the metropolis 
of the east. To this period is assigned the 
reign of Nebuchadnezzar, under whom the 
power of Babylon was extended over all the 
lands between Persia and Egypt. The great 
city was taken by Cyrus, B.C. 538, and Baby- 
lonia became a Persian province. Alexander 
the Great intended to make Babylon the cap- 
ital of the vast empire which he had won in 
war. Death forbade him, and the city never 
again regained its prosperity. ,JA 

BACHAUMONT, Francois IIeCotgj^evx 
DE, born at Paris, 1624, died in the same 
city, 1702. He was a counselor of parlia- 
ment, and opposed to the court party in 
the disturbances of 1648. He said that the 
members of the parliament put him in mind 
of the little boys that played with slings in 
the street, who dispersed on the appearance 
of a police oflBcer, but collected as soon as he 
was Out of sight. Pleased with this compar- 
ison, the enemies of Mazarin adopted hat- 
bands in the form of a sling (fronde), and 



hence were denominated Frondeurs. Ba- 
chaumont was distinguished for his epigrams 
and lively songs. 

BACHELORS. The Roman censors fre- 
quently imposed fines on unmarried men, and 
men of full age were compelled to marry. 
The Spartan women at certain games laid 
hold of old bachelors, dragged them around 
the altars, and put upon them various marks 
of disgrace. Bachelors have been taxed in 
England. Among the illustrious men of an- 
tiquity, the following eschewed matrimony : 
Plato, Pythagoras, Epicurus, Bion, Anaxag- 
oras, Heraclitus, Democritus, and Diogenes. 
Their example has been followed among the 
modems, by Newton, Locke, Boyle, Gibbon, 
Hume, Adam Smith, Harvey, Leibnitz, Bayle, 
Hobbes, Hampden, Sir Francis Drake, Pitt, 
Michael Angelo, the three Caraccis, Sir Joshua 
Reynolds, Haydn, Handel, Wolsey, Pascal, 
Fenelon, Pope, Akenside, Goldsmith, Gray, 
Collins, Thomson, Jeremy Bentham, and 
AYashington Irving. 

BACON, Francis, son of Sir Nicholas Ba- 
con, lord-keeper of the great seal, was born 
in London, Jan. 22d, 1561, and died in 1626. 
He was entered in the university of Cam- 
bridge, in his thirteenth year, and distin- 
guished himself for his early proficiency in 
the sciences. At sixteen he wrote against 
the Aristotelian philosophy, and at nineteen 
his work "Of the State of Europe," the fruit 
of a journey in France, attracted general 
attention from the clearness of perception and 
maturity of judgment which it displayed. 
At the age of twenty-eight, his legal reputa- 
tion was such that he was appointed couHsel 
extraordinary to the queen, a post of more 
honor than profit. Three years afterward he 
sat in parliament. Ben Jonson highly extols 
him as an orator. Bacon at first crouched for 
the favor of the Cecils, till disregarded by them, 
he attached himself to their rival, the Earl of 
Essex, who with generous ardor strove in 
1594 to procure him the vacant office of attor- 
ney-general. Being unsuccessful, he soothed 
Bacon's regret with a gift of a fine estate. 
Yet when Essex sank into disfavor, Bacon 
not only abandoned him, but unnecessarily 
appeared as counsel against him, and with 



BAG 



92 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



barbarous ingenuity aided greatly in bringing 
the unfortunate nobleman to the scaffold. 
Similar bju^eness stains all his public career. 
When first in parliament he made show of 
maintaining popular rights against exactions 
of the court Royal frowns soon brought 
him to his knees, and he disgraced himself 
by servility that was unmanly for even a 
courtier. He stood high in the good graces 
of James I., and was knighted by him in 
1603. His marriage was fortunate, and he 
at length saw himself free from those pecu- 
niary embarrassments by which he had been 
so long shackled. 

In 1618 he reached the attorney-general- 
ship. Here he lent himself to the most arbi- 
trary measures of the court, and even as- 
sisted in an attempt to extort from an old 
clergyman, of the name of Peachham, a con- 
fession of treason, by torturing him on the 
rack. 

In 1617 he was made lord-keeper of the 
seals; in 161!), lord high chancellor of En- 
gland, and Baron Verulam, and not long 
afterward, VLscomit of St. Albans. He had 
not now the poor plea of necessity for mak- 
ing offices and privileges venal, yet he 
was charged with receiving bribes for his 
decisions. Rather than submit to a trial 
which would stamp his name with indelible 
disgrace, he confessed his guilt, supplicated 
the lenity of his peers, and begged to be dis- 
missed with the loss of his office. His sen- 
tence was severe but just. He was sentenced 
to pay a fine of £40,000, to be imprisoned in 
the Tower as long as the king should choose, 
declared incapable of office, forbidden to take 
his seat in parliament, or to show himself 
within the verge of the court. He was soon 
released from the Tower, but did not long 
survive his fall. His errors sprang more 
from weakness than from avarice or want of 
principle, for he displayed through life a 
strong sympathy for Virtue, if he did not 
have firmness enough to be fliithful to her 
cause. 

It is as a writer and philosopher that Lord 
Bacon is illustrious. Walpole called him the 
prophet of art. He examined the whole 
circle of the sciences. In so masterly a way 
did he expound the inductive method of 
philosophizing, that posterity has called him 
the father of experimental science. His 

B. 



prose is among the foremost in our tongue. 
He died in 1626. In his will this passage 
was found: "My name and memory I be- 
queath to foreign nations, and to mine own 
country after some time be passed over." 

BACON, RoGEK, an English monk, born 
at Ilchester in 1214. He made many discov- 
eries in the sciences, which caused him to be 
regarded as a sorcerer by the common people, 
whose prejudices were espoused by the clergj-, 
against whom Bacon had openly spoken. 
He was imprisoned in consequence of their 
denunciations, and at one time, kept in con- 
finement for ten years. He died in 1292. 
He had an idea of gunpowder, for he dis- 
tinctly says in one of his works that thunder 
and lightning could be imitated by means of 
charcoal, sulphur, and saltpetre. Like all 
philosophers of that day he dabbled in astrol- 
ogy ; he discovered the polarity of the load- 
stone ; he invented the camera-obscura and 
the magic lantern ; and he foreshadowed the 
invention of telescopes and spectacles, even 
if he did not really construct the latter. He 
was well versed in the Greek, Hebrew, and 
Latin languages, the last of which he wrote 
with facility and elegance, and although not 
free from many of the prejudices of his age, 
was altogether a very extraordinary man. 
Many of the old English ballads and romances 
contain accounts of the wonderful exploits 
of Friar Bacon, who is gifted with magical 
arts of the most tremendous nature. The 
"Famous Ilistorie of Fryer Bacon," toward 
the conclusion, informs us that Friar Bacon 
broke his magic glass, burned his books of 
the ' black art,' devoted himself to theological 
studies, and lived in a cell which he had 
excavated in a church wall. " Thus lived he 
two yeeres space in that cell, never coming 
forth : his meat and drink he received in at 
a window, and at that window he did dis- 
course with those that came to him; his 
grave he digged with his own nayles, and was 
laid there when he died." "He lived most 
part of his life a magician, and died a true 
Penitent Sinner, and an Anchorite." 

BACTRIANA, or Bactria, before the time 
of Cyrus was a powerful kingdom, and gave 
to the Persians their mythology and archi- 
tecture. It lay between the Oxus, Scythia, 
Mount Paropamisus, and Margiana. After 
the destruction of the Persian monarchy. 



HISTORY AND BIOGKAPHY, 



93 



it was held by the Parthians and Scythians, 
until they were expelled by the Huns. 

BADAJOZ, the Pax Augusta of the Ro- 
mans, a fortified city of Spain, on the left 
bank of the Guadiana, contains about 12,000 
inhabitants. It is 220 miles south-west 
of Madrid. This important barrier fortress 
was besieged without success by the French 
under Kellerman and Victor, in 1808 and 
1809. It surrendered to Soult March 11th, 
1811. It was invested by Wellington March 
16th, 1812, and taken by storm on the night 
of the 6th of April. The carnage was teiTi- 
ble. For two days and nights the city was 
sacked, British generals endeavoring in vain 
to check the atrocities of the infuriated sol- 
diers. The fall of Badajoz forced the French 
to a precipitate retreat from Poi'tugal. 

BADEN, a grand-duchy in the south-west 
of Germany, on the right bank of the Rhine, 
was erected into a grand-duchy in 180(3. In 
1855 it had a population of 1,314,837, upon 
an area of 5,712 square miles. The surface 
of Baden is mountainous, and it contains the 
elevated range of the Black Forest, which 
derives its name from the dark tint of its 
foliage. The capital of the duchy is Karls- 
ruhe, population 23,219. Freiburg has a 
population of about 16,000. Its cathedral, 
built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, is 
perhaps the most beautiful and perfect spe- 
cimen of Gothic architecture in Germany. 
The university of Freiburg, founded in 1454, 
is famous as a school of Catholic theology. 
Mannheim, at the junction of the Neckarand 
the Rhine, has 25,000 inhabitants. The an- 
cient city of Heidelberg stands on a narrow 
ledge between wooded vine-clad hills and the 
left bank of the Neckar, having about 16,000 
inhabitants. It is famous for its Protestant 
university, founded in 1386, and the oldest 
in Germany, except that of Prague. In 1850 
there were seventy-one professors and teach- 
ers, and six hundred and three students. On 
a hill overlooking the town is the vast ruin 
of the castle where once the electors palatine 
held their court. Here In a damp vault 
moulders the great tun that once was kept 
full with eight hundred hogsheads of best 
Rhenish wine. In a picturesque valley, 
twenty -three miles south-west of Karlsruhe, 
lies Baden-Baden ; population 6,000. These 
spri'g^ wore a resort for the Romans. In 



some late years the number of visitors has 
exceeded 14,000. The well-known gaming 
tables of this glittering haunt are farmed by 
the grand-duke, and thence he derives a 
handsome slice of his income. 

The Catholic and Protestant faiths are 
each sanctioned by the state, and full liberty 
of conscience and private worship prevails. 
The sovereign must be a Protestant. Ex- 
ecutive and judicial powers are vested in the 
grand-duke and a ministry of state ; the legis- 
lative powers are shared by the sovereign 
with an upper and lower chamber. In 1848 
Hecker and Struve headed an attempt to 
establish a republic in Baden. The grand- 
duke fled fi'om his throne, but was restored 
by Prussian bayonets in 1849. 

BAERT, or Earth, John, was born at Dun- 
kirk, 1651. He was the son of a poor fisher- 
man, but his bravery and talents raised him 
to the rank of commodore in the reign of 
Louis XIV., whose navy he greatly impi-oved. 
The Dutch, English, and Spanish called him 
the French devil. " I have made you a com- 
modore,' was the king's annunciation of hi>» 
promotion to Jean Baert, at Versailles- 
"Your majesty has done well," replied th(? 
sturdy seaman- The courtiers tittered. " I^ 
is the reply," sa?d Louis, "of a man who 
knows his own wortb." He received a paten*^ 
of nobility for one of hi'' p-aval exploits, anc^ 
died in 1702. 

BAFFIN, "William, an Engli'^h navigator 
of the seventeenth century, was th^ fi^rst to 
determine longitude at sea by observations of 
the heavenly bodies. In 1616 he discovered 
and explored the bay which bears his name. 
He was killed near Ormuz in 1621, while en- 
gaged in an expedition against the Portuguese. 

BAGDAD, a large city of Asiatic Turkey, 
contains about 60,000 inhabitants. It lies on 
the east bank of the Tigris, over which a 
bridge is thrown. The city is surrounded by 
a brick wall ; the houses are of brick, and 
but one story high, and the unpaved streets 
so narrow as to admit of two horsemen 
abreast with difficulty. The palace of the 
pacha forms a contrast to the other buildings 
of the city, being spacious and splendid. Eu- 
ropean manufactures, as well as the produc- 
tions of India, Arabia, and Persia, find a sale 
here, and the thronged bazaars present a brill- 
iant and animated appearance. From Bag- 



BAG 



94 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



dad, East Indian goods were formerly supplied 
to Asia Minor, Syria, and part of Europe, but 
of late its traffic has declined. The popula- 
tion consists of Turks, Persians, Armenians, 
and a small number of Christians and Jews. 
The ancient city, founded in 762, by the Ca- 
liph Abu Giafar Almanzor, once the residence 
of the caliphs, and containing 2,000,000 m- 
habitants, is now in ruins. The prosperity of 
this city completed the ruin of the neighboring 
city of Babylon. It was twice taken by the 
Turks and Tartars, and nearly destroyed. In j 
1638, it was taken by Amurath IV., after a 
memorable siege, and the greater part of the i 
inhabitants were butchered in cold blood. In 
the eighteenth century, Nadir Shah was de- 
feated in an attempt to take it. 

BAHAMAS, or Lucaya Islands, are near 
the coast of Florida, in the Atlantic Ocean. : 
The soil of the islands is rich, but thin, and i 
soon exhausted. A large portion of the resi- ! 
dents are descendants of the loyalists who 
emigrated from Carolina and Georgia when ; 
the roj^al cause was lost in America. The ' 
wreckers, a large class of the population, are : 
hardy mariners, employed in assisting ship- ; 
wrecked vessels. They display admirable ' 
skill and courage in the working of their 
small flat-bottomed sloops, in which they fre- 
quent the most dangerous places, receiving 
legal salvage on all rescued property. They 
are licensed by the government. These 
islands were discovered by Columbus, Oct. 
12th, 1492, St. Salvador being the first land 
he saw. In 1667, Charles II. of England 
granted the Bahamas to the Duke of Albe- 
marle and others. The first settlement was 
made on New Providence, one of the largest 
of the group. The settlers suffered severely 
from the ravages of pirates and the inroads 
of the Spaniards. Black-beard, the noted 
leader of the buccaneers, was killed off here 
in 1718. The town of Nassau on New Prov- 
idence was fortified in 1740. Nassau was 
taken by the Americans during the Revolu- 
tion, but was soon abandoned- Afterward 
the whole group was held by the Spaniards, 
but was regained by the English. 

Turk's Islands are well known for their 
salt. The entire population of the Bahamas 
in 1845 was 26,500: deducting Caicos and 
Turk's Islands (since set off under a separate 

B 



government), it was 22,841, which in 1857 
had increased to 27,519. 

BAI.^, a town of Campania, a favorite re- 
sort of the ancient Romans, many of whom 
had country-seats here. Its sheltered bay. 
breezy hills, and baths gave it a high reputa- 
tion, but the dissoluteness practiced here was 
so notorious and infamous, that Cicero, in his 
defense of M. Coelius, thought it necessary to 
apologize for defending a j'ouhg man who had 
lived at JJaise. 

BAILLIE, Joanna, born in 1762, was the 
daughter of the parish minister of Bothwell in 
Lanarkshire, Scotland. Her mother was sis- 
ter of John Hunter, the great anatomist. Her 
brother, who became Sir Matthew Baillie, 
having settled as a physician in London, she 
removed thither at an early age, and resided 
either in London or its vicinage, till her death 
in 1851. She published several volumes of 
dramas and minor poems. 

BAINBRIDGE, William, a distinguished 
commodore in the American navy, was born 
at Princeton, N. J., on the 7th of May, 1774. 
He died at Philadelphia, July 27th, 1833. 

BAJAZET I.. Sultan of the Turks, son of 
Amurath, whom he succeeded in 1389. By 
strangling his brother and rival, Jacob, he 
established a precedent which has since been 
frequently followed by the Turkish court. 
The rapidity of his conquests gained him the 
name of Ilderim, ' lightning.' He carried his 
conquering arms far into Europe and Asia, 
and on the 28th of September, 1895, defeated 
the array of Hungarians, Poles, and French, 
who were headed by Sigismund, King of 
Hungary. In 1402, he was defeated near 
Ancyra, in Galatia, by Tamerlane, and was 
himself taken prisoner, and treated with great 
courtesy by the conqueror. The story of his 
being confined and carried about in an iron 
cage, is deemed unworthy of belief He died 
in the camp of Tamerlane in 1403. 

BAJAZET IL, son of Mohammed IL,» Sul- 
tan of the Turks, succeeded his father in 1481. 
He extended his empire, gained some Grecian 
towns from the Venetians, and by ravaging 
Christian states, sought to avenge the expul- 
sion of the Moors by the Spaniards. He fi- 
nally resigned his throne to his rebellious son 
Selim, by whose order, it is supposed, he was 
murdered in 1512. 
\J 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



BALBOA, Vasco Nunez de, was born in 
1475. He was one of the numerous adven- 
turers who sought to retrieve their fortunes, 
by following up in the New World the discov- 
eries which Columbus had commenced. He 
formed a colony on the isthmus of Darien. 
An Indian, who was the scornful witness of 
a dispute between two of Balboa's companions 
about some gold, agreed to show him a coun- 
try where the precious metals might be ob- 
tained in abundance. He led Balboa to the 
fe'hores of the Pacific, and pointed the path to 
Peru. Considering his force of a hundred 
and fifty men too feeble to attempt the con- 
quest, Balboa took possession of the vast ocean 
that rolled before him in the name of the 
Spanish king, and after an absence of four 
months led back his followers to the colony, 
enriched with gold and pearls. Hftre he was 
required to obey a new governor, Pendrarias 
Davila, who held a royal commission. He 
was appointed, the ensuing year, viceroy of 
the South Sea, but seized by Davila, on pre- 
text of neglect of duty, tried, condemned, and 
beheaded in 1517. 

BALAKLAVA, a small town in the Cri- 
mea, with a fine harbor, ten miles south-east 
from Sebastopol. After the battle of the Alma, 
the aUies advanced upon this place, Sept. 26th, 

1854. Oct. 25th following, 12,000 Russians, 
commanded by Gen. Liprandi, captured some 
redoubts in the vicinity, which had been in- 
trusted to a scanty force of Turks. They 
next assaulted the English, by whose heavy 
cavalry they were compelled to retire. After 
this, from a disastrous misconception of Lord 
Raglan's order. Lord Lucan ordered the Earl 
of Cardigan with the light brigade to charge 
upon the Russioiis, who had formed again on 
their own ground with their artillery in front. 
This desperate gallop into the jaws of death 
was at once made, and great havoc dealt upon 
the enemy ; but out of 607 British horsemen 
only 198 returned. A sortie from the garri- 
son of Sebastopol led to another desperate en- 
gagement here on the night of March 22d, 

1855, in which the Russians were repulsed 
with a loss of 2,000 killed and wounded, the 
allies losing about 600. 

BALDWIN. There were five kings of Je- 
rusalem of this name. Baldwin I. succeeded 
his brother Godfrey Bouillon, 1100, and died 
1118. The second reigned from 1118 till his 



death in 1131. He founded the order of 
Templars. BAM)wiN III., king from 1143 to 
1162, was one of the bravest and most honor- 
able of the crusaders. The Christians pos- 
sessed territories of vast extent, but the vas- 
sals of Baldwin were divided by dissensions 
among themselves this was also the case 
with their adversaries, although the latter 
warred with more*uccess. The reign of 
Baldwin was unhappy, and convinced the 
Christians of the impossibility of establishing 
Christian chivalry in the east. When Nou- 
reddin, his valiant and proud opponent, was 
counseled to fall upon the Christians during 
the funeral of their leader, he answered: 
"No! Let us respect their grief, for they 
have lost a king whose like is rarely to be 
met with." 

BALIOL, John, was a claimant for the 
Scottish crown on the death of Queen Marga- 
ret. Edward III., being made arljiter, award- 
ed it to Baliol against Robert Bruce. Baliol 
afterward allied himself with France, and took 
up arms in consequence of the interference of 
the English king in his government, but was 
defeated at the battle of Dunbar, andconsigned 
to the Tower, whence he was liberated by the 
intercession of the pope. He died on his es- 
tate in France, 1314. His son Edward after- 
ward gained the crown, but finally resigned 
it to Edward IIL of England. 

BALK, or Balkan, anciently H^mus, a 
chain of rugged mountains, extending from 
the Black Sea, in European Turkey, to the 
Adriatic. The summit of Orbelus, the high- 
est peak, is 9,000 feet above the surface of the 
sea. The passage of the Balkan by a hostile 
army was deemed impracticable till effected 
by the Russians under Diebitsch, whose march 
through the mountains m July, 1829, was a 
memorable achievement in the war then pend- 
ing between Russia and Turkey. Its conse- 
quence was an armistice, and this was followed 
by a trcafr of peace in September. 

BALLOONS. From the earliest ages men 
have longed to mount into the air and rival 
the easy flight of the birds. The first balloons 
on record were made in France by the broth- 
ers Montgolfier, and the first ascent made by 
M. Rozier and the Marquis d'Arlandes at Pa- 
ris, Nov. 28d, 1782. The elevating power of 
the Montgolfier balloon was air rarefied by 
fire. M. Rozier and M. Romain perished in 



BAL 



d'o 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 




TIIL LALLOOIS. 



an attempted voyage from Boulogne to Eng- 
land, the balloon having taken fire, June 14th, 
1785. Hydrogen balloons were successfully 
used soon after the Montgolfier. The para- 
chute was invented by Blan chard, in 1784. 
At the battle of Flcurus, June 17th, 1794, the 
French used a balloon to reconnoitre the op- 
posing army. In 1802, Garnerin ascended in 
a balloon to the height of four thousand feet, 
and descended safely by a parachute. Gay 
Lussac ascended at Paris. to the height of 
twenty-three thousand feet, Sept. 21st, 1802. 
The first ascent in England was by Sig. Lu- 
nardi, from Moorfields, Sept. 15th, 1784. 
Blanchard and Jeffries crossed from Dover to 
Calais in 1785. The first experiments with 
balloons in this country, were made by Dr. 
Rittenhouse and Francis Hopkinson, in De- 
cember, 1783. They connected several small 
balloons together, and thus enabled a man to 
ascend to the height of one hundred feet, and 
to float to a considerable distance. Afterward 
an ascent was made by Blanchard, at Phila- 
delphia, January 9th, 1793. 



Attempts to steer the balloon have proved 
futile, and it is now a mere toy. Its history 
is darkly marked with risk and loss of life. 
Madame Blanchard ascended from Tivoli at 
night in the midst of fireworks, from which 
her balloon caught fire, and she was dashed 
to the ground and killed, July 6th, 1819. An 
Italian aeronaut ascended from Copenhagen, 
Sept. 14th, 1851 ; his shattered corpse was 
found on the shore of a contiguous island. 
Mr, Arnold ascended near London, and was 
ducked in the Thames ; Major Money went up 
from Norwich and fell into the North Sea, but 
was saved by a revenue cutter ; Sadler, a vet- 
eran in the air, fell into the sea near Holy- 
head, but was picked up, Oct. 9th, 1812. A 
large balloon was sent up from London on an 
experimental voyage, having three persons in 
the car, and after being in the air eighteen 
hours, descended at Wielburg in the duchy of 
Nassau, Nov. 7th, 1836. 

The navigation of the air has ever been a 
favorite scheme, and artificial flying has been 
attempted in all ages. The fable of the waxen 



BAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



9" 



wings of Daedalus and his unlucky son Icarus, 
is familiar to all. Its interpretation is found 
in the tradition that Dsedalus invented sails 
for ships. Friar Roger Bacon maintained the 
possibility of the art of flying, and predicted 
it would be a general practice. Dr. Wilkins 
(brother-in-law of Cromwell, and Bishop of 
Chester), amused himself with dreaming of a 
voyage to the moon, and said it would yet be 
as usual to hear a man call for his wings when 
he is going on a journey, as it is now to hear 
him call for his boots. 

BALZAC, HoNORE de, a brilliant French 
novelist, born at Tours about 1799, and died 
at Paris, in August, 1850. 

BANCA, an island off the north coast of 
Sumatra; area 7,5.33 square miles; population 
in 1849, 43,000 ; since 1816 in the possession 
of the Dutch. Tin mines were discovered 
here in 1810, and their stores of ore seem in- 
exhaustible. 

BANKS. The first bankers were the 
Lombard Jews in Italy about 808, of whom 
some settled in Lombard street, London, 
where many bankers now do business. The 
mint in the Tower of London was used by 
merchants to lodge their money in, till 
Charles I. made free with it in 1 640 ; after 
which they trusted to servants, till too many 
of these ran to the army ; they then lodged 
it with the goldsmiths in Lombard street, 
whose business it was to buy and sell plate, 
and foreign coins. These at first paid four- 
pence per cent, per diem, but lent it to others 
at a higher interest, and so became the first 
bankers in England, 1645. 

The Bank of England was first incorpo- 
rated in 1694, in consideration of £1,200,000, 
then the amount of its capital, being lent to 
the government. It suspended specie pay- 
ments fi-om 1797 to 1817. 

In the United States, banks were com- 
menced in the early part of the Revolution- 
ary war ; the first by a number of gentlemen 
in Philadelphia, June 17th, 1780, with a cap- 
ital of $839,160; instituted for the purpose 
of supplying the American army with pro- 
visions. Bank of North America, at Phila- 
delphia, incorporated by Congress, Dec. 31st, 
1781 ; the Massachusetts Bank, the first at 
Boston, began in 1784, and the Bank of 
New York commenced the same year. 

The Bank of the United States was in- 



corporated March 2d, 1791, with a cap- 
ital of $10,000,000, the government holding 
$2,000, 000. Its charter expired March 11th, 
1811, and was not renewed; but the finan- 
cial burdens of the ensuing war with Great 
Britain, induced the creation of a similar in- 
stitution, the United States Bank, with a 
capital of $35,000,000. This was chartered 
for twenty years in April, 1816, with power 
to form branches, and went into operation at 
Philadelphia, Jan. 1st, 1817. The United 
States deposites, $9,868,435, were removed 
from it by Gen. Jackson, at the close of 1833, 
and at the expiration of the charter in 1836, 
Congress declined to renew it. A bank 
under the same name and with the same 
amount of capital was chartered by Pennsyl- 
vania, and continued in operation several 
years. 

BANKS, Sir Joseph, bart., a celebrated 
botanist and traveler, was born in London in 
1743, and died in 1820. Inheriting at an 
early age an ample fortune, his love of botany 
led him to visit lands at that time little known 
to naturalists. He made a voyage to New- 
foundland and the coast of Labrador ; he 
accompanied Capt. Cook to the South Seas ; 
he visited the coasts of Scotland, and spent 
some time in Iceland. He made a vast col- 
lection of objects in natural science, and 
introduced many valuable species of plants 
and trees into Britain. In 1771 he was 
elected president of the Royal Society, over 
which he presided till his death. Soon after- 
ward he was created a baronet. With George 
IIL, who was fond of botany and agriculture, 
he was a great favorite. He was a generous 
patron of science and scientific men, both in 
England and abroad. 

BANNOCKBURN, a village in Scotland 
about three miles sovith-east from Stirling, 
Here was the field where the king of England 
had to flee before peasants ennobled by the 
struggle for freedom. The battle was fought 
June 24th, 1314. The English army consisted 
of 100,000 men under Edward IL, 52,000 
of whom were archers, and the Scottish army 
of only 30,000, commanded by Robert Bruce. 
The Scottish leader had selected the ground 
of Bannockburn to meet his enemies, because 
on its rugged and broken surface his light- 
armed troops could better encounter the heavy 
men-at-arms of the English, He strength- 



BAN 



98 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ened his position among the morasses that 
lined the burn of Bannock by digging pits 
close together. These were slightly covered 
with brush and sods, so as not to be seen by 
an impetuous enemy. The English floun- 
dered into them, and while they were in 
confusion, the trembling scale of battle was 
turned by the sudden appearance of Bruce's 
camp-followers, on an upland behind the 
Scottish force. The wavering English, think- 
ing them an army of reserve, fled in utter 
rout. Edward barely escaped capture. His 
loss is estimated at upward of 30,000 men, 
and 700 barons and knights. 

When the son of James III. (afterward the 
clever and popular James IV., who fell at 
Flodden), was in rebellion, a fight occurred 
between the king's forces and those of the 
insurgent son, about a mile from Bannock- 
burn. King James, who was a weak man, 
was bade by some of his followers to see to 
his own safety, and all clad in burnished 
armor he galloped along an unfrequented 
road. The mill still stands whence issued a 
woman to draw water. Alarmed by the 
startling apparition of a knight in full armor, 
she dropped her pitcher and fled into the 
mill. She, in turn, had scared the king's 
horse, which fell, and smothered in his heavy 
armor the bruised monarch lay as if dead. 
He was carried into the mill, and put upon a 
bed. Abjectly depressed and fearing imme- 
diate death, he told the people of the mill that 
he was the king, and prayed for a confessor. 
Thereupon a woman ran abroad, calling fran- 
tically for a priest to come and shrive the 
king. FriencLs and enemies soon gathered 
round. A man clothed in a dark mantle, 
like an ecclesiastic, said, "I am a priest," and 
followed the woman into the house. Bend- 
ing down over the king as if to receive the 
whispered confession, he stabbed him over 
and over again, and vanished as mysteriously 
as he had come. The people of the mill had 
only the word of the man killed on their bed 
that he was their king. There was a mystery 
over the whole affair, and all that is abso- 
lutely known is that James III. was never 
seen again. The miller, apparently not know- 
ing what to do with the body, cast it forth by 
the wayside. Thence it was borne to the 
gray abbey of Cambuskenneth, whose monks 
bestowed upon; it royal obsequies. 



BANQUO, Thane of Lochabcr, from whom 
the royal house of Stuart was descended. He 
was murdered by Macbeth about 1046. 

BARBADOES, the most eastern of the 
Caribbean Islands, was discovered by the 
Portuguese, but belongs to the English, who 
planted here their first settlement in these 
seas, in 1605. Longitude 59° 41' W., lat. 13° 
5' N. It is fifteen miles long, and ten broad, 
containing an area of 106,500 acres. Popula- 
tion, 135,939. The climate is hot, but the 
air uncommonly salubrious; though hurri- 
canes are unhappily not unfrequent. The 
soil is various and fertile, and greatly undu- 
lating. Bridgetown is the capital of the 
island. Barbadoes has often been sorely 
visited by tremendovis hurricanes and sweep- 
ing conflagrations, and in 1854 the cholera 
carried off nearly seventeen thousand persons. 

BARBARY STATES, are Tripoli, Tunis, 
Algiers, and Morocco, and lie on the northern 
coast of Africa, extending westerly from 
Egypt to the Atlantic. The snow-capped 
Atlas range intersects them almost from east 
to west. The tract south of the mountains 
extending to the great desert, is sandy and 
unproductive of any fruit but dates. Be- 
tween the mountains and the Mediterranean 
lie fertile tracts, of which the climate is 
salubrious, the sea air tempering the heat, 
which is, however, of a degree to permit the 
growth of vegetation in April and May. Bar- 
ley', wheat, figs, grapes, olives, oranges, 
pomegranates, melons, cj'press, cedar, and 
almond trees, spring from the luxuriant soil. 
The sugar-cane, palm-tree, and lotus are 
abundant; and, in the early part of the spring, 
the country is bright and fragrant with roses, 
from which the purest attar is obtained. 
The domestic animals are valuable, and wild 
ones are found in abundance. Among the 
minerals of the mountains, are silver, copper, 
iron, lead, and antimony. Salt is abundant. 
The commerce between these and the Euro- 
pean states on the Mediterranean, is by no 
means inconsiderable. In antiquity, the 
countries now composing the Barbary States, 
were distinguished for the activity of the 
inhabitants in commercial pursuits. The 
Carthaginians were the most wealthy and 
enterprising of the possessors of these places, 
but the Romans, Vandals, and Saracens did 
not permit commerce to be prostrated. Now, 



BAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



99 



a country capable of sixty millions of inhab- 
itants, contains barely ten millions and a half. 
The patriotism of the Carthaginians induced 
them to labor for the promotion of the best 
interests of their country, but their power 
could not stand against that of a nation of 
victorious and hardy warriors. The Romans 
endeavored to make the most of their con- 
quered provinces, and the vast influx of 
wealth, which conquest poured in upon them, 
subdued that stern spirit of temperance 
which had carried their banners in triumph 
through the troubled tide of war. Then 
came the Vandals and Saracens, who endeav- 
ored to render the possessions they wrested 
from the Romans as available as possible. 

The present population of the Barbary 
States, is composed of Moors, Jews, who carry 
on the greater part of the business done here, 
Turks, and Arabs. The last are the descend- 
ants of the Saracenic conquerors of the coun- 
try. Their habits are migratory, and they 
dwell in tents, ten or a hundred ilunilies 
gathering together, each family being under 
the government of a sheikh. They are gen- 
erally at war with the Berbers, the descend- 
ants of the original inhabitants of the country. 
On these, and on the Turkish collectors of 
tribute, the Arabs wage war, and, when their 
hands are not full of personal quarrels, enter 
the service of any chieftain who may require 
them. The Moors are Moslems, indolent, 
unsociable, luxurious, superstitious, and un- 
cultivated. They treat the Jews, whom they 
despise and hate, with great harshness. In 
addition to the races above enumerated, there 
are many negroes in Barbary. 

BARCELONA, capital of Catalonia, and 
one of the largest cities in Spain, contains 
140,000 inhabitants. It is built in the form 
of a crescent, and stands on the shores of the 
Mediterranean. The harbor is commodious, 
but rather difficult of access. In the middle 
ages, Barcelona was one of the most flourish- 
ing ports of Europe ; its trade has dwindled 
to a trifle. Its citadel, built in 1714, has a 
secret connection with the fort of San Carlos ; 
and it may be considered as a strongly forti- 
fied place. Until the twelfth century, Barce- 
lona was under the government of its own 
counts, afterward united with the kingdom 
of Arragon, but withdrew and united to the 
French crown in 1640. In 1652, it again 



submitted to the Spanish government, but 
was taken by the French in 1697. Its resto- 
ration was made at the peace of Ryswick. 
In the war of succession Barcelona adhered 
to the Archduke of Austria. It is famous for 
the resolute, but unavailing defense it made 
against the troops of Philip V., under the 
command of the Duke of Berwick, in 1714, 
when the sufferings of the inhabitants were 
unparalleled. In 1809, it was taken by the 
French, and remained in their power until 
1814. In 1821, the yellow fever committed 
great ravages in it. The candor of a Barce- 
lona galley-slave, is brought to remembrance 
on seeing the name of this city. The Duke 
of Ossuna, as he passed by Barcelona, having 
obtained leave from the king to release some 
slaves, went on board the galley, and, pass- 
ing through the benches of slaves at the oar, 
asked several of them what their offenses 
were. Every one excused himself; one say- 
ing he was put there out of malice ; another 
by the bribery of the judge ; but all of them 
unjustly. Among the rest was a little sturdy 
fellow ; and the duke asked him what he was 
there for? "Sir," said he, "lean not deny 
that I am justly sent here ; for I wanted 
money, and so I took a purse from the high- 
way to keep me from starving." Upon this, 
the duke struck him gently with a little 
stick he had in his hand, saying, "You 
rogue, what do you do among so many honest 
men ? Get you gone out of their company." 
BARCLAY, Robert (the celebrated Apolo- 
gist for the Quakers), was born in 1648, at 
Gordonstown, county of Moray, Scotland, of 
an ancient and honorable family. The unset- 
tled state of affairs induced his father to send 
him abroad, and he received the greater part 
of his education at Paris, under the guidance 
of his uncle, who was rector in the Scots 
college. His parents, fearful lest he might 
be perverted to Romanism, called him home. 
An accomplished scholar, and of great natu- 
ral abilities, he rapidly rose to distinction. 
His family having become Quakers, he did 
likewise, and vaUantly combated the violent 
prejudices against the sect, by several trea- 
tises in defense of its tenets. He was enthu- 
siastic in his faith, and in 1776 accompanied 
William Penn in a tour of propagandism 
through England, Holland, and Germany. 
While at Amsterdam, he published his great 



BAR 



100 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



work on which he had been long engaged : 
'' An Apology for the true Christian Divinity, 
as the same is preached and held forth by 
tlie people in scorn called Quakers." The 
original was in Latin, but it was speedily 
translated into most of the languages of 
Europe, and widely spread the author's rep- 
utation. On his return to Scotland he suf- 
fered severely from the cruelties practiced 
on the nonconformists. Latterly he was 
smiled on by Charles II. and James II. 
Through the royal favor he received a com- 
mission as governor of East Jersey, America, 
for life. On a visit to his native land in 1690, 
he was seized with fever, and died among his 
kinsmen at Ury in Aberdeenshire. 

BARCLAY DE TOLLY, field-marshal of 
Russia, born 1755 ; director of the war against 
Napoleon in 1810; commander of the Rus- 
sians at the battle of Leipzig 1812, and in 
France 1815 ; died 1818. 

BARDS. The Bards, among Celtic nations, 
in battle, raised the war-cry of their people, 
and in peace, sang the exploits of their war- 
riors. They appear to have acted, as the 
heralds, legislators, and priests of the free 
Celtic tribes of Europe, until the gradual 
progress of southern despotism and civiliza- 
tion di-ove them into the strongholds of the 
Welsh, Irish, and Scotch mountains, which 
echoed to the wild notes of their harps and 
i patriotic songs. Their music and poetry kept 
alive the spark of national patriotism and 
enthusiasm, and inspired a stern resistance 
to the attacks of despotism. Hence Edward 
I. of England caused the Welsh bards to be 
slain, as the instigators of sedition. Ossian 
flourished in the Highlands in the third cen- 
tury ; Merlin in the fifth. The poems of 
Ossian were gathered and translated by Mac- 
pherson, who was suspected of being their 
author. Of these poems, Bonaparte was 
passionately fond, and the influence they ex- 
erted upon his style, may be traced in many 
of his declamatory harangues. 

BAREBONES, Pkaise God, a fanatical 
leather seller, by whom one of Cromwell's 
parliaments gained the nickname of 'Bare- 
bones Parliament.' 

BARLOW, Joel, was born at Reading, 
Conn., about 1755. He was educated at 
Dartmouth and Yale Colleges, where he dis- 
tinguished himself by his poetical talent. In 



the college vacations he served as a volunteer, 
and was present at the battle of White Plains. 
His first publication was a collection of minor 
pieces called "American Poems." After 
leaving college, he commenced the study of 
law, but afterward became a chaplain in the 
American army. His patriotic lays are said 
to have exerted an animating influence upon 
his countrymen. His " Vision of Columbus," 
which was afterward expanded into "The 
Columbiad," met with a flattering reception, 
both in America and England. The first 
edition was printed in 1787. About this 
time, in pursuance of the request of the gen- 
eral association of the clergy of Connecticut, 
he revised the psalms and hymns of Dr. Watts. 
To fm-ther the sale of these works, he be- 
came a bookseller, at Hartford, but soon 
quitted the business. In Europe, whither he 
went to effect the sale of lands in Ohio, he 
made himself conspicuous by the publication 
of prose and poetical works of a political 
nature. He was in France at the outbreak 
of the revolution and •was intimate with the- 
Girondist leaders. He also found time to 
write a mock heroic poem, in three cantos, 
called "Hasty Pudding," doubtless the hap- 
piest of his efforts. In 1795, he was ap- 
pointed American consul at Algiers, con- 
cluded a treaty of peace with the dey, and 
procured the liberation of all American citi- 
zens who were held as slaves within that 
territory. By the conclusion of a similar 
treaty at Tripoli, he was enabled to redeem 
and send home all the American prisoners 
found there. In 1797, he returned to Pa- 
ris, where, by commercial speculations, he 
amassed a very considerable fortune. In 
Paris, he lived in sumptuous style, and lost 
no opportunity of serving his countrymen. 
When the rupture between America and 
France took place, on account of the mari- 
time spoliations of the latter, he endeavored 
to adjust the differences between them. After 
an absence of nearly seventeen years, he 
returned to his country earlj^ in the year ■ 
1805. In 1808, appeared his " Columbiad," 
a splendid volume, ornamented with engrav- 
ings by London artists. It was so expensive 
a work that but few copies were sold. In 

1811, Barlow was appointed minister pleni- 
potentiary to the French government. In 

1812, while repairing to Wilna, in order to 



BAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



101 



have a conference with the Emperor Napo- 
leon, he died of an inflammation of the Imigs, 
Dec. 22d, at Zarnawica, an obscure Pohsh 
village, near Cracow. 

BARNEVELDT, John d'Olden, grand- 
pensionary of Holland, born 1547, became 
one of the greatest diplomatists of his age, 
but by adopting the opinions of Arminius, 
was involved in the religious controversies 
which then distracted his country. By his 
influence in great part, Spain, in 1609, ac- 
knowledged the independence of the seven 
united provinces. Under fi'ivolous charges 
he was beheaded in 1619. 

BARNEY, JosuuA, was born at Baltimore, 
July 6th, 1759. He was put into a retail shop 
at an early age, but manifesting a dislike for 
that employment, went to sea. At sixteen 
years of age, the illness of the captain and 
discharge of the mate of a vessel on board of 
which he was, put him in command of her, a 
station which he retained for eight months. 
At the commencement of the Revolution, he 
espoused the cause of the colonies, and was 
made master's-mate on board the Hornet sloop- 
of-war, Capt. William Stone. In 1775, the 
Hornet was concerned with Hopkins' fleet, in 
the capture of New Providence, one of the 
Bahama Islands. In 1776, in consequence of 
his conduct in the engagement between the 
American schooner Wasp and the English 
brig Tender, which was captured under the 
guns of two hostile vessels, he was presented 
vyith a lieutenant's commission, being then 
not seventeen years of age. Soon afterward, 
he became lieutenant of the Sachem, and as- 
sisted in the capture of an English brig, after 
a severe engagement. Being placed on board 
of a captured vessel as prize-master, Barney 
was taken, on his return from the West In- 
dies, by the Perseus, but prisoners were ex- 
changed in Charleston, S. 0. In 1777, Bar- 
ney was on board the Andrew "Doria, and as- 
sisted in the defense of the Delaware. Having 
been ordered to Baltimore, to join the Virginia 
frigate, Capt. Nicholson, his vessel was run 
ashore by the pilot, and taken by the British. 
Barney was exchanged in 1778, but while 
commanding a small schooner, was again taken 
in Chesapeake Bay. In November, 1778, he 
sailed with Capt. Robinson in a ship from 
Alexandria, with a letter of marque. They 



arrived at Bordeaux, after a warm action with 
the Rosebud, shipped eighteen guns and sev- 
enty men, and took on board a cargo of brandy. 
On their return, they captured a valuable 
prize. Barney reached Philadelphia in Octo- 
ber, 1779. In the following year, he married 
Miss Bedford, and, a month afterward, was 
robbed of his whole fortune, on the road to 
Baltimore. Saj^ing nothing of his misfortune, 
he returned to Philadelphia, and served on 
board the United States ship Saratoga, sixteen 
guns, Capt. Young. He was taken prisoner 
and sent to England, escaped, was retaken, 
again escaped, and reached Philadelphia, 
March, 1782. 

Soon after, he received from the state of 
Pennsylvania the command of the Hyder Aly, 
a ship of sixteen guns. With a loss of four 
killed and eleven wounded, the Hyder Aly 
captured the ship General Monk, twenty guns, 
after an action of twenty-six minutes. On 
board the captured vessel were thirty killed 
and fifty-three wounded, fifteen out of sixteen 
officers being either killed or wounded. For 
this exploit Barney was presented with a 
sword by the legislature of Pennsylvania. 
The General Monk having been purchased by 
the United States, Barney was put in com- 
mand of her, and sailed for France with sealed 
dispatches for Doctor Franklin, in November, 
1782. He returned to America, after having 
been favorably received at the French court, 
with a large loan from the French king, a 
passport from the king of England, and assur- 
ances that the preliminaries of peace were 
signed. Barney then served in the French 
navy from 1795 till 1800, when, resigning the 
command of a French squadron, he returned 
to America. In 1812, on the breaking out of 
the war between England and the United 
States, he commanded the flotilla designed for 
the defense of the Chesapeake. He set out 
for Bladensburg, with a small force of marines 
and five pieces of artillery, in July, 1814, but 
found the Americans in full retreat. Notwith- 
standing, he made a most gallant opposition to 
the enemy, was wounded in the thigh, and 
taken prisoner. He received a sword from 
the corporation of Washington, and a vote of 
thanks from the legislature of Georgia for his 
gallant conduct. In 1815, he was intrusted 
with a mission to Europe. Commodore Bar- 



BAR 



102 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



ney died at Pittsburg, in 1818, while on his 
way to Kentucky, whither he had resolved to 
emigrate. 

BAROMETERS. Torricelli, a Florentine, 
having discovered that no principle of suction 
existed, and that water did not rise in a pump 
because nature abhorred a vacuum, imitated 
the action of a pump with mercury, and made 
the first barometer, in 1643. Descartes ex- 
plaihed the phenomena. Wheel barometers 
were contrived in 1668; pendant barometers 
in 1695 ; marine in lYOO. 

BARRAS, Paul Francis, Count de, was 
born about 1755, of a noble family of Provence, 
of whom it was proverbial to say, " Noble as 
the Barrases, old as the rocks." After a some- 
what adventurous youth he returned from the 
East Indies to France, dissipated and reckless, 
ready to share in the troubles of 1T89. He 
was one of the Jacobin club ; and as a mem- 
ber of the convention in 1792 he voted for the 
king's death, and declared against the Giron- 
dins. In 1793, he was sent to the south of 
France, in command of the left wing of the 
army besieging Toulon, and there became ac- 
quainted with Napoleon, then a captain of ar- 
tillery. He did not participate in the savage 
excesses of the revolutionists, and it was only 
his popularity that saved him from Robes- 
pierre. At the close of the reign of terror he 
was foremost in effecting Robespierre's down- 
fall. He was appointed general-in-chief, called 
in Bonaparte to suppress revolt, and when 
the directory was established, Barras was a 
member of it. For a while he had great 
power, but the directory waned, and was sup- 
planted by the consulate. Barras died in re- 
tirement, Jan. 29th, 1829. 

BARRfcRE DE VIEUZAC, Bertrand 
(1755-1841), styled by Burke, "theAnacreon 
of the guillotine," was a conspicuous character 
in the French revolution, and a colleague of 
Robespierre, Danton, &c. He voted for the 
death of Louis XVI., saying, " The tree of 
liberty only grows when watered by the blood 
of tyrants." 

BARROSA, or Barossa, Battle of, a long 
conflict in the Peninsular war, between the 
British array under Major-General Graham 
(afterward Lord Lynedoch) and the French 
under Marshal Victor, March 5th, 1811. The 
British at last forced the French to retreat, 



leaving nearly 3,000 dead. The loss of the 
victors was 1,169 killed and wounded. 

BARROW, Isaac, D.D., an eminent Eng- 
lish divine and mathematician, was born in 
London in 1650, and died in 1677. He was 
the predecessor of Newton as Lucasian pro- 
fessor of mathematics at Cambridge. His 
sermons are still held in high estimation. 
Charles II. called him " an unfair preacher, 
because he exhausted every subject and left 
nothing for others to say after him." 

BARRY, John, the first naval ofiicer that 
held the rank of commodore in the service of 
the United States, was born in the county of 
AVexford, Ireland, in 1745. His father was a 
respectable former, and made no opposition to 
his son's wish to lead a seafaring life. Barry 
acquired a good practical education, and was 
between fourteen and fifteen years of age, 
when he came to the country of his adoption. 
The experience which he had gained in the 
merchant service, and the naval skill which 
he displayed, procured for him a commission 
in the continental navy on the breaking out 
of hostilities with Great Britain. He was ap- 
pointed commander of the brig Lexington, 
sixteen guns, in February, 1776. After cruis- 
ing with success, he was transferred in the 
same year, to the frigate Effingham, at Phila- 
delphia, but the ice in the Delaware preventing 
immediate operations, Barry served on shore 
as aid-de-camp to General Cadwalader, and 
was present at the occurrences near Trenton. 
While the American vessels were shut up near 
Whitehill, he conceived the daring plan of 
descending the river in boats and capturing 
the supplies sent to the enemy. He succeeded 
in taking not only a valuable stock of provi- 
sions, but military stores, for which exploit 
he received the thanks of Washington. After 
the loss of his frigate, he was appointed to 
command the Raleigh of thirty-two guns, but 
ran her on shore in Penobscot Bay, on being 
chased by a large squadron. In February, 
1781, he was in command of the Alliance, a 
frigate of thirty-six guns, and sailed from Bos- 
ton, for L' Orient with Colonel Laurens and 
suite, on an embassy of importance to the 
court of Paris. After having taken several 
prizes, he was severely wounded in the action 
with the ship Atalanta, and her consort the 
brig Trepasa, which were taken after an en- 



BAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



103 



gagement of several hours. Throughout the 
war, Commodore Barry behaved with gallant- 
ry, and on the termination of hostilities he 
was appointed to superintend the building of 
the frigate United States, which he was to 
command. In the short naval war with 
France, Barry was of great service to this 
country, and he remained in command of the 
United States till she was laid up in ordinary. 
He died Sept. 13th, 1803, with the reputation 
of a virtuous, brave, and talented man. 

BARRY, Marie Jeanne de Vaubernier, 
Countess du, was in early life a milliner, then 
a courtesan, and in 1759 succeeded Madame 
Pompadour as mistress of Louis XV. She 
was corrupt, even for that age of harlotry. 
Louis XVL sent her into retirement. She 
died under the guillotine in 1793, at the age 
of forty -nine, uttering on her way to the scaf- 
fold piteous cries for mercy. 

BARTHELEMY, John James, an eminent 
French writer, author of "The Travels of the 
Younger Anacharsis," born at Cassis in Pro- 
vence, 1716, died April 30th, 1795. 

BARTHOLOMEW, St., martyred Aug. 
24th, A.D. 71. The festival was instituted in 
1130. The horrid massacre of Bartholomew's 
day was perpetrated on the Huguenots of 
Paris, by the Catholic faction, during the reign 
of Charles IX., in 1572, according to secret 
orders from the king at $he instigation of 
Catherine de Medicis, his mother. The mas- 
sacre extended throughout the kingdom, and 
the victims were not fewer than seventy thou- 
sand. Women and infants were not spared. 
At Rome the news was received with every 
demonstration of joj^, salutes of cannon were 
fired, a procession went by order of the pope 
to the church of St. Louis, and the "Te De- 
um " was chanted. 

BARTLETT, Josiah, was born in Ames- 
burv, Mass., in 1729. He commenced the 
study of medicine at the age of sixteen, and 
at the age of twenty-one the practice of it, in 
which he was highly successful. In 1754, he 
was a representative of the town of Kingston, 
N. H., in the provincial legislature, where he 
took the side of the minority, firmly opposing 
all violations- of right. In 1775 he was de- 
prived by the governor of his commission in 
the army, and of that of justice of peace. 
From the provincial congress, however, he 
received a regiment, and, as a delegate to the 



Continental Congress, was the second signer 
of the declaration of independence. In 1780 
he was appointed judge of the superior court 
of New Hampshire, and chief justice in 1790. 
In the same year he became president of New 
Hampshire, and its governor in 1793. He 
retired from ofiice in 1794, and died in 1795. 

BARTON, Bernard, the ' Quaker poet,' a 
banker's clerk in England, 1784-1849. 

BARTON, Elizabeth, a country girl of Ad- 
dington, in Kent, commonly called the Holy 
Maid of Kent. She appeared in the reign of 
Henry VIII., with pretensions to miraculous 
powers, and was executed at Tyburn, April 
30th, 1534, after a full confession of her im- 
posture. It was at the time that the king 
was about to be divorced from his first wife, 
and the English church separated from Rome, 
and this girl was deluded by priests to warn 
Henry of the vengeance of Heaven if he per- 
sisted. 

BARTON, William, lieutenant-colonel in 
the American army during the Revolution, 
was a native of Providence, R. I. He headed 
the party which seized Gen. Prescott of the 
British army neax Newport, July 10th, 1777. 
For this bold deed Congress gave Barton a 
sword and a large grant of land in Vermont. 
Some irregularity in the transfer of this land 
led to his imprisonment in Vermont for many 
years. La Fayette, on his visit to this countiy 
in 1825, heard of his incarceration, Hquidated 
the claim, and set the veteran fi-ee. He died 
at Providence in 1831, aged eighty-four. 

BARTRAM, William, an American natu- 
ralist, born in Pennsylvania, 1739. He ac- 
companied his father (John, also a learned 
botanist) on an expedition to explore the natu- 
ral productions of East Florida, and in 1773 
commenced an examination of the natural pro- 
ductions of the Floridas, and the western parts 
of Carolina and Georgia, at the request of Dr. 
Fothergill of London. This employment lasted 
nearly five years. In 1790 he published an 
account of his travels and discoveries. He 
belonged to many learned societies in Europe 
and America. He assisted Wilson in the com- 
mencement of his "American Ornithology." 
On the 22d of July, 1823, a few minutes after 
writing an article on the natural history of a 
flower, he ruptured a blood-vessel and died. 

BASHKIRS, a tribe of Mongol origin, under 
Russian rule. They are Mohammedans, but 



BAS 



10-i 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



little civilized, and live by hunting, raising 
cattle and keeping bees. They intoxicate 
themselves on a beverage made from fermented 
mare's and camel's milk. They dwell about 
Orenburg on the Ural. 

BASIL, St., an Eastern patriarch, called 
the Great, born 326, and made Bishop of 
Csesarea, in Cappadocia, in 370. Here he 
died in 379. The rules for the regulation of 
the monastic life, which he prepared, were 
followed by all the orders in Christendom. 

BASSOMPIERRE, Fkancois de, Marshal 
of France, enjoyed the favor of Henry IV. and 
Louis XITL, and was one of the most amiable 
and accomplished men of their courts. He 
was born in 1579 and died in IG-iG. He 
served in a military and civil capacit}^ Hav- 
ing become enamored of the charms of the 
daughter of the Constable de Montmorency, 
he relinquished his hopes when he discovered 
that he was the rival of Henry IV. 

BASTILE, a royal castle commenced by 
Charles V. for the defense of Paris against the 
English, and completed in 1383. It was of 
great strength. It was afterward used as a 
state prison, like the Tower of London, and 
became the scene of deplorable suffering and 
frightful crimes. Prisoners were confined by 
the authority of lettres de cachet, that is, 
letters of arrest, written in the king's name, 
with blanks for the names of individuals, 
which wei-e to be filled up by the ministers 
who possessed these letters. Heads of fami- 
lies among the nobility, who wished to confine 
any unworthy member of the family, claimed 
the privilege of confinement by a lettre de 
cachet, and this privilege was next claimed by 
the ministers of government, to be used for 
the punishment of refractory servants and 
others. It will easily be conjectured that it 
was not long before unprincipled ministers 
abused this right by imprisoning worthy per- 
sons, who, in the actual discharge of their 
duties, had incurred the displeasure of men of 
power by thwarting their interests. In fact 
the use of the lettres de cachet was the main- 
stay of despotism, and used not merely by the 
throne, but by many of its satellites. Men 
were imprisoned for offenses too trifling to be 
registered, and remained thirty or forty years 
in the Bastile, or even till death, without any 
examination into the charges on which they 
were imprisoned. At the commencement of 



the French revolution, the attention of the 
people was called to this enormity. In July, 
1789, they assembled in force and attacked 
the Bastile, which surrendered after a few 
hours. The governor and other officers were 
murdered. The prisoners were feasted in 
Paris, and the building was completely de- 
molished. 

M. Mercier has given an interesting account 
of a prisoner who was confined for some ex- 
jsressions of disrespect toward Louis XV. He 
was set at liberty by the ministers of Louis 
XVI. He had been in confinement for forty- 
seven years, and had borne up against the 
horrors of his prison-house with a manly 
spirit. His thin, white, and scattered hairs, 
had acquired an almost iron rigidity. The 
day of his liberation, his door was flung wide 
open, and a strange voice announced to him 
his freedom. Hardly comprehending the 
meaning of the words, he rose and tottered 
through the courts and halls of the prison, 
which appeared to him interminable. His 
eyes by degrees became accustomed to the 
light of day, but the motion of the carriage 
which was to convey him to his former abode 
appeared unendurable. At length, supported 
by a fi'iendly arm, he reached the street in 
which he had once resided, but on the spot 
formerly occupied by his house, stood a public 
building, and nothing remained in that quar- 
ter that he recognized. Norie of the living 
beings of the vast city knew him ; his liberty 
was a worthless gift, and he wept for the sol- 
itude of his dungeon. Accident brought in 
his way an old domestic, a superannuated 
porter, who had barely strength sufficient to 
discharge the duties of his office. He did not 
recognize his master, but told him that his 
wife had died of grief thirty years before, that 
his children had gone abroad, and that not 
one of his relations remained. Overcome by 
this intelligence, the captive supplicated the 
minister to take him back to the dungeon from 
which he had been liberated, and the man of 
office was moved to tears by his misery. The 
old porter became his companion, as he was 
the only person who could converse to him of 
the friends he had lost, but so w.retched was 
the isolated condition of the victim of the Bas- 
tile, that he died not long after his liberation. 
BATH, Ordek of the. Its origin is un- 
certain. The ancient Franks, when they 



BAT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



105 



conferred knighthood, bathed before tWy 
performed their vigils. Henry IV. instituted 
a degree of knighthood of the Bath, and on 
his coronation in the Tower, he conferred 
the order upon forty-six esquires, who had 
watched the night before and had bathed. 
To each of these he gave green side-coats 
reaching down to their ankles, with straight 
sleeves, and furred with minever ; they also 
wore upon their left shoulder two cordons of 
white silk, with tassels hanging down. 

It was usual in former times to create 
knights of this order from the flower of the 
nobility, who had not previously received the 
order of knighthood, at the coronation of 
kings and queens, and at their marriages ; 
sometimes also, when their sons were in- 
vested Prince of Wales, or dukes, or when 
they solemnly received the cincture or mil- 
itary girdle of knighthood ; and that accom- 
panied with many ceremonies, which at 
present are for the most part disused. After 
the coronation of Charles II., the order was 
neglected until 1725, when it was revived by 
George I., who fixed the number of knights 
at thirty-eight, the sovereign and thirty- 
seven knights-companions. 

By statute, January 2d, 1815, it was or- 
dained that, "for the purpose of commemo- 
ratiag the auspicious termination of the long 
and arduous contest in which this empire 
[Great Britain] has been engaged," the order 
should be composed of three classes. 

First class : to consist of Knights Grand 
Crosses ; number not to exceed seventy-two, i 
exclusive of the sovereign and princes of the | 
blood royal, one-sixth of which may be ap- j 
pointed for civil and diplomatic purposes. 
The remainder must have attained the rank 1 
of major-general in the army, or rear-admiral 
in the navj^, and must have been previously 
appointed to the second class. 

Second class : Knights Commanders ; num- 
ber not to exceed, upon the first institution, 
one hundred and eighty, exclusive of foreign 
olBcers holding British commissions, of 
which not exceeding ten may be admitted as 
honorary knights commanders. In the event 
of actions of signal distinction, or future 
wars, the number of this class may be in- 
creased. To be entitled to the distinctive 
appellation of knighthood ; to have the same 
rights and privileges as knights bachelors. 



but to take precedence of them ; to wear the 
badge, &c., pendent by a ribbon round the 
neck, the star embroidered on the left side. 
No oflScer can be nominated, unless he shall 
have received a medal or other badge of 
honor, or shall have been especially men- 
tioned in dispatches in the London Gazette^ as 
having distinguished himself in action. No 
person is now eligible to this class under 
the rank of major-general in the arm}^ or 
rear-admiral of the navy. 

Third class : Companions of the Order ; 
not limited in nxnnber ; they are to take pre- 
cedence of esquires, but not entitled to the 
appellation, style, &c., of knights bachelors. 
To wear the badges assigned to the third 
class, pendent by a narrow red ribbon to the 
button-hole. 

Motto of the order, Tria juncta in uno — 
the Trinity. 

BATTHYANY, Count Casimir Stkalt- 
MAN, a Hungarian revolutionist, whose large 
estates wer& confiscated. He died in exile and 
poverty, at Paris, Julj^ 12th, 1854. 

BATTHYANY, Louis, a Hungarian noble- 
man, who was seized by the Austrians, sen- 
tenced to death by an unjust court-martial, 
and shot Oct. 6th, 1848. 

BATUTA, Ibn, an Arab Moor of Tan- 
giers, was one of the greatest travelers that 
ever lived. Between 1324 and 1354, he wan- 
dered from his native place to Timbuctoo, the 
Ural Mountains, Ceylon, and the eastern 
coast of China, visiting all the countries 
between these extreme points. 

BAUTZEN, or Bumssm, capital of Upper 
Lusatia, situated on a height washed by the 
Spree. It contains about 12,000 inhabitants. 
The Catholics and Lutherans worship to- 
gether in the large cathedral, divided by a 
screen of trellis-work, the former possessing 
the altar and the latter the nave. On the 
20th and 21st of May, 1813, Napoleon here 
defeated an army of Prussians and Russians, 
whose masterly retreat left him but little 
advantage. In the evening of the 21st the 
field of battle presented a grand but terrible 
spectacle, more than sixteen thousand men 
being stretched in their last sleep, and the 
scene illuminated by the red glare of thirty 
burning villages. 

BAVARIA, a kingdom of Germany, a 
waste in the time of Caesar, and a Roman 



BAV 



106 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



province (Vindelicia and Noricum) under 
Augustus. At the end of the fifth century, 
a confederacy was formed by several German 
tribes, under the name of Boioarians, Ratis- 
bon being their chief seat. Their coimtry 
was called Noricum, and was never subject 
to the Ostrogoths. They became subject 
however to the Franks, when the latter gained 
possession of Rhsetia. Otho, Count of Wit- 
telsbach, who after the death of Charlemagne, 
and the occurrence of convulsions incident to 
the division of the empire, gained possession 
of Bavaria, died in 1183. Louis I., his suc- 
cessor, enlarged his territories, and added the 
palatinate of the Rhine. Bavaria was divided 
into Upper and Lower, in 1255 ; Maximilian 
L, a distinguished leader of the league against 
the Protestants, gained the upper palatinate 
in 1623. He died in 1651. After the battle 
of Blenheim, the emperor treated Bavaria as 
a conquered country. Charles Albert of 
Bavaria was elected emperor of Germany in 
1742, but in 1T43 the states of Bavaria were 
constrained to swear homage to Maria The- 
resa, and in the war, Charles's fortunes sank 
rapidly, and he was forced to abandon Bava- 
ria. His son and successor, Maximilian 
Joseph IIL, assumed, like his Mher, the 
title of Archduke of Austria, but making 
peace with Austria, in 1745, received from 
Francis all the Bavarian territories which had 
been conquered by that power. Maximilian 
Joseph devoted himself to the promotion of 
the interests of his people, and favored their 
industry by every means in his power ; the 
foundation of the academy ,of sciences at 
Munich proves his liberality, and the exten- 
sion of his views. 

By the treaties of the house of Wittelsbach, 
and by the terms of the peace of Westphalia, 
the right of succession reverted to the palat- 
inate, on the extinction of the Wittelsbach 
line in the person of Maximilian Joseph, who 
died 30th of December, 1777, but the claims 
of Austria to Lower Bavaria were enforced by 
arms, and Charles Theodore, in 1778, was 
persuaded formally to renounce the Bavarian 
succession. The Duke of Deux-Ponts, how- 
ever, the presumptive heir, relying on the en- 
couragement afforded by Frederick IL of Prus- 
sia, refused to acknowledge the surrender of 
the succession. This was the cause of the 
Bavarian war of succession, which was ter- 



minated by a treaty of peace, signed May 
13th, 1779, in consequence of war being 
declared agains»t Austria by Russia, and 
Bavaria was secured to the elector palatine of 
Bavaria. The Austrians yet coveted the 
country, and, in 1784, Joseph IL proposed to 
exchange the Austrian Netherlands for Bava- 
ria, with the sum of three million florins 
for the elector and the Duke of Deux-Ponts, 
and the title of King of Burgundy. This, 
however, was formally refused by the Duke 
of Deux-Ponts, who declared he.would never 
barter away the inheritance of his ancestore. 
Charles Theodore revived the order of Jesuits, 
and restrained the freedom of the press, and 
on the I reaking out of the French revolution, 
the elector sent troops to aid the empire. In 
1796 Bavaria became the theatre of war. 
Maximilian Joseph, Duke of Deux-Ponts, 
now came into possession of Bavaria. At the 
beginning of the war of 1805, the elector 
joined the French with 30,000 troops, and at 
the peace of Presburg received from Napoleon 
a vast addition of territory, and the title of 
king. A matrimonial alliance connected the 
interests of Bavaria still more closely with 
those of France. Bavaria took part against 
Prussia and Austria, in 1806 and 1809. In 
the war of 1812 between France and Russia, 
Bavaria brought 30,000 men into the field, 
and but a few fragments of her fine army 
survived the expedition to Moscow. In 
1813, the King of Bavaria abandoned the 
confederation of the Rhine and turned his 
arms against Napoleon. In 1825, Louis 
Charles succeeded to the throne, and reigned 
till 1848, when he abdicated in favor of his 
son Maximilian Joseph II. His abdication 
was mainly caused by his attachment to 
the celebrated Lola Montez, whom he had 
created Countess of Landsfelt. She was 
expelled from the kingdom. 

The kingdom of Bavaria is among the prin- 
cipal of the secondary continental powers. 
Bavaria, exclusive of the province west of the 
Rhine, is bounded north by Hesse-Darmstadt, 
Hesse-Cassel, and Saxony; east and south 
by Austria, and west by Wurtemberg, Baden, 
and Hesse-Darmstadt. The kingdom con- 
tains 28,435 square miles, and had in 1855, 
4,541,556 inhal3itants. It is a mountainous 
country, having, however, many extensive 
plains and valleys wide and fertile. Agri- 



BAV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



107 



culture is the chief branch of industry. The 
soil is mostly owned in small estates. Bava- 
ria's most important manufacture is beer, of 
which more than ninety-six million gallons 
are yearly brewed. Coarse linens are largely 
woven by the country women. Marriage is 
forbidden without permission from the au- 
thorities, who do not grant it unless there is 
sufficient probability that adequate means for 
maintaining a family will bo possessed. Lib- 
erty of conscience, and equality in civil rights, 
are guaranteed to both Protestant and Ro- 
manist. Education is supervised by the 
government, and no children are excused 
attendance at the schools, except such as 
have received permission for private tuition. 
No printing-press can be established without 
the previous sanction of the king. The gov- 
ernment is a limited monarchy. There are 
two legislative chambers. Bavaria has a 
right of way by a military road through 
Baden, which gives direct access to its domin- 
ions on the Rhine. 

Munich (Miinchen) is the capital of Bava- 
ria, and perhaps the handsomest city in Ger- 
many. Its population in 1853 was 127,385. 
The city is indebted mostly to the ex-king 
Louis for its splendid buildings and its treas- 
ures of ancient and modern art. It has a 
library of 400,000 volumes and 22,000 MSS. 
Here lithography was invented by Senne- 
felder, in 1796. Fraunhofer's astronomical 
and optical instruments are unsurpassed. 
Munich surrendered to the Swedes and Ger- 
man Protestants, under Gustavus Adolphus, 
in 1632 ; in 1704 it fell into the hands of the 
Austrians. In 1741, it shared the vicissi- 
tudes of the war, and in 1796, the French 
army under Moreau obliged the elector to 
make a separate treaty. In 1800, Moreau 
again occupied Bavaria, and secured his 
superiority by the victory of Hohenlinden ; 
and from that time, to 1813, Bavaria re- 
mained in alliance with the French. 

Niirnberg (incorrectly called Nuremberg), 
an ancient city in the province of Franconia 
once a flourishing member of the Hanseatic 
league, has 45,000 inhabitants. This " quaint 
old town of toil and traffic, quaint old town 
of art and song," was in the olden time one 
of the chief marts of Europe. It received the 
rich merchandise of Italy, and forwarded it 



to the north. Four hundred years ago its 
artisans in metals were famous. 

" Here when Art was still religion, with a simple 
reverent heart, 

Lived and labored Albrecht Durer, the Evangel- 
ist of Art." 

Here sang Hans Sach, the cobbler bard. 
Here were invented watches (first called 
Niirnberg eggs), the air-gun, the clarionet, 
brass, and the lock for fire-arms. Niirnberg 
continued a free city till 1808, when it was 
parceled to Bavaria. 

Augsburg, population 36,000, is a town 
of important trade and manufactures. Here 
dwelt the great family of the Fuggers. In 
the best days of Augsburg, the front of every 
respectable dwelling shone with the glories 
of the pencil, and the whole Scriptures might 
be studied in these fresco paintings out of 
doors. The first tulip known in the west of 
Europe, was brought to Augsburg from Con- 
stantinople in 1557. Here paper was made 
from rags as early as 1330. Printing was 
early established here, and is now largely 
carried on. The Allgemeine Zeitung, called 
also the Atigslnirg Gazette, the most widely 
circulated journal in German}-, is printed 
here. Augsburg was a free imperial city 
from 1276 to 1806. Melancthon drew up 
the celebrated confession of faith protesting 
against the abuses of the church of Rome, 
whence the Lutherans were called Protest- 
ants. By him and Luther, in 1530, it was 
presented to the Emperor Charles V. in the 
palace of the Bishop of Augsburg, whence it 
is called the confession of Augsburg. Here 
in 1555 was signed the celebrated treaty by 
which religious liberty was secured to Ger- 
many, 

BAXTER, Richard, a noted divine among 
the English nonconformists, was born at 
Rowton, Shropshire, November 12th, 1615. 
At first connected with the established 
church, he became a dissenting minister. 
Though he sided with parliament during the 
civil war, he did not approve of the exe- 
cution of the king and other extreme action 
of the day. During the persecution of the 
nonconformists in the reign of James II., 
Mr. Baxter was tried and abused by the in- 
famoxis Jeffreys, but the king remitted the 
fine imposed upon him. He was a volumi- 



BAX 



108 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



nous author upon theological and religious 
subjects. "The Saints' Everlasting Rest^' 
and "A Call to the Unconverted" are still 
much read. He died in 1691. 

BAYARD, James A., an eminent Ameri- 
can lawyer and politician, born at Philadel- 
phia, in 1767. He was educated at Princeton 
CoUega He represented Delaware in both 
houses of Congress, and distinguished him- 
self by his patriotism and ability in debate. 
He was sent to Europe as one of the commis- 
sioners to treat for peace in 1813, but after 
the treaty of Ghent, the state of his health 
induced him to return home with all possible 
speed. He accordingly embarked at Havre, 
in May, 181.5, arrived in the United States, 
and died in the bosom of his family. 

BAYARD, John, an eminent patriot in our 
Revolution, born in Maryland, 1738, died in 
1807. 

BAYARD, Pierre du Terrail, Chevalier dc, 
called Le chevalier sansx>eur etsans re2iroc7ie 
(the knight without fear and without re- 
proach,) was born near Grenoble, 1476, of one 
of the most ancient families in Dauphiny. Ed- 
ucated under the eye of his uncle, the Bishop 
of Grenoble, he early displayed those traits 
for which he was afterward so much beloved 
and celebrated. Modest, pious, affectionate, 
tender, brave, and honorable, all who beheld 
him augured well of his future career. Charles 
Vni, who saw him at Lyons, managing a 
stately steed with ease and grace, begged him 
of the Duke of Savoy, whose page he then 
was, and committed him to the care of Paul 
of Luxemburg, Count de Ligny. He won 
his earliest laurels in tournaments, but he was 
destined to shine upon redder fields of glory, 
and at the age of eighteen accompanied 
Charles VIIL to Italy, and took a standard 
at the battle of Verona. When, in the reign 
of Louis Xn., he was taken prisoner by fol- 
lowing some flying adversaries into Milan, 
Ludovico Sforza generously returned him his 
horse and arms, and dismissed him without 
ransom. His exploit at the bridge over the 
Garigliano was worthy of a Roman in Rome's 
best days, for like Horatius Codes he gal- 
lantly defended the bridge against the victo- 
rious Spaniards, until the French army were 
safe. On account of this action, he had for 
his coat of arms a porcupine, with the fol- 
lowing motto: Vires agminis unvs hahet, 



'alone he has an army's strength.' TVhen 
Julius IL declared himself against France, 
Bayard hastened to the assistance of the Duke 
of Ferrara. Defeated in his attempt to take 
the pope prisoner, he yet sternly refused to 
listen to an offer to betray him. He was 
wounded in the assault on Brescia, and car- 
ried into the house of a nobleman who had 
fled, leaving his wife and two daughters ex- 
posed to the brutal insults of a licentious 
soldier)'-. Bayard protected them faithfully, 
refusing their offers of reward, and returning, 
as soon as he was cured, to the French camp, 
whose stay and hope, Gaston de Foix, had 
been killed in consequence of neglecting the 
advice of Bayard. The latter received a 
second wound in the retreat from Pavia, 
which it was thought would prove mortal. 
On learning this, the gallant chevalier said, 
in the true spirit of a warrior, " I grieve not 
to die, but to die in xny bed like a woman." 

The military misfortunes of the latter part 
of the reign of Louis XH. did not cast a 
shadow on the glory of Bayard, but his 
personal bravery was conspicuous even in 
reverse. He was ever the foremost in the 
charge, and the last in the retreat. Fran- 
cis L had no sooner ascended the throne, 
than he gave proof of the confidence he re- 
posed in Bayard, by sending him into Dau- 
phiny to open a passage for his army over the 
Alps, and through Piedmont. Baj^ard cap- 
tui-ed Prosper Colonna, who lay in wait for 
him, hoping to surprise him. Elated with 
this success, in the battle of Marignano, to 
which it was a prelude, he performed prodi- 
gies of valor by the side of the king, who 
emulated the bravery of the gallant chevalier. 
After this day of glory Francis received 
knighthood from the sword of Bayard. Bay- 
ard defended the town of Meziere, when 
Charles V. invaded Champagne, with such 
spirit and resolution, that at Paris he was 
called the savior of his country. He received 
from the hands of the king the order of St. 
Michael, and a company of a hundred men 
to command in his own name, an honor 
never before conferred but on princes of the 
blood. Bayard reduced to obedience the 
revolted Genoa, but the fortunes of the French 
changed, and they were obliged to retreat. 
Bounivet the commander, his rear-guard beat- 
en, and himself severely wounded, committed 



BAY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



109 



the care of the army to the gallant Bayard. 
Compelled to pass Sesia in the presence of a 
superior force, Bayard, the last man in the 
retreat, was combating the Spaniards, when 
a stone from a blunderbuss shattered his back- 
bone, and he exclaimed, "Jesus Christ, my 
God, I am a dead man ! " He was removed 
at his request, under the shadow of a tree ; 
"From this spot," said he, "I can behold the 
enemy." He confessed his sins to his squire, 
and, in default of a crucifix, kissed the 
hilt of his sword. Bidding a farewell to his 
friends, his king, and his country, he died, 
surrounded by admiring and weeping friends 
and enemies, April 30th, 1524. His enemies, 
who retained possession of the body, em- 
balmed it, and restored it to his countrymen, 
by whom it was consigned to a tomb in a 
church of the Minorites, near Grenoble. A 
simple bust, and a Latin inscription, mark 
the place of his repose. 

BAYLE, Pierre, a French writer, born at 
Carlat, in Languedoc, in 1 64Y. He died, pen 
in hand, in 1706, at the age of fifty-nine. His 
" Historical and Critical Dictionary " is a 
grand monument of the logic and learning 
for which the author is so celebrated. He 
modestly called it "an ill-digested compila- 
tion of passages tacked together by the ends." 
Voltaire calls him "the first of logicians and 
skeptics," but adds, that his warmest apolo- 
gists can not deny, that there is not a page 
in his controversial writings, which does not 
lead the reader to doubt, and often to skep- 
ticism. He himself says, " My talent consists 
in raising doubts; but they are only doubts." 

BAYONNE, a fortified city in France, about 
two miles from the Bay of Biscay, at the con- 
fluence of the Nive and Adour. It is in the 
department of the Lower Pyrenees, and was 
formerly the capital of a district of Gascony. 
Population, 17,000. Bayonne has consid- 
erable commerce with Spain, and is much 
engaged in the cod and whale fishery. Its 
hams, wines, brandies, and chocolate are 
famous. It is said that in 1564 Bayonne was 
the scene of an interview between Catherine 
de Medici and the Duke of Alva, at which 
was planned the murder of the Huguenots, 
carried into effect seven years afterward on 
St. Bartholomew's day. When the massacre 
took place, however, D'Orchez, commandant 
of Bayonne, refused to execute the orders of 



the court, returning this noble answer: 
"Sire, I have communicated your majestj^'s 
letter to the garrison and inhabitants of this 
city. I have found only brave soldiers and 
good citizens, and not a single executioner." 
At Bayonne, in 1070, the bayonet was in- 
vented, whence its name. Here in 1808, 
Napoleon met the King of Spain, Charles IV., 
and his son Ferdinand, Prince of Asturias, 
when they signed an agreement by which 
they and the king's other children renounced 
their rights in the European and Indian ter- 
ritories of Spain, in favor of Bonaparte. Dur- 
ing Wellington's invasion of France from 
Spain, the neighborhood of Bayonne was the 
scene of desperate fighting, Dec. 10th, 11th, 
and 13th, 1813. Soult then retired within 
the intrenchments of the city, and it was 
invested by Lieut. -Gen. Sir John Hope, Jan. 
14th, 1814. On the morning of April 14th, 
Soult made a sortie with much success, 
though driven back in the end. Sir John 
Hope was wounded and made prisoner. 
News of Napoleon's abdication arrived shortly 
after. A treaty was signed at Bayonne, Dec. 
2d, 1856, establishing the frontier line be- 
tween France and Spain. 

BEATON, David, Archbishop of St. An- 
drew's in Scotland, and cardinal, born in 
1494. On the coronation of the young Queen 
Mary, he renewed his cruel persecutions of 
the heretics, and among others, brought 
George Wishart, the famous Protestant 
preacher, to the stake. Seated at his win- 
dow, he beheld with fiendish joy the cruel 
sufferings of this estimable man. He was 
openly licentious, and, although endowed 
with some good qualities, was disgraced by 
flagrant vices. He *^'as murdered in his 
chamber. May 29th, 1546. 

BEATTIE, James, a miscellaneous writer, 
and pleasing poet, born at Lawrencekirk, in 
Kincardine county, Scotland, in 1735, died 
in August, 1803. The poem by which he 
will be remembered as a follower of the 
muses, is the " Minstrel," the first book of 
which was published in 1771. He wrote an 
"Essay on Truth," and some other meta- 
physical works, in which, however, he did 
not shine so much as in his poems. 

BEAUFORT, Henry, cardinal, half-brother 
of Henry IV. of England, Bishop of Lincoln, 
afterward of Winchester, and chancellor of 



BEA 



no 



cottattE cyclopedia of 



the kingdom. In 1431, he crowned Henry 
YL, in the great church of Paris. He is 
strongly susjjected of having directed the 
assassination of Humphrey, Duke of Glou- 
cester. He was one of the judges of Joan of 
Arc. He died in 1447. 

BEAUHARNAIS, Eugene de, son of Vis- 
count Beauharnais and Josephine, born 1781. 
He was a general under Napoleon; viceroy 
of Northern Italy, 1805 ; married to the 
daughter of the king of Bavaria, 1806 ; made 
Duke of Leuchtenburg by his father-in-law ; 
died in 1824. 

BEAUHARNAIS, Hortense Eugenie de, 
daughter of Josephine, was born at Paris 
1783, and married to Louis Bonaparte in 
1802. This forced union proved unhappy to 
both husband and wife. They were sepa- 
rated, after Hortense had borne three sons, 
the eldest two of whom died early, and the 
other has become famous as Louis Napoleon. 
Hortense joined her mother in retirement at 
Malmaison, but the speedy fall of Napoleon 
left her a desolate wanderer, till at last the 
Bavarian king gave her a refuge at Augsburg. 
She died Oct. 5th, 1837. 

BEAUMARCHAIS, Pierre Augustin Ca- 
RON DE, artist, politician, projector, painter, 
merchant, and dramatist, was the son of a 
watchmaker, and born at Paris, in 1732. 
He was teacher of the harp to the daughters 
of Louis XV., and by a wealthy marriage, 
laid the foundation of his immense fortune. 
His "Eugene," "Mere Coupable," "Ma- 
nage de Figaro," and "Barbier de Seville," 
keep possession of the stage in several lan- 
guages. His "Memoirs" exhibit Beaumar- 
chais in his true character. He increased his 
fortune by his contract*© supply the United 
States with military stores, during the Revo- 
lutionary war. He died in 1799. 

BEAUMONT, Francis, and FLETCHER, 
John, two English dramatic writers of great 
power, who united their interests and wrote 
conjointly. Beaumont, born in 1585, died in 
IGIG; Fletcher, born in 1576, died in 1625, 
of the plague, in London. They used to fre- 
quent ale-houses, as Shakspeare is said to 
have done, for the sake of studying human 
nature, and were once arrested in a very 
dramatic manner. They were disputing in 
an ale-house about the fate of a king in one 
of their plays, one insisting upon his assas- 



sination, the other on his preservation. Some 
of their uninitiated auditors procured their 
arrest, imagining that a conspiracy against 
the reigning sovereign was on foot. 

BECCARIA, C^SAK, Marquis of Bonesana, 
author of a celebrated treatise on crimes 
and punishments, born 1720, died November, 
1794. 

BECKET, Thomas A, a celebrated prelate, 
was born in London, in 1117. He was the 
son of a merchant who, while a prisoner in 
the East, is said to have engaged the affec- 
tions of a Saracen lady; she followed the 
merchant to London, where he married her. 
Becket's advancement was rapid : he was a 
favorite with Henry II., who made him tutor 
to his son in 1158, and heaped spiritual and 
temporal honors upon him. He rivaled roy- 
alty in the splendor of his living. On his 
election to the see of Canterbury, in 1162, 
he resigned the office of chancellor, and 
assuming all the arrogance of a sovereign 
pontiff, lent himself to oppose the reforma- 
tion intended by the king among the clergy. 
Their enormities had disgusted the whole 
kingdom; and the archbishop screened the 
most abandoned, under the pretext that they 
were not amenable to the civil power. After 
a series of hostilities between the king and 
Becket, many references to the pope, ex- 
communications and anathemas, reconcilia- 
tions and fresh quarrels, on the archbishop's 
refusal to withdraw his excommunication of 
some bishops, which was felt to lie very hard 
upon them, the king, in a fit of passion, re- 
proached his courtiers for permitting him to 
be so long and so ignobly tormented. On 
this, four knights went down to Canterbury, 
and killed Becket before the altar as he was 
at the vesper service, December 29th, 1170. 
The perpetrators of this deed were finally 
achnitted to penance, but the king was com- 
pelled to expiate his guilt at the tomb of the 
archbishop, who was canonized two years 
after his death. He became a popular saint, 
and miracles were abundant at his tomb, 
which was much visited by pilgrims till the 
reformation. His bones, which had been 
enshrined in gold, and set with jewels, in 
1220, were taken up and burned in the reign 
of HenrvVTIL, 1539. 

BECKFORD, William, was the son of Al- 
derman Beckford, the lord mayor of London 



BEC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



111 



who bearded George III, on his throne. At 
nineteen he wrote in French the gorgeous 
romance of "Vathek." He inherited a 
princely estate. At Cintra in Portugal he 
reared a palace for his residence. Abandon- 
ing this, he built on his estate in Wiltshire, 
the magnificent Gothic structure of Fonthill 
Abbey, where he realized those lavish splen- 
dors which he had imagined in his oriental 
romance. His last years were spent at Bath, 
where he died in 1844, in his eighty -fourth 
year. 

BEDE, commonly called the Venerable 
Bede, was born in the neighborhood of Wear- 
mouth, in the year 672 or 073, and pursued 
his studies in the monastery of St. Peter, 
Wearmouth. He died in May, 735. His 
"EngHsh Ecclesiastical History," his greatest 
and most popular work, was translated by 
Alfred the Great. He was modest and mod- 
erate, and although a monk, wished to have 
the number of monasteries lessened. Bede 
led a life of pious and studious retirement, 
and on the day of his death, he was dictating 
a translation of the gospel of St. John to his 
amanuensis. " Master," said the young man, 
as he raised his eyes, " there is but one more 
sentence wanting." Bede bade him write 
rapidljr, and when the scribe said, "It is 
done," replied, "It is indeed done," and ex- 
pii'ed a few minutes afterward in the act of 
prayer. 

BEDFORD, John, Duke of, the third son 
of Henry IV. of England. In 1422, he com- 
manded the English army in France, and the 
same year was named regent of that king- 
dom for Henry VI., whom he caused to be 
crowned at Paris. He defeated the French 
fleet near Southampton, entered Paris, beat 
the Duke of Alencon, and made himself mas- 
ter of France. The greatest stain upon his 
character, is his cruelty to the Maid of Or- 
leans, whom he caused to be burnt in the 
market-place of Rouen, He died at Rouen, 
in 1435. 

BEETHOVEN, Ludwig von, was born at 
Bonn, Dec. 17th, 1770. His musical educa- 
tion began at the age of five, under his 
father, w-ho was a tenor singer in the electoral 
chapel of Cologne. While yet a youth, his 
success was foretold by Mozart. At one time 
he enjoyed the instruction of Haydn. The 
^st twenty years of his life he was afflicted 



by severe deafness, which conspired to make 
him distrustful and taciturn. He made his 
residence at Vienna. He died March 26th, 
1827. His musical compositions are well 
known and very beautiful. 

BEGUINES, females who bound themselves 
to obey the rules of an ecclesiastical order, 
forming societies for purposes of devotion and 
charity, living together in beguinages, without 
taking the monastic vows. They originated 
in Germany and the Netherlands, in the thir- 
teenth century, and some of their societies 
still exist in the Netherlands. Some of these 
nuns once fell into the error that thej^ could 
in this life arrive at the highest moral perfec- 
tion, even to impeccability. 

BEHRING, Vitus, a Dane by birth, and 
captain in the Russian navy, who in the year 
1728, explored the coasts of Kamtschatka, 
and proved that Asia was disjoined from 
America. He died on a desolate island of the 
Aleutian group, during a voyage of discovery, 
December 8th, 1741. The strait between 
Asia and America, has received the nfune of 
Behring's Straits from him. The uninhabited 
island on which he died, is called Behring's 
Island. 

BELGiE, a collection of German and Celtic 
tribes, who inhabited the country extending 
from the Atlantic to the Rhine, and from the 
Marne and Seine, to the southern mouth of 
the Rhine, which is united with the Meuse. 
Caesar has borne witness to the bravery of 
the Belgians, particularly of those who resided 
on the northern frontiers of Germany, declar- 
ing that they were the most valiant of the 
Gauls. When Csesar invaded Britain he found 
the south of the island occupied by the Belgse, 
who had crossed over and driven the original 
inhabitants into the interior. 

BELGIUM, the name of that part of the 
Netherlands which formerly belonged to Aus- 
trta. It was a part of the kingdom of Holland 
till 1830, when the Belgians revolted, and it 
was recognized as a separate kingdom. Prince 
Leopold of Saxe Coburg, widower of Princess 
Charlotte of England, and uncle of Queen Vic- 
toria, was elected to the crown, which had 
been refused by Louis Philippe for his son, 
the Duke of Nemours. The area of the king- 
dom is nearly 11,400 square miles, and in 
1856 its population was 4,530,228. It com- 
prises the provinces of Antwerp, Brabant, 



BEL 



m 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



WestFlanders, East Flanders, Hainault, Liege, 
Limburg, Luxemburg, and Namur. It is 
generally a low and level country, and its 
short sea-coast of forty miles is carefully em- 
banked against the encroachments of the sea. 
The principal rivers are the Maas, or Meuse, 
and the Schelde. It has not such a network 
of canals as Holland, but there are many, both 
for draining and for commercial intercourse. 
The country is everywhere intersected by 
wide and well-kept main roads, either paved 
or macadamized, having commonly a double 
row of lime-trees. Belgium was the first of 
the continental states to adopt a general sys- 
tem of railways. Coal and iron are exten- 
sively mined. The grains are extensively 
grown, and Belgian flax is of high repute. 
The heavy Flemish horses are in much demand 
for draught, and are largely exported. The 
Flemings were once great weavers in woolens, 
but the tyranny of Spain drove the artisans 
away. Still, woolens are an important branch 
of industry. Linens, cottons, and silks are 
made. The laces of Brussels and Mechlin are 
famous. The inhabitants of the northern 
provinces of Belgium, comprising about two- 
thirds of the population of the kingdom, are 
mostly Flemings, speaking the Flemish tongue. 
Those of the southern provinces are French, 
speaking on the western side the Picard and 
on the eastern the Walloon dialect of the 
French language. The Belgians are mostly 
Catholics, but freedom is enjoyed by all reli- 
gious persuasions, and the Catholic and Prot- 
estant clergy are both supported from the 
public treasury. The government is a limited 
constitutional monarchy. There are two leg- 
islative chambers, both elective. The king 
may confer titles of nobility, but no peculiar 
privileges are granted therebj^ since all dis- 
tinction of orders is expressly repudiated by 
the constitution. The French language is 
used in all public affairs. The French decimal 
system is also adopted for money, weights, 
and mcasureg. 

The capital is Brussels (Bruxelles) ; popu- 
lation 210,400. It is a miniature of Paris, 
and one of the best built cities in Europe. Its 
laces and carpets have long been noted. St. 
Gery, Bishop of Cambray, founded it in the 
seventh century. In 1695, during its memo- 
rable bombardment by Marshal Villeroi, four- 
teen churches and four thousand houses were 



destroyed. It was taken by Marshal Saxe m 
1740, and again by Dumouriez in 1702. Till 
1814 it was held by France. The Hotel de 
Ville of Brussels is the finest of all municipal 
palaces. Its Gothic tower, three hundred 
and sixtj'-four feet high, is surmounted bj^ a 
gilded copper statue of St. Michael, seventeen 
feet tall, which serves as a weathercock. 

Antwerp is the great port of Belgium. It 
is strongly fortified, containing several beau- 
tiful public buildings, and 90,000 inhabitants. 
Its manufactures are important, especially its 
black silks and velvets, and recently its com- 
merce has been flourishing. Antwerp in the 
eleventh centurj^ was a small republic- The 
spirit of its inhabitants raised it to the rank 
of the first commercial city in Europe. In 
1585 it was taken bj^ the Prince of Parma, 
after a long and memorable siege, and the ex- 
actions of Spain di-ove its trade to Amsterdam. 
In the beginning of the seventeenth century, 
the Schelde, on which it is situated, was 
crowded with vessels ; but its harbor was 
closed by the peace of Westphalia in 1648. 
This completed the ruin which the siege under 
the Prince of Parma commenced. When Na- 
poleon declared the Austrian Netherlands free, 
he prevented the revival of its commerce by 
making Antwerp a military depot. In 1814, 
Carnot gallantly defended the citj' against the 
English and Saxons. In 1832, the Dutch 
garrison under General Chasse, held out for 
a long time against the French and Belgians 
under Marechal Gerard, but the latter were 
victorious. Rubens was a native of Antwerp, 
and here are preserved his finest paintings, as 
well as many masterpieces of Vandyck and 
other Flemish painters. Ghent (Gend) the 
capital of East Flanders, is a handsome city 
of 103,729 inhabitants, and the seat of 
thriving manufactures. Its origin dates to 
the fifth century. Here the third son of Ed- 
ward III. of England was born, and hence 
called John of Gaunt. Here also Charles V. 
of Spain was born. The woolen manufacture 
was early established here. With wealth and 
freedom the men of Ghent waxed turbulent, 
and led on first by Jacques van Artevelde, 
and afterward by his son Philip, they gave 
many a proof of their sturdy valor and their 
strong purses in brunts with the counts of 
Flanders and the dukes of Burgundy. Its 
population was once greater than now. P''^" 



BEL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



113 



cification of Ghent, signed Nov. Slh, 157(3. 
Peace concluded here between Great Britain 
and the United States, Dec. 2-ith, 1814. 
Liege, on the Maas, has 76,500 inhabitants. 
Its staple manufacture is that of fire-arms, 
and it owes its prosperity to the valuable coal 
fields adjacent. On account of the number of 
its churches and convents, it was once termed 
"the paradise of priests, the purgatory of 
men, and the hell of women." Bruges, the 
capital of West Flanders, has a population of 
49,457. It was to commemorate the high 
perfection which t4ie woolen manufacture had 
reached in Bruges, that Philip the Good in 
1430 instituted the order of the Golden Fleece. 
AVhile under the dominion of the dukes of 
Burgundy, Bruges became a principal empo- 
rium of the commerce of Europe, the great 
centre of the English wool trade, and the con- 



bach, in 1790. The Servian insurgents had 
possession of it in 1806. 

BELISARIUS, general of the armies of the 
Emperor Justinian. He defeated a superior 
force of Persians, in the year 530, and in the 
year after he took Carthage, made prisoner 
Gelimer, king of the Vandals, and entered 
Constantinople in triumph. He was next sent 
against the Goths in Italy, and arriving on 
the coasts of Sicily, took Catania, Syracuse, 
Palermo, and other places. He then pro- 
ceeded to Naples, which he took, and marched 
to Rome. After this he conquered Vitiges, 
king of the Goths, sent him to Constantinople, 
and refused the crown which was ofiered him 
by the Goths. For his exploits he was re- 
garded as the savior of the empire, and med- 
als are extant with this inscription, Belisarius 
Gloria Eomanorxim^ ' Belisarius, the glory of 



necting link between the Hanseatic league the Romans.' Having fallen under suspicion 
and the rich republics of Italy. Then it had of Justinian, he was deprived of his property 



a population of 200,000. Bruges was famous 
for its carillons, or chimes, as early as 1300. 
They are the finest in Europe, and are played 
by machinery every quarter-hour. 

BELGRADE ('white city'), an important 
commercial city of Servia, with 50,000 inhab- 
itants, situated at the confluence of the Save 
with the Danube. It is well fortified, com- 
manding the Danube, and is at present occu- 
pied by a Turkish garrison. It has been an 
object for the attainment of which the hostile 
nations have struggled during the various 
wars between Austria and Turkey. At dif- 
ferent times it has been possessed by Greeks, 
Hungarians, Bulgarians, Bosnians, Servians, 
and Austrians. The Turks besieged the city 
in 1456, and a battle was fought between the 
German and Turkish armies, in which the 
latter was defeated with the loss of 40,000 
men. Belgrade was taken by Solyman, 1522, 
and retaken by the Imperialists in 1688, from 
whom it again reverted to the Turks in 1690. 
A siege of it was undertaken in May, 1717, 
under Prince Eugene. On Aug. 5th of that 
year, the Turkish army, 200,000 strong, ap- 
proached to relieve it, and a sanguinary battle 
was fought, in which the Turks lost 20,000 
men ; after this battle Belgrade surrendered. 
It was held by Austria till 1739, when it was 
ceded to the Turks, after its fine fortifications 
had been demolished. It was again taken in 
1789, and restored at the peace of Reichen- 

8 BEL 



and honors, but there is reason to believe that 
he was subsequently restored to them. Mar- 
montcl in his romance, adopts a story which 
is related by no contemporary historian ; that 
Belisarius was deprived of his eyes by his 
cruel master, and forced to beg his bread in 
the streets of Constantinople. Others say that 
he was imprisoned in a tower, whence he used 
to let down a bag by a rope, addressing the 
passengers in the following words : " Give an 
obolus to Belisarius, whom virtue exalted, 
but envy crushed." He died in 565. 

BELKNAP, Jeremy, an American clergy- 
man, born in June, 1744, educated at Harvard 
College, and ordained pastor of the church in 
Dover, N. H., 1767. For some years previous 
to his death, which took place in 1798, he 
officiated in a church in Boston. He was an 
easy and correct writer, and his reputation 
rests on his " History of New Hampshire," 
and two volumes of his unfinished " American 
Biography." He was one of the founders of 
the Massachusetts Historical Society. 

BELL, Sir Chakles, an eminent surgeon, 
born at Edinburgh, 1774, died in 1842. He 
made important discoveries respecting the 
spinal marrow and the nerves. 

BELLAMY, Joseph, D.D., an eminent 
Congregational minister in Bethlem, Conn. 
He died in 1790, at the age of seventy-one. 

BELLINGHAM, Richard, deputy -governor 
and governor of Massachusetts colony for 



114 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



twenty-three years, came to America in 1634, 
ind died in 1 672, aged eighty. He somewhat 
oHocked the old Puritans by marrying for liis 
econd wife a lady affianced to another, per- 
forming the ceremony himself without license. 

BELLINI, VixcENZio, was born at Catania 
in Sicily in 1806. He received his musical 
education from Zingerclli in the conservatorio 
of Naples, and produced, at the theatre San 
Carlo, in that city, his opera "Bianco e Fer- 
dinando," before he was twenty years old. 
He died of consumption in 1835 at Paris. 
During his brief life he composed a number 
of operas, the most of which are yet highly 
popular: "IlPirata," "La Straniera," "La 
Sonnambula," " I Capuletti ed i Montecchi," 
"Norma," "I Puritani," &c. 

BELLOT, Lieut, a young officer of promise 
in the French navy, who volunteered in an 
expedition dispatched by Lady Franklin to 
search for her husband Sir John, in 1851. 
He was of much service, and on his return at 
once entered upon a second task of the same 
nature. On the 21st of August, 1852, while 
bearing dispatches to Sir Edward Belcher 
across the ice, he was overtaken by a storm, 
borne by a floe out to sea, and drowned. A 
monument to his memory stands in the yard 
of Greenwich Hospital. 

BELLS were used among the Jews, Greeks, 
and heathen. The responses of the Dodonean 
oracle were in part conveyed by bells. Pliny 
tells us that the monument of Porsenna was 
decorated by pinnacles, each surmounted by 
bells. They were introduced by Paulinus, 
Bishop of Nola, in Campagna, about 400 ; 
first known in France, 550 ; first used in the 
Greek empire, 864; were introduced into 
monasteries in the seventh or eighth century. 
Pope Stephen III. placed three bells in a tower 
on St. Peter's at Rome. In the churches of 
Europe they were introduced in 900, and about 
this time they were used, by order of Pope 
John IX., as a defense, by ringing them, 
against thunder and liglitning. They were 
first introduced into Switzerland 1020. The 
first tunable set in England were hung up in 
Croyland Abbey, in Lincolnshire, 960 ; bap- 
tized in churches, 1020. Bells of the church 
of Notre Dame at Paris baptized and received 
the names of Duke and Duchess d' Angouleme, 



BELOOCHISTAN extends along the coast 
of the Indian Ocean from the Indus nearly to 
the Persian Gulf, comprising about 200,000 
square miles. It is a rough region, and some 
of the mountains are of great height. The 
heat of summer is intense, and water scarce. 
The desert of Beloochistan is three hundred 
miles long, and two hundred broad. Among 
the minerals of this country, are gold, silver. 
lead, iron, copper, tin, alum, saltpetre, sul- 
phur, rock salt, &c. Cotton, indigo, grain. 
assafoetida, and madder are productions of 
the soil. The natives are divided into three 
tribes, the Belooches, the Dewars, and Bia 
hooes. They are Mohammedans, warlike, 
half-civilized, and pastoral in their habits. 
Kelat is a place of considerable strength, and 
has about 20,000 inhabitants. The Khan of 
Kelat has only a nominal authority over the 
country. 

BELZONI, John Baptist, was born at Pa- 
dua, and educated at Rome, being destined 
for a monastic life. Having a taste, however, 
for an active life, he served in the French ar- 
mies, and went to England in 1803. Here 
his finances were probably at a low ebb, for 
he was reduced to exhibit postures at Astley's. 
From London he afterward went, with his 
wife, to Egypt, passing through Portugal, 
Spain, and Malta. Here he succeeded in 
opening the pyramid of Cheops, which had 
defied the ingenuity and efforts of the French, 
that of Cephrenes, and several catacombs near 
Thebes, one of which is believed to have been 
the burial place of Psammis, who died 40f» 
B.C. He exhibited great accuracy and skill 
in the drawings which he took. In 1816, he 
accomplished an imdertaking of great diffi- 
culty, the removal of the enormous bust of 
Jupiter Memnon, and a sarcojDhagus of ala- 
baster, from Thebes to Alexandria, whence 
they were shipped for England. On the 1st 
of August, 1817, he opened the temple of Ip- 
sambul, near the second cataract of the Nile, 
discovering a subterranean chapel in its ruins. 
He discovered the ruins of the ancient Bere- 
nice, four day's iourney from the spot where 
Cailliaud asserted that he had found it. Bel- 
zoni died on his way to Timbuctoo, Dec. 3d. 
1823, at the age of forty-five. In person he 
was tall and well-proportioned, and his gigan- 



the Prince de Foix and Duchess de Damas tic stature protected him from attack, even 
being proxies, Nov. 15th, 1816. | when alone amidst ferocious barbarians. His 

BEL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



115 



wife, who accompanied him to Egypt, dis- 
played great intrepidity amidst the dangers 
which they encountered. 

BEM, Joseph, was a native of Gallicia, and 
born in 1795. Bred to arms, he entered the 
army of Napoleon, and served in the divisions 
of Davoust and Macdonald, and, after peace 
was concluded, was for a while an oflBcer in 
the Russian service. During the Polish rev- 
olution he commanded the artillery. At Os- 
trolenka he was wounded, but as he lay upon 
the ground, he directed the movements of his 
guns. When the cause of Poland was lost, 
he sought refuge in France, and there and in 
England tasted the bitter bread of poverty 
and exile. Upon the breaking out of the 
revolutions of 1848, he drew his sword in aid 
of the Hungarians, and as a general in their 
army brilliantly combated the Austrians. 
"When Austria and Russia triumphed, Bem 
fled to Turkey, where he embraced Islamism, 
and entered the Turkish army under the 
name of Murad Bey. He died at Aleppo in 
December, 1850. 

BENAVIDES, an outlaw and pirate, whose 
singular perseverance and ferocity rendered 
him for many years the terror of the southern 
parts of Chili. Under pretext of establishing 
a navy, he seized upon English and American 
vessels that stopped for refreshment near the 
town of Arauco, the centre of his operations. 
In 1821, the Chilians fitted out an expedition, 
and succeeded in breaking up his stronghold, 
and capturing him. He was condemned and 
executed, February 23d, 1822. In the early 
part of his career, he espoused the cause of 
the Chilians against Spain, but soon deserted 
them, and having been taken prisoner in the 
battle of Maypu, 1818, he was sentenced to be 
shot, and actually sustained the fire of a file 
of soldiery. He was covered with wounds 
and believed to be dead, but had his senses 
left when he was dragged to the field M^here 
the bodies of criminals were exposed. Here 
a man who had owed him a grudge, smote 
the supposed corpse with a sword, and such 
were the powers of endurance possessed by 
Benavides, that he did not flinch in the least, 
or give the slightest sign of vitality, or of the 
agony he suffered. As soon as it was dark, 
he crawled away to the house of a friend, and 
had his wounds dressed. His bravery and 
fortitude would have honored a better cause, i 



BENBOW, John, an English admiral, born 
in 1650. His gallantry in repelling the attack 
of a Barbary corsair, when in the merchant 
service, procured him the command of a ship 
of war, from James II. Being sent by William 
III. to the West Indies, he relieved the colo- 
nies, and in a subsequent erfgagement with 
the French fleet, off Carthagena, Aug. 19th, 
1702, a chain-shot carried off one of his legs. 
He was carried below, but, as soon as his 
wound was dressed, brought on deck again, 
and persisted in continuing the action. He 
was abandoned at this moment, through the 
cowardice of several captains under his com- 
mand, who signed a paper expressing their 
opinion that nothing more could be done, and 
the whole fleet of the enemy was suffered to 
escape. Shortly after Benbow's arrival at 
Jamaica, where he died of his wounds and 
chagrin in the following October, he received 
a note from the French admiral, of which the 
following is a literal translation : 

"Carthagena, Aug. 22d, 1702. 

"Sir: I had little hopes, on Monday last, 
but to have supped in your cabin: yet it 
pleased God to order it otherwise. I am 
thankful for it. As for those cowardly cap- 
tains who deserted you, hang them up, for by 
G-d they deserve it. "Du Casse.'' 

Two of the cowardly captains were tried 
and shot upon their return to England. 

BENEDICT, the name of several popes. 
Of these, Benedict XIV. (Prosper Lamberti- 
ni) was the most noted. When, on the death 
of Clement XII., in 1740, the conclave was 
divided, and the cardinals could not agree, 
Lambertini said, in his good-natured way, 
"If you want a saint, take Gotti; if a politi- 
cian, Aldobrandi ; if a good old man, take 
me." The humorous manner in which this 
quaint speech was delivered, operated like 
magic, and Lambertini became sovereign 
pontiff. He reformed abuses, introduced good 
regulations, cultivated letters, encouraged 
men of learning, and was a patron of the fine 
arts. He died May 3d, 1758. 

BENEDICT, St. (480-543), founded the 
first religious order of the west. Besides per- 
forming religious duties, the monks of his or- 
der gave instructions to j^outh, in reading, 
writing, ciphering, religion, and manual la- 
bors, including all the mechanic arts. Bene- 
dict caused the aged monks to copy manu- 



BEN 



116 



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scripts, and thus many literary works of great I the Plainness and Innocent Simplicity of the 



importance were preserved from ruin. From 
the sixth to the tenth century, almost all the 
monks in the west were Benedictines. The 
rules of the order were severe. At an early 
period the dresg of the brethren of the differ- 
ent monasteries varied, but after the sixth 
century, when union was enjoined, the monks 
of this order all wore black. The Cluniacs 
were a branch of the Benedictines, proceeding 
from the convent of Clugny in Burgundy, 
founded in 910. Their regulations were at 
first strict, but in the twelfth century, when 
the order had two thousand monasteries, they 
declined, from the excess of their luxury. 

BENEZET, Anthony, was born at St. 
Quentin, in France, January, 1713. His pa- 
rents were opulent, and his descent noble. 
The confiscation of his father's estates, in con- 
sequence of his having joined the Protestants, 
in 1715, drove the fjxmily to England, where 
Anthony was educated. Of his early life little 
is known, but he was fourteen years of age 
when he joined the society of Friends. In 
1731, he camie to Philadelphia in company 
with his parents. His first employment was 
that of instructor in a school at Germantown. 
About 1750, being struck with the enormities 
of the slave-trade, he determined to employ 
all his energies in bettering the condition of 
the blacks. He established an evening school 
for them in Philadelphia, and taught them 
gratuitously. On the subject of negro slavery 
be published numerous short essays in alma- 
nacs and newspapers, which he circulated 
with unwearied assiduity. He printed and 
distributed at his own expense, many valuable 
tracts. The circulation of these was not con- 
fined to America ; in Europe they procured 
Benezet the notice and correspondence of many 
eminent men. He undoubtedly gave the first 
impulse to the measures which resulted in the 
abolition of the slave-trade in the United 
States. His philanthropy was unbounded; 
the whole human race were his brethren. The 
wrongs inflicted on the aborigines of North 
America, excited his strong sympathy about 
the year 1763, and his efforts in their behalf 
excited the warmest admiration in all high- 
minded observers of his course. In 1780, he 
wrote and published a "Short Account of the 
Religious Society of Friends, commonly called 



Christian Religion.'' He also published and 
circulated several tracts against the use of ar- 
dent spirits. In the spring of 1784, he was 
taken ill ; after his case was pronounced hope- 
less, he conversed intelligently with hundreds 
who came to see him. He died on the 5th of 
May, at Philadelphia, extensively known and 
beloved. His naturally strong understanding 
was improved by extensive reading. His pri- 
vate habits endeared him to his fi-iends, and 
his small estate was devoted to the furtherance 
of his benevolent purposes. 

BENNINGTON, a town in Vermont. Here 
a battle was fought, Aug. IGth, 1777, between 
a detachment of Burgoyne's army, under 
Lieut. -Col. Baum, and a body of American 
militia commanded by Gen. Stark. Baum 
was mortally wounded. Seven hundred of 
the enemy were captured, and two hundred 
and seven killed. The loss of the Americans 
was about one hundred dead, and as many 
wounded. A good quantity of arms and 
ammunition fell into the hands of the victors. 

BENTHAM, Jeremy, an English philoso- 
phizer upon jurisprudence and morals, born 
Feb. 6th, 1749. He was entered of Queen's 
College, Oxford, when only twelve years of 
age, and was even then known by the name of 
' the philosopher.' He attained the ripe age 
of eighty-four. This eccentric man, who 
made utility the basis of his philosophy, be- 
r|ueathed his body to the dissectors, in order 
to benefit the science of anatomy. 

BENTLEY, Richard, a celebrated English 
divine and classical scholar, was born in 1662. 
His father was a blacksmith, and he received 
his earliest instruction from his mother, a 
woman of much talent. He entered St. 
John's College, Cambridge, at the age of 
fourteen. He was victorious in a controversy 
with the Hon. Charles Boyle, afterward Earl 
of Orrery, relating to the genuineness of the 
Epistles of Phalaris. Bentley was opposed 
by a host of wits. Pope, Swift, Garth, Atter- 
bury, Conyers, Middleton, &c., but he satis- 
factorily proved that the Epistles were not 
the production of the tjTant of Agrigentum, 
who lived more than five centuries b.c. ; but 
of some late sophists, who borrowed the name 
of Phalaris. The tyrant Phalaris had a hol- 
low brazen bull, in which, when hot, he used 



Quakers," and in 1782, "A Dissertation on ' to place 

BEN 



who were unfortunate enough 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



117 



to displease him, and whose cries were thus 
made to resemble the roarings of the animal. 
Conyers Middleton, whose enmity to Bent- 
ley arose from the epithet of fiddling Conyers, 
applied to him while an university student, 
was suspected of being the author of a pun- 
ning caricature representing Bentley on the 
point of being thrust into the brazen bull of 
Phalaris, and exclaiming, " I had rather be 
roasted than Boyled." Bentley was presented 
by the crown to the mastership of Trinity 
College, Cambridge, worth nearly £1,000 a 
year; and, in 1701, he was called to the arch- 
deaconry of Ely. Among the accusations 
brought against him, as head of the college, 
he was accused of embezzling money, a charge 
which occasioned a lawsuit that was termin- 
ated in the doctor's fiivor near twenty years 
afterward. He was appointed Regius professor 
of divinity at Cambridge, in 1716. In 1726, 
he pubHshed his edition of Terence and Phoe- 
drus, his notes to which brought on a dispute 
with Bishop Hare, on the metres of Terence, 
when Sir Isaac Newton observed that " two 
dignified clergymen, instead of minding their 
duty, had fallen out about a play-book." 
Bentley's edition of "Paradise Lost," with 
conjectural emendations, his last work, was a 
decided failure. He died, July 14th, 1742. 
BENYOWSKY, Maurice Augustus, Count 
of, was born in 1741, at Werbowa, in Hun- 
gary. His father was a general, and he 
himself entered the Austrian service, and 
served as a lieutenant in the seven years' 
war till 1758. Having joined the Polish con- 
federation against Russia, and served with the 
rank of colonel, commander of cavahy, and 
quartermaster-general, he was taken by the 
Russians in 1769, and sent to Kamtschatka. 
On his voyage thither, he saved the vessel 
during a storm, and thus, on his arrival, 
secured a favorable reception from the gov- 
ernor, Niloif, whose fiimily he instructed in 
the French and German languages. In May, 
1771, he escaped from Kamtschatka, accom- 
panied by Aphanasia, the governor's daugh- 
ter, and ninety -six other persons, sailing for 
Formosa, whence he departed for Macao. 
Hare he lost many of his companions, and the 
faithful and unfortunate Aphanasia. Arrived 
in France, he was commissioned to found a 
colony in Madagascar, where he arrived in 
June, 1774. He was not long in gaining the 



good will of the natives, who appointed him 
their king. He went to Europe to obtain 
recognition as an independent prince in Mad- 
agascar, but was forced by the persecution of 
the French ministry, to enter the Austrian 
service. In the battle of Habelschwerdt, 
1778, he commanded against the Prussians. 
In 1784, receiving assistance from private 
persons in London and America, he set out 
for Madagascar, and arrived in 1785. Here 
he commenced hostihties against the French, 
and the authorities of the Isle of France sent 
a force against him ; in contending against 
which he was wounded mortallj-. May 23d, 
1786. The fate of Benyowsky's only son 
was singular: he is said to have been de- 
voured by the rats of Madagascar. 

BERANGER, Pierre Jean de, was born 
in Paris, Aug. 19th, 1780. During the storm 
of the revolution he dwelt with an aimt at 
Peronne, and there became apprentice to a 
printer. This vocation led him to study, and 
he determined to be a poet, a vocation the 
adoption of which naturally included poverty. 
It was such extreme poverty that he thought 
of suicide. The kind aid of Lucien Bona- 
parte rescued him from this wretchedness. 
Beranger was a warm admirer of Napoleon, 
and deeply deplored his fall. The unequaled 
political songs of Beranger, for which at times 
he was incarcerated or mulcted, helped to 
make the Bourbons unpopular and bring on 
the overturn of 1830. One of his fines was 
paid by a national subscription opened by 
his friend Lafitte, the banker. "Beranger," 
said Benjamin Constant, "writes sublime 
odes when he imagines he is onlj^ composing 
simple songs." He enjoyed the friendship of 
Chateaubriand, Victor Hugo, Lamartine, and 
Dumas. Adversity visited Beranger late in 
life. His publislier failed, and he was me- 
naced with losing the eighteen or twent}^ 
thousand francs he had in the bankrupt's 
hands, all he had in the world. Lafitte knew 
veiy well it would be lost time to persuade the 
poet to accept money. He sent for M. Hector 
Bossange, the well known publisher, and said 
to him, as he placed eighteen bank notes of a 
thousand francs in his hands, " Go and see Be- 
ranger, M. Bossange. Propose to him to 
become the publisher of his works for the 
next three j^ears. Offer to take them at six 
thousand francs a vear certain, and such a 



BER 



118 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



percentage on all sales over that amount, and 
give him these eighteen thousand francs. You 
will paj^ me when you clear thirty -six thou- 
sand francs yourself." M. Bossange called 
instantly on Bei-anger and made him these 
propositions. Beranger accepted them with 
delight, and expressed warm gratitude to M. 
Bossange. The latter, embarrassed at re- 
ceiving thanks not his due, revealed the secret 
he had been charged to keep inviolate. Ber- 
anger's manner changed instantly, and he 
refused to take the money. Foiled in this 
way, Lafitte took the affairs of the ruined 
publisher in hand, and managed them so 
well that the creditors were paid in full, Ber- 
anger among the rest. 

When the revolution to which the lyrics 
of Beranger had aided, happened in July, 



1830, he did not salute it with any pteans. « of Van Goyen, who shouted to his pupils. 



Nevertheless his popularity at this time was 
unbounded. On the stages of every theatre 
in France, his bust was crowned by the favor- 
ite actress. The orchestra would play his 
an-s, and the audience would sing the words. 
He fled from all this boisterous popularity, 
and, what vexed him even more, the annoy- 
ing visits of office seekers, anxious to procure 
his recommendation. The last years of his 
life were spent quietly in Paris, where he 
died, July 16th, 1857. He had published 
nothing since 1838. His decease caused all 
France to mourn. He was buried by the 
French government the day after his death, 
and great precautions Avere taken to avoid a 
popular outbreak at his funeral. 

BERCHTOLD, Leopold, Count, born in 
1758. He was a distinguished philanthro- 
pist, and spent thirteen years in traveling 
through Europe, and four in Asia and Africa, 
to relieve the distresses of humanity. He 
died July 26th, 1809, on his estate at Buch- 
lan in Moravia, where he had fitted up an 
hospital for sick and wounded Austrian sol- 
diers. 

BERESFORD, William, Baron, Duke of 
Elvas, and Marquis of Campo Mayo, a dis- 
tinguished British general. In 1810 he 
defeated Soult at Albuera. In 1812, having 
a command under Wellington, he shared in 
the dangers and glory of the battles of Vit- 
toria, Bayonne, and Toulouse. He died in 
1854, at the age of eighty -six. 

BERESINA, a river in the west of Russia, 



famous for the passage of the French army 
under Napoleon on the disastrous retreat 
from Moscow, Nov. 26th and 27th, 1812. 
The ice with which the morasses on both 
sides of the river were covered, was not strong 
enough to bear. The Russian armj^ were 
threatening the fugitives, whose discipline 
was lost, and who, despairing of escaping bj- 
means of the two crowded bridges, trusted 
themselves to floating masses of ice and were 
lost. Seventy -five hundred men and five gen- 
erals, according to the Russian account, were 
taken, and twice as many more lost their lives. 
BERGHEM, Nicholas, a ftmious painter, 
born at Harlem in 1 024, died in 1683. His 
landscapes and representations of animals are 
much valued. Once, when pursued by his 
father, he fled for safety to the workshop 



'■'■ Berg hem'''' (hide him); and this expres- 
sion was adopted as his name. 

BERKELEY, George, Bishop of Cloyne 
in Ireland, famous for his ideal theory, that 
there is nothing material, and that objects 
which are called sensible material objects, 
are not external, but onlj' impressions made 
upon the mind by an act of God, according 
to certain laws of nature, which are invaria- 
ble. Lord Byron says : 

" When Bishop Berkeley said there was no mat- 
ter, 
And proved it, 'twas no matter what he said." 

He was born at Kilcrin, Ireland, 1684. In 
furtherance of his project for converting the 
American savages to Christianity, by the 
establishment of a college in the Bermuda 
Islands, he considerably impaired his fortune. 
He resided some time in Rhode Island. His 
estate at ^Newport he gave to Yale College, 
by which it is still held. Pope, who was 
much attached to him, says that he had 
"every virtue under heaven." It was when 
inspired by his transatlantic scheme that he 
penned those fine moral verses, the last stan- 
za of which seems almost prophetic : 

" Westward the course of empire takes its way ; 

The first four acts already past, 
A fifth shall close the drama with the day ; 

Time's noblest offspring is the last." 

He died in 1753, expiring without a groan 
or sigh in the midst of his family, just as he 
had concluded a commentary on that beau- 
tiful and consoling portion of Holy Writ, the 



BER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



119 



fifteenth chapter of the first epistle to the 
(Jorinthians. 

BERKELEY, William, governor of Vir- 
ginia under Charles I. and II. He was a hot 
royalist, and on the death of Matthews, whom 
Cromwell had made governor in his stead, 
being asked by the people to resume the exec- 
utive, would only do so on condition that 
Charles II. should be proclaimed king. The 
consequences of this bold step might have 
been serious, had not Cromwell's death soon 
followed. During the latter part of Berkeley's 
term, the colony was convulsed by Bacon's 
rebellion, and the governor's severity caused 
Charles II. to complain that "the old fool 
shed more blood in that naked country than 
he had done for the murder of his father." 
Berkeley died in England in 1677. 

BERLICHINGEN, Goetz, or Godfrey von, 
' with the iron hand,' a brave and honorable 
knight of the middle ages, who headed the 
rebellious peasants of Bavaria, against their 
oppressors. Before this time, having lost his 
right hand, he had substituted one made of 
iron. He died July 23d, 1562. 

BERLIN DECREE, a memorable inter- 
dict launched by Napoleon against the com- 
merce of England. It declared the British 
islands to be in a state of blockade, and all 
Englishmen found in countries occupied by 
French troops were to be treated as prisoners 
of war. The whole world, in fact, was to 
cease from any communication with Great 
Britain. It was issued from the palace at 
Berlin, Nov. 21st, 1806, shortly after the 
battle of Jena. 

BERMUDAS, or Sommeks' Islands, a clus- 
ter of about three hundred small islands in 
the Atlantic. They were discovered by Juan 
Bermudas, a Spaniard, in 1522. In 1609, Sir 
George Sommers, an Englishman, who was 
wrecked here, founded the first settlement. 
Many are so unimportant as to have no name, 
but the principal islands are St. George, 
St. David, Cooper, Ireland, Somerset, Long 
Island, Bird Island, and Nonesuch. The air 
is healthy and invigorating to invalids, the 
winter being hardly apparent. The islands, 
however, are subject to frequent storms. 
The soil is generally rich and fertile. Ship- 
building is the principal occupation of the 
islanders. The whole shore is surrounded 
by rocks, dry at low water, but covered at 



high tide. The Bermudas lie about five 
hundred and thirty miles easterly from Cape 
Hatteras. They are a British colony, and 
have a population of 14,000. A small con- 
vict station is ma-intained here. .During the 
wars between parliament and the crown, 
many Englishmen of character and opu- 
lence sought refuge in the " still vexed Ber- 
moothes ; " among others the poet Waller, 
who sang of their beauty in "The Battle of 
the Summer Islands." 

BERNADOTTE, Charles John, was born 
1764. From a sergeantcy in the French army 
he rose under Napoleon to the rank of mar- 
shal of the empire and Prince of Ponte 
Corvo. In 1810 he was chosen crown-prince 
of Sweden. Sweden joined the allies against 
France, and Bernadotte led her forces against 
his former master. He defeated Ney at Den- 
newitz in 1813. In 1818 he ascended the 
Swedish throne, whereon he reigned till his 
death in 1844. He was succeeded by his 
son Oscar. Bernadotte had a singular aver- 
sion to dogs, and could not bear the smell of 
tobacco. 

BERNARD, St., Abbot of Clairvaux, born 
of noble family at Fontaines, in Burgundy, 
1091. He was austere, eloquent, and bold, 
and had the repvitation of being a prophet. 
He was called a honeyed teacher. Bernard 
was the principal promoter of the crusade of 
1146. Luther says of him, " If there ever 
has been a pious monk who feared God, it 
was St. Bernard; whom I hold in much 
higher esteem than I do all other monks and 
priests throughout the globe." Bernard died 
in 1153, and was canonized in 1174. 

BERNARD, Great St., a mountain of the 
Alps, 11,006 feet high, between the Swiss 
Valais and the valley of Aosta, in Piedmont. 
The two hospices, on the Great and Little 
St. Bernard were built by Bernard de Men- 
thon, a pious Savoyard nobleman, in 962. 
They were under the care of Augustine 
monks, indefatigable in the discharge of their 
hospitality to wayfarers. The monks were 
assisted in their search for lost travelers, by 
great dogs, of whom many interesting tales 
are told. Owing to the severity of the 
weather, the dead bodies in the vault de- 
cayed so slowly, that their features were 
frequently recognized by friends, after the 
lapse of years. The monastery of Great St. 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Bernard is the most elevated fixed habita- 
tion in Europe, and close upon the limits of 
perpetual snow. After the revolution of 1 847 
in Switzerland, the monks were expelled from 
these hospices, and they are now managed 
by the government. It was by the pass of 
the Great St. Bernard that Hannibal crossed 
the Alps, and that Napoleon led his troops to 
the plains of Louibardy and the contest of 
Marengo. Charlemagne and Barbarossa also 
led armies over the Alps by this pass. In 
the chapel of the hospice of Great St. Ber- 
nard, is the monument of General Desaix, 
who fell at Marengo. He was embalmed by 
order of the first consul. The sculptor has 
represented the warrior wounded, and sink- 
ing from his horse into the arms of his aid. 
On the stairs of the convent stands the statue 
of Desaix in marble. 

BERNINI, Giovanni Lorenzo, born at 
Naples, in 1598. He has been called another 
Michael Angelo, on account of his success as 
a painter, statuary, and architect. He was 
patronized by several popes, and died, ex- 
hausted by his labors, November 28th, 1680. 
He left a fortune of about 3,300,000 fi-ancs 
to his children. So early did hrs talents 
shine forth, that at the age of eight years, 
he executed the head of a child in marble, 
which was thought a fine production. He 
was not eighteen years old when he completed 
his "Apollo and Daphne," a work which he 
examined at the close of life, and declared 
that he had made little progress since that 
time. So true it is that genuine enthusiasm 
often supplies the place of experience. 

BERRI, Charles Ferdinand, Duke of, 
second son of Charles X. of France, born at 
Versailles, Jan. 24th, 1778. He fled from 
the revolutionary tempest, but was actively 
engaged in the scenes at Paris, in 1814, on 
the return of the Bourbons, and vainly en- 
deavored to secure the fidelity of the troops 
in and about Paris, when Napoleon returned 
from Elba. He was assassinated in 1820, by 
Louvel, who had long sought to extirpate the 
house of Bourbon, and met his death with 
great firmness. He was father of the Duke 
of Bordeaux, one of the claimants of the 
French crown. 

BERRY, ]\Iary, died in 1854, at the ad- 
vanced age of almost ninety. She and her 
sister, whose death preceded hers by eighteen 



months, were known in the literary circles of 
London, from the time of Dr. Johnson to that 
of Macaulaj^ They had read Miss Burney's 
"Evelina" when fresh from the- press, and 
lived to weep in sympathy with the world 
over Dickens's pathetic story of Little Nell. 
The two sisters were left, with their father, 
the literary executors of Horace Walpole. 
Both of them had received the offer of the 
hand of that male gossip. Both had re- 
jected it. 

BERSERKER, in Scandinavian mythol- 
ogy, a descendant of the eight-handed Star- 
kader and the beautiful Alfhilde. Dis- 
daining the protection of mail in battle, 
he obtained his name, which signifies ' the 
armorless.' In battle, his rage was un- 
governable. He married the daughter of 
Swafurlam, whom he had slain, and had 
twelve sons who equaled him in fierce- 
ness. 

BERTHIER, Alexander, Prince of Neuf- 
chatel and Wagram, marshal, vice-constable 
of France, &c., born at Paris, 1753. At an 
early age, he served under La Fayette, in 
America. He was a great favorite of Napo- 
leon, under whom he acted as chief of his 
staff, assisting in those great victories which 
made France master of Italy, Germanj^ and 
Prussia. At the downfall of Napoleon in 
1814, Berthier professed allegiance to the 
Bourbons, showing more zeal for them than 
became the favored friend and well paid serv- 
ant of the fallen emperor. When Napoleon 
returned from Elba, Berthier left France with 
the Bourbon princes, and soon ended his life 
by suicide. 

BERTHOLLET, Claude Louis, born in 
Savoy, December 9th, 1748, died at Paris, 
November 6th, 1822, one of the most illustri- 
ous of chemists. He wrote a valuable work 
on dyeing, was the first to use in bleaching 
the decolorizing properties of chlorine gas, 
and discovered the chlorate of potash, a salt 
which not only, as an indispensable ingredient 
in the lucifer match, administers to the con- 
venience of every one, but enables many a 
shivering outcast to supply his daily wants. 
He was aided by the friendship of Napoleon. 
Upon the restoration he fell into reduced cir- 
cumstances. 

BERTRAND, Henri Gratien, count, gen- 
eral of division, aid-de-camp of Napoleon, 



BER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



121 



grand marshal of the palace, &c. He early 
distinguished himself in the engineer corps. 
He served near the person of Napoleon, par- 
ticularly at Austerlitz, where he was the em- 
peror's aid-de-camp. He and his family 
shared the last residence of Napoleon, after 
his fall. He died in 1844, aged seventy -four. 
BERWICK, James Fitz-James, Duke of, 
was born in 1670. He distinguished himself 
as a general in the Bourbon cause in Spain, 
where he won the battle of Almansa, and 
captured Barcelona, after a resistance, by the 
citizens, of fifteen months. He was a natural 
son of James H. of England, nephew of the 
great Marlborough, and a marshal of France. 
He was killed at Phillipsburg, 1734. 

BESSIERES, John Baptist, Duke of Istria, 
one of Napoleon's generals, marshal of France, 
born Aug. 6th, 1768, killed at Rippach, May 
1st, 1813. 

BEZA, Theodore, after Calvin, the most 
distinguished among the Calvinistic preachers 
of the sixteenth century, born in 1519. At 
the age of twenty, he published his Latin 
poems, collected under the title of "Juvenilia," 
a work of which he was afterward ashamed. 
At an early age he was dissipated, but re- 
formed by marriage, and a dangerous illness. 
He distinguished himself in the service of the 
reformed church, and, in 1564, became Cal- 
vin's successor. Vain were the efforts of his 
adversaries to gain an advantage over him. 
His truth and wit were a splendid defense, 
and at the age of seventy-eight years, his in- 
tellectual foculties appeared as clear as ever. 
The pope made him brilliant offers, but he 
nobly rejected them. He died Oct. 13th, 
1605, of old age. He was a great Greek 
scholar, and his edition of the New Testament 
was taken as the basis of the English version. 
BIBLE. The first translation of the Old 
Testament from the Hebrew into the Greek 
was made by seventy-two interpreters, b}^ or- 
der of Ptolemy Philadelphus, at Alexandria, 
277 B.C., or according to others 284 b.c. From 
the number of translators this is called the 
Septuagint. The oldest version of the Old 
and New Testaments is that in the Vatican, 
which was written in the fourth or fifth cen- 
tury. The next in age is the Alexandrian 
MS. in the British Museum, presented by the 
Greek patriarch to Charles I., said to have 
been copied about the same time. The Old 



Testament was divided into twenty-two books 
by the Jews, according to the number of let- 
ters in the Hebrew alphabet. The Christians 
divided it into thirty -nine. The Hebrew di- 
vision into chapters was made by the Rabbi 
Nathan, about 1445. Our Bible was divided 
into chapters, and partly into verses, by x\rch- 
bishop Langton, who died 1228 ; and the latter 
division was perfected by Robert Stephens, 
the eminent French printer, about 1534. The 
following are curious computations : 



In the Old Testament. 


In the New. Total. 


Books, 39 


27 


66 


Chapters, 929 


260 


1,189 


Verses, 23,214 


7,959 


31,173 


Words, 592,493 


181,253 


773,746 


Letters, 2,728,100 


838,380 


3,566,480 



The Apocrypha has 183 chapters, 6,081 
verses, and 125,185 words. The middle 
chapter, and the least in the Bible, is the 
117th Psalm ; the middle verse is the 8th of 
the 118th Psalm; the middle line is the 2d 
book of the Chronicles, 4th chapter, and 15th 
verse. The word 'and' occurs in the Old 
Testament 35,535 times ; the same word in 
the New Testament occurs 10,684 times ; the 
word ' Jehovah ' occurs in the Old Testament 
6,855 times. The middle book of the Old 
Testament is Proverbs ; the middle chapter is 
the 29th of Job ; the middle verse is in the 2d 
book of Chronicles, 20th chapter and 13th 
verse ; the least verse is the 1st book of Chron- 
icles, 1st chapter, and 1st verse. The middle 
book of the New Testament is the second 
epistle to the Thessalonians ; the middle chap- 
ter is between the 13th and 14th of the Ro- 
mans; the middle verse is the I7th of the 
17th chapter of the Acts; the least verse is 
the 35th verse of the 11th chapter of the Gos- 
pel by St. John. The 21st verse of the 7th 
chapter of Ezra has all the letters of the al- 
phabet in it. The 19th chapter of the 2d book 
of Kings, and the 37th chapter of Isaiah, are 
alike. The book of Esther has 10 chapters, 
but neither the words Lord nor God in it. 

The Bible was translated into Saxon in 939. 
The Vulgate version in Latin was made by 
St. Jerome, and is that acknowledged by the 
Roman Catholic church as avithentic : it was 
first printed in 1462. In 1604, a great con- 
ference was held at Hampton Court, between 



BIB 



122 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the established and the puritan clergy. The 
existing English version was condemned. 
James I. therefore appointed fifty-four men, 
many of whom were eminent as Hebrew and 
Greek scholars, to commence a new transla- 
tion. In IGOT, forty-seven of these met, in 
six parties, at Oxford, Cambridge, and West- 
minster, and proceeded to their task, a certain 
portion of Scripture being assigned to each. 
Everj- individual of each division, in the first 
place, translated the portion given to the di- 
vision, all of which translations were collated ; 
and when each party had determined on the 
construction of its part, it was proposed to 
the other divisions for their examination. 
When they met together one read the new 
version, whilst all the rest held in their hands 
either copies of the original, or some valuable 
version, and on any one objecting to a passage 
the reader stopped till it was agreed upon. 
The result, known as King James's version, 
was published in 1611, and is that still in use 
throughout Great Britain and the United 
States. It is an excellent specimen of the 
language of the time, and being universally 
read by all classes of the people, it has con- 
tributed most essentially to give stability and 
uniformity to the English tongue. Martin 
Luther's translation of the Bible made the di- 
alect of Upper Saxony the language of all 
Germany. The Holland tongue or Low Dutch, 
as now spoken, has for its basis the German 
language in use before this time. 

The Bible was printed in Spanish, 1478 ; 
in German, 1522 ; in French, 1535 ; in Swed- 
ish, 1541 ; in Danish, 1550 ; in Dutch, 1560 ; 
in Russian, 1581 ; in Hungarian, 1589 ; in 
Polish, 1596; in modern Greek, 1638; in 
Turkish, 1666 ; in Irish, 1685 ; in Portuguese, 
1748 ; in Manx, 1771 ; in Italian, 1776 ; in 
Bengalee, 1801; in Tartar, 1813 ; in Persian, 
1815; in African, 1816; in Chinese, 1820. 
A polyglot Bible, edited by Walton, Bishop 
of Chester, in the Hebrew, Syriac, Chaldee, 
Samaritan, Arabic, Ethiopic, Persic, Greek 
and Latin languages, was printed in 1657. 
The books known as the Apocrypha, in an 
old preface to which it is said, "These books 
are nej'ther found in the Hebrue nor in the 
Chalde," were not in the Jewish canon, but 
were received as canonical by the Romish 
church at the council of Trent in 1545. 
We present a succinct sketch of the history 



of our English Bible. The English version of 
the Scriptures now in use, is itself the result 
of repeated revisions. In the preface to the 
Bishop's Bible (a.d. 1568) a distinct reference 
is made to early Saxon versions, and there 
are still extant, parts of the Bible in Saxon, 
translated by Bede, by Alfred the Great, and 
by J^Ilfric of Canterbury. Early Saxon MSS. 
of the Gospels are still preserved in the libra-' 
ries of the British Museum, and Corpus Christi 
College, Cambridge. The first complete 
translation of the Bible was made by Wick- 
liffe, about a.d. 1380. It existed only in 
manuscript for many years, but the whole is 
now in print (New Testament 1731 ; Old Tes- 
tament, 1848). The work was regarded with 
grave suspicion ; and a bill was introduced 
into the House of Lords for suppressing it ; 
but through the influence of John of Gaunt, 
this was rejected. In 1408, however, in a 
convocation held at Oxford, it was resolved 
that no one should translate any text of Scrip- 
ture into English, as a book or tract, and that 
no book of the kind should be read. This 
resolution led to great persecution, though 
there is reason to believe, that notwithstand- 
ing, many manuscripts of Scripture were at 
that time in extensive circulation throughout 
England. The first printed edition of the 
Bible in English, was published by Tyndale, 
the New Testament in 1526J and the Bible in 
part, in 1532. Tonstall, Bishop of London, 
and Sir Thomas More took great pains to 
biry up and burn the impression, but with 
the effect thereby, of enabling the translator 
to publish a larger and improved edition. On 
the death of Tyndale (who died a martyr to 
the truth). Miles Coverdale revised the whole, 
and dedicated it to Henry VIII., 1535, and in 
1537, John Rogers, who had assisted Tyn- 
dale, and was then residing at Antwerp, re- 
printed an edition, taken from Tjmdale and 
Coverdale. This edition was published under 
the assumed name of Thomas Matthews. A 
revision of this edition again was published 
(a.d. 1539) by Richard Taverner. The Great 
Bible appeared in 1539. It was Coverdale's, 
revised by the translator, under the sanction 
of Cranmer. It was printed in large folio. 
For the edition of 1540, Cranmer wrote a pre- 
face, and it is hence called Cranmer's Bible. 
It was published "by authority," and was 
ordered in 1549 to be read in the churches. 



BIB 



HISTORY AND li f (> G P. A P H Y 



123 




READING THE BIBLE TO THE PEOPLE. 



During the seven years of the reign of Edward 
VI., eleven editions of the Scriptures were 
printed : but no new version or revision was 
attempted. During the reign of Mary, was 
pubHshed the Geneva Bible, a.d. 1557-60. 
Ooverdale and others who had taken refuge 
in Geneva, edited it, and added marginal an- 
notations. Archbishop Parker obtained au- 
thority from Queen Elizabeth, to revise the 
existing translations, and with the help of va- 
rious bishops and others, published in 1568 
what was called the Bishops' Bible. It con- 
tains short annotations, and in the smaller 
editions (from 1589) the text is divided, like 
the Genevan, into verses. The same text 
was afterward printed, in 1572, in a larger 
size, and with various prefaces, under the 
name of Matthew Parker's Bible. It contin- 
ued in common use in the churches for forty 
years, though the Genevan Bible was perhaps 
more read in private. The Rhemish New 
Testament, and the Douay Old Testament, 
form the English Bible of the Romanists. The 
former was printed at Rheims (a.d. 1582), 



and the latter at Douay (a.d. 1609-10). In 
1603, King James resolved on a revision of 
the translation, and for this purpose appointed 
fifty-four men of learning and piety. Forty- 
seven only undertook the work, and in four 
years (from 1607-11) it was completed. The 
text as thus prepared and printed in 1611, is 
the authorized version. 

The first Bible printed on the continent of 
America was m native Indian ; the New Tes- 
tament in 1661, and the Old in 1663; both 
translated by Rev. John Eliot, and printed at 
Cambridge, Mass. As the title records, it 
was " translated into the Indian language, and 
ordered to be printed by the Commissioners 
of the United Colonies in New England, at 
the charge and with the consent of the Cor- 
poration in England for the Propagation of 
the Gospel among the Indians in New Eng- 
land." Printed by Samuel Green and Mar- 
maduke Johnston. In the emphatic words of 
Dr. Cotton Mather, this was then "the only 
Bible that ever was printed in all America 
from the very foundation of all the world." 



BIB 



124: 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



The second was in German, a quarto edition 
published at Germantown near Philadelphia, 
by Christopher Sower, in 1676. The first 
edition in English was printed by Kneeland 
and Green, at Boston in 1752, in small quarto. 
It was published by Henchman, a bookseller ; 
but to avoid prosecution from those who had 
a royal patent, the title-page of the English 
copy, London imprint and all, was reprinted. 
The next edition was issued by Robert Aitken, 
of Philadelphia, in 1781-2. He sent a memo- 
rial to Congress, praying for their patronage. 
His memorial was referred to a committee, 
who obtained the opinion of the chaplains of 
Congress as to the general typographical ac- 
curacy of his impression; and thereupon a 
resolution was passed Sept 12th, 1782, rec- 
ommending this edition of the Bible to the 
people of the United States. 

BIDDLE, James, commodore in the navy 
of the United States, was born in Philadel- 
phia in 1783. He distinguished himself in 
the war of 1812, and was an officer on the 
Wasp when she took the British brig FroHc. 
March 23d, 1815, Biddle, then in command of 
the sloop Hornet, met with the British brig- 
of-war Penguin, off Tristan d'Acunha, and 
captured her after an action of only twenty- 
two minutes. He sen-ed as a diplomatist, 
and signed the commercial treaty with Turkey 
in 1832. In 1845 he was interim commis- 
sioner to China in the place of A. H. Everett. 
He died in 1848. 

BIDDLE, Nicholas, captain in the United 
States navy, was born at Philadelphia in 1750, 
and was a midshipman in the British service. 
He served in the infant navy of his country 
during the war for independence, and was 
very successful, till March 7th, 1778, when, 
in action in the West Indies with the Yar- 
mouth, the Randolph, which he commanded, 
blew up. His crew numbered three hundred 
and fifteen. But four escaped, and Capt. Bid- 
die was among the lost 

BIDDLE, Nicholas, an eminent financier, 
was born in Philadelphia, Jan. 8th, 1786. 
His father was a strong patriot during the 
Revolution. Nicholas graduated at Princeton 
College in 1801 with high honor, studied law, 
and accompanied Gen. Armstrong, minister 
to France, as private secretary in 1804, and 
was afterward secretary to Mr. Monroe at the 
court of St. James. Returning from foreign 



travel, he commenced practice at Philadelphia 
in 1807, and also engaged in literary occupa- 
tions, preparing the account of Lewis and 
Clarke's expedition to the Pacific shore. In 
1823 he was chosen president of the United 
States Bank, and was active in defense of that 
institution against the hot war that was waged 
upon it. After its bankruptcy, he retired in 
1839 to his estate of Andalusia, on the Dela- 
ware near Philadelphia, where he died in 1844. 

BIEVRE, Marquis de, marshal, born in 
1747, died in 1789. He was much celebrated 
for ready repartees and puns. When pre- 
sented to Louis XV., the following dialogue 
took place. Louis. Give me a specimen of 
your wit. B. Give me a subject, sire. Louis. 
Take me. B. Sire, the king is no subject. 

BINGEN ; a town in Hesse Darmstadt, on 
the left bank of the Rhine; population, 5,000. 
In its vicinity is the famous Mouse Tower, 
connected with which is the following tale. 
In a time of great famine. Bishop Hatto played 
the usurer, to the distress and ruin of many 
poor people. For this he is said to have met 
a dreadful punishment. Thousands on thou- 
sands of mice pouring into his dwelling, com- 
pelled him to seek refuge in his tower on the 
Rhine. But here he enjo3"ed but a brief 
interval of rest. The army of mice swam 
the river, scaled the rocky precipice, and 
leaped into the tower, at every cranny, grate, 
and loop-hole. The bishop attempted to 
pray, but his utterance failed; he listened 
to the noise of the mice as they swiftly 
approached his turret-chamber. At length 
they gained an entrance, and devoured the 
prelate, tearing the flesh from his bones, and 
leaving him a mere skeleton. 

BIRD, William, 1540-1 023, an admired 
English musician, the composer of the great 
canon, " Non Nobis Domine." 

BIREN, Ernst John von, Duke of Cour- 
land, born 1687, died 1772. He is said to 
have been the son of Buhren, a peasant of 
Courland. He gained the favor of Anna, 
Duchess of Courland, afterward Empress of 
Russia, by his beauty and accomplishments, 
and when his mistress was raised to the 
throne, was not forgotten by her. While 
in power, he was fierce, resentful, and am- 
bitious, and caused the death of thousands. 
After the death of Anna, a conspiracj^ was 
formed against him, and he was banished to 



BIR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



125 



Siberia. But he was recalled on the acces- 
sion of Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the 
Great, to the throne. After another exile of 
twenty-five years, he was again recalled by 
Peter III., and, during the reign of Cathe- 
rine 11., continued to enjoy thg royal favor 
until his death. 

BIRMA, or the Birman empire, extends 
over more than a fourth of the peninsula be- 
yond the Ganges, having an area of about 
184,000 squai-e miles, and a population of 
four millions. The Birmans of Ava made 
themselves independent of Pegu, in the six- 
teenth century, but were reconquered in the 
eighteenth. The spirit of independence, 
however, was abroad, and Alompra, one of 
the leaders of the Birmans, kindled anew the 
flame of revolt in 1753, and recovered the 
city of Ava. Various fortunes followed, till 
Alompra finally made himself master of the 
city of Pegu. This monarch, whose abilities 
were devoted to the good of his subjects, died 
in 1760, at the age of fifty years, leaving his 
throne to his son Namdogee, who inherited 
his father's spirit and talent, and died in 
1764. Shambuan, his brother, was victorious 
in a war with China, during which Siam, 
which he had previously conquered, regained 
its independence. In 1776, this prince left 
his empire, greatly extended, to his son 
Chengenza, who in consequence of excessive 
debauchery, was dethroned and put to death 
in 1782. Shembuan Menderagan, the fourth 
son of Alompra, was placed by the revolution 
on the throne. In 1783, he subdued Arra- 
can. A war with Siam, in which he next 
engaged, resulted, in 1793, in the submis- 
sion of that kingdom upon certain terms. 
The refusal of the East India Company to 
deliver up some Birman refugees, who were 
robbers, brought on a war with Shembuan, 
which was soon amicably concluded. Shem- 
buan's grandson ascended the throne in 
1819. In 1826, a war which had broken 
out between the Burmese and English, ended 
in a ti-eaty, by which the king of the white 
elephant and the golden feet (titles of the 
monarchs of Birmah) ceded to the East In- 
dia Company large tracts on the western 
coast of his empire, including Arracan, Mer- 
guy, Tavay, and Yea. Assam became inde- 
pendent, and Rangoon was declared a free 
port. The Birmese also paid a million 



sterling as indemnit)^ In 1852, further hos- 
tilities were ended by the British conquest 
of Pegu. The Birmans are gay, irritable, 
active, and fond of show. No man is per- 
mitted to have more than one wife, and 
capital punishment is extended to confirmed 
opium eaters and drunkards in general. The 
bodies of the dead are burned. The com- 
merce of the Birmese is extensive, and the 
merchants make use of bars of gold, silver, 
and lead in the place of coin. The people 
are fond of amusements, particularly dramatic 
spectacles. Education is not wholly neg- 
lected among them, ever}^ one learning arith- 
metic, reading, and writing. They have 
uncleanly fashions in eating, gormandizing 
on reptiles, lizards, iguanas, and snakes. 
Fried worms and ants are choice dishes. 
Their faith forbids the killing of animals 
for food; hence they eat those that die of 
disease. Thej^ are Buddhists in religion. 

BIRON, Charlks de Gontaut, Duke of; 
an intriguing nobleman in the reign of 
Henry IV. of France, tried on a charge of 
treason, and beheaded July 31st, 1602. 

BITHYNIA, an ancient country of Asia 
Minor, also called Bebrycia. It lay on the 
Pontus Euxinus, the Thracian Bosphorus, 
and the Propontis, and was bounded on the 
south by Phrygia, It was held successively 
by the Assyrians, Lydians, Persians, and 
Macedonians. It afforded for some time an 
asylum to Hannibal, who was at last delivered 
up. Nicomedes III., the last king, be- 
queathed the kingdom to the Romans, b.c. 75. 
In 1298, the Ottoman Turks founded their 
empire here ; previous to which, the Seljuks 
had conquered it in the eleventh centurj^. 

BLACK HOLE. One hundred and forty- 
six British gentlemen, merchants and others, 
in the service of the East India Company, 
were seized by order of Surajah Dowlah, 
June 20th, 1756, and thrust into a dungeon at 
Calcutta, called the Black Hole, in the fort, 
by his soldiers. These latter saw that the 
place was too small for such a number, but 
they feared to awaken the nabob, then asleep, 
for further orders. One hundred and twenty- 
three of the sufferers died before morning, 
having been suffocated by the heat, crushing, 
and stench of a dungeon only eighteen feel 
square. 

BLACK SEA, the Eusine of the ancients, 



BLA 



126 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



an inland sea between Europe and Asia 
Minor, covering about 170,000 square miles. 
It is connected with the Sea of Azof by the 
Strait of Yenikale, or Kcrtsch, and with the 
Mediterranean through the Bosphorus, Sea 
of Marmora, and the Dardanelles. This sea 
was navigated early by the Greeks, and well 
frequented by the Romans. It was also 
much visited by the Genoese, till it was closed 
to all nations by the Turks from the fifteenth 
to the eighteenth centuries. The Russians 
gained admission by treaty in 1774. In 1779, 
it was partially opened to British and other 
traders. It was entered by the British and 
French fleets, Jan. 3d, 1854, at the requisi- 
tion of the Porte, after the destruction of 
the Turkish fleet at Sinope by the Russians, 
Nov. 30th, 1853. 

BLACKLOCK, Thomas, a poet and cler- 
gyman, bon. at Annan, in 1721. Although 
deprived of sight in infancy, he became 
famoas for his acquirements, and took a high 
station among the literati of Scotland. He 
died July, 1791. 

BLACKMORE, Sir Richard, an inferior 
English poet and superior physician, born 
1650, and died October 8th, 1729. 

BLACKSTONE, Sir William, an English 
lawyer of great celebrity, and a writer on the 
British constitution, was born in London, 
in 1723, He was the son of a silk mercer, 
l»ut being left an orphan, was brought up 
and educated bj^ Mr. Thomas Bigg, hLs uncle, 
a surgeon. He left Pembroke College, Ox- 
ford, with a high reputation, and, in 1746, 
after faithful preparatory study, was admitted 
to the bar and commenced practice. His 
progress was slow, owing to his deficiency 
in elocution ; and he accordingly determined 
to forsake the practice of the law, and retire 
to his fellowship at Oxford. In 1759, when 
several of his legal works had attracted the 
attention of the public, he resumed practice, 
and honors and emoluments poured in upon 
him. In 1761, he was chosen member of 
parliament from Hindon, made king's coun- 
sel, and solicitor-general to the queen ; about 
this time, also, he married. In 1765, the 
first volume of his "Commentaries on the 
Laws of England" appeared, and was pro- 
nounced superior to any work upon the same 
subject which had before been published. 
In 1770 he was made one of the justices of 



common pleas, and he died in his fifty -seventh 
year, 1780. 

BLACKSTONE, William, the first white 
inhabitant of Boston, was a clergyman of 
the church of England, and had built his 
cottage among the Indians five years before 
the arrival of Winthrop in 1630. He did not 
relish the neighborhood of the Puritans. " I 
came," said he, "from England because I did 
not like the lord bishops, but I can not join 
with you, because I would not be under the 
lord brethren," and in 1634 he removed to 
the bank of the Pawtucket or Blackstone 
River, near Providence, where he died in 
1675. 

BLADENSBURG, Md., six miles north- 
east of Washington, is memorable for a severe 
skirmish, Aug. 24th, 1814, between a small 
force of Americans and a portion of the Brit- 
ish army marching to destroy the capital. 
Bladensburg was formerly much resorted to 
as a dueling ground. Decatur and Barron 
met here. 

BLAIR, James, was bom in Scotland, about 
1660. In 1683, he was sent out to America, 
as a missionary, by Dr. Compton, Bishop of 
London ; and by the same prelate, was ap- 
pointed in 1685, his commissary in Virginia. 
It was at the lattei' epoch, that he conceived 
the plan, and by unwearied exertions, suc- 
ceeded in founding a college at Williams- 
burg. The patent for the college was granted 
by William and Marj', about 1693, and from 
its founders the institution was named Wil- 
liam and Mary College. Mr. Blair was first 
president; and having filled the ministry 
sixty, and the presidency of the college fifty 
years, he died in 1743, 

BLAIR, High, an eloquent divine, was 
born at Edinburgh in 1718, and made preach- 
er of the High Church in that city in 1758. 
Having acquired a high reputation by his lec- 
tures on composition, he was made professor 
of rhetoric and belles-lettres at Edinburgh, 
in 1762. 

BLAIR, Robert, a Scotch clergyman, 
author of " The Grave." Born at Edinburgh 
in 1699, he died in 1746. 

BLAKE, Robert, one of the most renowned 
of England's naval heroes, was born at 
Bridgewater, in August, 1599. At Oxford 
where he was educated, he was noted for his 
strictness in religion, and his libcralitj^ in 



BLA 



HISTOEY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



127 



politics. At the outbreak of the civil war he 
raised one of the first troops, and was among 
the ablest of the soldiers who fought for the 
parliament. He held Taunton during a long 
siege, and successfully defended it against a 
large body of royalists under Goring. When 
the war was over, he was put in command 
of the ships that were sent against Prince 
Rupert's piratical squadron. The navy was 
not then the separate branch of defense that 
it now is. A successful general was thought 
competent to command a fleet. Blake was 
fifty years of age, but he adapted himself at 
once to the element on which he was to sur- 
pass all his former prowess. War broke out 
between the English and Dutch in 1652. 
Desperate naval battles ensued. Once, and 
once only, was he beaten by Van Tromp, 
but then the Dutch force was twice the 
English. He nearly destroyed the Dutch 
navy in two years, and Holland sued for 
peace. Cromwell sent him to the Mediter- 
ranean. He forced Algiers and Tunis to 
surrender their English captives. He com- 
pelled the knights of Malta and the Tuscan 
government to pay "for the seizure of English 
merchantmen, and made the pope smart for 
having allowed them to be sold in his ports. 
When the Spanish war began, he blockaded 
Cadiz. His last and most daring exploit was 
at Santa Cruz in TenerifFe in April, 1657. 
Here he destroyed sixteen Spanish ships, 
secured with great nautical skill, and pro- 
tected by the castle and forts on the shore. 
Lord Clarendon said, "It was so miracu- 
lous, that all who knew the place wondered 
any sober man, with what courage soever 
endowed, would have undertaken it ; and the 
victors could hardly persuade themselves to 
believe what they had done ; whilst the sur- 
viving Spaniards thought that they were 
devils and not men, who had destroyed their 
ships in such a manner." The terror of 
Blake's name was so great, that it was used 
by the Dutch and Spaniards to quell their 
children. The great admiral sickened upon 
his return to England, and died in sight 
of the shores he had so stoutly defended. 
Cromwell caused him to be buried with 
fitting pomp in Westminster Abbey, but 
after the restoration his body was torn from 
its vault and coflBn, and thrown into a pit in 
the neighboring church-yard of St. Margaret's 



BLAKELEY, Johnston, born in Ireland 
1781, was a distinguished naval officer in the 
service of the United States. In 1800 he 
received a midshipman's warrant, and. in 
1813 was appointed to the command of the 
AVasp. In an action with the Reindeer in 
1S14, he took her in nineteen minutes, but 
was forced to abandon her, as she was so 
completely cut up. The loss of the Ameri- 
cans in killed and wounded was- twenty-one ; 
that of the British sixty-seven. After an 
engagement with the brig Avon, which was 
forced to strike, although three other Eng- 
lish vessels were in sight, the Wasp was 
spoken by a vessel oft' the Western Isles, 
since which time she has not been heard of 
Blakeley left an only daughter, who was edu- 
cated by the state of North Carolina. 

BLANCHARD, Francois, one of the ear- 
liest aeronauts, born at Andelys, in France, 
in 1738. He showed an early fondness for 
mechanics, and in his sixteenth year, in- 
vented a self-moving carriage, which carried 
him eighteen miles. In his nineteenth year 
he invented a hydraulic machine, and soon 
afterward a sort of flying ship. When the 
Montgolfiers made their discoveries, Blan- 
chard eagerly made use of them. In 1785, 
he crossed the channel from Dover to Calais, 
with Doctor Jefii-ies, a genileman of Boston, 
Mass. At one time the balloon sank so rap- 
idly, that although the aeronauts ha4 light- 
ened the car by throwing over all superfluous 
articles, even their clothes, they were in 
danger of losing their lives. HoAvever, the 
voj^age was finally accomplished in safety, 
and Blanchard was presented hj the King of 
France with 12,000 francs, and a pension of 
1,200. In the same year he made use of a 
parachute in London. His forty-sixth ascent 
was made in the city of New York, 1796. 
In 1798 he went up from Rouen in a large 
balloon with sixteen persons. He died in 
1809, after having made more than sixty -six 
aeronautic voyages. Madame Blanchard, 
after his death, continued to make voyages 
in the air. In June, 1819, she ascended from 
Paris, and was thought to be in safety, when 
her balloon took fire from some fireworks 
which she carried with her ; she fell from an 
immense height, and was dashed to pieces in 
the Rue de Provence. 

BLENHEIM, a village in Bavaria, on the 



BLE 



128 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Danube, is celebrated for the important vic- 
tory obtained there by the allies under the 
Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, 
over the French, commanded by Marshals 
Tallard and Margin, and the Elector of Bava- 
ria. In the war of the Spanish succession, 
Louis XIV., with the Elector of Bavaria for 
his only ally, was forced to contend against 
the strength of Holland, England, Austria, 
Savoy, Portugal, and the German empire. 
At the battle of Blenheim, which was fought 
August 13th, 1704, the allied forces amounted 
to about 52,000, and the French to 50,000, 
with great advantage of situation ; the latter, 
however, were completely beaten, with the 
loss of 27,000 killed, and 13,000 prisoners, 
Tallard being among the latter. 

BLOOD, circulation of, through the lungs, 
first made public by Michael Servetus, a 
Spanish physician, in 1553. Ca^salpinus 
published an account of the general circula- 
tion, of which he had some confused ideas, 
and improved it afterward by experiments, 
1569 ; but it was fully confirmed by Harvey, 
1628. 

BLOOD, TnoMAS, commonly called Col. 
Blood, a disbanded officer of Oliver Crom- 
well's household. With confederates he 
seized the Duke of Ormond in his coach, and 
had got him as far as Tyburn, intending to 
hang him, when he was rescued. Blood was 
afterward notorious for his attempt to steal 
the crown and regalia from the Tower, in the 
disguise of a clergyman. Charles II. par- 
doned him, and even bestowed an estate 
of £500 per annum on him, while poor 
Edwards, keeper of the regalia, who was 
severely wounded in defending them, was 
passed by unnoticed. 

BLOOMFIELD, Robert, an English poet, 
born at Honington, in 1766. He was the son 
of a tailor, and, in 1781, he was sent to 
London, with his brother, to learn the shoe- 
making trade. He visited various places of 
public worship, the theatre, and a debating 
society, and found his faculties developed in 
a striking manner. His brother, hearing him 
one da}' repeat a song which he had com- 
posed, induced him to oifer it to the editor 
of the London Magazine^ by whom it was 
accepted and published. His poem of the 
"Farmer's Boy," composed in his London 
garret, was published by Capel Loffl, to 



v/hom it was first shown. The versification 
in this, as well as in the other poems of 
Bloomfield, is easy and correct. He was 
made by the Duke of Grafton under-sealer 
for the seal office, but ill health compelled 
him to relinquish this situation. He after- 
ward worked at his trade, and engaged in the 
book-trade, but he became bankrupt. He 
died in August, 1823. 

BLUCHER, Gebhaut Lebrecht von, a cel- 
ebrated Prussian general, who distinguished 
himself in the wars with France, particularly 
in 1813, 1814, and 1815, and who, by his 
timely arrival on the field of AYaterloo, de- 
cided the victory. The soldiers, in allusion 
to his promptitude in attack, called him 
Marshal Forward. He died Sept. 12th, 1819, 
aged seventy-seven. 

BLUM, Robert, a martyr for liberty in the 
German revolution of 1848. An obscure ar- 
tisan in Cologne, his native city, he attracted 
the attention of friends of freedom by his 
contributions to the press, and especially his 
exposure of the Romish humbug called " The 
Holy Coat of Treves." In the revolution of 
1848 he was foremost for action, and full of 
fiery eloquence. Mixed up with the out- 
break in Vienna, he was seized by the Aus- 
trian government, and shot November 9th, 
1848, in the forty-first year of life. 

BLUMENBACH, Jean Frederick, a cele- 
brated comparative anatomist, physiologist, 
and naturalist, born at Gotha, 1752, died at 
Gottingen, 1840. He was the first to estab- 
lish the division of the human race into five 
varieties, the Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethio- 
pian, American, and Malay. His great desire 
was to prove the unity of the human species. 
BOADICEA, a British heroine, Queen of 
the Iceni. Her husband, for the security of 
his family, had made the Roman emperor 
co-heir with his daughters. But the Roman 
officers took possession of her palace, exposed 
the princesses to the brutality of the soldiers, 
and scourged the queen in public. Boadicea, 
urged to revenge by this usage, assembled 
her countrymen, and, in a masculine har- 
angue, roused them to madness, by describ- 
ing her own, her daughters', and her country's 
injuries. London was stormed, and 70,000 
strangers were put to the sword. Suetonuis 
Paulinus defeated the Britons, and Boadicea 
poisoned herself in despair, a.d. 60. 



BOA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



129 



BOCCACCIO, Giovanni, a famous Italian 
author, born at Florence or Paris, 1313. His 
"Decameron" fixed his reputation, and the 
name of Boccaccio, according to Mazzuchelli, 
is equivalent to a thousand encomiums. The 
death of his friend and instructor, Petrarch, 
was a severe shock to him, and he died not 
more than a year after, at Certaldo in Tus- 
cany, Dec. 21st, 1375. 

BCEOTIA, a state of ancient Greece, lying 
north of Attica. Thebes, its capital, was 
equally celebrated for its antiquity, its gran- 
deur, and the exploits and misfortunes of its 
heroes and kings. The country was known 
successively as Aonia, Messapia, Hyantis, 
Ogygia, Cadmeis, and Boeotia. From the 
general character of the inhabitants, the term 
Boeotian was used by the Athenians as a 
synonym for dullness ; but unjustly, since 
Pindar, Hesiod, Plutarch, Democritus, Epam- 
inondas, and the accomplished and beautiful 
Corinna, were natives of Boeotia. The gov- 
ernment was an oligarchy. Boeotia was 
frequently at war with Attica and Sparta. 
By the valor of Epaminondas it became the 
leading power in Greece, but soon after his 
death, it fell with its sister states under the 
rule of Philip of Macedon. 

BOERHAVE, Hermann, one of the most 
famous physicians of the eighteenth century, 
born at Woorhout, near Leyden, December, 
1608, died in 1Y38. People came to him 
from all parts of Europe for advice, and a 
Chinese mandarin wrote to him with the 
address, " To Boerhave, the celebrated phy- 
sician of Europe." His property amounted, 
at his death, to two million florins. 

BOETHIUS, Anicius Manlius Torquatus 
Seveiunus, a man whose services, rewards, 
virtues, and unhappy end have made him 
famous, was born at Rome or Milan, about 
a.d. 470. Having received an admirable 
education and improved himself by travel, 
he was taken into favor by Theodoric, King 
of the Ostrogoths, and rapidly raised to the 
highest offices of the empire. His strict jus- 
tice and uncompromising integrity acquired 
for him the hatred of the rapacious and 
unprincipled Goths ; the king became preju- 
diced against him, and had him arrested, 
imprisoned, and executed, a.d. 526 or 527. 
His most celebx-.ted work, on "The Conso- 
lations of Philosophy," consisting of prose 



9 



and verse, was composed by him in prison. 
Alfred the Great of England translated it 
for the benefit of his people. 

BOGOTA, at tho time the Spaniards con- 
quered South America, was one of the most 
civilized states of the country, and inhabited 
by the Muisca Indians. The valley of Bo- 
gota, famous for its fertility, was filled with 
Indians who rivaled in civilization the in- 
habitants of Cuzco. They traced their 
prosperit}'- to the instructions of Bochica. 
Gonzalo Ximenes di Quesada efiected their 
conquest. 

BOHEMIA, a kingdom now forming a part 
of the Austrian empire; area 20,013 square 
miles; population in 1851, 4,409,900. Bo- 
hemia is surrounded by mountains and cov- 
ered with forests. All kinds of grain and 
fruits are exported. The mines yield silver, 
copper, tin, garnets, and other precious stones, 
iron, arsenic, alum, antimony, sulphur, &c. 
The kingdom derives its name from the Boii, 
a Celtic nation, who settled there about 600 
B. c. About the middle of the sixth century 
it was inhabited by Slavonians, who were 
governed by their own dukes. Charlemagne 
made Bohemia tributary, but it did not long 
remain so. The first king received his title 
from the Emperor Henry IV., and in 1310 
the house of Luxemburg succeeded to the 
throne. In 1526, Bohemia reverted. to the 
house of Austria, by whom it has bee^i ever 
since held. Bohemia produced the first re- 
formers, among whom were John Huss and 
Jerome of Prague, but at the present daj^ 
almost all the people are Catholics. The 
land is divided into estates of vast magnitude, 
and the peasantry are held in servitude. It 
is one of the most manufacturing districts of 
Austria. Bohemian glass has been noted since 
the thirteenth century. Many parts of the 
districts adjoining the northern and eastern 
ranges of mountains form one continued 
manufactory of linens, and thousands of 
humble cabins resound with the noise of the 
jenny or the loom. With the exception of 
Prague, the ancient capital, there are no large 
towns. 

BOILEAU-DESPREAUX, Nicholas, born 
at Crosne, near Paris, in 1636. The future 
satirist was dull and sickly in youth, and 
described bj^ his father as a good-natured 
boy, who would never speak ill of anj' one. 



BOI 



loO 



COTTAdE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



After having studied diligently at the colleges i station between the Persians and Scythians, 
of Harcourt and Beauvais, he entered upon I with much of the polish of the former, and 
the career of the law, which he soon relin- 1 little of the ferocity of the latter. Their de- 
quished for the more congenial pursuit of ' scendants still retain many of the character- 
belles-lettres. His satire, "Les Adieux a 



Paris," first displayed his talents. He pub- 
lished many works, his "Art Poetique" 
being the most popular. He was opposed by 
many writers, to confound whom he wrote his 
unrivaled mock-heroic poem, the "Lutrin." 
He died of the dropsy in ITII, bequeathing 
almost all his property to the poor. 

BOKHARA, a countr}-^ in the interior of 
Asia, the Sogdiana and Bactria of antiquity. 
It is the south-eastern part of Independent 
Tartary, or Turkistan. The city of Bokhara 
has a population of about 150,000, and is the 
most commercial town of central Asia. Some 
centuries ago this and the neighboring city 
of Samarcand were famous as seats of learn- 
ing, and were sought by students from all 
the Mohammedan countries of Asia. Balkh, 
in the ancient Bactria, is one of the most 
celebrated cities of the eastern world. An- 
ciently it was famed for its splendor, ex- 
tent, and magnificence. Alexander the Great, 
in his eastern campaign, married the daugh- 
ter of a Bactrian chief This chief, who 
defended himself bravely against the Mace- 
donians, while his family was placed upon a 
precipitous rock, was named Oxyartes. The 
garrison of the rocky fortress, when sum- 
moned to surrender, answeied Alexander 
contemptuously that if his men were winged, 
he might intimidate them, but as it was, their 
position was impregnable. Alexander offered 
rewards to those who would attempt to 
ascend the rock, and three hundred of the 
most expert that volunteered were selected. 
In the interstices of the rock, and in the ice 
upon its face, the climbers stuck iron pegs, 
and ascended the most precipitous parts in the 
night-time. Some of the first who ventured, 
fell headlong, but the summit was gained by 
a determined band. By order of Alexander, 
the Macedonians shook before the eyes of the 
barbarians long strips of linen, intimating 
that they had foimd wings. The garrison 
immediately surrendered, tacitly proving the 
correctness of Alexander's favorite maxim, 
that no place was impregnable to the brave, 
or secure to the timorous. 



istics of the Bactrians of former days. Their 
women were famed for the brilliancy of their 
dark, shining eyes, the delicate and correct 
formation of their features, and the richness 
and transparency of their complexions. Eox- 
ana, the daughter of Oxyartes, was not only 
distinguished above those of her nation in 
beauty, but, with the single exception of the 
wife of Darius, was the loveliest of Asiatic 
women. The conduct of Alexander toward 
his dazzling captive was honorable ; having 
conceived a warm attachment to her, he mar- 
ried her, pui'suant to the wishes of his fi-iend 
Hephfestion, but contrary to the advice of 
Craterus. The fears of Oxyartes were ban- 
ished by Alexander's avowal of his attach- 
ment to his child. He came into the Mace- 
donian camp, and was received with every 
mark of attention and respect. Thus ties of 
friendship bound the Bactrians and Macedo- 
nians together. Alexander, according to 
Strabo, founded no fewer than eight cities in 
Sogdiana and Bactria. The city of Anderab 
retains still a part of Alexander's name. 
The Alexandria which the Macedogian mon- 
arch is said to have founded, was probably 
either Cabul, or else at no great distance from 
it. To return to Balk. In 1221 it was 
taken by Genghis Khan, who put to the sword 
nearly all its inhabitants. 

BOLEYN, Anne, second wife of Heniy 
VIII. of England, was probably born about 
1500. She was the daughter of Sir Thomas 
Boleyn. Her early years were spent in 
attendance on Henry's sister, the wife of 
Louis XII. of France, on whose death she 
became maid of honor to Queen Catherine. 
Henry having procured a divorce from the 
latter, married Anne privately, and when she 
became a mother publicly acknowledged her 
as queen. Her child was the famous Eliza- 
beth. The tyrant conceiving a passion for 
Jane Seymour, caused Anne to be tried for 
high treason and infidelity. She suffered on 
the scaffold, May 19th, 1536, Henry consid- 
eiing it an act of great clemency to save her 
from the stake. She was beautiful, gay, and 



: witty, and in her last moments self-possessed. 
The Bactrians were a race holding a middle I " She sent her last message to the king," says 

BOL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



131 



Hume, "and acknowledged the obligations 
which she owed him in' uniformly continuing 
her advancement. From a private gentle- 
woman, you have made me, first a marchion- 
ess, then a queen ; and as you can raise me 
no higher in this world, you are now sending 
me to be a saint in heaven." 

BOLINGBROKE, Henry St. John, Vis- 
count, was born at Battersea, in 1672, of an 
ancient and distinguished fanuly. His bril- 
liant talents, elegant manners, and personal 
attractions secured him a warm welcome in 
society; but, unhappily, until his twenty- 
third year his career was stained with those 
vices which spring from the impetuous tem- 
per of youth. His marriage with a beautiful 
heiress did not produce the happiness which 
his parents had looked for, and the young 
couple separated forever after a short connec- 
tion. The moment he obtained a seat in the 
House of Commons, he distinguished himself 
by industry, activity, eloquence, and strong 
judgment. In 1704 he was made secretary 
of war, but when the Whigs came into place, 
he sent in his resignation. The Whig party 
being prostrated, Bolingbroke received the 
department of foreign affairs, and concluded 
the peace of Utrecht. During the height of 
party contention between the Whigs and To- 
ries, immediately after the conclusion of 
peace, a quarrel occurred between Boling- 
broke and Harley, then lord high treasurer, 
and Queen Anne, provoked with the latter, 
dismissed him four days before her death, 
and made Bolingbroke prime minister. The 
scene was speedily reversed by the death of 
Anne. George I. ascended the throne, the 
Whigs triumphed, and Bolingbroke, learn- 
ing that his enemies intended to impeach 
him, fled to Lorraine, and was made secre- 
tary of state by the Pretender, who, however, 
becoming displeased with him, deprived him 
of this dignity and conferred it on the Duke 
of Ormond. His attainder having been 
partly reversed, he returned to England in 
1723, opposed the ministry for eight years, 
and again went to France. In France, in 
1735, he published his "Letters upon Histo- 
ry," which, however admirable, were blamed 
for attacking revealed religion. In 1738, he 
returned to his country, where he died of a 
lingering and painful disease in 1751. 

BOLIVAR, Simon, the most prominent 



actor in the events which produced the inde- 
pendence of a large portion of South America, 
was born in the city of Caraccas, July 24th, 
1783, of a distinguished and noble Venezue- 
lan family. After acquiring the elements of 
a liberal education in South America, he 
visited Spain, and spent some time in travel- 
ing in Europe, chiefly in the south of France. 
Returning for a while to Madrid, he married, 
and carried his wife to'his native land, where 
he thought to enjoy in peace the comforts of 
domestic life. The death of his wife put an 
end to his blissful visions, and he again went 
to Europe, partly to dissipate his grief. On 
his return, he traveled through the United 
States, where his love of libertj'- settled into 
an indelible passion, and we find him actively 
engaged in promoting the early movement in 
Caraccas, April, 1810, and receiving a colo- 
nel's commission from the supreme junta then 
established. He sided with the patriots of 
Venezuela, and, after the declaration of inde- 
pendence, July 5th, 1811, served under Gen- 
eral Miranda, against a party in Valencia 
who declared against the principles and meas- 
ures of the revolutionists. 

After some ill success in Venezuela, which 
is attributable to treachery of others rather 
than a want of talent on his part, Bolivar 
escaped to Cura(,oa. He could not, however, 
content himself with being a cold spectator of 
events in which the lives and fortunes of his 
countrymen were risked, and accordingly he 
came to Carthagena in 1812, and entered into 
the service of the patriots of New Grenada. 
His expedition against Teneriffe, on the 
river Magdalena, was successful, he drove the 
Spaniards before him in his triumphant ad- 
vance, and entered the city of Ocana in 
triumph, thus inspiring general confidence in 
the patriot cause, and attracting the attention 
of all to it and to himself. He next expelled 
the Spanish forces fi-om Cucuta, and con- 
ceived the plan of freeing Venezuela from the 
Spaniards, a task which he accomplished by 
the 4th of August, 1813. At the assembly 
of Caraccas, Jan. 2d, 1814, the power which 
was vested in the hands of Bolivar as com- 
mander of the liberating army, was con- 
firmed. If we carefully trace the military 
career of Bolivar, we shall find him alter- 
nately meeting with success, and struggling 
with reverse ; displaying, both in triumph 



BOL 



132 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and defeat, the noble daring of a gallant war- 
rior, the rare talents of a military chieftain, 
and the unjielding perseverance of a true 
patriot. At length he had the satisfaction of 
beholding the arms of the patriots triumph- 
ant in evei'y quarter, their banners moving 
onward in pride and splendor, and the pha- 
lanx of opposition becoming daily more and 
more feeble. 

In May, 1826, Bolivar presented to the 
congress of Upper Peru, which had formed 
the independent state of Bolivia, the consti- 
tution, which, at their request, he had pre- 
pared. Meanwhile a rebellion had broken 
out in Venezuela, headed by Paez, who con- 
sidered himself aggrieved, and the fair fruits 
of liberty, won with many a day of bloody 
toil, appeared in danger of being lost. It 
was Bolivar alone who could and did quell 
this insurrection. The Bolivian code, which, 
among its prominent features, provided that 
the executive authority should be vested in 
the hands of the president for life, was adopted 
as the constitution of Bolivia, Dec. 9th, 1826, 
and Bolivar, then absent, was declared its 
president. If the provisions of the Boli- 
vian code had alarmed the friends of liberty, 
what was their terror when they beheld 
Bolivar, whom they suspected of ambitious 
designs, placed for life at the head of the 
government. The Colombian auxiliary army, 
then in Peru, rapidly revolutionized the 
government, and induced the Peruvians to 
renounce the Bolivian code. Strenuous op- 
position to Bolivar was made in Colombia bj^ 
the republicans, who imagined that he was 
ready to emulate the career of Napoleon, 
although he had repeatedly expressed a wish 
to retire from the presidency. However, in 
1828, a decree, dated Bogota, Aug. 2Tth, 
gave him the supreme power in Colombia. 
The authority reposed in him gave the repub- 
licans no little alarm, but Bolivar did not 
live long to exercise it. Looking back upon 
his career, if there appear occasionallj- a 
desire to exalt himself above his fellows, we 
nmst grant him that rare union of civil 
and military abilities, that courage in adver- 
sity and moderation in prosperity, which were 
alone capable of achieving the regeneration 
of his country. He died Dec. 17th, 1830. 

BOLIVIA, a republic of South America, 
comprising 374,480 square miles, andcontain- 



I ing about 1,650,000 inhabitants. It was ori. 

j ginally called Upper Peru, and belonged to 
the Spanish vice-ro3'alty of Buenos Ayres. 

I Its independence of Spain was declared Aug. 
6th, 1824, and the following year the name of 
Bolivia was assumed in honor of General Bol- 
ivar. Its mountains contain rich silver mines, 
but they are now little worked. Like its sis- 
ter republics Bolivia has been sadly distressed 
by intestine wars. Chuquisaca is the capital ; 
population 26,000. It was founded by one of 
Pizarro's officers on the site of an old Peruvian 
town called Choque Chaka, or 'bridge of 
gold;' the treasures of the incas having passed 
through it on their way to Cuzco. A hun- 
dred years ago Potosi had a hundred thousand 
dwellers. Its silver mines were then indus- 
triously worked. Now there are hardly 
30,000 inhabitants, half of whom are Peruvian 
Indians. 

BOMARSUND, a strong fortress on one of 
the Aland Isles, in the Baltic. It was bom- 
barded by the French and English in August, 
1854, and the Russians surrendered on tht> 
16th. The fortifications were den.olished. 

BONAPARTE. Charles Buonaparte, a 
young lawyer of Ajaccio, in Corsica, wedded 
Letitia Ramolini, one of the most beautiful 
and accomplished girls of the island. Thir- 
teen children were the offspring of this union, 
eight of whom survived to maturity : Joseph, 
Napoleon, Lucien, Louis, Jerome, Eliza, Pau- 
line, and Caroline. The father died early. 
The mother lived to witness the grandeur of 
her great son, and to mourn his death in the 
sea-girt isle which injustice made his prison. 
She died at Rome, in October, 1832, aged 
eighty -two. She was a vs^oman of great beau- 
ty, great courage, and great mind. In her 
nineteenth year, Aug. 15th, 1769, upon a 
couch whose tapestry was embroidered with 
the heroes and battles of the " Iliad," she gave 
birth to Napoleon, one of the most extraor- 
dinary characters recorded in history, distin- 
guished alike for his extraordinary fortunes, 
his civil talents, and his military genius. Af- 
ter receiving the rudiments of a classical ed- 
ucation, he entered the military school at 
Brienne, where he was distinguished by the 
gravity of his character, and his sedulous 
study of the mathematics. Even his sports 
partook of his graver pursuits. On the oc- 
currence of a day which was commonly con- 



BON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



133 



sidered a holiday, Bonaparte's instructors con- 
fined him and his companions to the school 
grounds. The young engineer constructed a 
mine with great ingenuity, which in exploding 
blew down the walls and enabled the juvenile 
rebels to escape. When he could enlist no 
young recruits in his mimic armies, Napoleon 
would use flints as substitutes for soldiers, 
and marshal them with great care. A boy 
who distui'bed his array was severely pun- 
ished by Napoleon. Many years after, when 
the imperial diadem was on his head. Napo- 
leon was informed that one of his old school- 
mates desired an interview. He assured the 
chamberlain that the emperor would recollect 
him if he mentioned that there was a deep 
scar on his forehead. When the emperor 
was informed of this, he said, "I do not forget 
how he got that scar. I threw a general at 
his head at Brienne." 

At sixteen, he received the commission of 
second lieutenant in the regiment of Lafere, 
which he joined at Valence. At twenty he 
was promoted to a captaincy, and in Decem- 
ber, 1703, had obtained the command of the 
artillery train in the attack on Toulon, then 
occupied by the English. The originality of 
his plans won the siege for the French. One 
of the deputies of. the convention wrote to 
Carnot : " I send you a young man who dis- 
tinguished himself very much during the 
siege, and earnestly recommend to you to ad- 
vance him speedily. If you do not, he will 
most assuredly advance himself" But with 
the exception of a brief service the next 
spring as commandant of the artillery in the 
army of Italy, he was for some time left inac- 
tive. Want pinched him. He dreamed of 
the orient, and thought of oiFering his sword 
to the grand seignior. " How odd it would 
be," said he, " were a little Oorsican officer to 
become king of Jerusalem." Stranger hap- 
penings than that were to be. Once he was 
on the brink of suicide, when a timely loan 
from an old comrade gave him the means of 
life. 

In 1795, when some of the sections of Paris 
rose in insurrection against the national con- 
vention, the command of the troops was in- 
trusted to him. His cannon dispersed the 
mob, the Directory was established, and Na- 
poleon made military governor of the metrop- 
olis. He was at that time very thin, although 



BON 



distinguished for corpulency in the latter part 
of his life. On one occasion he gained a blood- 
less victory over a rabble whose exertions 
were stimulated by a very fat old woman. 
"There," cried she, "look at the soldiers! 
they're the wretches that fatten in idleness 
while we starve." " Look at her and look at 
me," said Napoleon, " and tell us which is the 
fattest." This raised a laugh, and the popu- 
lace dispersed quietly. On this, as on many 
other occasions, his knowledge of human na- 
ture was apparent. 

The 6th of March, 1796, Napoleon was mar- 
ried to Josephine Tascher Beauharnais, and 
just before, through the influence of Barras, 
their mutual friend, and one of the directory, 
he was appointed commander-in-chief of the 
army in Italy. The French lay on the cold 
slopes of the maritime Alps. Their foes were 
snug upon the warm plains of Italy. The 
French soldiers were ragged, hungered, and 
dispirited. The glowing vigor of their young 
general gave them new nerve and hope. He 
led them into Sardinia at once, and defeated 
the surprised Austrians at Montenotte, the 
11th of April. " My patent of nobility," said 
he afterward to the Emperor of Austria, 
" dates from the field of Montenotte." He 
astounded the veteran warriors with whom he 
coped, by the rapidity of his maneuvres and 
his defiance of ancient tactics. " War," said 
he, "is the science of barbarians. He who 
has the heaviest battalions will conquer." 
The troops of his foes far outnumbered his 
own ; he attacked them in detached portions, 
and conquered them by piecemeal. The bat- 
tles of Millesimo, Mondovi, and Lodi followed 
in a month, and he entered Milan in triumph. 
Sardinia had been cowed into peace. It was 
after the hot contest of Lodi, that Napoleon's 
veterans dubbed him with the pet name he 
never lost, "the little corporal." Napoleon 
has said, " It was not till after the terrible 
passage of the bridge of Lodi, that the thought 
shot across my mind that I might become a 
decisive actor in the political arena. Then 
arose, for the first time, the spark of great 
ambition." More soldiers from Austria: 
more battles. At Castiglione, Roveredo, Bas- 
sano. Areola, and Rivoli, the French were 
victorious, and the stubborn Wurmser at last 
yielded Mantua. The Austrians were driven 
from Italy. In ten months, Napoleon, with 



lu 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



55,000 men, including all recruits, had con- 
quered five grand armies, composed of over 
200,000 highly disciplined Austrian troops, 
and headed bj such veterans as Beaulieu, 
Wurmser,_ and Alvinzi. At times it had 
seemed as if the handful of French must be 
overwhelmed, but the genius of their leader 
had brought them through. They had taken 
a hundred thousand prisoners, and killed and 
wounded thirty -five thousand men. Napoleon 
crossed the Carnic Alps, threatened Vienna, 
defeated a fresh army under the gallant Arch- 
duke Charles, and forced Austria to the hu- 
miliating treaty of Campo Formio, Oct. 17th, 

1797. One term of this treaty was the release 
of Lafiiyette from the dungeon of Olmutz. 

In Paris, the young conqueror of Italy was 
received with an enthusiasm that excited the 
greatest terror and jealousy in the govern- 
ment. To be rid of his presence they detailed 
him upon distant and difficult service. In 

1798, he took the command of the army des- 
tined against Egypt, and on his passage from 
Toulon, captured Malta. He landed at Alex- 
andria, and after the capture of that city 
pushed on toward Cairo. The French formed 
in squares to receive the furious onsets of the 
Mamelukes. A corps of scientific men, who 
had been mounted on donkeys, accompanied 
the expedition. AVhenever a body of Mame- 
lukes approached, the order, ' ' Form square, 
savans andasses in the centre, " was greeted with 
jocund uproar by the soldiery. At the battle 
waged in sight of the pyramids, Napoleon said 
to his men, "Soldiers! from those summits 
forty centuries gaze upon you ! " The gazing 
centuries saw the rout of the Mamelukes, and 
the invaders masters of Cairo. Nelson's vic- 
tory in the Bay of Aboukir cut the expedition 
off from all supplies and reenforcements, yet 
in Egypt and Syria Napoleon was everywhere 
victorious except at Acre ; where, for want of 
besieging artillery, he was repulsed by Sir 
Sydney Smith. In October, 1799, the mis- 
government of France, and the disasters which 
had befallen the French troops, induced him 
to return, leaving Kleber in command inEgypt. 
He was received as a savior by the French 
nation, and on the 9th of November he de- 
posed the directory, and was proclaimed first 
consul of the republic. 

To England and Austria he made proffers 
of peace which were rejected. The hosts of 



tlie confederates threatened an invasion of the 
republic, and English fleets blockaded her 
coasts. Napoleon led a rapidlj^ gathered army 
over the crags of the Great St. Bernard, and 
descended like an avalanche upon the forces 
of Marshal Melas. The campaign opened at 
Montcbello, where Lannes with eight thousand 
men defeated eighteen thousand Austrians, 
though the latter were protected by the deadly 
fire of strong and commanding batteries. " I 
could hear the bones crash in my division, 
like glass in a hail-storm," said Lannes. The 
terrible victory of Marengo followed, on the 
14th of June, 1800 : Melas, with his army of 
120,000 was now utterh'^ discomfited, by half 
that immber, and Napoleon was once more 
master of Italy. An armistice was concluded. 
The conqueror left Massena in command of 
the triumphant army, and returned to Paris, 
where he again sought a fair peace with Aus- 
tria, and again unsuccessfully. Moreau, who 
commanded the grand army of the Rhine, ad- 
vanced and won the field "of Hohenlinden, and 
chased the fleeing Austrians within thirty 
miles of Vienna. Another armistice was had, 
and Feb. 9th, 1801, the peace of Luneville 
was completed, and the continent thus quieted. 
About this time many attempts were made to 
assassinate Napoleon. On Christmas eve, as 
he was on his way to the opera, the famous 
' infernal machine,' a cart laden with gunpow- 
der and deadly missiles, was fired. He es- 
caped by an accidental moment of time. Eight 
persons were killed, and sixty wounded, of 
whom twenty afterward died. On both sides 
the way the houses were sadly shattered. 

Napoleon employed his leisure of peace in 
developing the resources of France. He 
planned and executed vast internal improve- 
ments, commenced the compilation of the civil 
code, and restored the observances of religion. 
He formed a great coalition against England, 
which was broken by the death of Paul, the 
Czar of Russia. The great antagonist nations 
paused for a breathing spell, and the peace of 
Amiens was concluded in March, 1802. About 
this time the Italian or Cisalpine republic, 
which he had founded in the north of Italy, 
chose Napoleon their president ; a few months 
after, the people of Finance elected him consul 
for life ; in May, 1804, he assumed the title 
of Napoleon I., Emperor of the French, and 
Dec. 2d was crowned at Paris by the 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



135 



pope. In March, 1805, he was declared King 
of Italy, and in May crowned at Milan. He 
had previously established his military order 
of the legion of honor and distributed the 
crosses which were the distinguishing badges. 
Of all to whom the cross of the legion of honor 
was tendered, Laftiyette alone declined it. 
Napoleon, either from want of true perception 
of moral greatness, or because the detestable 
servility of returning emigrants had taught 
him to think there was no such thing as honor 
or independence in man, exclaimed, when they 
told him that Lafayette refused the decoration^ 
"What, will nothing satisfy that man, but 
' the chief command of the national guard of 
the empire?" Yes, much less abundantly 
satisfied him ; the quiet possession of the poor 
remnants of his estate, enjoj^ed without sacri- 
ficing his principles. 

England had previously renewed maritime 
hostilities with France, and in the fall of 1805, 
a mighty coalition reared itself against the 
new empire ; England, Austria, Russia, and 
Sweden. Afterward Prussia joined them. 
Five hundred thousand men menaced Napo- 
leon and France. The emperor broke up the 
powerful armament he had gathered at Bou- 
lognefortheinvasion of Great Britain, marched 
into Germany with his accustomed rapidity, 
and at Ulm captured 30,000 Austrians. In 
November, he entered Vienna, and on the 2d 
of December, gained the battle of Austerlitz, 
over the Emperors of Russia and Austria, after 
which he concluded peace with Austria, cre- 
ated the Electors of Bavaria and Wirtemberg 
kings, and made his brother Joseph King of 
Naples, and Louis King of Holland. 

The next year England, Prussia, and Rus- 
sia entered into, a new coalition. Napoleon 
invaded Prussia, and on the 14th of October, 
gained a decisive victory at Jena and Auer- 
stadt, by which the whole Prussian monarchy, 
and Germany to the Baltic, came under his 
authority. The man of destiny had now filled i- 



When his mind was deeply engaged, his 
snuff-box was in constant requisition. He 
once left his apartment for a few moments, 
and returned to take his box from the mantle- 
piece. He thought the snulf felt somewhat 
strangely, and calling to a dog that was lying 
near him, administered a pinch. The poor 
animal soon rolled over in the agonies of 
death; and Napoleon thenceforth kept his 
snuff in his waistcoat pockets, which he had 
sheathed with tin. 

From the royal palace at Berlin, Napoleon 
promulgated in retaliation the famous decree 
by which he proposed to exclude the trade of 
Britain from all the ports of the continent. 
In June, 1807, having overrun Poland, he to- 
tally defeated the Emperor of Russia at Eylau 
and Friedland, after which an interview took 
place between them on a raft in the Niemen. 
followed by the treat}' of Tilsit. In Novcmbei- 
of that year, he sent an army into Lisbon, 
tlius annihilating the British supremacy in 
Portugal, and driving the Portuguese court to 
the Brazils. On the. 5th of May, 1808, was 
concluded the treaty by which Charles IV. 
ceded all his rights in the crown of Spain. 
Joseph, brother of the emperor, wasproclaimed 
King of Spain, on the 6th of June. Hence 
arose the Peninsular war. 

On the 27th of September, in the same year, 
Napoleon had an amicable interview with the 
Emperor of Russia at Erfurt, and they jointlj' 
proposed peace with England, which was re- 
jected. On the 29th of October the emperor 
departed from Paris and placed himself at the 
head of the army in Spain, the right wing of 
which pursued Sir John Moore to Corunna, 
while he marched to Madrid and seated his 
brother on the Spanish throne. In the mean 
time, the Austrians took the field ; Napoleon 
hastened to oppose them, gained successive 
victories at Eckmuhl and Wagram, and in 
the latter battle a treaty of peace. On the 
16th of December, 1809, he divorced Jose- 
Europe with the terror of his name, the bare phine, and on the 2d of April, 1810, married 



mention of which shook the crowned heads of 
the oldest monarchies of the continent with 
palsied apprehension. In vain the dagger, 
the mine, and the bowl had been prepared for 
him. His star had not yet begun to decline 
from the zenith. Napoleon was almost mirac 
ulously preserved from poison. It is well 
known that he was an inveterate snuff-taker. 



Maria Louisa, Archduchess of Austria. The 
20th of March, 1811, was signalized by the 
birth of his son, who was crowned King of 
Rome. In the divorce of Josephine, Napoleon 
said at St. Helena, he stepped upon an abyss 
covered with flowers. 

The amitybetween Napoleon and Alexander 
cooled, and at last was wholly ruptured. In 



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136 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



1812, Napoleon assembled a great army in 
Poland, and invaded Russia, and having at 
the Borodino and at Moskwa gained bloody 
victories, he entered Moscow on the lith of 
September. That city became untenable, and 
the French retreated for winter quarters to- 
ward Poland, but an early and unusual frost 
setting in during their march, they lost their 
horses, were compelled to abandon their ar- 
tillery, and three-fourths of the army perished 
or were made prisoners. Napoleon returned 
to Paris, and Poland and Prussia were occu- 
pied by the Russians. 

In April, 1813, Napoleon again took the 
field against the Prussians, and gained the 
victories of Lutzen, Bautzen, Wurtzchen, and 
Dresden; but the Austrians and Bavarians 
joined the confederacy against him, and he 
was attacked at Lcipsic by the combined ar- 
mies of the European nations ; being forced 
to abandon that city with immense loss, and 
retreat to Metz, thereby abandoning his Ger- 
man conquests. In 1814, the confederates 
having passed the Rhine, penetrated, after 
various battles, to Paris, which, being sur- 
rendered by Marshals Marmont and Mortier, 
Napoleon concluded a treaty with the allies, 
at Fontainebleau, by which he agreed to retire 
to the island of Elba, with provision for him- 
self and family. 

In March, 1815, Napoleon embarked with 
(500 of his old guard, and made a sudden de- 
scent in Provence. On the 10th, he entered 
Lyons, on the 20th Paris in triumph. His 
banners flew from steeple to steeple, until they 
finally waved in the wind from the pinnacles 
of Notre Dame. He assumed the throne once 
more, and soon joined the army on the Belgian 
frontier, where on the 16th of June, he de- 
feated Blucher at Ligny with a loss of 22,000 
men. On the 18th, was fought the bloody 
battle of Waterloo, in which the French army 
was completely defeated. 

When, after the disaster at Waterloo, Na- 
poleon came back in desperation to Paris, and 
began to scatter dark hints of dissolving the 
representatives' chamber, repeating at Paris 
the catastrophe of Moscow, and thereby en- 
deavoring to rouse the people of France to 
one universal and frantic crusade of resistance, 
Lafayette was the first to denounce the wild 
suggestion. He proposed a series of resolu- 
tions, announcing that the independence of 



the nation was threatened, declaring the 
chambers a permanent body, and denouncing 
the instant penalties of high treason against 
all attempts to dissolve it. The same evening 
he proposed, in the secret assembly of the 
council of state, the abdication of Napoleon. 
The subject was again pressed the following 
day; but the voluntary act of the emperor 
anticipated the decision. 

On the 8th of July, Louis XVIII. returned 
to Paris, and on the 15th, Napoleon surren- 
dered himself to the English at Rochefort. 
He only asked permission to pass the remain- 
der of his days in England, under an assumed 
name, and in a private character, but he was 
conveyed to St. Helena, as a prisoner of state. 
A few ofiicers of his suite accompanied him. 
In the island he was treated with indignity 
and meanness until his death, which was the 
result of an intestine disorder, and took place 
May 5th, 1821. In his last moments, he was 
delirious, and his last words, " Tete cCarmee^'' 
proved that he fancied himself at the head of 
his troops, watching the fluctuating current 
of a battle. He was buried in a little valley ; 
a simple slab marked the place of his repose ; 
two weeping-willows waved over it, and an 
iron railing encircled that spot of ground so 
dear to millions. 

Napoleon, in person, was below the middle 
size ; and, in the latter part of his life, quite 
corpulent. His straight brown hair fell over 
a broad high forehead ; his complexion was 
clear olive, and his features regular and class- 
ical. An air of subdued melancholy was the 
prevailing characteristic of his countenance in 
repose ; but he had the power of dismissing 
all expression from his features, when he 
chose to baffle scrutiny. At such times the 
curious observer might gaze upon his still gray 
eye and quiet lip without finding any indica- 
tion of the thoughts which were passing 
within. 

Though Napoleon was ambitious, his de- 
sire was not for mere self-aggrandizement, 
for he sought the advancement of France. 
He contended in self-defense and defense of 
France, against the crowns of Europe, who 
hated him as the monarch of the people. 
These wars drenched the sands of Egypt, the 
snows of Russia, and the plains of Germany, 
and Italy, and Spain, with the best blood of 
France and the best of Europe : yet he was 



BON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



1 T 



not destitute of the feelings of humanity, and, 
as he rode over a field heaped with the dead 
and dying victims of his ambition, his fine 
eye would fill with tears. But feeling with- 
out repentance is of no avail. Yet if Napo- 
leon was lavish of the lives of others, he was 
no less prodigal of his own, amidst the hot- 
test fire of the enemy. If he laid his grasp 
upon nations, — 

"Their ransom did the general coffers fill." 

He often pardoned, but he never failed to 
reward. It was thus that he attached his 
soldiers to him with indissoluble bonds. A 
thousand proofs may be given of their attach- 
ment to their emperor. At Waterloo, one man 
whose left arm was shattered by a cannon- 
ball, wrenched it off with the other, and 
throwing it up in the air, he exclaimed to his 
comrades, "Vive I'empereur, jusqu' a la 
mort! " When Napoleon took his final fare- 
well of France, all wept, but particularly 
Savary, and a Polish officer who had been 
exaj^cd from the ranks by Bonaparte. He 
clung to his master's knees, wrote a letter to 
Lord Keith, entreated permission to accom- 
pany him, even in the most menial capacity, 
which couW not bo admitted. 

Napoleon was a statesman as well as a war- 
rior. What he would have accomplished, 
had he been left to govern Fi-ance in peace, 
may be judged from the great benefits which 
he wrought w.hile engaged by almost inces- 
sant hostilities. The Code Napoleon was an 
inestimable boon to the jurisprudence of 
France and Europe ; and throughout the 
empire, magnificent public edifices, fortifica- 
tions, harbors, docks, canals, roads, bridges, 
columns, and schools still speak of the en- 
ergy with which he improved and embel- 
lished the land Avhose throne he occupied, 
and in the hearts of whose people his memory 
is still warmly enshrined. 

In 1840, Louis Philippe, after obtaining the 
consent of England, sent a frigate commanded 
by his son, the Prince de Joinville, to St. 
Helena, to convey the remains of Napoleon 
to France. On the 30th of November, they 
reached Cherbourg, whence they were con- 
veyed with great pomp to Paris, and depos- 
ited beneath the dome of the Hospital des 
Invalides, on the 15th of December, where 



they lie beside the bones of Turenne and 
Vauban. 

Napoleon Charles Francis Joseph, son 
of Napoleon and Maria Louisa, was born at 
Paris, March 20th, 1811. He received the 
title of King of Rome. The downfall of his 
illustrious father ehanged his condition and 
prospects. His grandfather, the Emperor of 
Austria, was appointed his guardian. He 
received the title of the Duke of Reichstadt. 
He died at the palace of Schonbrunn, near 
Vienna, of consumption, July 22d, 1832. 

Joseph, the elder brother of Napoleon, was 
Dorn in 1768. He shared the fortune of his 
eminent brother, and was of great service to 
him in a diplomatic capacity. In 1806 Na- 
poleon placed him upon the throne of Naples. 
His brief reign was a succession of benefits 
to a people who had been long degraded by 
oppressive despotism. He founded civil and 
military schools, overthrew feudal privileges, 
suppressed the convents, opened new roads, 
set the lazzaroni at work, and everywhere 
animated the abject people with new life and 
hope. From 1808 to 1818, he wore the 
crown of Spain, and but for the intervention 
of the British, and the desolation of war, 
would have opened a happy path for that 
unfortunate kingdom. After the fall of Na- 
poleon, Joseph resided some years at Borden- 
town, N. J. He died in Europe in 1844. In 
his later years he bore the title of Comte de 
Survilliers. 

LuciEN was born at Ajaccio in 1775. He 
was president of the council of five hundred, 
and aided in raising Napoleon to the con- 
sulship. A partial estrangement occurred 
between the brothers, and Lucicn exiled him- 
self to Italy, whence he refused to return and 
accept a throne. He was a man of high 
spirit and independence. The pope made 
him Prince of Canino. When Napoleon was 
pent up in Elba, a reconciliation was effected 
between the two brothei's, and Lucien was 
more devoted to the empire in its decline 
than he had been in its day of prosperity. 
He wished to share the emperor's imprison- 
ment at St. Helena, but it was not permitted. 
He spent his latter years in the Roman states, 
and died in 1840. 

Louis was born in 1778. He shared in 
Napoleon's Italian campaigns, and accompa- 



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lo8 



COTTAGE CYCLOPAEDIA OF 



nied the expedition to Eg3'pt. In 1806 he 
was placed upon the throne of Holland. The 
post was reluctantly accepted, but he devoted 
himself with enthusiasm to the duties it in- 
volved. The policy maintained by Napoleon 
against the commerce of (Jreat Britain, would 
cripple the traffic of Holland. Louis was 
placed in an embarrassing and humiliating 
position between the power of his brother 
and the interests of his people. He abdicated 
m 1810. Louis was of a melancholy temper- 
ament, studious and retiring. When Na- 
poleon was just entering upon his brilliani 
career, his musing brother became deeply 
enamored of a beautiful scion of the ancient 
nobility. Their union was impeded, and 
Louis forced to wed the daughter of Jose- 
phine, Hortense, who loved and was beloved 
by Duroc. They separated after a few years 
of dejection. The eldest of their children 
shattered by an early death Napoleon's plan 
that he should inherit the imperial crown ; 
the second died in youthful manhood ; the 
third now sits on the throne of France. 
Louis, after his abdication, lived gloomily a 
retired and scholastic life till 18J:6, in which 
year he died at Leghorn. 

Jerojie was born at Ajaccio in 1784. In his 
youth he served in the French navy, and dur- 
inga visit to America, inone of his cruises, mar- 
ried Miss Elizabeth Patterson, the daughter of 
a rich merchant of Baltimore. Napoleon was 
much annoyed at his idle and dissolute ways. 
He finally exchanged the sea for land service. 
In 1807, he obeyed his brother in the repu- 
diation of his American wife, espoused the 
daughter of the King of Wurtemberg, and 
was made King of Westphalia. He was the 
scapegrace of the Bonaparte family, weak, 
mean. Napoleon said to him, " If the majesty 
of kings is imprinted on the countenance, 
you may safel^^ travel incognito." The fall 
of the empire deprived Jerome of the crown 
he wore so ill. He lives to see a second em- 
pire and another Napoleon on its throne. 

Mabie Ann Elise, the eldest of Napoleon's 
sisters, was born Jan. 8th, 1777. In May, 
1797, she was married to Felix Bacciochi, a 
Corsican. Napoleon gave her the grand-duchy 
of Tuscan)^ with the principalities of Lucca 
and Tiombino, in whose government she dis- 
played much energy and ability. Her sway 



ended in 1814, and she died at Trieste, Aug. 
«th, 1820. 

Makie Pauline, the favorite sister of Na- 
poleon, was born at Ajaccio, Oct. 20th, 1782. 
After becoming the widow of General Le- 
clerc, she married Prince Camille Boro-hese 
with whom she did not live on good terms. 
She died in 1825. Her whole property 
amounted to 2,000,000 francs. She was un- 
commonly beautiful, and Canova represented 
her as the goddess of beauty, a Venus which 
almost rivaled the antique. " 

Cakoline Makie Annonciade, the young- 
est of Napoleon's sisters, was born March 
2Gth, 1782. In January, 1800, she was mar- 
ried to Murat. She was a very pretty and 
a very clever woman. When the rule of her 
husband was overthrown in 1815, by the re- 
verses of the French and the advance of the 
Austrian army, and the city of Naples was on 
the brink of anarchy, she took prompt, wise, 
and energetic measures for maintaining order. 

She died 

BONIFACE, the name of several popes. 
Boniface I. succeeded Zosimus in 418, and 
was maintained in the pontifical chair by the 
Emperor Honorius against his rival Eulalius. 
He died in 422. Boniface II. succeeded Felix 
IV. in 530. He was born at Pv.ome, but his 
father was a Goth. He compelled the bish- 
ops in a council to allow him to nominate 
his successor, and according!}' he selected 
Vigil ; but a second council- disavowed the 
proceedings of the first. Boniface VI. came 
to the chair 806, and died of the gout a fort- 
night after. Boniface VII. assumed the chair 
after having murdered Benedict VI. and John 
XIV. He was acknowledged sovereign pon- 
tiff in 974, and died a few months after. 
Boniface VIII., after the resignation of Celes- 
tine, was elected 1294. He commenced his 
pontificate by imprisoning his predecessor, 
and laying Denmark under an interdict. He 
also excommunicated the Colonnas as here- 
tics, and preached a crusade against them. 
He excited the princes of Germany to revolt 
against Albert, and laid France under an 
interdict. Philip appealed to a general coun- 
cil and sent his army into Italy, and took 
the pope prisoner. He died at Rome a few 
months afterward. 

BONIFACE, St., first spread Christianity 



BON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



139 



and civiliziition among the Germans. His 
original name was Winifred, and he was born 
in England in 680. In 732 he was made 
archbishop and primate of all Germany. He 
was killed by barbarians at Dockum, in "West 
Friesland, in 755. 

BONNER, Edmund, an English prelate, 
who received several preferments from Car- 
dinal Wolsey. Henry VII I. made him one 
of his chaplains, and sent him to Rome to 
obtain from the pope a divorce from Catha- 
nne. There he was so insolent that the 
pontiff threatened to throw him into a cal- 
dron of boiling lead, and thus compelled him 
to quit Rome. He persecuted the Protest- 
ants with great cruelty, and Elizabeth im- 
prisoned him in the Marshalsea, where he 
died in 1569. 

BONEVAL, Claude Alexander, Count 
de, known also by the name of Achmet Pa- 
cha, was born m 1672. He was descended 
from an illustrious family in France, and 
married the daughter of the Marshal de 
Biron. He was disgraced, however, by his 
incessant pursuit of sensual pleasure. He 
quitted the French army to serve under 
Prince Eugene ; but having quarreled with 
the general, he deserted to the service of the 
Turks, among whom he obtained a military 
command, and the rank of pacha with three 
tails. He won a great victory over the 
imperial army on the banks of the Danube. 
He died in 1747. 

BOOKS. The first books were boards, or 
the inner bark of trees; and bark is still 
used by some nations, as are also skins, for 
which latter parchment was substituted. 
Papyrus, an Egyptian plant, was adopted in 
that country. Books whose leaves were vel- 
lum, were invented by Attalus, King of 
Pergamus, about 178 e.g., at which time 
books were in volumes or rolls. The MSS. 
found at Herculaneum consist of rolls of 
papyrus, charred and matted together by the 
fire, about nine inches long, and one, two, 
or three inches in diameter, each being a 
separate treatise. The Pentateuch of Moses, 
and the history of Job, are the most ancient 
books in the world ; and in profane litera- 
ture the poems of Homer, though the names 
of others yet older are preserved. Before the 
day of printing, books commanded prices 
only within reach of the wealthy. Jerome 



states that he had ruined himself by buying a 
copy of the works of Origen. King Alfred 
gave a large estate for a work on cosmog- 
raphy, about A.D. 872. A homily was ex- 
changed for two hundred sheep and five 
quarters of wheat ; and such books were 
usually sold for double or treble their weight 
in gold. The book of St. Cuthbert, the ear- 
liest ornamented book, is supposed to have 
been bound about a.d. 650. A Latin Psalter 
in oak boards was bound in the ninth cen- 
tury. A MS. copy of the Four Gospels, the 
book on which the Kings of England, from 
Henry I. to Edward VI., took their corona- 
tion oath, was bound in oaken boards nearl}' 
an inch thick, a.d. 1100. Velvet was the 
covering used in the fourth century, and silk 
soon after. Vellum was introduced early wi 
the fifteenth century, and was stamped and 
ornamented about 1510. Leather came into 
use about the same time. Cloth binding 
began to supersede the common boards about 
1830. 

BOONE, Dakiel, a native of Virginia, was 
one of the first to penetrate the savage wilds 
of Kentucky, on an expedition to explore 
which, he departed with five companions, 
May 1st, 1769. Boone, with John Stewart, 
was captured by the Indians, not long after 
their arrival in Kentucky, but soon managed 
to escape. Their companions had returned 
home, whither they would have followed them, 
but for the timely arrival of Squire Boone, 
Daniel's brother, with refreshments. . Stewart 
being soon after slain, the two Boones re- 
mained the onlj^ white men in the wilderness. 
In 1773, Boone with his own and five other 
families, a body of forty men, took up the 
march of emigration from Virginia to Ken- 
tucky ; but in consequence of the hostility of 
the Indians, they returned to the settlements 
on Clinch River. In 1775, Boone built a fort 
at Salt Spring, on the southern bank of the 
Kentucky, on the site of Boonesborough. 
After sustaining several sieges, he was taken 
by the savages, Feb. 7th, 1778, while hunting 
with some of his men. The Indians soon 
learned to respect and value Boone, who was 
adopted by one of the chiefs of Chillicothe, 
but the thoughts of his wife and children in- 
duced our adventurer to attempt an escape. 
After traveling for four days, taking but one 
meal, he arrived at Boonesborough, which 



BOO 



140 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



was a hundred and sixty miles from the place 
of his captivity. On the 8th of August an 
attack on the fort was commenced by a body 
of Indians and Canadian French, which con- 
tinued till the 20th, when the siege was aban- 
doned. This was the last attempt made upon 
Boonesborough. 

From 1782 till 1798, Boone lived alternately 
in Kentucky and Virginia. In 1798, having 
obtained from the Spanish government a grant 
of land in Upper Louisiana, he removed 
thither with his children and friends, who 
were also presented with land. He settled on 
the Missouri, beyond the limits of other set- 
tlements, and employed himself in the wild 
life of the forest, hunting and trapping, ■ until 
1820, when he expired, aged nearly ninety. 
life had for a long time been sensible of the 
approach of death, and had a coffin made out 
of a favorite cherry-tree, which he brought to 
a high degree of polish by continual rubljing. 

BORGIA, C^sAR, son of Pope Alexander 
VI., an infamous character. On his father's 
accession to the papacy in 1492, he was in- 
vested with the purple. Being jealous of his 
brother Francis, he contrived to have him 
drowned. Having renounced the cardinal- 
ship, he was made Duke of Romagna in 1501, 
and leagued with Louis XII. of France. On 
the death of his father, he was sent prisoner 
to Spain, but made his escape, and died fight- 
ing under the walls of Biano, in 1507. 

BORNEO, next to Australia, the largest 
island in, the world, is about 850 miles long, 
and 700 broad. Lon. 109" to 119° E. ; lat. 
7° N. to 4= 20' S. The insalubrity of the 
climate has restrained Europeans from explor- 
ing it. Earthquakes and volcanoes are fre- 
quent in the island. The mountain breezes 
and the rains moderate the heat, which is ex- 
cessive. Gold, diamonds, pearl, iron, copper, 
tin, antimony, and other minerals are found 
here. The fruits are fine and abundant. The 
native inhabitants are Malays, Chinese, Bujis 
or natives of Celebes, and a few descendants 
of Arabs. The Dutch have permanent settle- 
ments on the island, and derive their chief 
profit from gold, pepper, and diamonds. Bor- 
neo was discovered by the Portuguese in 1526. 

BORODINO. This battle, one of the most 
sanguinary in the world, was fought Sept. 7th, 
1812, between the French and Russians, com- 
manded on the one side by Napoleon, and on 



the other by Kutusoff, 210,000 men being en- 
gaged. The retreat of the Russians left Mos- 
cow open to Napoleon. This is sometimes 
called the battle of the Moskwa. 

BOSCAWEN, Edward, a British admiral, 
particularly distinguished himself at the tak- 
ing of Porto Bello and the siege of Carthagena. 
He also signalized himself under Anson, off 
Cape Finisterre, and at the taking of Madras, 
Cape Breton, and Louisburg. He died in 
1761, having received in succession all the 
honors of his profession. 

BOSSUET, Jacques Benigne, Bishop of 
Meaux, born at Dijon, 1627, became one of 
the most celebrated ecclesiastics of the eight- 
eenth century. He was pious, severe in doc- 
trine and practice, eloquent, and learned. He 
died in 1704. 

BOSWELL, James, the friend and biogra- 
pher of Dr. Johnson, was a native of Scotland, 
and studied at the universities of Glasgow and 
Utrecht. He was born at Edinburgh, in 1 740, 
and died in 1705. He was acquainted with 
many eminent literaiy men, and his introduc- 
tion to Johnson he calls the most important 
event of his life. His life of Johnson is accu- 
rate and minute, abounding with literary an- 
ecdote and personal detail. It was first pub- 
lished in 1790, and has since been repeatedly 
re-printed. 

BOSWORTH, a small town of Leicester- 
shire, England, in the vicinity of which is 
Bosworth Field, memorable for the battle 
fought here, Aug. 22d, 1485, between Richard 
III. and the Earl of Richmond, afterward 
Henry VII., in which the latter was victori- 
ous, and Richard, after having performed 
prodigies of valor, and cloven from helm to 
heel two of Richmond's standard-bearers, thus 
disproving the tale of his withered arm, was 
finally slain. The brows of Richmond were 
encircled on the field of battle with the diadem 
which was stricken from the casque of Rich- 
ard. This battle ended the bloody contentions 
of the rival roses, the red and white badges of 
York and Lancaster. 

BOTHWELL, James Hepburn, Earl of, re- 
markable in the history of Scotland for his 
connection with Queen Mary and. his suj - 
posed share in the murder of Henry Darnley, 
her husband. When that unfortunate prince 
was blown up in the house where he slept, 
suspicion fell strongly on Bothwell and the 



BOT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAFflTT. 



141 



queen. Bothwell was tried, but nothing could 
be fixed on him, and he was acquitted. After 
this he seized Mary near Edinburgh, and car- 
vied her prisoner to Dunbar Castle, where 
they were married. During these iniquitous 
proceedings, Bothwell procured a divorce from 
his first wife. Mary soon after created him 
Earl of Orkney. But a confederacy among 
the lords being formed against him, he retired 
to the Orkneys, and from thence to Denmark, 
where he died in 1577, confessing it is said 
his own guilt, and the queen's innocence of 
Darnley's murder. 

BOUDINOT, Elias, was born at Philadel- 
phia, May 2d, 1740. He became eminent at 
the bar, was chosen member of the continental 
congress in 1777, and its president in 1782. 
For six years he was in the house of repre- 
sentatives, and for a few years director of the 
mint. He made munificent donations to the 
American Bible Society, of which he was the 
first president. He died in 1821. 

BOUFFLERS, Marshal de, was born in 
1644, and died in 1711. His defense of Na- 
mur, in 1695, cost the allies 20,000 men. 
Louis XIV. sent him an order commanding 
him to surrender, but he concealed it till he 
had no longer the means of defense. 

BOUILLE, Francois Claude Amour, Mar- 
quis de, a French loyalist general, who, among 
other services, suppressed a dangerous insur- 
rection at Metz, and assisted Louis XVL in 
his attempt to escape from France. For his 
avowal of this transaction, a price was set 
upon his head, whereupon he took a commis- 
sion in the Swedish service. He died in 1800, 
aged sixty-one. 

BOURBONS. This family ascended the 
throne of France in the person of Henry IV., 
1589. The crown of Spain was settled on a 
younger branch, and guaranteed by the peace 
of Utrecht, 1713, after a long and bloody dis- 
pute called the war for the Spanish succession. 
The reigning family of Naples is a branch of 
the Bourbons of Spain. The Bourbons were 
expelled from France in 1791, and were re- 
stored in 1814. The elder branch was ex- 
pelled in 1830, and Louis Philippe, of the Or- 
leans line, reigned till 1848, when he also was 
deposed. 

BOURBON, Charles, Duke of, or Consta- 
ble of Bourbon, son of Gilbert, Count of Mont- 
pensier, and Clara of Gonzaga, born in 1489. 



BOW 



At the age of twenty -six, he received the 
sword of constable from Francis L, and dis- 
tinguished himself at Marignano, but soon 
after fell into disgrace. On this, he associated 
with Charles V., and Henry VIII. of England, 
against his sovereign. The plot being discov- 
ered, he fled into Italy, and was bej-ond the 
territories of France, when Francis sent to 
demand the sword which he wore as consta- 
ble, and the badge of his order. In the words 
of his reply, we may trace the deep anguish 
of his heart: "The king deprived me of my 
sword at Valenciennes when he gave the com- 
mand of the vanguard to D'Alen^on : the 
badge of my order I left under my pillow at 
Chantelles." He became commander-in-chief 
of the imperial troops in Italy, but was killed 
in the successful assault on Rome, May 2d, 
1527. He fell, it is said, by a shot fired by 
Benvenuto Cellini. He died excommunicated. 

BOURBON, Isle of, an island about 400 
miles east of Madagascar. Its origin is sup- 
posed to be volcanic. Le Piton de Neige, or 
the Snowy Spike, is a mountain which rises 
to the height of about 10,000 feet above the 
level of the sea. The isle of Bourbon, which 
is 48 miles long, and 36 broad, was discovered 
by Mascarenhas, a Portuguese, in 1545, and 
called after his name ; but the French, vvho 
gained possession of it in 1649, changed its 
name. After remaining for a time in the 
hands of the English, it was restored to the 
French in 1815. After the revolution of 1848, 
it received the name of Reunion. 

BOURRIENNE, L. A. Fauvelt de, the 
schoolmate and secretary of Napoleon, and 
afterward a partisan of the Bourbons, 1769- 
1824. 

BOWDITCH, Nathaniel, LL.D., born at 
Salem, Mass., March 26th, 1773, died at Bos- 
ton, March 16th, 1838. His translation of 
the "Mecanique Celeste" of Laplace, with 
the elaborate additions that he made, gave 
him high rank as a writer in the pure mathe- 
matics. 

BOWDOIN, James, governor of Massachu- 
setts, was born at Boston, in 1727, graduated 
at Cambridge, 1745, elected member of the 
general court in 1753, and a member of the 
council in 1756. In 1778, he was chosen 
president of the convention which framed the 
Massachusetts constitution. In 1785, being 
chosen governor of Massachusetts, he had 



142 



Cottage cyclopedia of 



Shay's insurrection to quell. He died at Bos- 
ton, in 1790. Such was his reputation for 
learning, that he was honored with the degree 
of LL.D. by the university of Edinburgh, 
and admitted member of the royal societies of 
Dublin, London, and other places. 

BOAVLES, William Lisle, a writer of ex- 
cellent sonnets and other more mediocre 
poetry, enjoys the distinction of having ' de- 
lighted and inspired' the genius of Coleridge, 
who while yet a j^outh was a warm admirer 
of his sonnets. Mr. Bowles was born at 
King's Sutton in Northamptonshire, Sept. 
24th, 1762, was educated at Winchester and 
Oxford, and was for many years rector of 
Bremhill in Wiltshire, where he died in his 
eighty-eighth year. He is chiefly famous for 
the controversy concerning the poetry of 
Pope, in which Campbell and Byron were 
among his antagonists. 

II is absence of mind was very great, and it 
is said that when his coachman drove him 
anj^wliere he had to practice all kinds of cau- 
tions to keep his master to time and place. The 
poet once walked out in company with an an- 
tiquar3% as absent of mind as himself. His 
servant coming to look for him, and learning 
this, exclaimed in ludicrous distress, "What! 
those wandered away together ? then they'll 
never be found any more ! " His handwriting 
was one of the Avorst that ever man wrote ; 
insomuch that frequently he could not read 
that which he had written the day before ; 
and the printers had tough work in getting 
his scrawls into type. At the office where 
his works were printed, there was one com- 
positor who had a sort of knack in making 
out the blind hieroglyphics ; and he was once 
actually sent for by Mr. Bowles into Wilt- 



of the island of Hayti, was born in Port au 
Prince, about 1780. After the death of Le- 
clerc, he joined the party of Petion, and was 
finally named by him his successor in tlie 
presidency. When the revolution broke out 
in 1820, in the northern part of the island, he 
was invited to command the insurgents, and 
upon the union of the northern and southern 
parts of the island on the death of Christophe, 
and the revolution in the eastern part, lie 
became master of the whole island. 

BOYLE, Charles, fourth Earl of Orrery, 
generally supposed the inventor of the astro- 
nomical instrument which bears his title, born 
1676, died in 1731. He patronized Rowley, 
the real inventor of the planetarium, called 
the orrery. 

BOYLE, Robert, born at Lismore, in Ire- 
land, 1627, was seventh son of Richard, the 
great Earl of Cork. He was one of the first 
members of the learned society formed in 
1645, under the name of the Philosophical 
College, and afterward continued under the 
name of the Royal Society. He made nu- 
merous experiments in various branches of 
natural philosophy, which led to some im- 
portant results. But it is chiefly as a pious 
and benevolent man that he is interesting to 
us. Having conceived doubts of the authen- 
ticity of revealed religion, he devoted him- 
self to a severe course of study, until he was 
fully convinced of its truth. He endowed 
public lectures for the defense of Christianity 
(which are yet delivered), and, at his own 
expense, printed Irish and Gaelic transla- 
tions of the Bible. He died in London, in 
1691. 

BOYNE, Battle of the, was fought on the 
1st of July, 1690, between AVilliam III., at 



shire to copy some manuscript written a year | the head of a Protestant army, and James II. 



or two before, which the author had himself 
vainly endeavored to decipher. 

BOYDELL, John, patron of the arts and 
engraver by profession ; born at Donington, 
England, Januarj- 19th, 1719 ; came to Lon- 
don on foot, bound himself an apprentice to 
an engraver; began to publish 1745-6, and 
in 1790, had expended in the promotion of 
the arts in general, and the "Shakespeare 
Gallery" in particular, £350,000 sterling. 
He died in London, Dec. I7th, 1804, having 
nearly reached the age of eight}' -six years. 

BOYER, Jean Pierre, a mulatto, president 



at the head of a Catholic and French force. 
The latter were totally defeated. The Duke 
of Schomberg, William's ablest general, was 
shot by mistake by his own soldiers, as he 
was crossing the Boj^ne. After this battle 
James re-embarked for France, and William 
completed the reduction of Ireland, by the 
capture of Limerick, after a protracted siege. 
The impetuous imbecility of the unfortunate 
bigot James II., served only to hasten the 
ruin which public opinion had so deservedly 
prepared for himself and his family. It was 
the Irish who, during the dark fortunes of 



BOY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



143 



this last of the royal Stuarts, clung to him 
when all else deserted him. They manned 
his navy, recruited his army, replenished his 
coffers, and took their stand around his per- 
son on their native soil ; and when they saw 
him the first to fly, they still erected his torn 
standard, and rallied in his cause, paying the 
penalty of their generous but misapplied 
devotion to a bigot and a tyrant, by utter 
ruin and eternal exile. Yet when James, in 
his flight from the battle, arrived in Dublin, 
he had the ingratitude and ungraciousness to 
reflect upon the cowardice of the Irish. He 
reached the castle late at night, and was met 
at its gates by the beautiful Duchess of Tyr- 
connel, "La Belle Jennings" of Grammont's 
Memoirs. In return for the sympatfiizing 
respect wiiich marked her reception, the king 
is said to have sarcastically complimented 
her upon the "alertness of her husband's 
countrymen." The high-spirited beauty re- 
phed, "In that, however, your majesty has 
had the advantage of them all." The king, 
in fact, was among the first to arrive in the 
capital with the news of his own defeat. 

BOZZARIS, Marco, one of the gallant de- 
fenders of liberty in modern Greece, was born 
in Albania, in 1780, and is said to have been, at 
an early period of his life, in the French ser- 
vice. When the Greeks rose to throw off the 
Ottoman yoke, he ardently espoused the cause 
of his country, and was chosen stratarch of 
Western Greece. The Turks having invaded 
Etolia with a large army, at the head of two 
hundred and fifty volunteers he made a noc- 
turnal attack on the enemy's camp, and put 
great numbers of them to the sword ; but 
toward the close of the contest he received a 
mortal wound. His companions in arms, by 
a desperate eifort, succeeded in bearing him 
from the field, and he expired at Missolonghi 
on the following day, August 23d, 1823. 

BRABANT. North Brabant, in the king- 
dom of the Netherlands, contains 403,687 in- 
liabitants, and South Brabant, in Belgium, 
711,332. Brabant formed a duchy in the 
seventh century. For some ages it belonged 
to the Frankish monarchy, and then was a 
German fief In 1005, the last duke dying, 
the duchy devolved on his brother-in-law, 
Lambert I., Count of Louvain. From him it 
came to Philip II., Duke of Burgundy, and 
afterward to the Emperor Charles Y. In the 



seventeenth century, the republic of Holland 
took possession of the northern part, which 
was thence called Dutch Brabant. The other 
part, belonging to Austria, was seized upon 
by France in 1746. The peace of Aix-la- 
Chapelle restored it, but, after falling again 
into the hands of the French, it was ceded to 
France by the treaties of Campo Forraio and 
Luneville, in 1791 and 1801. 

BRADDOCK, Edward, major-general and 
commander in the British army, who in 175.5 
marched against Fort du Quesne on the 
Ohio, fell into an ambuscade of Indians and 
French, was defeated and slain. Washing- 
ton, who had cautioned him in vain, con- 
ducted the retreat in a masterly manner. 

BRADFORD, William, eminent lawyer 
of Pennsylvania* born in Philadelphia, Sept. 
14th, 1755, died August 23d, 1795. Wash- 
ington appointed him attorney-general of the 
LTnited States. 

BRADFORD, William, one of the first 
printers in EngUsh America, born in 1658, 
died in 1752. In 1725, the Neio York Ga- 
zette, the first newspaper published in that 
city, was commenced by him. He also 
started the manufacture of paper at Eliza- 
bethtown, N. J. He was first established at 
Philadelphia, where his son Andrew contin- 
ued the American Mercury, the first news- 
paper of that town, commenced in 1719. 

BRADFORD, William, grandson of the 
preceding, was a printer and bookseller in 
Philadelphia. In 1742, he published the first 
number of the Pennsylvania Journal, which 
was continued through the century. The 
day preceding that on which the stamp-act 
was to go into force, the Journal appeared 
in the blackest mourning, with its head sur- 
mounted by a' skull and cross-bones. In the 
upper right-hand corner, was a death's head, 
entitled " An Emblem of the Effects of the 
Stamp. ! the Fatal Stamp." In the op- 
posite corner was the quaint announcement, 
" The Times are Dreadful, Doleful, Dismal, 
Dolorous, and Dollar-less." On the margin 
was tlie cry, " Adieu, adieu to the Liberty of 
the Press." The first page read thus : " Thurs- 
day, October 31, 1765. Numb. 1195. The 
Pennsylvania Journal, and Weekly Advertis- 
er. Expiring : In Hopes of a Resurrection to 
Life again." " I am sorry to be obliged to ac- 
quaint my readers that as the Stamp Act is 



BRA 



114 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



feared to be obligatory upon us after the frst 
of Notemher ensuing (The Fatal To-morrow), 
the publisher of this paper, unable to bear 
the Burthen, has thought it expedient to stop 
awhile, in order to deliberate, whether any 
methods can be found to elude the chains 
forged for us, and escape the insupportable 
slavery, which it is hoped, from the last 
representation now made against that act, 
may be effected. Meanwhile I must ear- 
nestly Request every individual of my sub- 
scribers, many of whom have been long 
behind Hand, that they would immediately 
discharge their respective Arrears, that I 
may be able not only to support myself dur- 
ing the Interval, but be better prepared to 
proceed again with this Paper whenever an 
opening for that purpose a'J)pears, which I 
hope will be soon. William Bradford." 
The sturdy republican fought as major and 
colonel in the Pennsylvania militia at Tren- 
ton and Princeton. His constitution broke 
and his fortune was shattered. He died 
Sept. 25th, 1791, aged seventy-two. 

BRADFORD, William, was born in the 
north of England in 1588. AYhile a youth 
he was denounced as a separatist. He fled 
to Holland, and came over in the Mayflower. 
While with others he was seeking a spot 
whereat to land, his wife fell overboard and 
was drowned. He was made governor upon 
the death of Carver in 1621, and annually 
elected so long as he lived, except now and 
then that " by importuning, he got off," as 
Winslow says, and another filled the place 
for the nonce. Gov. Bradford died in May, 
1657. 

BRADLEY, James, an eminent English 
astronomer, born 1692; succeeded Dr. John 
Keil, as Savillian professor of astronomy, at 
Oxford, in 1721 ; discovered the aberration of 
the fixed stars, and mutation of tlie earth's 
axis ; was appointed astronomer royal, Feb- 
ruary, 1741-2; died July 13th, 1762. 

BRADSTREET, Anne, author of the first 
volume of poems written in America, was the 
daughter of Dudley, and the wife of Brad- 
.street, both governors of Massachusetts. 
She was born in England in 1614, and died in 
1672. Her poems were printed at Cambridge 
in 1640, treating of "the four elements, con- 
stitutions, .ages of man, seasons of the year, 
the Assyrian, Persian, Grecian, and Roman 



monarchies." Cotton Mather said that "hei 
poems, eleven times printed, have afforded a 
plentiful entertainment unto the ingenious, 
and a monument for her memory beyond the 
stateliest marbles." 

BRAGANZA, a town of Portugal, made a 
duchy in ] 442. It gives its name to the royal 
house of Portugal, of whom the first was 
John r\'., Duke of Braganza, who led tho 
Portuguese people in rendering themselves 
independent of Spain, in 1640. A branch 
of the house of Braganza is seated on the 
throne of Brazil. 

BRAKE, Tycho, eminent astronomer, borr» 
in Sweden, December 19th, 1546, died at 
Prague, October 24th, 1601, aged fifty-five. 

BRAHMINS, a sect of Indian philosophers 
and priests, reputed so ancient that Pythago- 
ras is said to have received from them his 
doctrine of metempsychosis, and it is affirmed 
that some of the Greek philosophers went to 
India on purpose to converse with them. 
They never eat flesh, and profess to abstain 
from wine and all carnal enjoyments. The 
modern Brahmins derive their name from 
Brahma, the first person in the Trinity, or 
Trimurti, of the Hindoos. Brahma is the 
creator, Vishnu, the preserver, or redeemer, 
and Siva, the destroyer. Brahma is repre- 
sented with four heads and four arms. He 
is gifted with great power, but is himself 
created by the Eternal One. Some believe 
that he dies annually, and rises again. He 
is considered as the lawgiver and teacher of 
India. 

BRAINERD, David, a devoted missionary 
among the Indians in New York, New Jer- 
sey, and Pennsylvania, was born in Haddam, 
Conn., in 1718. His labors exhausted his 
strength, and he died at the house of Rev. 
Jonathan Edwards, Northampton, Mass., 
Oct. 10th, 1747. 

BRANDENBURG, an ancient mark or 
marquisate of Germany, and now the metro- 
politan province of Prussia. The Suevi first, 
and then the Sclavonians, inhabited it. Thte 
latter barbarians, in the tenth century, were 
conquered by Henry I., and converted to 
Christianity. The mark passed through 
various hands, till in the fifteenth century it 
came into those of the ancestors of the pres- 
ent royal family of Prussia. The Elector 
Frederic William, enlarged it by the annex- 



BRA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



145 



ation of several towns and districts. The old 
mark, having been ceded to Napoleon, in 
1807, formed a part of the kingdom of West- 
phalia, until 1814, when it was restored to 
Prussia. 

BEANDYWINE, a small river taking its 
rise in Pennsylvania, which, after a course of 
forty -five miles, flowing through the state of 
Delaware, joins the Christiana, two miles 
below Wilmington. The river is known in 
history for a battle fought in its vicinity, 
Sept. nth, 1777, between the British and 
Americans, in which the latter sustained 
a defeat with a loss of 900 in killed and 
wounded. Howe had 17,000 effective troops, 
while Washington's force did not exceed 
11,000, many of whom were raw militia. La- 
fayette was wounded in the leg by a musket 
ball. 

BRANT, Joseph, a celebrated Mohawk 
chief, at the head of the Six Nations during 
our Revolution, was born on the banks of the 
Ohio in 1742. His Indian name was Thay- 
endanegea, ' a bundle of sticks,' or 'strength.' 
Sir William Johnson had him well educated 
at Dr. Wheelock's Indian school in Colum- 
bia, Conn. He attached himself to the royal 
cause, and throughout the war he was en- 
gaged in attacks upon the border settlements 
of New York and Pennsylvania. He was 
far more humane than the Tory leaders with 
whom he was associated. After the termina- 
tion of hostilities, he procured a domain for 
his tribe in Upper Canada, and devoted him- 
self to the social and religious betterment of 
his people. He rendered the Book of Com- 
mon Prayer, and the Gospel of St. Mark, into 
the Mohawk tongue. He died Nov. 24th, 
1807. 

BRAXTON, Carter, a signer of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, was born in New- 
ington, Va., Sept. 10th, 1736. After grad- 
uating at William and Mary College, he 
visited England, where he tarried until 1760. 
In 1765, he was chosen to a seat in the Vir- 
ginia house of burgesses. In 1775, he was 
elected to Congress. He was afterward a rep- 
resentative in the legislature of Virginia. 
He was a graceful speaker, and a man of 
respectable attainments. Pecuniary embar- 
rassments clouded the last years of his life, 
and he died Oct. 10th, 1797. 

BRAY, THE Vicar of. Bray, a quiet vil- 



10 



lage in Berkshire, England, is famous for its 
vicar, the Rev. Symond Symonds, who was 
twice a papist, and twice a protestant, be- 
tween the years 1533 and 1558, in the reigns 
of Henry VIII., Edward VI., Mary, and 
Elizabeth. Being called a turncoat, he said 
he kept to his principle, that of " living and 
dying the vicar of Bray." 

BRAZIL, the empire of, comprehends the 
eastern portion of South America. Its extent, 
from north to south, is about 2,600 miles, and 
from east to west, nearly 2,400 miles. With 
a territory of 2,300,000 square miles, possess- 
ing extraordinary wealth and fertility, it is 
inhabited by but seven and a half millions of 
people. Brazil contains some of the largest 
rivers in the world ; the Amazon, Tocantin, 
and San Francisco being the most prominent. 
There is much variety of climate, but gener- 
ally it is healthy ; and the salubrity of the 
vast elevated plains is unequaled by that of 
any other region on the face of the globe. 
The richness of its precious woods, the abun- 
dance of its streams, the profusion of its dia- 
monds and gold, and its general healthiness, 
might in the hands of thrift and enterprise 
make it the El Dorado of the imagination. In 
the beds of the rivers are found diamonds, to- 
pazes, chrysoberyls, other precious stones, 
and gold. The trees are of every description, 
adapted to cabinet-work, ship-building, and 
dyeing ; while coffee, oranges, sugar, tobacco, 
indigo, and rice are easily raised. Brazil, at 
the time of its discovery, was inhabited by 
roving Indians. These Indians are still in 
some regions in as savage a state as when 
South America was first discovered. The 
foreign population consists of Portuguese and 
Africans. The Indians were first used as 
slaves, but this order of things has passed 
away, and their place in servitude is filled by 
the negroes. Of the 7,600,000 inhabitants, 
perhaps 2,000,000 are whites. Many of the 
first men in the country evidently have an 
admixture of African blood in them. 

Brazil was discovered, April 24th, 1500, by 
Pedro Alvarez de Cabral, who at first named 
it Santa Cruz, but Emanuel, the Portuguese 
sovereign, called it Brazil, from the quantity 
of red wood which it produced. The Portu- 
guese at first undervalued this country, and 
sent thither only criminals, and the refuse of 
their population, but the Jews, who had been 



BRA 



146 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 




DIAMOND WASHING IN BKAZIL. 



banished to Brazil in 1548, having successfully 
introduced the culture of the sugar-cane, 
Thomas de Souza was sent over by the court 
of Lisbon, and began to find some good points 
about the country, although it had not yielded 
the desired gold. After temporary misfor- 
tunes, the colonists prospered, but the Portu- 
guese had to contend against France, Spain, 
and the United Provinces, whose jealousy 
uras aroused by the accounts they heard of 
the richness and fertility of the Portuguese 
possessions. The Dutch met with great suc- 



of state burthens, and other causes, tended to 
weaken and distract it. In 1808, the court 
of Portugal removed here, fleeing from Napo- 
leon, but in 1821, the king returned to Lis- 
bon. Dom Pedro, his eldest son, then gov- 
erned Brazil under the title of prince-regent. 
The Brazilians declared themselves indepen- 
dent of Portugal, Oct. 12th, 1822, and Dom 
Pedro was crowned emperor. In 1831 he ab- 
dicated in favor of his son Pedro II., then a 
lad of six years, and returned to Portugal. 
The empire was governed by a regency till 



cess in Brazil, but became the friends of the the coronation of the youthful monarch in 



Portuguese, when the latter shook oflf the 
Spanish yoke and gained their independence. 
They still retained the seven provinces they 
had conquered, and hence arose the division 
of the country into the Brazils ; but a pecu- 
niary compensation induced them to resign 
their claims to the Portuguese. The diamond 
mines were not discovered till 1728. The 
prosperity of Brazil has not been what it 
might be made under an enlightened govern- 
ment. The conflicting interests of various 
bodies of its inhabitants, the unequal pressure 



1841. The government is a hereditary mon- 
archy, limited by an elective legislature. The 
empire is divided into nineteen provinces, each 
of which manages its local affairs. Each has 
a president, appointed by the crown, and its 
provincial assembly, chosen by the people. 
Brazil has Been the most favored of the South 
American states in its freedom from anarchy 
and intestine conflicts. The most cultivated 
part of the population are the merchants of 
the maritime ports, the Europeans and Creoles 
forming the aristocracy of the country. The 



BRA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



147 



inhabitants are Roman Catholics, with the 
exception of the independent native tribes, in 
the vast and obscure regions of the interior. 

Rio Janeiro, situated on a bay which affords 
it one of the finest, safest, and most roomy 
harbors in the world, is the capital of the em- 
pire. An amphitheatre of hills and mountains 
springing up one behind another, and separ- 
ated by fertile valleys that enjoy a perpetual 
spring and yield the choicest fruits and flow- 
ers, rises round the bay. Rio has a popula- 
tion of over 200,000, and is a mart of great 
and increasing commerce. It exports more 
coffee than all other ports in the world. Ba- 
hia, or San Salvador, farther north on the 
coast, was formerly the capital. Of its 160,000 
inhabitants the majority are negroes. It too 
has a capacious harbor and a thriving trade. 
Pernambuco, a seaport stiU to the north, of 
increasing trade, has 50,000 inhabitants. 

BREDA, a fortified town in Dutch Brabant, 
formerly of immense importance. It has sus- 
tained several memorable sieges. In 1590, it 
was taken by Prince Maurice of Nassau, and 
retaken by the Spaniards, under Spinola, in 
1 025, after a siege often months. The French, 
during the revolution, gained possession of it, 
but it was abandoned by them in 1813. 
Charles II. of England dwelt here during part 
of his exile. 

BREMEN, one of the free cities of Germany, 
stands upon the Weser, fifty miles from the 
sea. It was conspicuous in the Hanseatic 
league, and is now the capital of a little re- 
public, whose territory amounts to 112 square 
miles, and whose population in 1855 was 
88,850. Bremen is a place of great resort for 
the warehousing and transit of Gferman and 
foreign goods. It has been a prominent point 
for the debarcation of German emigrants to 
America. Bremen first rose into notice in 
788. 

BRENNUS. Several chieftains of ancient 
Gaul bore this name, which is said to have 
been a title of dignity and honor. One, hav- 
ing ravaged Lombardy and Tuscany, marched 
to Rome, which he surrendered to plunder. 
The garrison held out in the citadel, which 
would have been taken at midnight by the 
foe, but for the noise made by the sacred geese 
of Juno, that were watchful even w^hile the 
dogs slept. Brennus was then offered a thou- 
sand pounds weight of gold to spare the capi- 



tal, and quit the territories of the republic. 
He threw into the scale which held the 
weights, his sword and helmet, haughtily ex- 
claiming, "Wo to the vanquished." The 
treaty was ended by the timely arrival of the 
exiled Camillus, who refused the payment of 
even a pound of gold as ransom. "Rome," 
said he proudly, "is to liberate herself with 
iron and not with gold." He gave battle to 
the Gauls, and routed them, about 390 b.c. 

BRESCIA, a province of Austrian Italy. 
Its manufactures are and have long been ex- 
tensive, and its soil is remarkable for fertility. 
From the hands of the Venetians, it fell into 
those of the French, and finally the Austrians. 
Under the sway of the Venetian republic, the 
inhabitants were unruly, although particularly 
favored by government. The city of Brescia 
has 40,000 inhabitants. In 1512, it was 
stormed by Gaston de Foix, after a stubborn 
resistance by the Venetian garrison. Forty- 
six thousand Brescians, it is said, perished in 
the indiscriminate slaughter that followed the 
entry of the French, to whose lawless rapaci- 
ty, rampant lust, and ferocious cruelty, the 
gallantry of Bayard formed but a feeble coun- 
terpoise. In 1796, as Bonaparte was quitting 
Brescia, the municipal oflBcers, who accompa- 
nied him to the gate of the city, said that the 
Brescians loved liberty more than the rest of 
the Italians. " Yes," said the general, sarcas- 
tically, "they love to talk of it to their 
women." This slur nevertheless, Brescia re- 
volted against the Austrians in 1849, and was 
bombarded and stormed by Hajmau. 

BRESL AU, capital of the Prussian province 
of Silesia, is situated at the junction of the 
Ohlau and Oder ; population, 110,000. The 
architectural beauty of the city has been cel- 
ebrated. Its commerce is considerable. Here 
the Prussians were defeated by the Austrians, 
Nov. 22d, 1757. Breslau was besieged and 
taken by the French in 1807 and in 1813. 

BREST, anciently Brivates Portus, is one 
of the chief naval stations of France. Its fine 
hai'bor was constructed by Cardinal Richelieu, 
in 1631. It is well fortified, its dock-yards 
and magazines command admiration, and it is 
considered impregnable. It contains 48,225 
inhabitants. It was attacked in 1694 by a 
British fleet and army, which were repulsed 
with a loss of 1,300 men and their commander. 
Lord Berkeley. 



BRE 



148 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 




THE BRITANNIA TUBULAR BRIDGE. 



BRETIGNY, Peace of, concluded between 
England and France, May 8th, 1360. England 
retained Gasconry and Guienne, acquired 
Saintonge, Agenois, Perigord, Limousin, 
Bigorre, Angoumois, and Rovergne, and re- 
nounced her claims to Maine, Anjou, Touraine, 
and Normandy. England was to receive three 
million crowns, and to release King John of 
France, who had long been a captive in 
London. 

BREWSTER, William, born in England in 
1550, came over in the Mayflower, and as 
ruling elder preached at Plymouth till his 
death in 1644. 

BRIDGES were so early and general, and 
the expedients for their construction so vari- 
ous, that their origin can not be traced. They 
were first of wood. In China there are an- 
cient bridges of great magnitude, built of stone. 
Abydos is famous for the bridge of boats that 
Xerxes built across the Hellespont. Trajan's 
magnificent stone bridge over the Danube, 
4,Y70 feet in length, was built in a.d. 103. 
The Devil's Bridge in the Swiss canton of Uri, 
so called from its frightful situation, was built 
resting on two high rocks, so that it could 
scarcely be conceived how it was erected, and 



many fabulous stories were invented to ac- 
count for it. At SchafFhausen an extraordi- 
nary bridge was built over the Rhine, which 
is there four hundred feet wide. There was 
a pier midway in the river, but it is doubtful 
whether the bridge rested upon it : a man of 
the lightest weight felt the bridge totter under 
him ; yet wagons heavily laden passed over 
without danger. This bridge was destroyed 
by the French in 1799. The first stone bridge 
in England.was built at Bow near Stratford, 
A.D. 1087. The finest suspension bridge in 
Great Britain is that erected by Mr. Telford 
(1818-1825) over the Mcnai straits, which is 
one hundred feet above the level of spring 
tides, with five hundred and sixty feet between 
the points of suspension. This was considered 
one of the most surprising works of modern 
times ; but it has been thrown in the shade 
by the Britannia Tubular Bridge, by which 
the railway from Chester to Holyhead crosses 
the strait. About a mile south of the suspen- 
sion bridge is a rock called the Britannia rock, 
near the centre of the strait, the surface of 
which is about ten feet above low water level. 
Without this rock the tubular bridge would 
not have been feasible, and from it therefore 



BRI 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



149 



the bridge fitly takes its name. On this rock 
is built a tower two hundred feet above high 
water (commenced in May, 18-46), on which 
rest two lines of tubes or hollow girders, the 
ends resting on abutments on each shore, each 
tube being more than a quarter of a mile in 
length. The height of the tube within is thirty 
feet at the Britannia tower, diminishing to 
twenty -three feet at the abutments. The lift- 
ing of the tubes to their places from their po- 
sition afloat on the water, is regarded as the 
most gigantic operation ever successfully per- 
formed. They were raised by Brahmah hy- 
draulic presses, into which the water was in- 
jected by powerful steam-engines. A locomo- 
tive first passed through these grand corridors 
of iron in March, 1850. Robert Stephenson 
is the engineer of whose skill this bridge is 
the monument. A similar bridge over the 
St. Lawrence at Montreal, called the Victoria 
bridge, two miles in length, is in construction, 
to be completed in 1860. The greatest and 
oldest suspension bridge in the world, is said 
to be in China, near Kingtung ; it is formed 
of chains. Rope suspension bridges, from 
rocks to rocks, are also of Chinese origin. 
One of the finest suspension bridges in the 
world crosses the Niagara River, about two 
miles and a half below the falls, by a single 
span of eight hundred and thirty -four feet, at 
a height of two hundred and thirty feet above 
the water. Three railways and a carriage 
road pass the river by this structure. Nature 
also has thrown wonderful bridges of rock 
across mountainous chasms. Of these, those 
of Icononzo, over fissures in the Cordilleras 
on the road from Bogota to Quito, the stupen- 
dous limestone arch over Cedar Creek in Vir- 
ginia, and one with a span of a hundred and 
ninety -five feet in Carter county, Kentucky, 
are remarkable. The famous bridge by which 
the army of Xerxes crossed the Hellespont, 
(480 B.C.), was formed by connecting together 
ships of different kinds, some long vessels of 
fifty oars, others three-banked galleys, to the 
number of almost seven hundred. They were 
moored fast by anchors and cables of great 
strength. On extended cables between the 
lines of shipping were laid fast-bound rafters, 
over these a layer of boughs, and on the latter 
earth was thrown. On each side was a fence 
to prevent the horses and beasts of burthen 
from being terrified by the sea in their passage 



from shore to shore. It is said that this won- 
derful work was completed in one week. 

BRIENNE, a town in the French depart- 
%ient of the Aube, at the academy of which 
Napoleon learned the first principles of the 
military art. Here on the 1st and 2d of 
February, the allied Russians and Prussians 
were defeated severely by the French. This 
was among the last of Napoleon's victories. 

BRIGALIER, Abbe, lived during the 
reign of Louis XIL The superstitions of his 
time are displayed by some passages in his 
life. He was almoner to Mademoiselle de 
Montauban, and spent 30,000 crowns to be- 
come an adept in the magic art, without 
accomplishing his end. Being with the court 
at Compiegne, a lady who had purchased a 
piece of red silk, instead of green, begged the 
abbe to change it to the color she wished. 
Rather than lose his reputation as a magician, 
Brigalier bought a piece of green silk and 
gave it to the lady, who was astonished at his 
success, and forthwith circulated the tale. 
By various tricks of legerdemain, he main- 
tained his credit as a sorcerer, so that the 
Archbishop of Paris gravely commanded him 
to desist from his unhallowed occupations. 

BRINDLEY, James, was born in Derby- 
shire, 1716, and reared as a clodhopper till 
his seventeenth year, without the advantages 
of even the most ordinary education. An 
apprenticeship to a millwright brought out his 
inventive faculties, and the untutored rustic be- 
came an ingenious mechanician and successful 
civil engineer. About 1757 he was consulted 
by the Duke of Bridgewater as to the prac- 
ticability of constructing a canal from Worsley 
to Manchester, a distance of twenty-nine miles. 
Had a man of inferior genius or less dauntless 
courage undertaken this work, very probably 
a failure would have ensued, and the develop- 
ment of British inland navigation might have 
been deferred for some years longer. When 
the canal was completed as far as Barton, 
where the Irwell is navigable for large ves- 
sels, Brindley proposed to carry it over the 
river by an aqueduct thirty-nine feet above 
the water ! This project was ridiculed by the 
practical men of the day. One much re- 
spected individual would not discount the 
Duke of Bridgewater's bill for five hundred 
pounds, and when the dimensions of the 
aqueduct were communicated to him, he 



BRI 



150 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



exclaimed, "I have often heard of castles in 
the air, but never before was shown where 
any of them were to be erected." The canal 
was completed in 1761, and in less than 
fifty years, application had been made to 
parliament for one hundred and sixty-five 
acts for making canals in Great Britain at an 
expense of thirteen million pounds. Many 
of these great channelings were engineered 
by Brindley. He died in 1772, the victim of 
intense application to his profession. He is 
said to have answered a committee of the 
House of Commons, when asked for what 
object rivers were created, " To feed naviga- 
ble canals." Brindley could neither read nor 
write until late in life, and then but poorly. 

BRISSOT DE WARVILLE, Jean Pierke, 
a prominent character in the history of the 
French revolution, whose writings tended 
greatly to bring monarchical power into dis- 
repute. He was the son of a pastry-cook, 
and was born in 1754. At the age of thirty, 
he was imprisoned in the Bastile, for a work 
which treated of prohibited subjects. After 
numerous changes of action and residence, 
which the nature of his works and the fluc- 
tuating state of his popularity rendered ne- 
cessary, having been engaged for some time 
in England, some time with the Duke of Or- 
leans, and some time in America, he was at 
last guillotined with his friends, by the fac- 
tion of Robespierre, in 1793. He was the 
leader of the Girondists, and editor of the 
Moniteiir. 

BRITANNICUS. Tiberius Claudius Ger- 
manicus was called, after the return of his 
father, the Emperor Claudius, from Britain, 
Britannicus. His mother was the infamous 
Messalina. By the intrigues of Agrippina, 
the second wife of Claudius, he was poisoned, 
after havmg been excluded from the succes- 
sion, A.D. 55. 

BROOKS, John, a revolutionary oflBcer 
and eminent physician, born in Medford, 
Mass., 1752. His father was a farmer. After 
completing his professional studies, he joined 
with ardor the army, and was among the first 
to fight for the freedom of America. On the 
retreat of the British from Lexington, the 
company which he commanded had no small 
share in contributing to the annoyances of 
that humiliating flight. Brooks enjoyed the 



confidence and esteem of Washington, and 
had a colonel's commission when the army 
was disbanded. He retired to the practice of 
his profession. The rank of major-general 
of militia was conferred upon him, and he 
showed, in the insurrection of 1780, that he 
had forgotten none of his former vigor and 
address. He was governor of Massachusetts 
from 1816 to 1823, and died, highly respected 
and esteemed, March, 1825. 

BROWN, Chakles Brockden, born in 
Philadelphia, in 1771, was originally destined 
for the law, but the delicacy of his constitu- 
tion and his natural timidity prevented his 
pursuing a legal career. He was the author 
of several novels, which possess a fascinating 
power, although their scenes are generally 
painful and unnatural. "Arthur Mervj'^n" 
and "Edgar Huntley" are perhaps the best. 
Brown edited several periodicals, and his 
literary labors greatly impaired his health, 
and hastened the progress of the consumption 
of which he died in 1809. 

BROWN, Jacob, was born in Pennsylva- 
nia in 1775. In 1812 he entered the service 
of his country as a militia officer. So greatly 
did he shine in the defense of Ogdensburg 
and Sackett's Harbor, that in 1814 he was 
made brigadier, and soon after a major-gen- 
eral in the regular army. He commanded at 
the bfittles of Chippewa and Niagara. At 
the close of the war the only major-generals 
retained were Jackson and Brown. He died 
at Washing-ton in 1828. 

BROWN, William, a native of Ireland, 
who came to the United States at the age of 
fourteen, in 1798, and was for a long time 
engaged at sea in the merchant service. 
After being captured by the English, he 
found himself, in 1814, at Buenos Ayres, in 
the command of a British merchant ship. 
He joined the republican navy, and gained 
great fame by his various daring exploits. 

BROWNE, Maximilian Ulysses, Count, 
an Irish exile, finally field-marshal of Austria. 
Between 1745 and 1757 he ran a career of 
glory. He died of wounds received at the 
battle of Prague, 1757. 

BROWNE," Sir Thomas, a quaint, les^rned, 
and eloquent author, was born at London 
1605, educated at Winchester and Oxford, 
and took his medical degree at Leyden. His 



BRO 



STORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



151 



principal works are "Religio Medici," Treat- 
ise on Vulgar Errors," and "Urn Burial." 
He died in 1682. 

BRUCE, James, a native of Scotland, born 
1730, distinguished himself by his travels in 
Africa. Fie died in 1794 His veracity has 
•been often doubted, but his accounts have 
been confirmed by more recent travelers. He 
penetrated to the sources of the Abyssinian 
branch of the Nile. 

BRUCE, Robert, was the gi'andson of the 
competitor of Baliol for the crown of Scot- 
land. It was left for him to accomplish the 
deliverance of his country, which Wallace 
had so nobly attempted. In his youth he had 
acted upon apparently no regular plan ; and 
although he had at times served against Ed- 
ward, when the Scottish forces were able to 
make a successful resistance, he soon made 
submission after their defeat, and thus avoided 
drawing down upon himself the implacable 
resentment of Edward. He appeared to have 
stifled his pretensions to the crown ; but 
immediately after the death of Wallace he 
determined at once to assert his own rights 
and his country's independence. Arriving 
at Dumfries, from England, in February, 1300, 
he had a quarrel with Comyn of Badenoch, 
and stabbed him in the church of the Minor- 
ites, because he opposed his views. He now 
claimed the crown ; and resentment of the 
treachery of Edward, and of the death of 
Wallace, procured him numerous followers. 
He was accordingly crowned King of Scot- 
land, at Scone, on the 27th of March, the 
same year. An army sent by Edward soon 
arrived at Perth ; and in a battle fought on 
the 19th of June, Bruce was defeated. He 
took refuge at Aberdeen, and afterward went 
toward Argyle, and was so hard pressed by 
the English and their adherents, that he re- 
tired to the island of Rathlin on the north-west 
of Ireland, and was supposed to be dead ; but 
early in the next spring, he again displayed 
his banner in the west of Scotland, and gained 
many advantages aver the English, of which 
the victory at Loudon Hill was the most re- 
markable; whilst his brother, Sir Edward, 
and Sir James Douglas, were equally active 
and successful. Bruce came north in the 
end of the same year, and on account of the 
unfavorable state of his health, which had 
been injured by unceasing hardships and pri- 



vations, he remained some time inactive. On 
the 22d of May, 1308, he gained the battle of 
Inverary, over the Earl of Buchan and Sir 
John Mowbray, which was the commencement 
of a career of success which established him 
as King of Scotland. The whole of the 
fortresses of the kingdom were recovered 
excepting Stirling, which was beleaguered by 
his brother Edward, who entered into a treaty 
with the governor, by -which it was agreed it 
should be surrendered if not relieved before 
the 24th of June, 1314. This led to the 
attempt of Edward II. to relieve it by a pow- 
erful army, and brought on the battle of 
Bannockburn. Bruce's army consisted of 
thirty thousand veterans, distinguished by 
their valor, the skill of their leaders, and an- 
imated by every x^iotive which can promote 
heroic enterprise. He drew them .up with a 
hill on his right flank, and a morass on his 
left, to prevent being surrounded by the 
numerous army of Edward. Having a rivu- 
let in front, he commanded deep pits to be 
dug along its banks, and sharp stakes to be 
planted in them, and caused the whole to be 
carefully covered with turf. The English 
arrived in the evening, when Bruce was riding 
in the front of his army. Sir Henry Bohun, 
who rode up to charge him with his spear, 
was brought to the ground by his battle-axe. 
Early next morning the action commenced. 
Sir Robert Keith, at the head of the men-at- 
arms, destroyed the English archers. The 
English horse, under the Earl of Gloucester, 
rushing on to the charge, fell into the pits 
Bruce had prepared for them. Sir James 
Douglas, who commanded the Scottish cav- 
alry, gave them no time to rally, but pushed 
them off the field. Whilst the infantry con- 
tinued the fight, discouraged by these unfav- 
orable events, they were thrown into a panic 
by the appearance of what they supposed 
another army advancing to surround them. 
This was a number of wagoners and sumpter 
boys, whom King Robert had collected and 
supplied with military standards, which gave 
them the appearance of an army at a distance. 
The stratagem was decisive, and an universal 
rout' and immense slaughter ensued. This 
great and decisive battle secured the inde- 
pendence of Scotland, and fixed Bruce on the 
throne. He afterward invaded England, and 
laid waste the northern counties. He also 



BRU 



152 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



led an expedition into Ireland, in support of 
his brother Edward, who had been crowned 
king of that country, in the course of which 
he gained several victories. Peace was at 
last concluded between England and Scotland, 
at Northampton, in 1328, and on the 7th of 
June, 1329, Robert died, in the fifty-fifth 
year of his age, and was buried in the ab- 
bey of Dumferniline. His grand-daughter 
was the wife of Robert II., the first king 
of the house of Stuart, and from the issue of 
that marriage the present royal family is 
descended. 

BRUMMELL, George Bryan, best known 
as Beau Brummell, was born in June, 1778, 
and educated at Eton and Oxford. He be- 
came the leader of English fashion ; by no 
means a mere dandy, but the best-dressed 
gentleman of the day. Neckcloths were his 
greatest victories. At his beck they were 
starched. He was fastidious in tying them. 
"These," solemnly said his valet, bearing 
forth a pile of crumpled linen, " these are our 
failures." So arbitrary was the king of 
fashion's power, that he could snub the Prince 
of Wales, who aspired to be the first gentle- 
man in Europe. Coolness sprang up in the 
intimacy of the two, and the prince cut the 
beau. Brummell had full revenge, when he 
asked in St. James's street, just as George was 
stepping off, "Alvanley, pray who is your 
fat friend?" But the contest was unequal. 
Beau B. ran through his fortune, and had 
no nation to furnish the sinews of war. One 
day he wrote thus to Scrope Davies : 

"My Dear Scrope : Lend me two hundred 
pounds ; the banks are shut, and all my mo- 
ney is in the three per cents. It shall be 
repaid to-morrow morning. 

"Yours, George Brummell." 

The answer was prompt. 

" My Dear George : 'Tis very unfortunate ; 
but all my money is in the three per cents. 
" Yours, S. Da vies." 

That night Mr. Brummell ran away to 
Calais. England and his creditors saw him 
no more. In France he dragged out a mis- 
erable existence, sinking from the admired of 
fashion to the shabby genteel; thence still 
lower ; till at last he died at Caen in beggary 
and imbecility March 29th, 1840. 



BRUNSWICK, the duchy of, lies in the 
north-west of Germany, between Hanover and 
Prussia, comprising 1,52-4 square miles, and 
in 1857, 269,915 people. Brunswick, its 
capital, has 42,000 inhabitants, and was for- 
merly one of the Hanse Towns. The house 
of Brunswick was founded by Henry the 
Lion, who married Maud, daughter of Henry 
II. of England. The younger ranch of this 
family came into possession of Hanover, and 
has given sovereigns to England since the 
commencement of the eighteenth century. 
Charles Frederick William, Duke of Bruns- 
wick, fell upon the battle field of Jena, 1806, 
and the duchy was in the power of Napoleon 
till 1813. The three elder sons were blind, 
and yielded their rights in favor of Frederick 
AYilliam, who was born in 1771. He joined 
the war against France in 1806, and con- 
tinued, throughout his life, the determined 
enemy of Napoleon. His Black Brunswlck- 
ers, so called from their dress and equipments 
being entirely black, held out upon the con- 
tinent as long as resistance was of any avail, 
and finally their duke retired to England. 
In 1815, he again appeared in arras, and fell 
at Quatre-bras, commanding Wellington's 
van-guard, on the 16th of June. His death 
was atoned for by the bravery of his black 
hussars. 

BRUTUS, Li-cius Junius, a celebrated Ro- 
man. He was the son of Marcus Junius by a 
daughter of Tarquin the Elder, "When his 
father and brothers were beheaded b}' Tar- 
quin, Brutus saved himself by feigning idiocy, 
whence his surname, signifying ' the brute,' 
was given him. He continued this appear- 
ance until Lucretia killed herself in conse- 
quence of the violence of Sextus Tarquin. 
This was the time for Brutus to rouse the 
Roman people to action, and display the 
energy of his mind. By his exertions the 
Tarquins were expelled and the monarchy 
changed to a republic. The consulship was 
instituted, and Brutus and CoUatinus, the 
husband of Lucretia, were chosen the first to 
hold that dignity. When his sons joined in 
the conspiracy to restore the Tarquins, Bru- 
tus, convinced of their guilt, ordered their 
execution, that this example might confirm 
the liberty of Rome. The same year he was 
slain at the head of his troops, fighting 
against Aruns, the son of Tarquin, who also 



BRU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



153 



fell in the encounter. This took place, b. c. 
509. Brutus was mourned by the whole 
Roman people. 

BRUTUS, Marcus Junius, was lineally 
descended from the above, whose republican 
principles he seemed to inherit. In the civil 
wars he joined Pompey, although the latter 
was his father's murderer, only because he 
looked upon him as just and patriotic in his 
claims. After the battle of Pharsalia, Caesar 
not only spared Brutus, but made him one 
of his friends. He, however, forgot the favor 
when CjBsar displayed his ambition and 
tyranny, and conspired to stab Cci3sar in 
the senate-house. Brutus was forced to re- 
tire into Greece by the excitement created 
by Antony. Here he gained many friends, 
but was soon pursued by Antony, accompan- 
ied by the young Octavius. A battle was 
fought at Philippi. Brutus, who commanded 
the right wing of the republican army, de- 
feated the enemy ; but Cassius, on the left, 
was overpowered, and Brutus found himself 
surrounded by the soldiers of Antony. He, 
however, made his escape, and soon after fell 
upon his sword, e.g. 42. It is said that, 
previous to this battle, a spectral figure twice 
the size of life, appeared to Brutus, and 
warned him of his fote. 

BUCCANEERS. These French and Eng- 
lish freebooters of America acquired great no- 
toriety. After the assassination of Henry IV. 
of France, many Frenchmen settled in St. 
Christopher, an island of the Antilles. Be- 
ing driven from this place in 1630, they 
sought refuge on the western coast of St. 
Domingo, and the neighboring island of Toi'- 
tugas. Their wild and solitary life possessed 
a certain charm which induced many Eng- 
lishmen to join them, and their numbers at 
length became considerable. They were 
hardy and enterprising, and, deprived of the 
softening influence of female society, nour- 
ished a spirit of reckless ferocity. They did 
not, however, display at first those stern fea- 
tures which afterward characterized them, 
but were comparatively peaceful and indus- 
trious. Those who were settled at St. Do- 
mingo, used to hunt the wild cattle of the 
island, whose hides they sold to the crews 
that landed on their coast. They were accus- 
tomed to honcnner (that is, to smoke) the 
flesh of these animals before large fires, and 



thence received the name of boucaneers, or 
buccaneers. Increasing in strength and 
spirit, they defied the attempts of the Span- 
iards to subdue them, and soon made them- 
selves formidable by their predatory excur- 
sions. 

The Spaniards resolved to extirpate the 
wild cattle, and thus induce the buccaneers 
to become farmers for support, or else to 
join their more lawless comrades on the island 
of Tortugas. The buccaneers nourished a 
deep-seated hatred of the Spaniards, and it 
was their vessels which were most frequently 
attacked by the pirates. Sailing from the 
American ports, laden with the most precious 
productions of the New World, the size and 
strength of the galleons formed no adequate 
protection against the numbers and intrepid- 
ity of the buccaneers, who attacked them in 
boats, ill equipped it is true, but manned by 
crews of iron nerve and unquailing resolution. 
The spirit of the Spaniards became crushed 
by the repeated successes of the buccaneers, 
and before long they did not even attempt to 
defend themselves. Thus when Laurent, a 
fmious buccaneer, found himself in a small 
vessel, with a few guns, and two Spanish 
ships each of sixty guns along-side, the des- 
peration and fury of his resistance so over- 
awed the Spanish officers, that they permitted 
him to escape, although they had him com- 
pletely in their power. 

The leaders of the buccaneers were chosen 
for superior daring, but enjoyed but few priv- 
ileges save that of being foremost in danger. 
In dividing the spoils, all had an equal share, 
or, if any exception was made, it was in favor 
of those who had receiveci very severe wounds 
in combat. The captain had no larger share 
than any of his followers, unless he happened 
to have displayed extraordinary skill and 
valor. Previous to dividing the booty, each 
was obliged to swear that he had kept back 
no part of the prize, and perjury, which was 
of rare occurrence, was punished by the exile 
of the offender to a desert island. The share 
of those who had fallen was appropriated to 
relieve the necessities of their relations, or as 
gifts to the church, in case there were no 
surviving friends or relatives. The buc- 
caneers were scrupulous in observing the 
outward rites of religion, and offered up* 
prayers for the success of each enterprise 



BUC 



154 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



before embarking in it. So formidable were 
the oijerations of the buccaneers, that they 
greatly diminished the trade between Spain 
and America. The baleful effects of the 
climate, and the nature of their occupation, 
graduallj^ diminished their numbers, till they 
were at length extirpated by the French and 
English governments. From them originated 
the French settlements on the western part 
of St. Domingo, although their piracies were 
ended in the commencement of the eighteenth 
century. 

Several of their leaders acquired a reputa- 
tion for daring and enterprise which has 
preserved their names from oblivion. One 



' ing the Indians to forsake the Spaniards and 
league against them with the buccaneers. 

BUCHANAN, Geokge, the famous Latin 
poet and historian of Scotland, born 1506, 
died 1582. 

BUCHANAN, Claudius, an eminent mis- 
sionary to the East Indies, born near Glas- 
gow, March 12th, 1706, died Feb. 9th, 1815. 

BUENA VISTA, a mountain pass between 
San Luis and Saltillo in Mexico. Here, Feb. 
23d, 1847, the Mexicans attacked the Amer- 
icans. Santa Anna sent Taylor a summons 
to surrender at discretion. Old "Rough and 
Ready" immediately replied, " dechning to 
accede to the request." Santa Anna's force 



of the most noted of these was Montbar, the was the flower of the Mexican army, and 



son of a gentleman of Languedoc, who earlj^ 
imbibed a hatred for the Spaniards. While 
at school, performing the part of a French- 
man in a di-ama, in his combat with a fellow- 
student, who represented a Spaniard, he so 
far forgot the reality of his situation, in the 
illusion of the moment, that he would have 
slain his antagonist but for the intervention 
of the more cool-headed spectators. At an 
early age Montbar embarked for America, 
and was highly delighted when one day a 
Spanish galleon hove in sight. Long before 
tho vessels met, Montbar had completed his 
preparations for the combat, and, with an 
unsheathed sword beneath his arm, was pac- 
ing the deck, in all the hot hurry of untried 
valor. The moment the vessels closed, call- 
ing to the boarders, he sprang on the deck of 
the galleon, and carried all before him by the 
impetuosity of his attack. While his com- 
rades were busy in estimating and dividing 
the booty, he was sternly gazing on the stif- 
fened bodies of the first victims of his hatred, 
like an eagle hovering over the slain. Ar- 
rived at St. Domingo, the buccaneers who 
came on board to trade, complained that the 
Spaniards, during their absence in the chase, 
destroyed their settlements. " Make me your 
leader," cried Montbar, "and I will teach 
these spoilers that there exists a power 
greater than theirs. I seek for no emolu- 
ments: the joys of battle are enough for 
me." Struck with his appearance and im- 
petuosity, they chose him their leader, and 
•had no reason to repent having done so, for 
he unweariedly pursued the Spaniards with 
invariable success,, and succeeded in induc- 



20,000 strong. Taylor only had 4,500 men, 
of whom 4,000 were untried v.olunteers. The 
complete success of Taylor struck terror and 
dismay into the hearts of the Mexican nation. 
The American loss was 267 killed, 456 wound- 
ed, and 23 missing: that of the Mexicans 
exceeded 1,500. 

BUENOS AYRES, formerly a Spanish 
province, and afterward a part of the Argen- 
tine Confederation, is now a republic by itself. 
The area is roughly estimated at 60,000 
square miles ; the population probably does 
not exceed 350,000. The western and north- 
ern parts of the country are rough, but large 
portions are extremely level; in the south, 
for instance, the pampas (immense plains) 
are more than 1200 miles long, and 500 
broad, filled with wild cattle, and the abode 
of Indians hardly less wild. The fertility of 
a large proportion of the soil is surprising, 
although agriculture is neglected for the 
rearing of cattle. Among the mineral pro- 
ductions are gold, silver, copper, tin, and 
lead. Hides, tallow, and beef are exported 
in great quantities. The only town of much 
importance is the capital, Buenos Ayres, 
which was founded in 1535, and contains a 
population of 120,000. A few of the public 
buildings may well be called magnificent, but 
generally architecture is in a low state in 
Buenos Ayres, chiefly from the scarcity of 
good building material, chalk and brick 
forming but a very inferior substitute. In 
1826, it was made the seat of government of 
the LTnited Provinces of La Plata. In 1806, 
it was captured by the English, who were 
shortly afterward attacked by surprise, and 



BUE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



155 



suffered great loss. The reinforcements which 
came over the following year, were received 
into the city with apparent submission, but 
then attacked with vigor, and compelled to 
conclude a truce, after suffering immense loss. 
The trade of the city is very considerable. 

BUFFON, George Louis Le Clekc, Comte 
de, a flimous French naturalist, born at 
Montbard in Burgundy, in 1707, died at Paris, 
April 16th, 1788. His "Natural History" 
continues to be read with pleasure, and at 
the time of its appearance differed from all 
previous works, which were merely masses of 
technical description, with no interesting 
general views and details. 

BULL. A papal bull is an apostolical re- 
script or edict, of ancient use, and generally 
written on parchment. The bull is, properly, 
the seal, deriving its name from bulla, and has 
been made of gold, silver, lead, and wax. 
On one side are the heads of Peter and Paul ; 
on the other, the name of the pope, and j'ear 
of his pontificate. The celebrated golden 
bull of the Emperor Charles IV. was so 
called because of its golden seal, and was 
made the fundamental law of the German 
empire at the diet of Nuremberg, 1356. j 



ning of June 16th, Col. Prescott received 
orders to fortify Bunker Hill, but Gen. Put- 
nam, who had the command of the expedition, 
finding Breed's Hill more suitable, the re- 
quisite fortifications were rapidly thrown up 
on that height. The British were uncon- 
scious of the enterprise until morning, when 
their ships-of-war, floating batteries, and the 
guns of Oopp's Hill, opened a severe fire on 
the Americans. At one o'clock, the troops 
under Howe landed in Charlestown, and were 
soon after reinforced which swelled their 
number to about 5,000 men, with six field- 
pieces. The British troops were well equip- 
ped and officered, possessed all the advan- 
tages of strict discipline, and were by no 
means distrustful of*the issue of the contest. 
The American army, on the other hand, hav- 
ing been hastily called together, was composed 
of men who had few ideas of military com- 
binations, and whose weapons were generally 
fowling-pieces without bayonets, but who 
were all animated by one spirit. Theii" lead- 
ers were beloved and respected b}' them, and 
were men of tried truth and nerve ; Putnam, 
Stark, Pomeroy, WaiTen, and Prescott, men 
whose names yet call a glow into the bosom of 



Papal bulls denouncing Queen Elizabeth and every patriot. The provincial troops amount- 



her abettors, and consigning them to hell- 
fire, accompanied the boastful Spanish ai'- 
mada, 1588. 

BULL BAITING, a sport of Spain and 
Portugal, somewhat equivalent in those coun- 
tries to the fights of the gladiators among the 
Romans. It is recorded as being an amuse- 
ment at Stamford in England so early as 
1209. Bull running was a sport at Tutbury 
in 1374 Among the sports of 'Merrie Eng- 
land' were the "Easter fierce hunts, when 
foaming boars fought for their heads and 
lusty bulls and huge bears were baited with 
dogs ; " and near the Clinic, London, was the 
Paris, or bear garden, so celebrated in the 
time of Queen Bess for the exhibition of 
bear-baiting, then a fashionable amusement. 
Bull-fights were introduced into Spain about 
1260, and abolished there, "except for jd/ot^s 
and 2)atriotiG purposes," in 1784. There 
was a bull-fight at Lisbon, at Campo de Santa 
Anna, attended by ten thousand spectators, 
Sunday, June 14th, 1840. 

BUNKER HILL. This memorable battle 
was fought June 17th, 1775. On the eve- 



ed to perhaps 2,000 men, with two field- 
pieces. " Don't fire, " said Putnam to his men, 
"till you can see the whites of their eyes." 
The British approached unmolested till within 
close gun-shot, when the tremendous fire of 
the provincials drove them back with great 
slaughter. In the second attack, Charles- 
town was set on fire and burned to the ground, 
adding its raging flames to the other horrors 
of the battle scene. As the ammunition of 
the Americans was nearly exhausted, the 
third attack carried the redoubt, although the 
provincials resisted the British with the butt- 
ends of their muskets, and slowly retreated 
from the hill. The Americans lost 115 
killed (among them General Warren), 305 
wounded, and 30 were made prisoners. The 
British lost 1,054 in killed and wounded. 

As the Americans retreated across Bunk- 
er's Hill, Gen. Putnam used every exertion to 
rally them. He commanded, begged, cursed 
and swore like a madman. " Halt ! Make a 
stand here ! " he cried ; "we can check them 
yet. In God's name form, and give them one 
shot more." It is said that for the torrent of 



BUN 



156 



COTTAOE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



profanity in which the brave old general in- 
dulged at this time, he made a confession, after 
the war, before the church of which he was 
a member. ' ' It was almost enough to make 
an angel swear," he said, "to see the cowards 
refuse to secure a victory so nearly won."_ 
But the undisciplined j^eomanry were desti- 
tute of ammunition ; thrice had they repulsed 
a force superior in strength and skill ; and 
whatever victory the British had gained 
was more humiliating than defeat . A lofty 
monument now stands upon the site of the 
redoubt. 

BUNYAN, JonN, the son of a tinker, born 
at Elston, in 1028. At an eai-ly age he was 
dissipated, and served as a soldier in the par- 
liamentary arm3\ Reflection and reformation, 
however, brought out the bright points of his 
character. He became a member of a society 
of Anabaptists, and finally their teacher. As 
a dissenter he was imprisoned in Bedford jail, 



after severe engagements at Stillwater and 
Saratoga, was forced to surrender, with his 
whole army, to General Gates, in 1777. 
Afterward he sat in parliament, and in 1781 
he warmly advocated the discontinuance of 
hostilities, 

BURGUNDIANS, a tribe of Germans, a 
branch of the Vandals, who occupied a part 
of France, in the fifth century, which has since 
been called Burgundy. It was long an inde- 
pendent state, but was attached to France in 
the latter part of the fifteenth century, on the 
death of Charles the Bold. The independent 
dukes of Burgundy rendered their name illus- 
trious, and many of them were distinguished 
for their bravery and other high qualities. 

BURIAL. This was the earliest mode of 
disposing of dead bodies, and the first idea of 
it is s^iid to have been formed ft-om observing 
a live bird covering a dead one with leaves. 
The antiquity of the custom of burning the 



twelve years, and the occupation of his mind i dead rises as high as the Theban war ; it was 



during his long confinement, was the compo- 
sition of his unrivaled "Pilgrim's Progress," 
that wonderful religious allegory, bearing the 
impress of a strong mind and an ardent imag- 
ination. Bunyan died in 1088. Robert, his 
last male descendant in a direct line, died at 
Lincoln, England, Nov. 27th, 1855, aged 
eighty. 

BURCKHARDT, John Loris, famous for 
his travels in Africa, born at Lausanne in 
1784. His country being oppressed by France, 
he went to London in 1800, and was engaged i ornaments, 
bj'- the African association to explore Africa 
from the north. To fiicilitate his progress in 
Nubia and other parts of the country, he as- 
sumed the character of a Syrian Turk, and so 
thoroughly acquainted with the manners and 
religion of the East was he, that he underwent 
an examination by two learned jurists, and 
was pronounced by them a learned and true 
Mussulman. He died at Cairo, October 15th, 
1817, and was buried in the Mussulman cem- 
etery with great splendor. 

BURGOYNE, John, the natural son of Lord 
Bingly, a general in the English army, and 
also an agreeable dramatist. He entered the 
armjr at an early age, and, in 1702, had the 
command of a body of troops sent to Portugal 
for the defense of that kingdom against the 
Spaniards. He distinguished himself in the 
American war by taking Ticonderoga, but 



practiced among the Greeks and Romans, and 
Homer abounds with descriptions of such ob- 
sequies. It was very general about 1225 b.c. ; 
it was revived by Sylla for fear the relics of 
the dead in graves should be violated by ene- 
mies, and was not in disuse till the time of 
Macrobius. Among the most ancient sepul- 
chres were those circular mounds yet discern- 
ible in various countries, and in Britain called 
barrows. Several of these near Stonehenge 
having been opened, curious remains of Celtic 
such as beads, buckles, and 
brooches, in amber, wood, and gold, were 
found. Places of burial were consecrated 
under Pope Calixtus I. in 210; the first 
Christian burial-place was instituted in 596 ; 
burial in cities, 742 ; in consecrated places, 
750 ; in churchyards, 758. "VYoolen shrouds 
were used in England, 1000. The ancients 
had not the unwise custom of crowding all 
their dead in the midst of their towns and 
cities, within the narrow precincts of a place 
reputed sacred ; much less of amassing them 
in the bosoms of their ftmes and temples, as 
has been the habit in European countries. 
The mortuaries of the Greeks and Romans 
were at a distance from the towns ; those of 
the latter generally near the highways, whence 
came the necessity for inscriptions on the 
tombs ; and the Jews had their sepulchres in 
gardens, and in fields, and among rocks and 



BUR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



157 



mountdns. The practice of inhuming in 
chui'chyards and within religious edifices was 
introduced by the Romish clergy, who pre- 
tended that the dead enjoyed peculiar privi- 
leges from interment in consecrated ground. 
It is now the custom to bury the dead in 
cemeteries. One of the most celebrated of 
these is Pere la Chaise. It takes its name 
from a French Jesuit, the confessor of Louis 
XIV. He died in 1709, and the site of his 
house and grounds at Paris is now occupied 
by this beautiful cemetery. The burying 
places of the Turks are handsome and agree- 
able, which is owing chiefly to the fine shrub- 
bery and plants carefully placed over the 
dead. It was a practice of high antiquity to 
plant herbs and flowers about the graves of 
departed friends. The Romans strewed roses 
upon their tombs ; the Greeks, amaranth and 
myrtle. The women in Egypt go weekly to 
pray and weep at the sepulchres, and throw 
sweet basil upon them. In Asia Minor and 
Turkey in Europe, the tombs are also adorned 
either with paim-leaves, boughs of myrtle, or 
cypi-esses planted at the head and foot. Be- 
tween some of the tombs is put a chest of or- 
namental stone, filled with earth, in which 
are planted herbs and aromatic flowers. 
These are regularly cultivated by women who 
assemble in groups for that duty. The Athe- 
nian heroes were buried in coffins of cedar, 
because of the aromatic and incorruptible na- 
ture of that wood. Coffins of marble and 
stone were used by the Romans. Alexander 
is said to have been buried in one of gold. 
Glass coffins have been found in England, and 
the earliest record of wooden coffins there is 
in the burial of King Arthur, who was buried 
in an entire trunk of oak, hollowed, a.d. 542. 
BURKE, Edmund, a statesman and great 
political writer, was born at Dublin, January 
1st, 1730. He was contemporary with Pitt 
and Fox. After finishing his education at 
Trinity College, Dublin, he entered his name 
at the Middle Temple as a law student, but 
devoted himself to literature. His political 
career commenced by his accompanying Ham- 
ilton, secretary of the lord-lieutenant of Ire- 
laud, to Dublin, and on his return he was 
made private secretary to the Marquis of 
Rockingham. On the fall of the Rockingham 
ministry, he wrote a pamphlet on the subject, 
and became an active member of the opposi- 



tion, being chosen for Bristol, in 1774, without 
expense. His speeches in the senate eclipsed 
even the reputation of his writings, and were 
delivered with a vehemence which it was dif- 
ficult to resist. He was strenuous for the 
conciliation of the American colonies. On 
the return of the Rockingham admuiistration, 
Mr. Burke for a short time filled the office of 
paymaster-general, but he resigned the post, 
upon the succession of Lord Shelburnc to the 
premiership. The leading features of his 
subsequent political life, in which he held no 
office, are his impeachment of Warren Has- 
tings ; his oj^position to the limited regency 
in 1788; his prediction of the effects of the 
French revolution, and his separation from 
Mr. Fox upon those sentiments. This was 
his last great political act, all his subsequent 
ones being to establish and defend it. On 
this subject he published several pamphlets, 
the merit of which obtained him a pension. 
and many severe reflections from his oppo- 
nents, to which he rephed m "A Letter to a 
Noble Lord," replete with sarcastic irony. 
He died July 8th, 1797. Mr. Burke had a 
commanding oratory, to enhance which he 
spared no incidental act of gesticulation and 
manner. On one occasion, he is said to have 
drawn forth and brandished a dagger to give 
a greater effect to his words. 

BURNS, Robert, the greatest of Scottish 
bards, was the son of a gardener, and was 
born near the town of Ayr, January 25th, 
1759. He had some instruction and was fond 
of reading. His poetical talent was first dis- 
played in some amatory verses, and his con- 
versational talents caused him to be sought 
for by convivial parties, which tended to fix 
his habits of dissipation. The publication of 
his poems procured him a sum of money 
larger than he anticipated, and a high Uterary 
reputation. He was enabled to take a farm 
near Dumfries, and at the same time procured 
the office of exciseman. He married the early 
object of his affections, the " bonnie Jean " 
of whom he has written so tenderly in the 
most musical of his verses. She survived the 
poet who had immortalized her name, and died 
in the year 1834. Burns might have pros- 
pered and enjoyed a long life, had he but lis- 
tened to the advice and remonstrances of his 
friends, and forsaken those ruinous indulgen- 
ces that produced or at least hastened his 



BUR 



158 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 




BIRTH-PLACE OP ROBERT BURNS. 



death, which took place July 21st, 1796. 
Burns was emphatically the poet of truth and 
of nature. His most beautiful poems were 
composed in the spirit of truth, and glow with 
the fire of real feeling and passion. Full of 
affectionate and sad remembrances, he com- 
posed the verses " To Mary in Heaven," com- 
mencing ; 

" My Mary, dear departed shade, 
Where is thy blissful place of rest ? 

Sees't thou thy lover lowly laid, 

Hear'st thou the groans that rend his breast?" 

In this he celebrates their last meeting. 
The Mary of Burns was a peasant-girl, whose 
acquhements merely enabled her to read her 
Bible and psalm-book, and who walked bare- 
footed to their try sting-place, and yet she in- 
spired the most enthusiastic attachment in a 
man whose intellect cast a glory upon the 
hills, and woods, and streams of his native 
land, and a halo round the objects of his love, 
which will endure as long as the human breast 
is warmed with the glow of social and patri- 
otic feeling. 

BURR, Aaeon, was born in Newark, N. J., 
February 5th, 1 75 6. His father was the pious 
president of Princeton College, and his mother 



the daugliter of that devout divine, Jonathan 
Edwards. But death robbed him early of 
their care, and his life was in deep contrast 
to such parentage. Brilliant talents he dis- 
played in his youthful collegiate career, and 
bravery in the ardor with which he threw 
himself into the patriotic cause. He was a 
volunteer in Arnold's expedition against Que- 
bec, and fought close by Montgomery when 
that brave man fell. He reached the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel. Ill health forced him to 
leave the army in 1779. He was soon fore- 
most at the bar of New York, and from 1791 
to 1797 was a member of the United States 
Senate. In 1800, he was a candidate for the 
presidency against Jefferson. The choice dc' 
volved upon the House of Representatives. 
On the thirty-sixth ballot Jefferson was elected 
president, and Burr vice-president. The mur- 
der of Alexander Hamilton by Burr in a duel 
in 1 804, brought great hatred upon the latter. 
In 1807 Burr was tried for treason, being ac- 
cused of an attempt to rear an empire in the 
south-west, but he was acquitted. His public 
life was at an end, and he lived in comparative 
obscurity till his death, Sept. 14th, 1836. 
BURROWS, William, born October 6th, 



BUR 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



159 



1785, a gallant officer in the United States the slough opposite his house, he said to them, 



navy, who fell a victim in the moment of glory, 
Sept. 6th, 1813, commanding the Enterprise, 
which engaged the British brig Boxer; he 
received a mortal wound early in the action, 
and when the sword of the enemy was pre- 
sented to him, he exclaimed, " I am satisfied ; 
I die content ;" and soon after expired. The 
action lasted forty -five minutes. 

BUSACO, a mountain ridge in Portugal, 
celebrated for the repulse of the French under 
Massena, by the English under Lord Welling- 
ton, Sept. 27th, 1810. 

BUTLER, Richard, an officer of the Rev- 
olutionary war, colonel of Morgan's rifle corps, 
shared at Saratoga, and many other places, 
the renown of that admirable body. After a 
life of honor. General Butler fell, in the defeat 
of St. Clair's army, by the Indians, Nov. ith, • 
179L 

BUTLER, Thomas, brother of Richard, and 
a brave officer, joined the army in 1776, was 
at Brandy wine, served through the war, and 
was very severely wounded in the war with 
the Indians, at the battle where his brother 
fell. His latter years were imbittered by dis- 
putes with Genei-al Wilkinson, which were 
closed by death, Sept. 7th, 1805, aged fifty- 
one. He would not yield to the general order 
which required officers and soldiers to cut the 
hair close to the head. 

BUTIiER, Samuel, an English poet, the son 
of a farmer, born in Stresham, Worcester- 
shire, in 1612. His pungent satire of " Hudi- 
bras," in which the weak points of the Puri- 
tans are happily exposed, brought the author 
into notice, but did not better his circumstan- 
ces, and ho died poor in 1680. 

BYLES, Mather, D.D., a clergyman of 
Boston, born in 1706. He was for some time 
pastor of the Hollis Street Church, but was 
removed from his pulpit in consequence of 
his Tory principles. His political opinions 
subjected him to a temporary imprisonment 
on board a guard-ship. He was however re- 
leased, but a guard put over him in his own 
house. The guard was removed, and then 
replaced in consequence of further complaint 
against him. Finally, the presence of the 
sentinel was dispensed with. It was on this 
occasion, that the witty doctor remarked that 
he had been " guarded, regarded, and disre- 
garded." When two selectmen stuck fast in 



BYR 



" Gentlemen, 1 have several times complained 
of this nuisance, and am therefore pleased to 
see you stirring in the matter." Byles cor- 
responded with Pope, Lansdowne, and AVatts, 
and possessed some poetical talent. His es- 
says and poems were collected, and published 
in a volume. He died in Boston, July 5th, 
1788. 

BYNG, George, an English admiral, born 
in 1663. He became rear-admiral in 1703. 
In 1706, he relieved Barcelona, besieged by 
the Duke of Anjou ; and in 1708, frustrated 
the efforts of the French to assist the Preten- 
der by an invasion. In 1718, he defeated the 
Spanish fleet off Sicily. For these, and other 
services, he received many offices and honors, 
and was made Viscount Torrington. He died 
in 1733. 

BYNG, John, an English admiral, son of 
the preceding, served under his father in many 
expeditions, and, although esteemed an able 
seaman and a brave man, was ruined by par- 
tisan animosity. Failing in his attempts to 
relieve Minorca, in 1755, he was tried by a 
court-martial, and, although recommended to 
mercy, shot in 1757. After party fury had 
subsided, and his conduct had been dispas 
sionately examined, his intentions were al- 
lowed to ha'we been good, his courage indis- 
putable, and his death the consequence of 
rancorous misrepresentation from personal 
dislike. His conduct in his last moments con- 
firmed no part of the evidence against him ; it 
was cool, determined, dignified, and resigned. 
Immediate posterity honored him as a British 
admiral ; his connections, as a man of honor.; 
and it was obtained from among the secrets of 
ministerial intrigue, that he was the victim of 
ministerial cowardice, undeserving of the dis- 
grace of an execution, and obedient to orders 
which the men in office had not the courage 
to avow. 

BYRON, George Gordon, Lord, one of 
the most celebrated English poets of modern 
days, was born in London, Jan. 22d, 1788. 
Admiral Byron, the great voyager, was his 
grandfather. His mother was a Scotch heir- 
ess, only daughter of George Gordon, Esq., 
of Aberdeenshire, and his father was Captain 
Byron, or, as he was popularly termed, for 
his reckless profligacy, 'Mad Jack Byron of 
the Guards.' The parents of the poet lived 



160 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



unhappily together, and the heai'tlobs liber- 
tine who transmitted so many failings to his 
son, squididered the property of the woman 
he had married for her wealth, and reduced 
her to comparative poverty. Economy in- 
duced Mrs. Bj^ron to take up her residence 
at Aberdeen in 1790, where her son was 
placed at school. Her management of young 
Byron was anything but judicious, and in 
her fits of passion, she even reproached him 
with the lameness of one of his feet, a de- 
formity which although trilling was severely 
felt by the sensitive poet, and even engen- 
dered many of his misanthropic views. It 
was rarely that he alluded to it in a jesting 
way. In his youth, however, he was ac- 
quainted with a child who had a similar de- 
fect, and used to say to his nurse, in the 
Scotch dialect which he had acquired, " See 
the twa laddies wi' the twa club feet ganging 
up the high street." His ramifies a:nong the 
Highlands of Scotland had a strong effect 
upon his imagination, and probably kindled 
the spark which afterward brightened to a 
flame. In one of his poems he says : 
" Long have I roamed through lands which are 

not mine. 
Adored the Alps, and loved the Appenine, 
Revered Parnassus, and beheld the steep 
Jove's Ida and Olympus crown the deep ; 
But 't was not all long ages' yore, nor all 
Their nature held me in their thrilling thrall; 
The infant rapture still survived the boy. 
And Loeh-iui-gar with Ida looked o'er Troy, 
Mixed Celtic memories with the Phrygian mount. 
And Highland linns with Castalie's clear fount. 
Foi'give me. Homer's universal shade ! 
Forgive nie, Phoebus ! that my fancy strayed ; 
The North and nature taught me to adore 
Your scenes sublime, from those beloved before." 

To this passage the following note is append- 
ed by the author : " When very young, about 
eight years of age, after an attack of the 
scarlet fever at Aberdeen, I was removed by 
medical advice into the Highlands. Here I 
passed occasionally some summers, and from 
this period I date my love of mountainous 
countries. I can never forget the effect, a 
few years afterward in England, of the only 
thing I had long seen, even in miniature, of 
a mountain, in the Malvern Hills. After I 
returned to Cheltenham, I used to watch 
them every afternoon at sunset, with a sen- 
sation which I can not describe. This was 
boyish enough ; but T was then on1v thirteen 
years of age, and it was in the holidays.' 



In the year 1798, on the death of his 
grand-uncle, he succeeded to a baronial es- 
tate and title, and became a chancery ward 
under the guardianship of the Earl of Carl- 
isle, against whom he soon conceived a dis- 
like. Placed at Harrow, he had to encounter 
all the temjitations and annoyances insepara- 
ble fi-om jiublic education. School-boys are 
not famous for feeling, and the lameness of 
Byron was perpetually called to mind by the 
rudest practical sarcasms. He would often 
wake and find his lame foot plunged in a pail 
of water. Through Harrow, he fairly fought 
his way. "I had," said he, in one of his 
conversations with Captain Medwin, " a spirit 
that ill brooked the restraints of school dis- 
cipline ; for I had been encouraged by ser- 
vants in all my violence of temper, and was 
used to command. Ever3rthing like a task 
was repugnant to my nature, and I came 
away a very indifferent classic, and read in 
nothing that was useful. That subordination 
which is the soul of all discipline, I sub- 
mitted to with difficulty ; yet I did submit to 
it; and I have always retained a sense of 
Drvn-y's kindness, which enabled me to bear 
it and fagging too. The Duke of Dorset was 
my fag. I was not a very hard task -master. 
There were times at which, if I had not consid- 
ered it as a school, I should have been happy 
at Harrow. There is one spot I should like 
to see again: I was particularly delighted 
with the view from the chvuch-yard, and 
used to sit for hours on the stile leading into 
the fields ; even then I formed a wish to be 
' buried there." " There were two things that 
strike me at this moment, that I did at Har- 
row. I fought Lord Calthorpe for writing 
atheist under my name ; and prevented the 
school-room from being burnt during a re- 
bellion, by pointing out to the boys the 
names of their fatliers and grandfathers on 
the walls." 

In October, 1805, the young lord entered 
Cambridge university, where he was little 
distinguished for application, and showed no 
great respect for academic honors. He even 
evinced his contempt for them by keeping a 
young bear in his room, which he said he 
was training for a fellowship. In his twen- 
tieth year he took up his abode at Newstead 
Abbey, a fine old building, which he proceed- 
.■d immediately to repair. His " Hours of 



BYR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



161 



Idleness " now appeared, a collection of poems 
written during his minority, which was at- 
tacked by the Edinburgh Eeview with a 
degree of malignity and violence that pro- 
voked the youthful bard to vindicate his 
reputation in a satire entitled " English Bards 
and Scotch Eeviewers." This severe and 
sweeping philippic appeared a few days after 
he had taken his seat in the House of Lords, 
and gained the favor of the public in a short 
time. He soon after went abroad, traveling 
through Portugal, Spain, and Greece. The 
scenes through which he passed are finely 
described in "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." 
In the east he swam from Sestos to Abydos, 
and prided himself greatly on this daring 
feat. He returned to England in 1811, after 
an absence of two years. 

He hastened to Newstead, but arrived too 
late to close the eyes of his mother. About 
this period, the acquaintance between him- 
self and Thomas Moore commenced, an ac- 
quaintance which afterward ripened into the 
warmest friendship. On the 29th of Febru- 
ary, 1812, appeared the two first cantos of 
" Childe Harold," and the success and sale of 
the work was instantaneous. The hero, a 
proud but melancholy wanderer, satiated with 
sensual pleasure, was at once recognized as a 
delineation of the noble author, notwith- 
standing his decisive denial. The " Giaour," 
the "Bride of Abydos," and the " Corsair," 
poems in all of which the author displayed 
his unrivaled talents, and accurate knowledge 
of eastern customs and manners, followed at 
short intervals. Of one of these, twenty 
thousand copies were sold in one day. On 
the 2d of January, 1815, Byron married Miss 
Milbanke, daughter of Sir Ealph Milbanke. 
The marriage was unhappy, and after various 
quarrels, and much distress, the parties 
separated. Ada, the daughter of unhappy 
parents, was taken from Byron, who, in 
1816, left England forever. He gave in con- 
versation the following melancholy account 
of his situation immediately before leaving 
England: "In addition to all my other mor- 
tifications, my affairs were irretrievably in- 
volved, and almost so as to make me what 
they wished. I was compelled to part with 
Newstead, which I never could have ventured 
to sell in my mother's lifetime. As it is I 
shall never forgive myself for having done 



11 



so ; tliough I am told that the estate would 
not now bring half so much as I got for it. 
This does not at all reconcile me to having 
parted fi-om the old abbey. I did not make 
up my mind to this step but from the last 
necessity. I had my wife's portion to repay, 
and was determined to add £10,000 more of 
my own to it, which I did. I always hat^'d 
being in debt, and do not owe a guinea. The 
moment I put my affairs in train, and in little 
more than eighteen months after my mar- 
riage, I left England, an involuntary exile, 
intending it should be forever." 

After his residence in Italy, where his 
dramas and many other poems were written, 
and where he was alternately dissolute and 
temperate, the revolution in Greece engaged 
his attention, and he determined to embark 
his person and fortune in the cause of liberty. 
He was received in Greece with enthusiasm, 
and proceeded to Missolonghi, where his re- 
ception was most gratifying to his feelings. 
He immediately formed a brigade of five 
hundred Suliotes. He was aware of the dis- 
sensions existing among the Greeks, but was 
confident of their ultimate success. He was 
urged to go to Zante, on account of the un- 
healthiness of Missolonghi. " I can not quit 
Greece," he wrote to a friend, " while there 
is a chance of my being even of (supposed) 
utility. There is a stake worth millions such 
as I am, and while I can stand at all, I must 
stand by the cause. While I say this, I am 
aware of the difficulties, dissensions, and 
defects of the Greeks themselves ; but allow- 
ance must be made for them by all reasona- 
ble people." 

On the 9th of April, while riding on horse- 
back, he was overtaken by a rain-storm, and 
the feverish cold he took was the precm-sor 
of a fatal malady. He died April 1 9th, 1 824 ; 
his last thoughts, as his words indicated, 
were with his wife and child. His funeral 
was solemnized in Missolonghi, and his death 
publicly mourned in Greece. His body was 
conveyed to England, and interred at Huck- 
nall church, near Newstead Abbey. The ex- 
terior of the coffin bore the following inscrip- 
tion: "George Gordon Noel Byron, Lord 
Byron of Rochdale; born in London, Jan. 
22d, 1788. Died at Missolonghi, in Western 
Greece, April 19th, 1824." 

Most of Lord Byron's vices sprang from 



BYR 



162 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



his freedom from all control at an age when 
he most stood in need of friendly advice and 
friendly restraint, to guard him from those 
evils which beset young men, and particu- 
larly young men of rank, in the outset of 
their career. Yet his reckless gallantry, and 
laxity of morals, did not efface fine traits of 
feeling, benevolence, and a respect for virtue. 
His attachment to his daughter Ada was sin- 
cere and lasting; and he often spoke of his 
wife with affection and respect. Medwin 
says that his absent daughter occupied much 
of his thoughts. "He opened his writing 
desk, and showed me some hair, which he 
told me was his child's. During our ride 
and drive this evening, he declined our usual 
amusement of pistol-firing, without assigning 
a cause. He hardly spoke a word during the 
first half-hour, and it was evident that some- 
thing weighed heavily on his mind. There 
was a sacredness in his melancholy that I 
dared not interrupt. At length he said: 
" This is Ada's birth-day, and might have 
been the happiest day of my life ; as it is 

! '' He stopped, seemingly ashamed of 

having betrayed his feelings. He tried in 
vain to rally his spirits by turning the con- 
versation ; but he created a laugh in which 
he could not join, and soon relapsed into his 
former reverie. It lasted till we came within 
a mile of the Argive gate. There our silence 
was all at once interrupted by shrieks that 
seemed to proceed from a cottage by the side 
of the road. We pulled up our horses, to 
inquire of a contadino standing at the little 
garden-wicket. He told us that a widow had 
just lost her only child, and that the sounds 
proceeded from the wailings of some women 
over the corpse. Lord Byron was much 
affected, and his superstition, acted upon by 
a sadness that seemed to be presentiment, 
led him to augur some disaster. "I shall 
not be happy," said he, " till I hear that my 
daughter is well. I have a great horror of 



anniversaries ; people only laugh at it, who 
have never kept a register of them. I always 
write to my sister on Ada's birthday. I did 
so last year ; and, what was very remarkable, 
my letter reached her on my v\'edding-day, 
and her answer reached me at Ravenna on 
my birthday. Several extraordinary things 
have happened to me on my birthday; so 
they did to Napoleon; and a more won- 
derful circumstance still occurred to Marie 
Antoinette." That Lord Byron should have 
joined to his religious skepticism some super- 
stitious weaknesses, will surprise man}^ ; yet 
it should seem no incompatibility. There is 
little or no connection between reason and 
sentiment, and all imaginative persons are 
liable to this disease : for superstition is the 
malady of man himself, only as he is an 
imagmative anmial. BjTon once consulted 
a conjurer, more out of sport than curiosit}'. 
He was told that two years would be fatal 
to him, his twenty-seventh and his thirty- 
seventh. In the first he married, in the 
second he died. 

BYZANTIUM, named fi-om Byzas its 
founder, was situated on the site of the pres- 
ent city of Constantinople. It was founded 
by a Greek colony, b.c. 667. Philip of Mace- 
don laid siege to it. One dark night his 
soldiers had almost gained the town, when 
a light shone suddenly from the north, and 
revealed to the inhabitants their danger. 
The thankful Byzantines built an altar to 
Diana, and assumed the crescent as the em- 
blem of their city. When the Turks con- 
quered Constantinople, they adopted it as 
their own device. From the Thracians, 
Scythians, and Gauls, and under the Roman 
emperors Severus and Gallienus, Byzantium 
suffered severely. During the reign of Con- 
stantine the Great, it was rebuilt and made 
the capital of the empire. The Byzantine 
empire is a name given to the Eastern Roman 
empire. 



BYZ 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



163 



CABOT, Sebastian, a celebrated navigator, 
son of John Cabot, was born at Bristol, in 
1467. He was the discoverer of Florida. He 
visited the eastern side of the island of New- 
foundland. John Cabot and his son Sebas- 
tian discovered, on the 24th of June, 1497, 
the shores of Newfoundland. The neighbor- 
ing island received the name of St. John, 
because it was discovered upon the festival 
of that saint. After having sailed in the 
English service, Sebastian went to Spain in 
1526, where he was furnished with vessels 
with which he ascended the river La Plata. 
He made other voyages also in Spanish ves- 
sels. He returned to England, however, and 
was graced with various dignities, and in- 
trusted with the direction of the Merchants' 
Company, formed for the purpose of making 
discoveries. He superintended Willoughby's 
expedition in 1553, and an act of Edward 
VI., dated 1549, grants him a pension of 
£166, a considerable sum if we consider the 
value of money at that period. He is sup- 
posed to have died in 1557. 

CADE, John, a native of Ireland, who, 
having been compelled to fly to France, re- 
turned to England in 1450, assumed the pop- 
ular name of John Mortimer, and raised a 
formidable force in Kent, at the head of which 
he placed himself. He promised to lay down 
his arms, if the grievances of which he com- 
plained were redressed; but losing his au- 
thority over his followers they committed 
various outrages which were resented by the 
well-disposed part of the community. The 
rebels were defeated, a price was set on Cade's 
head, and he was killed by one Iden, a gen- 
tleman of Sussex, 1451. 

CADMUS. This name belongs to several 
characters of mythology and history. One, 
a Phoenician, brought a colony of his coun- 
trymen to Greece, and introduced letters 
there, b.c. 1550. 

CADOUDAL, George, a Chouan chief, 
who with Gen. Pichegru, was concerned in a 
conspiracy to take the life of Bonaparte when 
first consul. He was brought over to France 
in a British government vessel, but was seized 



by the police, tried, condemned, and executed 
June 24th, 1804, aged thirty-five years. 

CADWALLADER, John, a distinguished 
military officer, born in Philadelphia. He 
commanded the Pennsylvania troops in the 
winter of 1777, and enjoyed the confidence of 
General Washington. At the battles of Prince- 
ton, Brandywine, Germantown, and Mon- 
mouth, he served as a volunteer or acted in 
his command, and died in 1786. 

CAESAR, Caius Julius, descended from 
the illustrious family of Julia, which traced 
its origin to .^Eneas and Venus, "was born 100 
B.C. In his infancy he witnessed the civil 
wars of Sylla and his maternal uncle, Marius. 
When Ca3sar had arrived at man's estate, 
Sylla, then at the height of power, could not 
excuse his crime in being the nephew of Ma- 
rius, and the son-in-law of Cinna. He was 
proscribed, and his sentence was revoked only 
by means of the earnest solicitations of the 
vestals, and the credit of his family. Sylla 
is said to have declared, in yielding to their 
urgency, that they would one day repent 
having saved the life of a young man in 
whom he beheld the spirit of more than one 
Marius. Young Cassar commenced his mil- 
itary career in Asia. Returning to Rome 
after the death of Sylla, he gained applause 
and popularity by his' eloquence, an art in 
which Appollonius of Rhodes was his instruc- 
tor. While absent from Rome, pursuing his 
studies, he learned that Mithridates had at- 
tacked the provinces of the allies of Rome, 
and accordingly, leaving Rhodes for the con- 
tinent, he assembled troops and led them 
against the kmg of Pontus. 

On his return to Rome, finding Pompey at 
the head of the senate and the repubhc, and 
fearing that his connection with the partisans 
of Marius might prove disadvantageous to 
him, he joined the Pompeian party. The 
oifice of military tribune, and afterward that 
of questor, were conferred upon Caesar. Upon 
pronouncing the funeral eulogium on his aunt 
Julia, while enjoying the latter dignity, he 
produced the images of Marius, which had 
not seen the light since the dictatorship of 



C^S 



164 



COTTA(iE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Sylla. When promoted to the dignity of 
gedile, he caused the statues and trophies 
of Marias to be replaced. At this period he 
was accused of aiming at the supreme power, 
but the people, whose tastes he flattered, 
vaunted his devotion and courage, and the 
zeal with which he had discharged his official 
duties ; and the multitude did not forget the 
magniticent spectacles for which they were 
indebted to him, and the ample arrange- 
ments which he had made for the accommo- 
dation of the spectators at the public shows. 
When the conspiracy of Cataline was discov- 
ered, C^sar had the hardihood to recommend 
the conspirators to mercy, and sustained his 
opinion with a warmth which gave rise to a 
suspicion that he was hot altogether a stran- 
ger to the plot. So strongly did the tide of 
indignation set against him, that the knights 
who composed the guard on that day, waited 
only for a sign from Cicero to kill him ; but 
the latter, fearing that it would be impossi- 
ble to substantiate his guilt, saved him from 
their furj'. Caesar, while engaged in ambi- 
tious schemes, mingled in the dissipation of 
the day, and concealed under the exterior of 
a man of pleasure the traits of a determined 
foe to liberty. 

On the death of Metellus, Caesar obtained 
the office ot'jnmtifex maximus, although two 
powerful men were his competitors. He had 
so plunged himself in debt by his heavy brib- 
ery, that on the day of the election, seeing his 
mother in tears, he embraced her, and said, 
" To-day you will see me a high-priest or an 
exile." Shortly after this, Clodius having 
been accused of attempting to corrupt the 
fidelity of Cesar's wife, he divorced her, and 
said, "The wife of Caesar must not even be 
suspected." He was then praetor ; after- 
ward the government of Spain fell to his lot. 
A sajdng of his at this time proved that he 
then entertained the most ambitious ideas. 
At a poor village in the Alps, some of his 
friends asked if, in that miserable place, 
power, and rank occasioned discussion. "I 
had rather," said he to them, "be the first 
even in this place, than the second in Rome!" 
He was by no means idle in his government, 
but made many conquests, while he did not 
neglect his private interests, for he extorted 
money enough to pay his enormous debts, 

C 



and enable him to purchase a vast number 
of creatures. 

To obtain the consulate, he reconciled Cras- 
sus and Pompey, and made use of both, form- 
ing with them the first triumvirate. Al- 
though he had a colleague, he governed with 
absolute authority. Bibulus, who was asso- 
ciated with him, and vainly opposed his 
wishes, wittily declared that the Romans were 
not under the consulate of Ca3sar and Bibu- 
lus, but under the consulate of Julius and 
Caesar. Caesar gained popularity by procur- 
ing the distribution of the lands of Campania. 
Shortly after the union of Pompey with 
Julia, the daughter of Caesar, the latter ob- 
tained the government of the Gauls and Illy- 
ria for five years, with the command of four 
legions. He triumphed over the Gauls, the 
Helvetians, the brave Belgians, and others, 
carried his arms beyond the Rhine, and 
raised the Roman eagles in hitherto uncon- 
quered Britain. During the ten years of the 
Gallic war, Caesar is said to have possessed 
himself of eight hundred towns, and to have 
triumphed in arms over three million men. 
In the midst of his victories, he was mindful 
of his own interests, and robbed even altars 
and temples to increase his wealth. He is 
said to have quoted with approbation this 
sentence of Euripides, "Violate justice only 
for the sake of ruling." The soldiers were 
gained by liberal presents, and it seemed as 
if the army was the depositary of the im- 
mense wealth which Ciesar was accumulat- 
ing. Thus the troops were the soldiers of 
Ca3sar, and not of the republic. Rome had 
become venal ; everything was for sale, and 
Caesar was the purchaser of everything. 

Crassus had been slain in a campaign 
against the Parthians, and Julia, the link that 
bound Cfesar and Pompey together, as the 
daughter of one and the wife of the other, 
was no more. The predominant party in the 
senate was favorable to Pompey, and the in- 
creasing p*ower of the conqueror of Gaul was 
jealously seen. Although the term of Caj- 
sar's command had not yet expired, the 
senate sent him a decree, the purport of which 
was, that if in a limited time Cassar did not 
relinquish his command, he should be treated 
as the, enemy of the commonwealth. Three 
tribunes of Caesar's party, among them Mark 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



165 



Antony, having been expelled from the sen- ' Caasar was completely victorious. He pur- 
ate for opposing this decree, fled to the camp sued Pompey to Egypt, but was indignant 



of Caesar in the garb of slaves. War was 
practically declared. The senate commanded 
ti\e consuls to look to the safety of the repub- 
lic, and Caesar ordered his troops to advance 
to tlio Rubicon, a small river separating Cis- 
alpine Gaul from Italy. The republic, which 
both parties invoked, was no more than a 
name ; Cassar and Pompey were both heads 
of factions, that sought to elevate themselves 
above the laws. Learning the decree of the 
senate, Cicsar marched directly to the Rubi- 
con. There, the risks he was about to incur, 
and the evils he was about to bring upon his 
country, held his mind in suspense for a long 
time; but, after having reflected upon the 
hate and animosity of his enemies, and upon 
his own strength, he dashed forward, ex- 
claiming, "The die is cast." His soldiers 
followed him. Arrived at Rimini, the terror 
of his arms spread to Rome, where disorder 
prevailed. Conflicting opinions distracted 
the city, and all energy seemed sunk in the 
consideration of the greatness of the danger, 
and the insufficiency of the means of defense. 
Pompey left Rome, with the consuls, prin- 
cipal senators, &c., and from Capua went to 
Dyrrachium, to which last place he escaped 
under cover of night, leaving the whole of 
Italy in the power of Caesar. The latter, 
sending his lieutenants to take possession of 
Sardinia and Sicily, advanced to Rome. The 
only act of violence which he committed, was 
the seizure of the public treasure deposited 
in the temple of Saturn. Pompey's party 
had idly imagined that the removal of the key 
was a sufficient safeguard. The tribune Me- 
tellus opposed the passage of Caesar, who 
threatened him with death, sternly adding, 
" This is an act easier for me to do than to 
name." The tribune retired, and Csesar took 
out all the treasure, even ■ the most sacred 
deposits. Having subdued Pompey's lieu- 
tenants in Spain, Cajsar was named dicta- 
tor. He then went to Greece for the purpose 
of crushing Pompey. Crossing the sea in a 
mere fishing-boat, he was exposed to great 
danger, and animated the pilot by the memo- 
rable exclamation, " Fear nothing ! you caj-ry 
Caesar and his fortunes ! " The fate of Pom- 
pey and of the republic was decided by the 
battle of Pharsalia, fought 48 b.c, in which 



when the head of his unfortunate rival was 
brought him by his assassins. 

While he was in Alexandria, detained by 
the charms of Cleopatra, and the differences 
existing between the members of the family 
of Ptolemy, he witnessed the breaking out of 
a sedition which shortly became an open 
war, and called for the exertion of all his 
energy. After remaining some months in 
Egypt, he marched against Pharnaces, king 
of Pontus, whom he defeated with a celerity 
well expressed in his own words, " Veni, 
ridi, vici;" "I came, I saw, I conquered." 
There still remained to be conquered some 
formidable enemies ; Scipio, Labienus, Cato, 
and Juba, the king of Mauritania, had pow- 
erful armies in Africa. After a campaign in 
which Caesar displayed all his skill, Africa 
no longer sheltered a Roman opposed to him, 
except Cato, who shut himself up in Utica, 
and preferred death to submission. Caesar, 
who admired elevation of soul, envied Cato 
the glory of his death, and wept for his fate, 
as he had shed tears at that of Pompey. The 
conqueror, after having subjected Africa, and 
ordered the rebuilding of Carthage, returned 
to Italy, where he was received with the 
acclamations of the senate and Roman peo- 
ple. Four triumphs were decreed to him. 
His liberality was felt by the people, for 
whose amusements he prepared festivals and 
shows. 

The two sons of Pompey mustered a strong 
force in Spain, but were attacked in the 
plains of Munda, by Cajsar, and signally de- 
feated. So obstinate was the battle, that 
Cfesar himself declared that he fought less 
for victory than life, but from the moment 
that both were secure, everything w^s in 
his power. He re-entered Rome the master 
of the world. The triumph which he then 
obtained for having vanquished Romans ex- 
cited secret murmurs among the people and 
senators, but no one dared to utter a com- 
plaint in public. The senate decreed him 
extraordinary honors and unlimited author- 
ity. He was declared consul for ten years, 
and perpetual dictator ; they gave him the 
titles of emperor, and father of his country. 
His person was declared sacred and inviolable. 
He had the privilege of being present at 



C/ES 



166 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



spectacles in a golden chair, with a crown of 
laurel upon his head. The decree of the 
senate provided that, even after his death, 
this chair and the crown of gold should be 
conspicuously placed at all spectacles in honor 
of his memory. There was now but one 
thing wanting, the title of king. He is said 
to have deliberated whether he should take it. 

He preserved the republican forms in the 
midst of an absolute government, and showed 
himself as able to maintain power, as to gain 
it. " His clemency," says Montesquieu, " was 
insulting. It was considered that he did not 
pardon, but disdained to punish." Having 
by victory obtained the highest power, he 
wished to enjoy it as if it had been transmit- 
ted to him, and sought too soon to banish the 
inquietudes which almost invariably trouble 
a power of recent growth. " I had rather," 
said he, " die at once, than live alwaj^s in 
fear." He sent away his Spanish guard, 
contrary to the advice of his best friends, and 
trusting too readily the assertions of his flat- 
terers, who declared, that after having put 
an end to the civil wars, the republic was 
more interested than he was, in his safety. 
His death was caused by this want of caution. 

He had formed a plan for conquering the 
Parthians, and was on the eve of departing 
for Asia. His partisans, to reconcile the Ro- 
mans to his assumption of the title of king, 
circulated a report that the books of the 
Sibyls declared, that the Parthians could only 
be subjugated by the Romans when their 
leader was a king. The rumor gave the ene- 
mies of Caesar a pretext for seeking his death. 
A conspiracy was formed against him, at the 
head of which were Brutus and Cassius, 
whom he had made prastors. The assassin- 
ation was to take place on the ides of March, 
the day on which Caesar, according to report, 
was to assume the royal title. The conspir- 
acy was not so secret as to prevent the circu- 
lation of some reports with regard to it, 
but Ca3sar refused to take any precaution. 
Moved, however, by the tears and entreaties 
of his wife Calphurnia, he had made up his 
mind to remain at home, when Decimus Bru- 
tus, by representing to him the importance 
of presenting himself at the senate-house, 
changed his resolution. As he was leaving 
his house, a certain Artemidorus placed in 
his hand a paper, containing an exposure of 



the whole plot Being unable to read this 
and other letters from the pressure of the 
crowd about him, Caesar gave them to his 
secretaries. He had no sooner entered the 
eenate-house, than he was surrounded by the 
conspirators. Cimber, under pretext of re- 
spect, seized the skirt of his robe, a signal 
which Casca responded to by stabbing Cajsar 
in the shoulder. The weapon was caught 
by the intrepid victim, who exclaimed, 
"Wretch! what art thou doing?" Caesar, 
though repeatedly wounded, defended him- 
self against his assassins, until Brutus struck 
him, when, fixing his ej^es upon him, he 
mournfully exclaimed, " And thou, too, Bru- 
tus?" Then, folding his head in his mantle, 
he fell, pierced with thirty-three wounds, at 
the base of Pompey's statue, March 15th, 44 
B.C. He was then fifty -six years old. The 
body of Caesar, abandoned by all, was car- 
ried home by three slaves. When his will 
was read from the tribune by Antony, the 
people made the air ring with their cries 
of grief and anger. The funeral ceremonies 
were distinguished by uncommon magnifi- 
cence. The senate, who dared not defend 
him in his hour of need, placed him among 
the gods, and ordered that his laws should be 
immutable. 

The results of this assassination were de- 
plorable, for jealousy, ambition, and personal 
anger armed the greater part of the murder- 
ers, and but few among them were animated 
by a love of liberty. Caesar, with many 
faults and foibles, possessed many fine traits, 
and was fitted by nature to command. His 
erudition was considerable, and his " Com- 
nientai'ies " are models of good writing. He 
has been pronounced the greatest man that 
Rome ever beheld. Clement, generous, and 
magnanimous, he was also insatiably ambi- 
tious. He was an orator, statesman, and 
scholar, as well as a successful general. 

CAILLIE, Rene, a native of France, cele- 
brated for his travels in Africa. He won the 
prize offered by the geographical society of 
Paris to the man who should first reach Tim- 
buctoo (1827-8) ; and, besides other rewards, 
was presented with the cross of the legion of 
hopoT. 

CALAIS, a seaport of France, in the British 
Channel, opposite to Dover. It is strongly 
fortified, and contains about 13,000 inhabit- 



CAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



167 



ants. In 1346, Edward III. of England, after 
his great victory of Cressy, laid siege to it, 
and concerted his measures so well, that his 
adversaries could not throw succors into the 
place. Nearly two thousand of tlie wretched 
inhabitants, who had been sent out of the 
place to lessen the consumption of provisions, 
came to the camp of the besiegers. Edward 
gave each of them a hearty meal and two shil- 
lings, and provided for their future safety. 
Calais was obliged to surrender to the Eng- 
lish, after holding out a year, and remained in 
their possession until 1558, when it was in- 
vested and attacked by the Duke of Guise, 
and, after a siege of eight days, was obliged 
to capitulate. During the operations of Fran- 
cis I. and the Duke of Bourbon against the 
Emperor Charles V., a congress was held at 
Calais, under the mediation of Henry VIII., 
of England, which proved unsuccessful. Ca- 
lais was the last possession of England, in 
France, and its loss deeply mortified Queen 
Mary. " When I am dead," she said, " Calais 
will be found written on my heart." 



CALDERON. Don Pedko Calderon db la 
Bakca Henao y Riano, a Spanish poet and 
di-amatist, born at Madi'id, 1600, and died 
1681. He served in a military capacity, but 
afterward embraced the clerical profession. 
He was the author of three hundred plays. 

CALHUUX, John Caldwell, was born at 
Long Cane, in Abbeville district, S. C, March 
18th, 1782, of Irish parentage. He was edu- 
cated at Yale College and the law school in 
Litchfield, Conn. In 1811, he entered the 
lower house of Congress, whence in 1817 Mon- 
roe called him to the head of the department 
of war. In 1825, he was chosen vice-presi- 
dent. From 1831 to 1843 he represented his 
native state in the federal senate. In the lat- 
ter year he was appointed secretary of state 
by Mr. Tyler, and in 1845 returned to the 
senate, in which he continued till his death, 
March 31st, 1850. Mr. Calhoun was one of 
the ablest statesmen and most forcible orators 
that have mingled in the public counsels of 
the country. 




CALIFORNIA. This state on the shores 
of the Pacific, is a portion of the territory ob- 
tained from Mexico. It has an area of 188, 982 
square miles, and the population in 1860 was 
379,994. It is traversed by two great ranges 
of mountains, the Sierra Nevada and the Coast 
range, having between them the splendid val- 
ley of the Sacramento and the Joaquin ; on 
the eastern side wide sandy plains, and on 
the western the narrow slip of coast. Its 



most important rivers are the Sacramento and 
the San Joaquin. California has a dry and 
a wet season ; the first lasting fi-om about the 
middle of May to September or October ; the 
wet season setting in early in November, and 
lasting till May. To its dry season it owes 
its name, which is from the Spanish caliente 
fornalla, ' hot furnace.' In the great interior 
valley, the soil is of great fertility, and one 
day the state will be as rich in its agriculture 



CAL 



168 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



as in its mines. The country was discovered 
by the Spaniards in 1542, but they did not 
colonize it till 1768. Up to the great discov- 
ery of gold it was a scantily peopled tract. 
Sir Francis Drake, who visited it in 1578, re' 
ceived such reports of the existence of gold 
from the natives that he declared it to be his 
conviction that there was "no part of this 
country wherein there is not some special 
likelihood of gold." Yet little or no search 
seems to have been made for the precious 
metal. The shining scales of virgin gold were 
accidentally discovered in September, 1847, 
upon the estate of Captain Sutter. It soon 
became knowTi, and emigration flowed toward 
the golden country from all Christendom. 
The scene was unparalleled in history. Towns 
and cities sprang up as if by magic. The fa- 
ble of the Argonauts was revived and im- 
proved upon. The colonists formed them- 
selves into a sovereign state, and California 
was received into the Union in September, 
1850. Society was for a time very unsettled, 
but the disorders which bad men introduced 
culminated and met with a terrible and de- 
cisive check in the Vigilance Committee of 
San Francisco during 1856, and the law- 
abiding Anglo Saxon character has since 
been creditably mamtained, California con- 
tained in 1860, 34,919 Chinese, attracted by 
the gold mining ; they are industrious and 
despised, and continue their heathen worship. 

San Francisco, the largest city of Califor- 
nia, is said to have been a Spanish mission 
settlement in 1776. In 1845 it had only 150 
inhabitants. In 1852 it had 34,776, of whom 
only 5,245 were women. In 1860 it had 
56,802. The city has repeatedly suffered 
from sweeping conflagrations, but it has of 
late been built of more enduring materials. 
Sacramento is the capital. It was founded 
1849, and in 1852 had more than 10,000 in 
habitants. 

CALIGULA, Caius Cesar Auoustus Ger- 
MANicus, a Roman emperor, was the son of 
Germanicus and Agrippina, and bom a.d. 12. 
He received its surname from the califfce (half 
boots) which he wore. His life, with a single 
exception, presented only a series of acts of 
horrible cruelty, disgusting absurdity, and 
daring impiety. The reputation of his father 
at first disposed the Romans to think favora- 
bly of the son, but after a few hollow displays 



of clemency and liberality, he showed himself 
in his true light, and, even while a boy, com- 
mitted incest. He married and repudiated 
several wives, the last of whom, Csesonia, re- 
tained a firm hold upon his affections. His 
mm'ders were numerous, and rendered memo- 
rable by the rank of the victims and the rela- 
tion which they bore to him. It was Caligula 
who wished that the people of Rome had but 
one head, that he might sever it at a blow. 
If the cruelties of the tyrant call forth our in- 
dignation, his unmanly follies excite our con- 
tempt. His treatment of his horse Incitatus 
exhibited the ridiculous part of his character. 
This animal had a gorgeous stable, a house to 
entertain visitors, and frequently dined at the 
emperor's table, when he was presented with 
wine and gilded oats. His master even med- 
itated elevating him to the consulship. Cali- 
gula appeared in public in the attributes of 
various divinities, male as well as female, and 
claimed homage as a Venus and a Mars. 
Among his absurdities may be reckoned the 
bridge of boats built from Baioe to Puteoli ; 
his expedition against Britain, when the sol- 
diers gathered cockle-shells for spoils, and 
lastly, his design of decimating the German 
army for a revolt. To this last act the world 
owed its deliverance from the monster, who 
was murdered by Choerea and Cornelius Sa- 
binus, military tribunes, a.d. 41, after a reign 
of four years. 

CALONNE, Charles Alexander de, an 
eminent French statesman, born at £)ouai in 
1734, succeeded to the management of an 
empty treasury in 1783, and skillfully met 
the claims upon it, without adding to the 
burthens of the people. He advised the abo- 
lition of the pecuniary exemptions enjoyed 
by the nobility, clergy, and magistracy. He 
was, however, obliged to retire from the ven- 
geance of those bodies. He died in 1802. 

CALVERT, George, Lord Baltimore, 
founder of Maryland, was of Flemish descent, 
born at Kipling, in Yorkshire, England, 1582, 
and educated at Oxford; in 1619, he was 
made by Charles I. one of the principal sec- 
retaries of state; resigned that office, 1624; 
made Baron of Baltimore, 1625; obtained a 
patent for Maryland, June 20th, 1632, and 
died at London the same year. 

CALVIN, John, a leader of the Reforma- 
tion in the sixteenth century, was born at 



CAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



169 



Noyon, in Picardy, July 15th, 1509, and was 
destined for the church at an early age, being 
presented with a benefice in the cathedral of 
his native place when he was but twelve 
years old. His progress was rapid, but it 
was not long before he received the seeds of 
the new doctrines. In 1533, he was involved 
in a persecution with his friend Michael Cop, 
who had defended the reformed doctrines in 
a public discourse. Obliged to quit France, 
he repaired to Bale, in 1534, where he com- 
posed his famous " Institutes of Christianity." 
He was induced to wTite this by the persecu- 
tions of Protestants, which disgraced the 
reign of Francis I. of France. Although 
received in different places with marks of 
respect, Calvin found the warmest welcome 
and the safest asylum in Geneva. After some 
agitation, the new doctrine was generally re- 
ceived at Geneva. On the refusal of Calvin 
and Farel to comply with the decrees of the 
council of Lausanne, the magistrates com- 
pelled them to leave the city in 1538. At 
Strasburg, Calvin's reception was favorable, 
but he turned a longing look upon Geneva. 
He was finally invited to return, and he 
gained a great ascendency over the Genevese. 
The rigor of Calvin was excessive. Thus, a 
magistrate was deprived of his ofQce, and im- 
prisoned for two months, because "his habits 
were irregular, and he had leagued with the 
enemies of Calvin." James Gruet was be- 
headed, for having written "impious letters 
and libertine verses," and for having "labored 
to destroy ecclesiastical regulations." Geneva, 
in becoming the metropolis of the reformed 
worship, became the centre of a prodigious 
book-trade, and the city of all Europe in 
which the arts and sciences were cultivated 
with the greatest success. 

Calvin died in Geneva, May 27th, 1564, in 
the fifty -fifth year of his age. His constitu- 
tion was weak, and throughout life he had 
suffered much from disease. In 1539 he 
married a widow, by whom he had one son, 
who died young. She died in 1549, and he 
never married again. He was sombre and 
austere in his manners, of a melancholy dispo- 
sition. He never knew the sweets of friend- 
ship, and his sole joy, if joy it was, was in 
ruling, and beholding the triumph of his 
opinions. Calvin never had any other title 
in the church of Geneva, than that of pastor. 



His temper, according to his ovra confession, 
was impatient and opposed to all contradic- 
tion. Thus the tone of his polemical wri- 
tings is almost always harsh and insulting. 
As a theologian, Calvin gained the highest 
rank among the men of his century, by his 
profound knowledge, by his tact, and, as he 
himself boasted, by his art in pressing an 
argument. As a writer he merits high 
praise. His mode of worship, bare and stern, 
appeared, in the eyes of many, to have ele- 
vated religion above all sublunary things, by 
stripping it of every object which had an 
attraction for the senses. 

CALYPSO, a daughter of Atlas, who dwelt 
upon the island of Ogygia, where Ulysses 
was shipwi-ecked. He refused to marry the 
goddess, although immortality was the prom- 
ised reward, preferring to revisit Ithaca and 
again behold his wife. He remained seven 
years on the island, and grief at his depart- 
ure destroyed the enamored goddess. 

CAMBACERES, Jean Jacques Regis, was 
Duke of Parma, prince and arch-chancellor 
of the French empire, dignities which he en- 
joyed during the ascendency of Napoleon, of 
whom he was a colleague in the consulate in 
1799. His plan of a civil code, drawn up in 
1796, was the basis of the celebrated Code 
Napoleon. He left France on the downfall 
of the emperor, and died in Paris, March 8th, 
1824, aged seven tj^-one. 

CAMBRAY, a strongly fortified town of the 
French department of the North, containing 
20,000 inhabitants, celebrated in diplomatic 
history for several important treaties nego- 
tiated there. Its manufactures are extensive, 
one of the principal articles being cambric, 
which takes its name from this town. The 
town was taken by Charles V. in 1544; by 
the Spaniards in 1596 ; and by Louis XIV. 
in person, in 1677. In August, 1793, it was 
unsuccessfully besieged by the Austrians, 
when the republican genera), Dcclay, replied 
to the imperial summons to surrender, that 
"he knew not how to do that, but his sol- 
diers knew how to fight ; " and in the cam- 
paign of 1815 it was taken by the British, 
and made the head-quarters of the allied 
armies. 

CAMBRONNE, Pierre Jacques Etienne, 
baron, general, commander of the legion of 
honor, and distinguished for his personal 



CAM 



170 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



bravery, was born Dec. 26th, ITTO. He 
commanded the small band which Napoleon 
led from Elba. At Waterloo, he was severely 
wounded, and taken prisoner. In that battle 
he commanded the old guard, and when he 
heard the British demand for capitulation, he 
answered nobly, "The guard dies, but does 
not surrender." He died in 1842. 

CAMBYSES, a king of Persia, and son of 
Cyrus the Great, ascended the throne B.C. 
530. He conquered and devastated Egy^pt. 
Offended at the superstitions of the Egyp- 
tians, he killed their god Apis, whose flesh 
was eaten by his soldiers, and plundered their 
temples. On mounting his horse at a subse- 



party and personal prejudices more than once 
involved him in persecution. In the siege of 
Falerii, the schoolmaster of the town, who 
had the children of the senators under his 
care, led them out of the city under prftext 
of recreation, carried them to the Roman 
camp, and surrendered them to the Roman 
general, telling him that he might now pro^ 
pose to the besieged what terms he chose, 
since the treasures they valued most were in 
his hands. Camillus, indignant at this treach- 
ery, answered that the Romans warred with 
men, not with boys ; and that, in the conduct 
of hostilities, integrity, as well as courage, 
should be prized. He ordered the school- 



quent period, his sword gave him a fatal I master to be stripped, and, with his hands 



wound in the thigh, the place where he had 
injured the bull, and the Egyptians looked 
upon this event as the retributive vengeance 
of the gods. He was dissolute, and destitute 
of moral principles. In his fits of intoxica- 
tion, his brutality was feared even by those 
who had the gi-eatest claims upon his for- 
bearance. In a fit of drunken rage he gave 
his wife a kick which killed her. His throne 
was usurped by one of the Magi, who as- 
sumed the name of Smerdis, a brother of the 
king, who had been secretly murdered on 
account of a dream which prognosticated to 
the tyrant future troubles, and warned him 
to save himself by the death of his brother. 

CAMDEN, in South Carolina, was the 
scene of two contests in the Revolution, in 
both of which the British were victors. The 
first was fought between Gen. Gates and 
Lord Cornwallis, Aug. 16th, 1V80; the second 
between Gen. Greene and Lord Rawdon, 
April 25th, 1781. The British evacuated 
and burned Camden, May 13 th, 1781. In 
the first of these battles the brave Baron de 
Kalb fell, pierced with seven wounds. 

CAMILLUS, Marcus Furius, an illustrious 
Roman, who obtained four triumphs and five 
times filled the office of dictator, but, being 
prosecuted on a charge of peculation, went 
into voluntary banishment. While he was 
absent, Brennus, at the head of an army of 
Gauls, took Rome, and besieged the senate in 
the capitol. Camillus, forgetting his wrongs, 
hastened to the relief of his country, defeated 
the barbarians, and was created dictator. 
He died b.c. 365, of the plague. He was 
generally honored and respected, although 



bound behind his back, to be delivered to 
the boys to be lashed back to the town. The 
Ealerians, before obstinate in their resistance, 
struck with this noble act, delivered them- 
selves up to the Romans, convinced that it 
would be better to have such men for friends 
than foes. 

CAMOENS, Luis de, the most celebrated 
of Portuguese poets, was born in Lisbon, in 
1517. His father was of a noble family, and 
his mother of the illustrious house of Sa. 
Camoens studied at Coimbra, where his in- 
structors valued no literature but that which 
was written in imitation of the ancients. 
But the genius of Camoens was animated by 
the history of his country and the manners 
of his age ; and his lyric poems belong, like 
the works of Dante, of Petrarch, Ariosto, and 
Tasso, to that literature which was renewed 
by Christianity, and to the spirit of chivalry, 
rather than to a purely classical style of 
writing. For this reason, the numerous par- 
tisans of the classic school did not applaud 
the performances of Camoens in the early 
part of his career. On the completion of his 
studies, he returned to Lisbon, where he 
became warmly attached to Catharine d'At- 
tayde, a lady of the court. Ardent passions 
are often united to great genius, and the life 
of Camoens was alternately consumed by his 
feelings and his genius. 

He was exiled to Santarem on account of 
the quarrels which his attachment to Catha- 
rine brought upon him. There, in his seclu- 
sion, he composed detached poems, which 
distinctly portray the state of his feelings at 
the time of their composition. The hope- 



CAM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



171 



lessness of his situation led him to embark 
as a soldier in the Portuguese fleet sent 
against Morocco. In the midst of battles he 
composed poems, the glories and the dangers 
of war kindling his poetic spirit, and his 
poetic imagination in turn urging him on- 
ward to exploits. He lost his right eye by 
an aiTow before Ceuta. On his return to 
Lisbon, he hoped that his wounds would en- 
title him to some favor, even if his talents 
were despised ; but, although he had a double 
claim upon the notice of government, he en- 
countered unexpected obstacles. Justly in- 
dignant at this neglect, he embarked for the 
Indies in 1553, and like Scipio bade farewell 
to his country, declaring that even his ashes 
should not repose there. 

He landed at Goa, the principal Portuguese 
establishment in India ; here his imagination 
was excited by the exploits of his country- 
men in this part of the world, and, great as 
were his inducements to complain of them, 
he thought to consecrate their glory in an 
epic. But, incensed at the abuses which were 
committed by the government, he composed 
so severe a satire upon the subject, that the 
enraged viceroy of Goa banished him to 
Macao, where he lived several years, sur- 
rounded by the most glorious scenes which 
the fairy regions of the east can boast. Here 
he composed his "Lusiad." The expedition 
of Vasco da Gama to the Indies is the sub- 
ject of this work, which is sustained by the 
skill of Camoens in mingling details of Por- 
tuguese history with the splendors of poetry, 
and Christian piety with pagan fable. 

Camoens, on being recalled from his ban- 
ishment, was shipwrecked at the mouth of 
the river Mecon, in Cochin China, and saved 
himself by swimming with one hand, while 
in the other he held the leaves of his immor- 
tal poem, the only treasure that he saved, 
above the reach of the greedy waves. Ca- 
moens was persecuted by a new viceroy at 
Goa, and imprisoned for debty-btrt-gome of 
his friends becoming security for him^'^re. 
embarked for Lisbon in 1569, sixteen years 
after having quitted Europe. The young 
king Sebastian took an interest in Camoens, 
accepted the dedication of his epic poem, 
and, on the eve of departing on his unfortu- 
nate expedition against the Moors in Africa, 
felt more than any one else the genius of the 



CAM 



poet, who like himself gloried in dangers 
when they led the way to fame. But Sebas- 
tian was killed in the battle of Alcazar, in 
1578 ; the royal line became extinct, and 
Portugal lost her independence. The unfor- 
tunate Camoens was reduced by this event 
to such extremes, that, during the night, a 
slave, whom he had brought from India, 
begged in the streets to obtain food for his 
master. In this wretched state, he still com- 
posed lyric poems, and the finest of his de- 
tached pieces are those which contain com- 
plaints of his misfortunes. How brilliant 
was that genius which could extort inspiration 
from the very cjdamities which finally extin- 
guished it. This hero of Portuguese literature, 
the only one whose glory belongs alike to his 
nation and to Europe, died in a hospital in 
1579, aged sixty-two years. After his death, 
a monument was erected to his memory, and 
thousands, who would have denied succoi 
while he was living, crowded to do homage 
to his inanimate remains. 

CAMPBELL, Thomas, was born in Glas- 
gow, July 27th, 1777. At the age of twenty- 
two, " The Pleasures of Hope " gained him 
instant fame as a poet ; it went through 
four editions at Edinburgh in a year. It 
is a curious fact that the first fourteen lines 
were the last that were written. Campbell's 
friend and critic, Dr. Anderson, had always 
urged the want of a good beginning, and, 
when the poem was on its way to the printer, 
again pressed the necessity of starting with 
a picture complete in itself Campbell all 
along admitted the justice of the criticism, 
but never could please himself wdth what 
he did. The last remark of Dr. Anderson's 
roused the full swing of his genius within 
him, and he retm-ned the next day to the 
delighted doctor, with that fine comparison 
between the beauty of remote objects in a 
landscape, and those ideal scenes of happi- 
ness which imaginative minds promise to 
themselves with all the certainty of hope ful- 
filled. Anderson was more than pleased, and 
the new comparison was made the opening 
of the new poem.* 

" At summer eve, when Heaven's ethereal bow 
Spans witli bright arch the ghtteriug hills below, 
Why to yon moimtain turns the musing eye, 
Whose sunbright summit mingles with the sky? 
Why do those cliffs of shadowy tint appear 
Jlore sweet than all the landscape smiling near ? 



172 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



'T is distance lends enchantment to the view, 
And robes the mountain in its azure hue. 
Tims, with dehght we hnger to survey 
The promised joys of Ufe's unmeasured way; 
Thus from afar, each dim-discovered scene 
More pleasing seems than all the past hath been ; 
And every form that Fancy can repair 
From dark oblivion, glows divinely there." 

The poem had put some money in the 
poet's pocket, and he gratified an early long- 
ing in a visit to Germany. At Hamburgh, 
the sight of the many Irish exiles inspired 
him to that touching lament, "The Exiles of 
Erin." During this journej^ also, he wrote 
■" The Mariners of England." On his road 
from Munich to Linz, he witnessed from the 
w&lls of a convent the bloody field of Hohen- 
linden, and saw the triumphant French cav- 
alry, under Moreau, enter the nearest town, 
wiping their bloody swords on their horses' 
manes. His Ija-ic has enshrined the conflict 
forever. "John Ley den," h-ajs Sir Walter 
Scott, "introduced me to Tom Campbell. 
They afterward quarreled. When I repeated 
* Hohenlinden ' to Leyden, he said, ' Dash it, 
man, tell the fellow I hate him ; but, dash 
him, he has written the finest verses that 
have been published these fifty years.' I did 
mine errand as faithfully as one of Homer's 
messengers, and had for ans\yer, ' Tell Ley- 
den that I detest him ; but I know the value 
of his critical approbation.'" Scott knew 
"Hohenlinden" by heart; and when Sir 
Walter dined at Murray's in 1809, he repeated 
at the table, as Wilkie tells us, Campbell's 
poem of " Lochiel." He had it by heart after 
hearing it once, and once reading it. 

Campbell sustained his reputation by 
" Gertrude of AVyoming " in 1809. His life 
was passed in litei-ary labor, but his other pro- 
ductions were inferior. He was extremely 
sensitive to criticism. "I often wonder," 
said Sir Walter Scott in 182(3, "how Tom 
Campbell, with so much real genius, has not 
maintained a greater figure in the public eye 
than he has done of late. The author not 
only of ' The Pleasures of Hope,' but ' Ho- 
henhnden,' 'Lochiel,' &c., should have been 
at the very top of the tree. Somehow he 
wants audacity, fears the public, and what is 
worse, fears the shadow of his own reputa- 
tion." * * * "What a pity it is," said Sir 
Walter to Washington Irving, "that Camp- 
bell does not write more and oftener, and give 



full sweep to his genius ! He has wings that 
would bear him to the skies, and he does, 
now and then, spread them grandly, but 
folds them up again, and resumes his perch, 
*as if he was afraid to launch away. The 
fact is, Campbell is in a manner a bugbear to 
himself ; the brightness of his early success 
is a detriment to all his further efibrts. He 
is afraid of the shadow that his own fame casts 
before him." 

In 1827, he was elected lord-rector of his 
own mother university at Glasgow, by the 
free and unanimous choice of the students, 
and was justly proud of his election. "It 
was a deep snow," writes Allan Cunningham, 
"when he reached the college-green; the 
students were drawn up in parties, pelting 
one another: the poet ran into the ranks, 
threw several snowballs with unerring aim, 
then summoning the scholars around him in 
the hall, delivered a speech replete with phi- 
losophy and eloquence. It is needless to say 
how this was welcomed." AVhen his year 
had expired, he was unanimously re-elected, 
the students presenting him at the same time 
with a handsome silver punch-bowl, described 
by the poet in his will as one of the great 
ewels of his property. 

Campbell was passionately fond of chil- 
dren. This once led to a ludicrous circum- 
stance. He saw a fine child, about four 
years old, one day walking with her nurse in 
the park ; and on his return home he could 
not rest for thinking of his child sweetheart, 
as he called her, and actually sent an adver- 
tisement to the Morning Chronicle, mak- 
ing inquiries after his juvenile fascinator, 
giving his own address, and stating his age 
to be sixty -two ! The incident illustrates the 
intensity of his affections, as well as the live- 
liness of his fancy ; for, alas ! the poet had 
then no home-object to dwell upon, to con- 
centrate his hopes and his admiration. His 
wife had long been dead, and his only son was 
a helpless imbecile. Several hoaxes were 
played off on the susceptible poet in conse- 
quence of this singular advertisement. One 
letter directed him to the house of an old 
maid, by whom he was received very cava- 
lierly. He told his story, but " the wretch," 
as he used to say with a sort of peevish 
humor, " had never heard either of him or 
his poetry ! " In his last years the poet him- 



CAM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



173 



self sank into a state of comparative mental 
and bodily feebleness. He died at Boulogne, 
and was buried in the poet's corner at West- 
minster Abbey. 

Campbell told a story with much humor.> 
At a meeting of authors he once proposed 
Napoleon's health because he had murdered 
a publisher, Palm! He liked "Gertrude" 
the best of his poems, and once said, "I never 
like to see my name before " The Pleasures of 
Hope ; " why, I can not tell you, unless it was 
that, when young, I was always greeted among 
my friends as Mr. Campbell, author of ' The 
Pleasures of Hope.' Good morning to you, Mr. 
Campbell, author of 'The Pleasures of Hope.' 
When I got married, I was married as the 
author of ' The Pleasures of Hope ; ' and when 
I became a father, my son was the son of the 
author of ' The Pleasures of Hope.'" The 
phrase followed him out of life, for the in- 
scription on his coffin was : 

" Thomas Campbell, LL.D. 

Author of the 'Pleasures of Hope.' 

Died June 15, 1844. 

Aged 67." 

CAMPO-FORMIO, a village of Udine in 
Friuli, a province of Venice, belonging to the 
Austrians, famous for the treaty signed here 
Oct. 17th, 1797, by which the Emperor of 
Austria ceded to the French republic the 
whole of the Austrian Netherlands, and con- 
sented to tiieir remaining in possession of the 
islands of Corfu, Zante, Cephalonia, and all 
the islands in the Adriatic, together with the 
Venetian territories in Albania. He also 
acknowledged the Cisalpine republic as an 
independent state ; ceded to it the countries 
in Lombardy which had formerly belonged 
to Austria, and consented that it should pos- 
sess Bergamo, Brescia, and other Venetian 
territories, together with the duchies of Man- 
tua and Modena, the principalities of Carrara 
and Massa, and the cities of Romagna, Fer- 
rara, and Bologna, belonging to the pope. 
France yielded up to Austria, Istria, Dalma- 
tia, the city of Venice, with a large portion 
of the dominions of that republic, and the 
Venetian islands in the Adriatic, lying to the 
north-east of the Gulf of Lodrino. 

CANADA, a country in North America, 
belonging to the British, and divided since 
the year 1791 into Canada East, or Lower 
Canada, and Canada West, or Upper Canada. 



The population of Canada is 2,506,755, and 
its extent 349,821 square miles. Of late 
years it has received a large immigration 
from Great Britain. In Canada East there 
were 890,261 inhabitants, by the census of 
1851, of whom the greater portion were 
French Canadians, the remainder being Eng- 
lish, Scotch, Irish, and Americans. It is 
divided into thirty-six counties. Seignior- 
ies, or grants of the French govei'nment, and 
townships, or grants of the English, are the 
minor subdivisions. A governor-general, 
whose residence is at Quebec, is at the head 
of the British American government. The 
houses of the Canadians are generally low, 
and built of stone, with little finish. Edu- 
cation is generally at a low ebb among them, 
although Quebec and Montreal sustain some 
highly reputable seminaries. The commerce 
of the province has gi'adually increased 
under the fostering spirit of the British gov- 
ernment. The fur trade, of which Montreal 
is the depot, is considerable, and timber, pot 
and pearl ashes, grain, &c., are exported in 
great quantities. Grass, wheat, barley, rye, 
&c., are the principal productions of the soil. 
The majestic St. Lawrence is the main river 
of the Canadas, but there are also others of 
great importance. 

The French Canadians possess the charac- 
teristics which distinguish the volatile inhab- 
itants of France. The passionate vivacity, 
the eagerness in pursuit of pleasure, the 
levity, and, it must be added, laxity of prin- 
ciple, exhibit the connection between the 
parent stock and the transplanted race. 
Their amusements in winter consist of sleigh- 
ing expeditions, in which the spirited little 
Canadian horses prove their worth, varied 
by dancing, and social gayeties. Where the 
females are distinguished for their temper- 
ance, the men are unfortunately addicted to 
the use of spirituous liquors, and can scarcely 
be persuaded to abandon them in winter, 
alleging the severity of the weather, which 
frequently depresses the mercury in the ther- 
mometer to forty degrees below zero, as an 
excuse. 

Canada West is settled for the most part 
by emigrants and the descendants of emi- 
grants from Great Britain and Ireland. Pop- 
ulation (1851), 999,847. It contains forty-two 
counties, divided into numerous townships. 



CAN 



174 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



A large proportion of the emigrants to Can- 
ada now settle in this province, induced by 
the very great fertility of the soil, and the 
value and abundance of the timber. The 
forests increase in extent as they spread to 
the regions of the north. In these wooded 
districts, vast sheets of water expand in sol- 
itary splendor, haunted only by the beasts of 
prey, or Indians hardly less wild. The es- 
tablished religion of the Canadas is that of 
the Church of England, but a large portion 
of the inhabitants are Catholics. The Brit- 
ish constitution forms the basis of that of 
British America. 

The French, at a very early period, seemed 
to be aware of the importance of the discov- 
ery of Canada by Cabot, and the cod-fishery 
began to employ their men as early as the 
commencement of the sixteenth century. In 
the early part of that century a Frenchman 
is said to have made a chart of the entrance 
of the St. Lawrence. In 1524, Francis I. of 
France sent four ships, under Verazzani, a 
Florentine, to prosecute discoveries in this 
country. In 1535, James Cartier, of St. Ma- 
loes, sailed up the St. Lawrence, formed 
alliances with the natives, took possession of 
the territory, built a fort, and wintered in the 
country. Henry IV. appointed the Marquis 
de la Roche lieutenant-general of Canada and 
the neighboring countries. In 1608, the city 
of Quebec was founded, and from that period 
the establishment of a permanent French 
colony commenced. In 1629, an English 
expedition took possession of Quebec, but it 
was surrendered again to the French by the 
treaty of St. Germain. This expedition was 
headed by Sir David Keith. In 1690, a bold 
attempt was made, but without success, to 
subject Canada to the English crown. The 
attempt was renewed in 1711, but equally in 
vain. Canada continued in the occupation of 
the French till the breaking out of the war 
between France and England in 1756. In 
1759 the British government formed the pro- 
ject of attempting its conquest, and the Eng- 
lish took possession of Quebec after a gallant 
resistance on the part of the French ; in 
which the English general Wolfe, and Mont- 
calm the French commander, both per- 
ished. The latter, on being told that his 
wound was mortal, nobly exclaimed, "Then 
T shall not live to see the city surrendered to 



the British ! " The whole province of Can- 
ada was soon after subdued by the English, 
and was confirmed to Great Britain by the 
treaty of 1763. In 1775, Canada was in- 
vaded by a body of continental troops, led 
by Montgomery ; Montreal was taken, but 
the gallant general perished in the unsuc- 
cessful attempt upon Quebec. During our 
last war with Great Britain, Upper Canada 
became the theatre of a sanguinary struggle. 
During 1837 and 1838 insurrections broke 
out against the government, and some small 
Ijattles were fought. From 1791 till 1840, 
liie two provinces had distinct governments. 
In the latter year they were united. The 
act of union provides for the appointment of 
a legislative council by the crown, and an 
assembly chosen by the people. The royal 
governor of Canada is governor-general of 
British North America. Quebec and Toronto, 
which were the capitals of the separate prov- 
inces, were made joint seats of government. 
In 1858, Ottawa, formerly called Bytown, 
a thriving town in Canada West, on the Ot- 
tawa River, was designated by the crown as 
the capital of the united provinces. The 
population of Ottawa was 14,669 in 1861. It 
is the centre of a great lumber trade. 

Quebec, stands on a promontorj', on the 
north-west side of the St. Lawrence, 400 
miles from its mouth, containing about 51,000 
inhabitants. It is divided into two parts, 
the Upper and the Lower Town. The Upper 
Town is built on a bold precipice of naked 
rock, rising to the height of 345 feet. Que- 
bec, for an American city, is certainly a 
peculiar town : a military town, most com- 
pactly and permanently built, stone its sole 
material ; environed, as to its important parts, 
by walls and gates, and defended by numer- 
ous heavy cannon; garrisoned by troops, 
having the arms, the costume, the music, the 
discipline of Europe, foreign in language, 
features, and origin, from most of those whom 
they are sent to defend ; founded upon a 
rock, and its higher parts overlooking a great 
extent of country ; between three and four 
hundred miles from the ocean, in the midst 
of a great continent, and yet displaying fleets 
of foreign merchantmen in its fine capacious 
bay, and showing all the bustle of a crowded 
seaport; its streets narrow, populous, and 
winding up and down almost mountain de- 



CAN 



.H18TO[iY 4N0 BIOGRAPHY. 



175 






.— ^-. 



u=4^.^^^. 




PEAK OF TENERIFFE. 



clivities ; situated in the latitude of the finest 
parts of Europe, exhibiting in its environs 
the. beauty of a European capital, and yet, in 
winter, smarting with the cold of Siberia ; 
governed' by people of different language and 
habits from the mass of the population, op- 
posed in religion, and yet leavin* that popu- 
lation without taxes, and in the full enjoyment 
of every privilege, civil and religious. Its 
siege and capture in 1759, by Gen. Wolfe, 
was fatal both to the English and French 
commanders. In 1776, General Montgomery 
and Arnold attempted to take Quebec by 
storm, but Montgomery fell, and Arnold was 
compelled to retreat. 

Toronto, on the northern shore of Lake 
Ontario, has an excellent harbor, and is the 
centre of trade for a broad back country ; 
population in 1861, 44.821. Montreal, on 
an island in the St. Lawrence, 180 miles 
above Quebec, and 200 below Lake Ontario, 
is at the head of ship navigation. The streets 
are regular, the houses are built of gray 
stone, and present a singular appearance 
from being covered with tin. Montreal Col 
lege is a very flourish'ng institution. Popu 
.ulation 90,323. 

CANALS. The fira regular chain of arti 



ficial water intercommunication, of which 
history has transmitted to us the record, 
was that between the Nile and the Red Sea. 
This canal route was examined w^ith great 
care by the French engineers, and several 
portions found in 1798 in such a state of 
preservation as only to demand cleansing. 
The system of modern canal improvement 
may be stated to have commenced in Italy, 
at Viterbo, 1481, when sluices with double 
doors were invented, and first used on a large 
scale, near Milan, by Leonardo da Vinci. 
The canals of the delta of the Rhine com- 
menced, it is true, in the dark ages, but it 
was not before the end of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, that they were planned and constructed 
with scientific regularity of design. The 
most stupendous canal in the world is one 
in China, which passes over two thousand 
miles, and to forty-one cities; it was com- 
menced in the tenth century. The Erie 
canal in New York, three hundred and thirty 
miles in length, was begun in 1817. The 
Bridgewater canal, the first great work of the 
kind in England, was begun by the Duke of 
Bridgewater, in 1758. Brindley was the 
architect. [See Brindley.] 

CANARIES, a group of seven islands in 



CAN 



17G 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the Atlantic, off the coast of Africa, belong- 
ing to Spain. Teneriffe is the largest and 
most important. The Peak rises 11,94G feet 
above the sea. These are supposed to be 
the Fortunate Isles of the ancients. In 
1330 a French ship, di'iven among them by 
stress of weather, made them known to the 
modern world. They were seized by the 
Spaniards, who planted the vine, which still 
flourishes, about 1420. The canary-bird is a 
native of these isles. It was brought into 
England in 1500. 

CANDIA, the ancient Crete, a large island 
in the Mediterranean, lying about eighty 
miles south of the Morea. The climate is 
mild, and the soil productive, capable, as 
was proved in ancient times, of supporting 
1,200,000 inhabitants, a population which 
Turkish tyranny and indolence have dimin- 
ished to 159,000. It was, in mythological 
accounts, the kingdom of Saturn. After 
becoming a republic, and a pirate isle, it was 
conquered by the Romans, and then by the 
Saracens in 823. In 962, the Greeks re- 
gained possession of it. It was sold to the 
Venetians in 1204, and was fiercely contended 
for by the troops of the Porte and the re- 
public. Hither the Christian chivalry of 
Europe rushed to display their valor against 
the infidels, and the capital was only surren- 
dered after a siege of twenty-five years, Sept. 
27th, 1669. Candia continued in the hands 
of the Turks, until its cession to Mehemet 
Ali in 1830. In 1840 it was restored to the 
sultan. The wild goat of Crete is the sup- 
posed origin of all the domestic varieties. 

CANNyE, a city on the Adriatic, at the 
mouth of the Aufidus, where the Romans 
were defeated by the Carthaginians, under 
Hannibal, May 21st, 216 B.C. Hannibal had 
10,000 horse and 40,000 foot, while the Ro- 
man troops, headed by ^milius Paulus and 
Terentius Varro, amounted to 87,000 men. 
The opponents of Hannibal had two to one 
against him in infantry, while Hannibal had 
five to one against them in cavalry. The 
light-horse and slingers began to skirmish, 
after whom Hasdrubal charged the troops 
of horse that were led by Jimilius, and broke 
their ranks. The last blow that ended all 
resistance was given by the same hand that 
aimed the first. Hasdrubal, having cut in 
pieces all the Roman horse that opposed him, 



fell back upon the rear, and came up to the 
Numidians, with whom he joined and made 
a charge upon Varro. The Romans whom 
they charged appeared incapable of resist- 
ance, and were completely routed. Livy 
says that 40,000 foot and above 2,700 horse 
were slain ; Polj'bius accounts the loss much 
greater. The prisoners taken amounted to 
3,000 foot and 300 horse, according to Livy ; 
according to others, to 8,000. Hannibal col- 
lected the rings, the badges of the follen Ro- 
man knights, and sent many bushels of them 
to Carthage, as tokens of his triumph. He lost 
4,000 Gauls, 1,500 Spaniards and Africans, 
and 200 horse. Had he pursued his victory 
and marched forthwith to Rome, instead of 
quartering his troops in the seductive Capua, 
he might probably have ended the war ; but 
he did not trust his own good fortune to such 
a length. Varro, the consul whose impru- 
dence brought on the defeat, saved himself 
by flight, while his brave colleague, ^Emilius, 
perished on the field of battle. 

CANNING, Geokge, a brilliant English 
statesman, born April 11th, 1770. His Hfe 
was spent on the political arena, and he suc- 
ceeded Lord Liverpool as premier in February, 
1827; but worn by his toils, both in body 
and mind, he died August 8th, 1827. 

CANOVA, Antonio, the most celebrated 
and successful sculptor of the nineteenth cen- 
tury, was Ij^rn in the Venetian territory, at 
Possagno, Nov. 1st, 1757, and from his twelfth 
year devoted himself to the art in which he 
became so celebrated. When quite young he 
modeled the figure of a lion in butter with 
exquisite skill. This was placed upon the 
table of the seigneur of the place, Falieri, 
whose attention it attracted. The ingenious 
artist was sought for, found, and placed with a 
statuary. At seventeen, his statue of Euryd- 
ice was sculptured, and highly praised. In 
1779 he went to Rome under the patronage 
of the Venetian senate. His works are nu- 
merous, and his subjects various ; the female 
figures being the most perfect and beautiful. 
Canova had a method of finishing his statues, 
by applying to the marble a peculiar prepara- 
tion, which destroyed the glare and glitter of 
the stone, and imparted to it the soft and 
mellow lustre of wax. Modest, moral, and 
amiable, Canova was free from professional 
jealousy, and liberally patronized young art- " 



CAN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



177 



ists of merit, removing many of the obstacles 
which oppose the early steps of devotees to 
the fine arts. He was created Marquis of Is- 
chia, with a large pension, by Pope Pius VII., 
who was by no means backward in acknowl- 
edging his merit. The amiable artist died at 
Venice, Oct. 13th, 1822, leaving behind him 
many monuments of his talents, industry, 
goodness, and liberality. A writer, speaking 
of the comparative merits of the Medicean and 
the Canova Venus, says, "I am by no means 
convinced of the great superiority of the an- 
cient over the modern work. It is certain the 
general attitude and aspect are copied in the 
latter, which deprives the artist of a great 
share of the merit of originality ; but if we 
were to regard the works alone, without any 
reference to their formation, I am not sure 
that the palm would not be given to Canova. 
As a friend of mine, no mean judge, said to 
me, ' If they were both dug out of the earth 
now, and nobody knew anything about either, 
the Canova statue would be preferred.' " 

CANUTE, the Great, King of Denmark and 
England, succeeded his father Sweyn in the 
former kingdom, about the year 1015. He 
commenced his reign by an expedition against 
England, but hearing that the King of Norway 
had invaded Denmark, he was obliged to make 
a precipitate retm-n. Having repulsed the 
invader, he resumed his enterprise, and land- 
ing on the southern coast, committed dreadful 
ravages ; but Edmund Ironsides opposed him 
with such bravery, that Canute agreed to di- 
vide the kingdom with him. On the murder 
of Edmund by EtU'ic in 1017, Canute obtained 
the whole kingdom in an assembly of the 
states, and put to death Edric, and several of 
the English nobility who had basely deserted 
their sovereign. He likewise levied heavy 
taxes on the people, and particularly on the 
inhabitants of London. The King of Sweden 
having attacked Denmark, he went thither 
and slew the Swedish monarch in battle. 
Canute built churches, made a pilgrimage to 
Rome, cherished the interests of learning, and 
distinguished himself by his piety. Canute's 
reproof of his courtiers is well known. These 
flatterers having assured him he had power 
over all things, he seated himself upon the 
sea-shore, and commanded the waves not to 
approach his feet. The elenjent advanced 
with its usual rapidity, and Canute, rising. 



12 



said to his courtiers in a tone of great solem- 
nity : " He alone can rule the waves, who has 
said to them. Thus fiir shall ye go, and no 
farther." Canute died at Shaftesbury, 1036. 
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. The Cape, nearly 
at the southern extremity of Africa, long in 
the hands of the Dutch, was found, on the 
conquest by the English, in the year 1795, to 
be 550 English miles in length, and 233 in 
breadth. This flourishing colony was origin- 
ally founded by the Dutch. Van Riebeck, 
surgeon of one of the Dutch company's ships, 
having touched at the Cape, was struck with 
the extent of the bay, capable of containing 
jnore than one hundred vessels ; its situation, 
half-way between Europe and India ; and the 
nature of the soil, which seemed proper for 
every kind of cultivation. On his return, he 
communicated his ideas to the company, who 
approved of his plan and gave him full powers 
to carry it into execution. Van Riebeck ac- 
cordingly embarked with four vessels, and, 
after arriving at the Cape, purchased from the 
inhabitants land for an establishment, for 
which he gave them merchandise, to be se- 
lected at theii own choice, to the value of 
50,000 florins, 1651. The possession of this 
region was for a long time a source of contest 
between the Dutch and English. It was taken 
by the Enghsh in 1797, and, after having been 
surrendered to the Dutch in 1802, was again 
occupied by the former in 1806, and has since 
remained in their possession. Cape Town is 
resorted to by ships bound to the Indian 
Ocean, for supplies of water and provision. 
The Hottentots, or Bushmen, are a degraded 
race, but instead of endeavoring to better their 
condition, the Europeans have contributed to 
prolong, and in fact consolidate, their evil 
habits, furnishing them with spirituous li- 
quors, the agency of which insures their de- 
struction, or reduces them to an abject state 
which is far worse than death itself. The 
cruelty practiced on the natives by the Dutch 
almost exceeds belief. When a party of 
Dutch vvished to settle in any spot, they pro- 
ceeded to clear it by the death of the natives, 
with as much coolness as an American squat- 
ter would exhibit, in hewing down the forest- 
trees to open a place for the erection of his 
log-house, or in picking off with his rifle a few 
of the wild animals which threatened to be 
troublesome. The Dutch manner of proceed- 



CAP 



178 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Ing was summary. Having selected the hut 
of some poor wretch as an object of destruc- 
tion, they first set fire to it. Let us imagine 
the dismay and horror of a poor family at 
finding flames breaking forth around, above 
them, in every direction. Rushing forth, the 
wretched owners of the miserable dwelling 
would implore pity from their cruel enemies. 
The Dutch boors would be too much engaged 
in loading their pieces and discharging them 
upon the males, to heed the cries of the fe- 
males, who, with their childi-en, were gener- 
ally saved. The indifference with which the 
boors regarded the death of the Bushmen, is 
strikingly illustrated in the following-anecdote. 
A boor, presenting himself at the secretary's 
office at Cape Town, after having traversed a 
lonely tract, was asked if he had not found 
the Bushmen troublesome ? " Not very," re- 
plied he, with great coolness, "I only shot 
four." 

In 1848, the population was 200,546. Cape 
Town, the capital of the British possessions in 
this region, was the first settlement of the 
Dutch. 

CAPE VERDE ISLANDS, a group of 
islands, in the Atlantic, opposite to and 390 
miles from Cape Verde, belonging to Portugal. 
Their number has been variously stated from 
ten to fourteen. The air is unwholesome, but 
some portion of the soil is fertile. Rain is 
unfrequent, and the drought has been so se- 
vere that numbers of the inhabitants have 
perished fi-om the consequent famine. The 
salt manufactured at Mayo, a small island, is 
exchanged for flour, and this trade is chiefly 
carried on by means of American vessels. 
The inhabitants, who are mostly negroes, 
numbered 86,738 in 1850. These isles were 
known to the ancients as the Gorgades, but 
were not visited by the moderns till 1446. 

CAPET. The family name of a royal race, 
thirty -six members of which have reigned in 
France, and eighty-two in other European 
states. The word signifies 'broad-head,' or 
perhaps 'broad-hat,' and was first given to 
Hugo, son of Hugo the Great, Duke of France 
and Count of Paris, by his adnerents, in the 
tenth century. He seized the tnrone on the 
death of Louis V., the Indolent, the last of the 
Carlovingian race,' a.d. 987. Louis had 
reigned but one year, and was poisoned by 
h'j queen, who loved him not. 



CAR 



CAPO D'ISTRIA, John, Count of, a native 
of Greece, was born at Corfu, in 1780. He 
entered the diplomatic service of Russia, was 
intrusted with several important missions, 
and assisted to manage the intrigues by which 
that power fomented the disaffection of the 
Greeks toward the Turks. In 1827, he was 
elected president of the Greek republic. In 
this responsible station, his talents appear to 
have been of a high order, although the weak- 
ness of the state, and the disorders which 
reigned throughout Greece, embarrassed his 
abilities. He was assassinated in 1831, his 
leaning toward Russian policy gaining him 
enemies. 

CAPPADOCIA, a province of Asia, once of 
great importance as an independent kingdom, 
at times, although nominally dependent upon 
Persia, whose satraps governed it. The Pon- 
tus Euxinus lay upon the north, Armenia on 
the east, Cilicia and Syria on the south, and 
Lycaonia on the west. It was divided into 
Cappadocia Magna, and Cappadocia Minor, 
afterward Cappadocia Proper, and Pontus. 
The kingdom was founded by Pharnaces, 744 
B.C. The peoi^le are said to have been addict- 
ed to every vice that man is capable of com- 
mitting. They worshiped the sun. Arche- 
laus, the last king, bequeathed the country to 
the Romans, a.d. 17. 

CAPRI, the ancient Capre^e, a beautiful 
rocky island in the Gulf of Naples, whose in- 
habitants are 6,000 in number. Besides being 
valuable on account of its oil and wine, it is 
enriched by quails, which come hither in great 
numbers from Africa, and are caught with 
ease. The charms of this island induced Ti- 
berius to select it for his retreat when he 
chose to retire from ^he active admmistration 
of government, and give himself up to the 
most revolting debauchery, occasionally re- 
minding his subjects of his existence by or- 
dering the execution of Rome's best citizens. 

CAPUCHIN FRIARS, a sort of Francis- 
cans, to whom this name was given from their 
wearing a great capiichon, or cowl, an odd 
kind of cap, or hood, sewn to their habit, and 
hanging down upon their backs. They were 
founded by Matthew Baschi, about 1525. Al- 
though the rigors of this order have abated, 
still the brethren are marked for their extreme 
poverty and privations. 

CARABOBO, a province of Venezuela, in 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



179 



South America. The famous battle of Cara- 
bobo, which decided the independence of Ven- 
ezuehx, was fought between BoHvar and La 
Torre, the Spanish general, June 24th, 1821. 

CARACALLA, Antoninus Bassianus, the 
eldest son of the Emperor Severus, born a.d. 
188, and associated with his father in the 
government at the age of thirteen years. Af- 
ter his father's death, he assassinated his 
brother Geta, who shared the throne with 
him, in 212. Caracalla received the surname 
of Alemannicus, for basely murdering a tribe 
of the Germans whom he pretended to assist. 
He visited Egypt, and displayed every where 
the greatest cruelty. He was finally assassin- 
ated at Edessa, a.d. 217, by Macrinus, the 
praetorian prefect 

CARACTACUS, king of the Silures, a Brit- 
ish tribe of Wales, who, being taken prisoner 
by the Romans, was led before the Emperor 
Claudius, a.d. 52. He was unawed by the 
power and splendor which surrounded him, 
but was surprised, as he told the emperor, 
that the possessors of so much wealth and 
grandeur could envy him his humble cottage. 
The magnanimity of his bearing, and the can- 
dor and moderation of his remarks, so moved 
the emperor, that he gave orders to have the 
captive monarch set at liberty. This was the 
only good action performed by Claudius that 
is extant. 

CARBONARI ('colliers'), the name of a 
secret political society of Italy which existed 
for many years, but the origin of which is 
doubtful. The Carbonari were sworn foes of 
oppression, "Hatred to tyrants!" being the 
initiatory oath. The places where they met 
were called 1iuts ; the interior the coZZi'ery, and 
the exterior the luood. Tolerance in religious 
matters was secured by their principles. In 
1820, when Italy was disturbed by plots, 
650,000 new members were admitted, in the 
month of March. In that year the society 
was suppressed by the Austrian government ; 
though there is reason to think it yet exists. 

CARDINALS were originally the parish 
priests at Rome ; title began to be used, 308 ; 
college of, founded by Pope Pascal L, 817; 
did not elect the popes till 1160; wore the 
red hat, to remind them that they ought to 
shed their blood, if required, for religion, and 
were declared princes of the church, 1243 ; 
the cardinals set fire to the conclave, and sep- 



arated, and a vacancy in the papal chair for 
two years, 1314 ; Cardinal Carassa was hanged 
by order of Pius IV., 1560 ; as was Cardinal 
Poll, under Leo X. ; the title of eminence first 
given them by Pope Urban VIIL, about 1630. 
Paul IL gave them the scarlet habit, 1464. 
The cardinals are now ecclesiastical princes in 
the Church of Rome. They are the council 
of the pope, and constitute the conclave or 
sacred college. 

CAREY, William, D.D. of the English 
Baptist mission at Serampore, was born Aug. 
17th, 1761. He was the son of a poor man, 
and commenced business in life as a shoe- 
maker. By industiy and application he ac- 
quainted himself with Hebrew and various 
other languages. In 1793, he left England 
for India. He translated the Scriptures into 
Bengalee, and into all the principal languages 
of northern Hindostan, and compiled also a 
volummous Bengalee dictionary. He died in 
1834. 

CARLOS, commonly known as Don Carlos, 
son of Philip I. of Spain by his first wife, 
Mary of Portugal, was born at Valladolid, 
Jan. 8th, 1544. Four days after, his mother 
died in the midst of preparations for the cel- 
ebration of the birth of the prince. Carlos 
was naturally feeble, and had one leg shorts 
than the other. The excessive indulgence 
with which he was treated in youth, fostered 
his strong passions, and rendered him vindic- 
tive and obstinate. In 1560, Philip caused 
the states, assembled at Toledo, solemnly to 
recognize Don Carlos as heir to the crown. ' 
A headlong fall down the staircase of the 
palace of the Cardinal Ximenes at Alcald, in 
1562, nearly deprived the young prince of 
life. His skull was fractured, and trepanning 
was necessary. Of course a royal prince of 
Spain could not be restored without a mira- 
cle, and the credit of Carlos's recovery was 
divided between the bones of a holy friar 
and the image of Our Lady of Atocha. 
These sanctified instrumentalities did not 
work a radical cure, for the brain of their 
patient had received a permanent injury. 

Writers vary greatly in the portraits which 
they draw of Don Carlos. According to 
some, he was" born with those qualities which 
adorn a hero, with a love of glory joined to 
high courage, a proud disdain of opposition, 
and a desire of extended power. According 



CAR 



180 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



to others, his actions were those of a mad- 
man, whom accident and opposition irritate, 
but address or submission calms. It is cer- 
tain that after this accident he displayed 
much eccentricity of conduct, and gave him- 
self to reckless gratification of his passions. 
One night, as he was traversing the streets 
of Madrid, some one accidentally threw a 
little water on his head. Instantly stopping, 
Don Carlos ordered his attendants to set fire 
to the house, and cut the throats of its inmates. 
They parted, as if to execute his commands, 
but returning immediately, assured him that 
it was impossible to obey him, because the 
holy sacrament was on the point of being 
administered to a sick person in the offensive 
dwelling. This reply pacified the prince. 

Cardinal Epinosa, president of the council 
of Castile, and afterward grand-inquisitor, 
banished a comedian najjied Cisneros fi-om 
the place, where he was to have performed 
that nigl^t for the prince's diversion. It was 
probably by Philip's order. Carlos, meeting 
the cardinal, seized him roughly by the col- 
lar, and, laying his hand on his poniard, ex- 
claimed, "You scurvy priest, do you dare to 
prevent Cisneros from playing before me? 
By the life of my father, I will kill you ! " 
The trembling prelate, throwing himself upon 
his knees, was too happy to escape with his 
life from the hands of the infuriated prince. 

An mifortunate money-lender, one Grim- 
aldo, after having supplied the prince with 
some money he liad asked, added in the usual 
high-flown style of Castilian politeness, that 
all that he had was at his disposal. Carlos 
took him at his word, and instantly demand- 
ed a hundred thousand ducats. In vain 
Grimaldo protested that he had only used 
a form of speech current in all good society. 
The best bargain he could make was to be 
let off with sixty thousand, to be furnished 
within twenty-four hours. 

A shoemaker having made a pair of boots 
much too tight for the prince, the latter 
ordered them to be cut to pieces and stewed. 
"Villain!" exclaimed he, to the terrified 
tradesman, "thou must eat these or die!" 
In vain the unfortunate man represented the 
cruelty of the sentence, and the trivial nature 
of his offense. He was not permitted to de- 
part until he had eaten up his boots. 

Don Alonzo de Cordova, brother of the 



Marquis of Las Nevas, having failed to repair 
instantly to the prince's chamber, at the 
summons of his bell, the furious prince seized 
him by the waist, and, but for the cries of 
the sufferer, which procured the assistance 
of servants, would have dashed the chamber- 
lain through the window into the moat. 

Yet Carlos at other times behaved in a 
most genei'ous manner, and he obtained the 
affections of those members of the royal 
family who approached him most nearly. 
One of these, romance has closely linked 
with his unfortunate fate. In 1559, a mar- 
riage had been proposed between Don Carlos 
and Isabella, daughter of Henry II. and 
Catharine de Medici of France. Philip 
judged proper to substitute himself for his 
son. It has been said that Carlos loved 
Isabella, that their passion was mutual, and 
that he never forgave his father for having 
deprived him of his bride. 

Carlos may have cherished such a senti- 
ment, no doubt, but that Isabella loved the 
sallow and sickly boy is hardly probable. 
She was kind to him, and always befriended 
him, but it was the kindness of an amiable 
woman and a relative. She appears to have 
possessed a complete control over him, so 
that his conduct in her presence was never 
extravagant. 

Philip served Carlos a second trick of this 
kind. He was led, in 1565, to hope for a 
union with the Archduchess Anne, his cousin, 
and daughter of the Emperor Maximilian, but 
Philip shortly afterward opposed the match, 
and, on the death of Don Carlos, married 
the lady himself Thus he successively de- 
prived his son of two females, whose attrac- 
tions might have bound him to domestic life, 
and softened the wilder and more obdurate 
portions of his character. 

In 1653, Philip, who had no heir but Don 
Carlos, whom he doubtless judged incapable 
of governing, sent for his nephews, the Arch- 
dukes Rodolphus and Ernest, whom he re- 
ceived in person, for the purpose of securing 
the succession to them. The following year, 
Don Carlos, who was discontented, and at 
variance with his father, projected his escape 
from Spain under the pretext of going to the 
relief of Malta, then besieged by the troops 
of Solyman. He collected fifty thousand 
ducats, and was on the eve of departing. 



CAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



181 



when a forged letter of the viceroy of Naples, 
urging his stay in Spain, induced him to 
change his resolution. It is unnecessary to 
dwell upon the various projects of Don Car- 
los for securing fame and distinction in other 
countries, all of which were crossed by his 
stern parent, who regarded him with a jeal- 
ous eye, and punished several of his confi- 
dants and friends. 



enough to kill a man at one blow. De Thou, 
the historian who relates this, says, "fhis 
prince desired the book, after having read in 
the annals of Spain that an imprisoned arch- 
bishop had made a leather cover to a brick 
of the size of his breviary, and used it to kill 
his jailer, whom he struck dead." De Foix 
told the historian that he made the prince a 
book, composed of ten tablets of a blue stone. 



Philip appeared to repose implicit confi- 1 covered with plates of steel, concealed under 
dence in the Duke of Alva, Ruy Gomez de | plates of gilt, and this, book, six inches by 



Sylva, and Espinosa. Don Carlos had 
invincible repugnance to these men, either 
from jealousy of tlie confidence they enjoyed, 
or from considering them as authorized and 
privileged spies upon his conduct. He could 
not bear to dwell upon the thought that the 
Duke of" Alya had obtained the government 
of Flanders, which he had solicited for himself. 
When Alva came to pay his respects to 
him previous to his departure for the Nether- 
lands, the prince fiercely said, "You are not 
to go to Flanders ; I will go there myself." 
Alva endeavored to pacify him, saying that it 
was too dangerous a mission for the heir to 



four, weighed more than fourteen pounds. 
He said also that Don Carlos, wishing to be 
alone in his chamber, employed him to make 
him a machine, with which by means of pul- 
leys he could fasten and unfasten his door 
without rising from his bed. The prince had 
always under his pillow two di-awn swords, 
a brace of loaded pistols, and at the bedside, 
half a dozen arquebusses and an arm-chest. 
These precautions and preparations alarmed 
Philip. Don Carlos was often heard mutter- 
ing against the conduct of his father. He 
went about frequently repeating that there 
was a man with whom he had quarreled. 
At Christmas time 



the throne ; that he was going to quiet the j whom he desired to kill 
troubles of the country, and prepare it for i it was the custom of the royal family to take 
the coming of the king, when the prince ; the sacrament together in public ; and to pre- 
could accompany his father, if his presence ' 



pare himself for this sacred ceremony, Carlofc 
went to confession. He confessed that h^ 
was meditatin^urdcr, without revealing his 
intended victim. The confession being re- 
vealed to Philip, he exclaimed, "I am the 
man whose life ho seeks ! but I will take care 
to prevent the execution of his designs." 
The dark surmise of the fjxther was con- 
treason. Fortunately, being much the strong- ! firmed. Don Carlos's confessor refuse'd him 
er of the two, he grappled with Carlos and absolution. Several learned divines were got 
held him tight, while the latter exhausted I together to give their opinions on the ca°e. 
his strength in ineffectual efforts to escape. | One of the number, wishing to draw from 
But no sooner was the prince released than j Carlos the name of his enemy, told him that 

this intelligence might possibly have some in- 



could be spared in Castile. But this expla- 
nation only served to irritate Carlos the more ; 
and, drawing his dagger, he turned suddenly 
on the duke, exclaiming, ' You shall not go ; 
if you do, I will kill you.' A struggle en- 
sued ; an awkward one for Alva, as to injure 
the heir-apparent might be construed into 



he turned again, with the fury of a madman 
on the duke, who again closed with him, 
when the noise of the fray brought in one 
of the chamberlains from an adjoining room ; 
and Carlos, extricating himself from the iron 
grasp of his adversary, withdrew to his own 
apartment. 

"I'll kill you" seems to have been his 
favorite threat. Louis do Foix, a French en- 
gineer, the celebrated architect who built 
the Escurial, is said to have been commanded 
by Don Carlos to make him a book heavy 



fluence on their judgment. The prince replied 
that " his father was the person, and that he 
wished to have his life ! " What more palpa- 
ble proof oP insanity could be put on record! 
At the same time that he was brooding over 
this assassination, he was also projecting 
schemes to fly from the palace and his father. 
Both designs were of course revealed to the 
king, who now took prompt measures for his 
arrest. De Foix was ordered to arrest the 
action of the pulleys which closed the door of 



CAR 



182 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the prince's chamber. This was done private- 
ly, 'and with so much skill that the prince nev- 
er perceived it. He slept soundly on the night 
of the 18th of January, 1568, when the Count 
of Lerma first entered his apartment, silently 
removed all separate weapons, and sat down 
upon the chest which contained theremainder. 
The king then entered, preceded by Ruy Go- 
mez de Sylva, the Duke of Feria, several other 
noblemen, and guards, Don Carlos being still 
buried in sleep. Being awaked, and seeing 
his father, he exclaimed, "I am lost," and 
mingled prayers for death with loud cries and 
menaces. Philip coldly replied that his life 
was not in danger ; ordered him to rise ; re- 
moved his attendants, seized a casket filled 
with papers, which was under the bed, 
charged those whom he intrusted with the 
care of the prince not to lose sight of him, and 
to prevent his writing or communicating with 
any one, and withdrew. Out of that room 
Don Carlos never again passed. The windows 
were barred up, the door secured, a guard of 
twelve halberdiers were constantly stationed 
in the jjassages leading to it, and night and 
day there were noblemen appointed to keep 
watch over the prisoner himself. All com- 
munication with the outer world was cut off. 

Jie was as one buried alive. 

~ The guards dressed him in black. They 
removed the bed itself, leaving only a small 
trundle-bed in its place. The confinement 
soon told upon liis health ; and the unhappy 
prisoner seems to have hastened his end by 
his own wild behavior. At one time he 
would abstain from food for days together ; 
then he would eat enormously. He would 
also deluge the floor with water; then walk 
about half-naked with bare feet on the cold 
pavement. He caused a warming-pan filled 
with ice and snow to be introduced several 
times in a night into his bed. But Mr. Pres- 
cott tells us that for this last practice he might 
have pleaded the medical authorities of his 
time, and that it was only the hydropathic 
treatment of that day. He caused a large fire 
to be built, under pretense of cold, and threw 
himself into it, to perish in the flames. It 
required the utmost exertions of his guards to 
save him. He endeavored to choke himself 
by swallowing a large diamond which he wore 
about him. 

Philip is said to have discovered in the cask- 

C 



et which was found concealed under the bed 
of Don Carlos, communications with the reb- 
els of the Netherlands. The excessive pre- 
cautions which PhiHp took to justifj-- his con- 
duct, have disposed posterity to judge favor- 
ably of Don Carlos. It is certain that many 
of the most influential grandees of Spain 
vainly petitioned for his liberation. 

Some historians are of opinion that Carlos 
was condemned to death by the inquisition, 
that the sentence was secretly executed, that 
the prince partook of some poisoned broth, 
and died a few hours afterward. Some be- 
lieve that his veins were opened in the bath, 
others that he was strangled ; while Ferreras, 
and the Spanish historians in general, declare 
that he died of a malignant fever, occasioned 
by an improper regimen and by violent fits 
of passion ; that he received the last sacra- 
ments with piety, and wished to have the 
blessing of his father. It is difficult to deter- 
mine the manner or date ofthe prince's death, 
but we incline to refer it to the 24th of Jul}', 
1568. The same year Isabella died, aged 
twenty -three, but her death was natural and 
had no connection with the fate of Don Carlos. 
We do not know how much faith to repose in 
the Spanish historians who defend the mem- 
ory of Philip as the protector of religion, and 
represent his son as a languid member of the 
church, a partisan of the revolted Calvinists 
of the Netherlands, and, above all, a determ- 
ined opponent of the inquisition. Whether 
or not Philip adopted any measures to hasten 
the death of his son, beyond the close confine- 
ment we have mentioned, it is clear that he 
sternly intended that Don Carlos should not 
survive him. 

CARLSBAD, an aristocratic watering-place 
in Europe, is in Bohemk. The arrival of dis- 
tinguished strangers is heralded by trumpet- 
ers stationed on a tall tower near the market- 
place ; the tone and length of the blasts de- 
pending on the character of the equipag9. 
The popular spirit manifested throughout Eu- 
rope against despotic governments, induced 
the congress of Carlsbad, Aug. 1st, 1819; 
whereat the great continental powers decreed 
mea,surgs to repress the rage for free institu- 
tions, and denounced liberal opinions and the 
liberty of the press. 

I CARMELITES, or White Friars, one of 
I the four mendicant orders, and bound by 
AR 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



183 



austere rules, appeared in 1141. Their rigor 
was moderated about 1540. They daim their 
descent in uninterrupted succession from the 
prophet Elijah, and take their name fi'om Mt. 
Caniiel, on which mountain they have a mon- 
astery, built, they say, on the spot where the 
Tishbite and his pupil Elisha had their abode. 
CARNOT, Lazakb Nicolas Marguerite, 
born in Burgundy, 1753. He was distin- 
guished for his mathematical abilities, and in 
the revolution commenced his career as cap- 
tain of a corps of engineers. He voted for the 
death of the king. Carnot distingpished him- 
self in a military and civil capacity, but was 
obliged to leave Paris, June 18th, 1799; be- 
ing soon after recalled, he was made, in April, 
1800, minister of war. He was a firm repub- 
lican, opposed the ambitious views of Napo- 
leon, and equally so the attempts of the royal- 
ists. He died at Magdeburg, August 3d, 1823. 
Carnot was a man of integrity and talents, 
brave, learned, and patriotic, and honored by 
all parties. 

CAROLINE, wife of George IV. of England, 
was born in May, 1768. She was the daugh- 
ter of the Duke of Brunswick, and in 1795 
became the bride of the Prince of Wales. Her 
daughter, the Princess Charlotte, died at an 
early age, regretted by all. The prince aban- 
doned Caroline, and, in order to procure her 
ruin, accused her of infidelity. The trial of 
the unhappy queen reflects disgrace upon the 
profligate prince. She refused the offers 
which were made to induce her to quit Eng- 
land with the empty name of queen, and as- 
serted her rights with dignity and firmness. 
She finally succumbed under the persecution 
of her enemies, and died Aug. 7th, 1821. 

CARRIER, John Baptist, born in 1756, 
originally an obscure attorney, rose to infa- 
mous notoriety in the French revolution. Un- 
der his direction, the greatest cruelties were 
perpetrated, and 15,000 individuals perished 
in little more than a month. He was finally 
apprehended and condemned to death by the 
revolutionary tribunal, Dec. 16th, 1794. 

CARROLL, Charles, of Carrollton, one of 
the signers of the Declaration of Independence, 
survived all his associates in that momentous 
act. He was a native of Annapolis, Md., and 
was born Sept. 20th, 1737. His parents were 
of Irish descent and of the Roman Catholic 
religion, and he was sent to France to be ed- 



ucated in that faith. After studying civil law 
in France, he repaired to England to acquire 
a knowledge of the common law. He returned 
to his native land in 1765, a finished scholar, 
and soon distinguished himself by able politi- 
cal writing and active opposition to the arbi- 
trary aggressions of the British ministry. He 
was elected to the congress of 1776, and placed 
his name to the Declaration of Independence. 
He was possessed of a large estate, and as he 
advanced to Sign the immortal document, a 
member sportively remarked, "There goes 
half a million at the dash of a pen." But his 
wealth vanished from his view, when he looked 
upon the interests of his country. 

He retired from Congress in 1778, and was 
thereafter a member of the state legislature 
till 1789, when he entered the first federal 
congress as senator from his native state. In 
the senate he remained till 1792. His latter 
days were spent amid honoring friends and in 
the tranquil enjojanent of study and literature. 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton, the last on earth 
of those who signed the charter of our liber- 
ties, died Nov. 14th, 1832, at the ripe age of 
ninety-four. 

CARTER, Elizabeth, an English literary 
lady, daughter of a clergyman of Kent, born 
in 1717. She was acquainted with Latin, 
Greek, French, German, Italian, SpanisR, 
Portuguese, Hebrew, and Arabic. In 1749, 
her translation of Epictetus was commenced. 
She died in 1806, having enjoyed a high 
literary reputation, and the esteem of all who 
knew her. 

CARTHAGE, the rival of Rome, and long 
the mistress of Spain, Sicily, and Sardinia, 
was a colony of the Tyrians, and one of the 
latest Phoenician settlements on the African 
coast of the Mediterranean. The precise time 
of its foundation is unknown ; yet most wri- 
ters agree that it was built by Dido about 
869 B.C., or according to others 72 or 93 years 
before the foundation of Rome. The tradi- 
tion is that Dido was a Tyrian princess, who 
fled to Africa to avoid the persecutions of her 
brother Pygmalion. She outwitted the na- 
tives in making purchase of a piece of land 
whereon to build her citadel. They agreed 
for a certain sum to give her as much land 
as she could encompass with a bull's hide 
(byrsa). When the money was paid, the 
artful princess cut the hide into narrow 



CAR 



ISi 



COTTAGE CYCI. OTEDIA OF 



thongs, with which she found herself able to 
inclose a very large space. The citadel 
which she subsequently erected on this spot, 
was called, in memory of the transaction, 
Byrsa. 

Carthage flourished for several centuries, 
attaining the zenith of its glory under Han- 
nibal and Ilamilcar. At one time the city 
contained 700,000 inhabitants. Its power 
excited the jealousy of the Romans. The 
latter, proud and strong, determined on the 
conquest and ruin of their wealthy rivals. 
The three famous wars between Rome and 
Carthage are known as the Punic wars. They 
brought forth all the energies of the hostile 
parties. The Carthaginians confided in their 
inexhaustible wealth and the superiority of 
their navy the Romans in their superior 
hardihood and energy. The Romans were 
ultimately victorious, and, above all others 
of their leaders, Scipio acquired the greatest 
renown. For his successes and his struggles 
in Africa, he obtained the name of Africanus. 
Tt must not be supposed that the Carthagin- 
ians tamely submitted to the Roman arms : 
on the contrary, even to the last, they de- 
fended their city against the invaders, with 
unequaled bravery. Gold and silver vessels 
were surrendered by the luxurious Africans 
to procure the means of carrying on the war ; 
and the women, with patriotic devotion, cut 
off their fine long hair, and twisted it into 
bow strings. All their exertions were un- 
availing. The skill and bravery of the Ro- 
I mans, who fought under the eye and example 
of Scipio, prevailed, and in the third Punic 
war, Carthage was totally demolished, b.c. 
146. The siege was wondrous for its horrors, 
for the desperate resistance of the Carthagin- 
ians, and the self-devotedncss of their women. 
As the Roman troops drove the Carthagin- 
ians before them in every quarter, a few firm 
heroines, among whom was the wife of As- 
drubal, the Carthaginian general, with her 
children, endeavored to maintain their posi- 
tion in the temple in which they had sought 
refuge. Finding it impossible to defend this, 
the wife of Asdrubal determined to set fire to 
it and perish. She dressed herself accord- 
ingly in a splendid garb, and having fired the 
building, first stabbed her children and then 
plunged into the flames. The city was thirty- 
six miles in circumference, and when it was 

C 



fired by the Romans, it burned incessantly 
for seventeen days. Thousands perished in 
the conflagration, rather than jield, so that 
out of the great population, only fifty thou- 
sand surrendered themselves to Scipio and 
were saved. Cajsar planted a small colony on 
the ruins of Carthage, and Augustus sent 
thither three thousand men. Adrian, after 
the example of his imperial predecessors, re- 
built a portion of it, and gave it the name of 
Adrianopolis. This new Carthage was con- 
quered from the Romans by the arms of 
Genseric, A.d. 439, was for more than a 
century the seat of the Vandal empire in 
Africa, fell into the hands of the Saracens in 
697, and was utterly destroj^ed. 

The riches and commerce of the Carthagin- 
ians were immense, and their naval power, at 
one time, supreme. They bqj-e the charac- 
ter of a fiiithless and treacherous people, and 
the proverb Punica fides (Carthaginian faith), 
is well known. Their religion was gloomy 
and cruel. Human victims were offered to 
the gods to appease their -m-ath : these sac- 
rifices were usually their own children, whose 
mothers, unmoved by their cries and agonies, 
gave them to the glowing, red-hot Moloch. 
Captives also were thus immolated. Crim- 
inals were executed by crucifixion, to which 
other aggravated tortures were frequently 
added. The government was oligarchical, 
and centered in the city, which ruled all the 
other territory. The boundaries coincided 
nearly with those of the present state of 
Tunis. 

CARTHUSIANS, a religious order founded 
by Bruno of Cologne, who in 1084 retired 
from the world to Chartreuse in the moun- 
tains of Dauphiny. Their austere rules 
were formed by Basil VII., general of the 
order. The monks could neither leave their 
cells nor speak, without express leave ; and 
their clothing was two hair-cloths, two cowls, 
two pair of hose, and a cloak, all coarse. 
The general takes the title of prior of the 
Chartreuse, the principal monastery, from 
which the order is named, and whose monks 
in these degenerate days are famous for a 
generous liqueur they have the secret of com- 
pounding. Bruno the founder died in 1101, 
aged seventy-four. 

CARUS, Marcus Aurelk^s, a Roman em- 
peror, was born at Narbonne, about the year 
\R 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



230. lie rose to a military command by his 
virtues, and was elected emperor in 283. 

CARVER, John, the first governor of 
Plymouth colony, died from a sun-stroke, 
April 3d, 1621. He was of Mr. Robinson's 
flock, who went from England to Leyden. 

CARVER, Jonathan, was born in Canter- 
bury, Ct., in 1732. He served in the expe- 
dition against Canada, and on the conclusion 
of peace in 1763, attempted to explore the 
territory acquired by Gt. Britain, beyond the 
Mississippi. He hoped to reach the Pacific 
in the latitude of the great lakes, and open a 
shorter route to the East Indies. Failing of 
this, y«t he explored the borders of Lake Su- 
perior, then comparatively unknown. He 
went to England, but was obliged to deliver 
up his maps and papers to the plantation 
office. He died in want at Boston in 1780. 

CASAS, Bartholomew de las, a Spanish 
prelate, the apostle of the Indians. His life 
was passed in laboring to improve the natives 
of the New World, and he received the grate- 
ful title of protector of the Indians. He came 
to Hispaniola in 1502, returned to Spain in 
1551, and died at Madrid in 1566, aged 92. 

CASHMERE, the most extensive of the 
alpine valleys of the Himalaya range is 75 
miles in length by 40 in breadth, and lies 
imbedded in high mountains. The costly 
shawls of Cashmere, which can be woven of 
no other wool than that of Thibet, were first 
brought to England in 1666. 

CASIMIR, the name of several kings of 
Poland. Casimir III., called the Great, suc- 
ceeded Ladislaus in 1333. He united to his 
warlike qualities, the virtues of a great mon- 
arch, and from his devotion to their welfare, 
was called the peasants' king. He was killed 
by a fall from his horse, in 1370, aged 61. 

CASS, Lewis, born in Exeter, N. H., Oct. 
9, 1782, was educated at Exeter Academy 
from his tenth year. Removing with his 
parents to Wilmington, Del., he became a 
teacher. Seeking his fortune in the West, 
he crossed the Alleghanies on foot, when 17 
years old, and settling in Marietta, 0., stud- 
ied law, was admitted to the bar in 1802, 
became member of the legislature in 1806, 
and marshall of the State 1807-11.— Vol- 
unteering to repel Indian aggressions, he 
was elected Col. of the 3d Reg. 0. Vols., and 
entered the service of the U. S. at the begin- 



185 

ning of the war of 1812. Reaching Detroit 
with the advance force, he urged the immedi- 
ate invasion of Canada, was the author of 
the proclamation of that event, and the first 
to land on the enemy's shore, winning the 
first battle, that of Tarontoc. He rose in 
the regular army to the rank of Brig. Gen., 
and was Maj. Gen. of Ohio Vols. He was 
Gov. of Michigan Territory 1813-31, Sec. of 
War in Gen. Jackson's Cabinet, 1831-6, Min- 
ister to France 1836-42, and U. S. Senator 
1845^8. In May, 1848, he received the 
Democratic nomination for the presidency, 
but was defeated by Gen. Taylor. He was 
re-elected U. S. Senator in 1849, and became 
Sec. of State in Pres. Buchanan's Cabinet 
in 1857. His various trusts he discharged 
with marked ability. His writings, speeches 
and state papers would fill several volumes. 
He had great abilities, with remarkable pru- 
dence and judgment. It is said that he never 
even tasted of spirituous liquors. He died 
June 17, 1866, aged 84 years. 

CASSANDER, one of the generals of Alex- 
ander the Great. After his death, Cassander 
murdered Roxana and her son, seized Mace- 
don for his share of the empire, and founded 
a new kingdom. He died 298 b. c. 

CASSANDRA (Alexandria). According 
to the ancients, she received the gift of proph- 
ecy from Apollo, who loved her, but as she 
refused to fulfill the conditions upon which 
the knowledge was imparted, the offended 
deity deprived her predictions of the power of 
commanding belief. Thus, when she foretold 
the fall of Troy, her words were discredited. 
Troy was taken, Cassandra dishonored at the 
altar by Ajax, and then dragged away as the 
slave and companion of Agamemnon with 
whom she was slain by Clytemnestra. 

CASSINI DE THURY, C^sar Francois, 
director of the royal observatory after his 
father James, was born at Paris, June 17th, 
1714. He died Sept. 4th, 1784, and was 
succeeded by his son, Count John Dominic, 
with whom ended this family of astronomers, 
who had been at the head of the royal observ- 
atory in Paris since its foundation in 1670. 
CASSIUS, LoNGiNus Caius, was the friend' 
of Brutus, and opposed to the interests of 
Caesar, to whom, however, he surrendered 
after the battle of Pharsalia. When he per- 
ceived that Cgesar aimed at supreme power, 



CAS 



186 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



he conspired against him. " The lean and 
hungry Cassius," as Shakspeare calls him, 
was among the first to strike the master of 
the jvorld with his dagger. He married the 
sister of Brutus, and in the distribution of 
the provinces, obtained Africa as his share. 
He was defeated with Brutus at Philippi, b.c. 
42, and ordered his frecdman to run him 
through the body. 

CASTIGLIONE, one of the most brilliant 
victories of the French arms under Gen. Bo- 
naparte, fought in Italy against the main 
body of AiiStrians conunanded by Wurmscr. 
The battle lasted from the 2d to the 6th of 
July, 179G. The Austrian loss in this obsti- 
nate conflict was seventy field-pieces, between 
12,000 and 15,000 prisoners, and 6,000 killed 
and wounded. 

CASTLEREAGH. Robert Stewart, Bar- 
on Castlereagh, and Marquis of Londonderry, 
was born in Ireland, June 18th, 1769. He 
was a prominent statesman of the Tory partj^ 
and represented En^and at the congresses of 
Vienna in 1814 and 1815. He was a man of 
fine person, and an industrious minister, but 
as an orator he signally failed. He mixed 
his metaphors sadly. Here is one of them 
which Moore versified : 

"The level of obedience slopes 
Upward and downward, as tlie stream 
Of hydra faction kicks the beam." 

Lord Castlereagh, in a fit of excitement re- 
sulting from over-exertion, cut his throat, 
Aug. 12th, 1822. 

CATALINE, Lucius Sergius, a celebrated 
Roman, descended from a noble family. 
When he had squandered away his fortune 
by his debaucheries and extravagance, and 
had been refused the consulship, he secretly 
meditated the ruin of his country, and con- 
spired with many high-born Romans as dis- 
solute as himself, to murder the senate, plun- 
der the treasury, and set Rome on fire. This 
conspiracy was timely discovered by the 
consul Cicero, whose eloquence at this crisis 
will never be forgotten. Cataline, after he 
had declared his intentions in full senate, and 
attempted to vindicate himself, on seeing 
five of his accomplices arrested, fled to Gaul, 
where his friends were raising a powerful 
army to support him. The remaining con- 
spirators were punished. Petreius, at the 
head of the consular 



rebels in Etruria, Jan. 5th, b.c. 62, in a hotly 
contested battle which cost Cataline his life. 
The crimes of this man were of the blackest 
dye, murder and licentiousness marking ever}^ 
stage of his career. 

CATHARINE of Arragon, youngest daugh- 
ter of Ferdinand and Isabella, sovereigns of 
Arragon and Castile, was born in 1483. In 
1501 she was married to Arthur, eldest son 
of Henry VII., and after his death to his 
brother, aftei'ward Henry VIII. By him she 
had several children, who died 3'oung, with 
the exception of Mary, afterward Queen of 
England. Henry repudiated her in 1533, on 
pi'ctense of religious scruples grounfled on 
her marriage to his brother. She maintained 
her rights with dignity, and died at Kimbol- 
ton Castle, in 1536. 

CATHARINE, the only daughter of Lo- 
renzo de Medici, Duke of Urbino, and wife 
of Henry, Duke of Orleans, afterward Henry 
II. of France, was born in 1519. She was 
the mother of three successive kings of 
France, and one queen of Navarre. In 1559, 
she became a widow, and her son Francis 
succeeded to the throne, during whose reign 
her influence was supplanted by the Guises. 
On the accession of her second son, Charles 
IX., in his eleventh year, she acquired the 
regency, and brought eternal infamy on her 
name by the horrible treachery to the Hugue- 
nots, and the massacre of St. Bartholomew's 
day. She died in 1589. She was very ex- 
travagant, seemingly incapable of setting 
bounds to her expenditures. When upbraid- 
ed with her prodigality she would exclaim, 
" One must live ! " Her talents were as com- 
manding as were her vices odious. 

CATHARINE L and IL of Russia. [See 
Romanoff.] 

CATO, Marcus Fortius, commonly called 
the Censor, was born at Tusculum, 232 b.c. 
He distinguished himself in the army at the 
age of seventeen, and was remarkable for his 
temperance and abstinence. In Sicily and 
Africa, as military tribune and quaestor, he 
was noted for the fidelity with which he dis- 
charged his duties. The censors were two 
magistrates whose duty was to survey and 
rate, and correct the manners of the people. 
Their power was also extended over private 
families, and they restrained extravagance, 
troops, defeated the | The office was established 443 B.C., and abol- 
CAT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



187 



ished by the emperors. When Cato was made 
a censor, he opposed Valerius Flaccus, his col- 
league, in his attempt to repeal the Oppian law, 
which was once passed for the suppression of 
luxury. He conducted the war in further 
Spain with great success, and took no part of 
the spoils to his own share. On his arrival 
at Rome he was honored with a triumph. 
As consul he manifested his dislike to luxury, 
in whatever shape it was presented. He also 
distinguished himself by his hatred to Car- 
thage, always concluding his speeches in the 
senate with the expression, " Preterea censeo 
Cartliaginem esse delendam'''' (Besides I think 
it necessary to destroy Carthage). He died 
B.C. 147. In his old age he gave himself up 
to scholastic enjoyments. 

CATO, Makcus Fortius, surnamed Uticen- 
sis from the place of his death (Utica), was 
the great-grandson'of the preceding, and born 
about 95 B.C. The virtues he displayed in 
his early childhood seemed to prognosticate 
his future greatness. At the age of fourteen, 
he earnestly asked his preceptor for a sword 
to stab the tyrant Sylla. He served in the 
army against the insurgent gladiator Sparta- 
cus, and though his services entitled him to 
the office of tribune, he never applied for it till 
he saw it in danger of being filled unworthily. 
He was very jealous of the safety and liberty 
of the republic, and watched carefully over the 
conduct of Pompey, whose power and influ- 
ence were great. In the conspiracy of Cata- 
line he supported Cicero, and was instru- 
mental in procuring the capital punishment 
of the conspirators. When the provinces of 
Gaul were decreed for five years to Caesar, 
Cato observed to the senators that they had 
introduced a tyrant into the capitol. Being 
sent to Cyprus against Ptolemy, by the influ- 
ence of his enemies, who hoped to injure his 
reputation, his prudence extricated him from 
every danger. That prince submitted to 
him, and, after a successful campaign, Cato 
was received at Rome with the most distin- 
guished honors, which he, however, modestly 
declined. He strenuously opposed the first 
triumvirate between Caesar, Pompey, and 
Crassus, and foretold to the Roman people 
all the misfortunes that soon after followed. 
After repeated applications he was made 
prgetor, but unsuccessfully applied for the 
office of consul. When Caesar had passed 



the Rubicon, Cato advised the Roman senate 
to deliver the care of the republic into the 
hands of Pompey, and when his advice had 
been complied with, followed him with his 
son to Dyrrachium, where after some incon- 
siderable success there, he was intrusted with 
the care of the ammunition, and the command 
of fifteen cohorts. After the battle of Phar- 
salia, Cato took command of the fleet, and 
when he heard of Pompey's death on the 
coast of Africa, he traversed the deserts of 
Libya, to join himself to Scipio. He, how- 
ever, refused to take the command in Africa, 
but when he heard of Scipio's defeat, fortified 
himself in Utica. Cassar approached the 
city, but Cato disdained to flj' , and strength- 
ening his resolution bj'' reading Plato's trea- 
tise on the immortality of the soul, gave 
himself the fatal womid, Feb. 5th, b.c. 45. 
Csesar, on hearing of his fate, exclaimed, "I 
envy thee thy death, since thou couldst be- 
grudge me the pleasure of saving thy life." 

The suicide of Cato was termed the era 
destructive of the liberties of Rome. The 
patriot and philosopher considered fi-eedom 
as that which alone sustains the name and 
dignity of man, and would not survive the 
independence of his country. Yet by this 
rash act of suicide, as Montesquieu has said, 
Cato carried his patriotism to the highest 
degree of political fi-enzy, leaving aside all 
moral considerations ; for Cato dead could be 
of no use to his country ; while had he pre- 
served his life, his counsels might have mod- 
erated CiBsar's ambition, and have given a 
different turn to public affairs. 

CAUCASUS, a chain of mountains inhab- 
ited by a great number of tribes, and of vast 
extent, lying between the Black and Caspian 
seas, and covering 127,140 square miles, 
being about seven hundred miles long, and, 
at the widest, a hundred and fifty miles broad. 
According to the ancients, Prometheus was 
tied on the top of Caucasus by Jupiter, and 
continually devoured by vultm-es. As great 
perfection of form and an ancient origin were 
attributed to the inhabitants of this region, 
the highest rank in ethnological classification 
has been termed the Caucasian race. 

CAULAINCOURT, Armand Augustine 
Louis de, Duke of Vicenza, an eminent min- 
ister of the French empire under Bonaparte, 
died m 1827 at the age of fifty-four. 



CAU 



188 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



CAVAIGNAC, Eugene, was born in Paris, 
Dec. 15th, 1802. After ca regular course of 
study at the Polytechnic school, he entered 
the arinj'', and in 1830 was sent to Africa for 
refusing to fire upon the inhabitants of Metz, 
in case of an insurrection. He distinguished 
himself greatly in 1836 by holding the cita- 
del of Tlemcen with a small body of troops, 
against repeated assaults by the Arabs under 
Abd-el-Kader. From this period he was 
actively and creditably engaged in the Al- 
gerine war, and rose so rapidly in the service, 
that in 1847, he was a general of brigade, 
succeeding Lamoricicre in the command of 
the province of Oran, and in February, 1848, 
was appointed by the provisional government, 
general of division and governor-general of 
Algeria. During the few weeks he held this 
office he showed adiiiinistrative abilities of a 
high order. Having been elected a member 
of the national assembly, he left Algiers and 
arrived in Paris just after the disturbances 
of the loth of May, 18-48. He was immedi- 
ately appointed minister of war and put in 
command of the troops, which, in anticipa- 
tion of the impending insurrection, were 
rapidly concentrating in Paris. By the mid- 



tic opposition. He resolutely removed from 
office the Socialists, the "ilontagne" and the 
Red Republicans of every shade or sect. A 
large mihtary force was retained in Paris, and 
every preparation made to prevent further 
insurrections. The national workshops were 
suppressed, but a provision of 3,000,000 
francs was made for the poor. 

In the election for president, Cavaignac was 
the leading candidate against Louis Napoleon. 
He retired into private life without a mur- 
mur, after an administration reflecting great 
credit upon his integrity and his civil and mil- 
itary ability. For several years afterward he 
was less in public life, but he was deemed, on 
account of his staunch republicanism, so for- 
midable an opponent to the autocratic? schemes 
of Louis Napoleon, that after the cou^i (Tetat 
of December, 1851, he was one of the num- 
ber selected for arrest. He was released on 
condition of leaving the countr}', and spent 
several years in Brussels. Within a year or 
two before his death he was permitted to 
return to France. At the elections in 1857, 
Gen. Cavaignac was one of the few successful 
republican candidates, being chosen to reprc 
sent one of the constituencies of Paris in the 



die of June 75,000 troops of the line were at j legislature of the empire. His course was 
hand to support the 190,000 national guards I looked forward to with much interest. But 



already on the ground. On the 22d of June 
the disaffected began to throw up barricades, 
and in twenty-four hours one of the most 
formidable insurrections ever organized in 
Paris was in full progress. In this emer- 
gency, Cavaignac, who had been appointed 
dictator, acted with coolness and sagacity. 
Instead of spreading his troops over the city 
to prevent the erection of barricades, as ad- 
vised by some, he concentrated them at points 
where the insurgents were strongest, and 
bringing them into action in large masses 
was enabled to overwhelm all opposition. 
The contest lasted four days, with immense 
destruction to life and property, and resulted 
in the total defeat of the rebels. Cavaignac, 
true to his republican principles, immediately 
resigned his dictatorship ; but his services be- 
ing deemed too valuable to be lost to the coun- 
try, he was appointed president of the council, 
with power to nominate his ministry. He 
chose it from among the more reasonable and 
moderate of the pure republicans, afterward 
admitting several members of the old dynas 



the 28th of October, 1857, while out 
shooting, he died suddenly from aneurism of 
the heart. 

CAVE, Edward, a bookseller at St. John's 
Gate in London, who in 1731 founded the 
Gentleman^ s Magazine^ the first periodical of 
the sort in England, was born in lOiJl, and 
died in 1754. 

CAVENDISH, William, the first Duke of 
Devonshire, was born in 1640. He distin- 
guished himself in the House of Commons 
against the court, and was a witness m favor 
of Lord Russell, with whom he offered to 
exchange clothes to enable him to effect his 
escape. In 1084 he succeeded to the title 
of Earl of Devonshire, and about the same 
time was fined £'30,000 and imprisoned for 
assaulting Col. Culpepper, who had insulted 
him, and whom he di-agged hy the nose from 
the presence chamber. He gave bond for the 
payment of the fine, which, however, he 
saved by the arrival of the Prince of Orange. 
In 1689, he was made a privy counselor, and 
at the coronation of William he served as 



CAV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



189 



lord high steward. He was rewarded with 
the title of Duke of Devonshire, and during 
the king's absence, after the death of the 
queen, was appointed ,one of the regency. 
He died in 1T07. 

CAXTON, William, the first English 
l^rinter, was born in the county of Kent, in 
the latter part of the reign of Henry IV., was 
apprenticed to a worthy London mercer, and 
dwelt in Holland a score and a half of years, 
as agent for English merchants. There he 
)>ecame acquainted with the new mystery of 
planting. Under the patronage of Lady Mar- 
garet, sister of Edward IV., and bride of the 
Duke of Burgundy, Caxton translated a 
French book, titled "The Recuyell of the 
Historeys of Troy e," and printed it at Ghent in 
14T] . This was the first book ever printed in 
the English language. In a note the printer 
said of the work: It "is not wretton with 
penne and ynke as other books ben to thende 
that all men may have them att ones, for all 
the bookes of this stoiye named The Recule 
of the Historys of Troye then emprynted as 
yc here see, were begonne in con day and 
fynyshed in oon day." A few years later he 
established a printing-oflSce at "Westminster, 
and in 1474 produced "The Game of Chess," 
the first book printed in Britain. Caxton 
wrote or translated about sixty different 
books, all of which passed through his own 
press, before his death in 1491 . 

CECIL, "William, Lord Burleigh, a cele- 
brated English statesman, born in 1521. He 
was dismissed from the office which he held 
under Henry VIII., upon the accession of 
Mavj, but was the chief counselor of Elizabeth. 
After being privy counselor, secretary of 
state, and master of the court of wards, he 
was chosen chancellor of Cambridge, and 
raised to the peerage. He died in 1598. As 
a minister, Burleigh was noted for wariness, 
application, sagacity, calmness, and a degree 
of closeness which sometimes degenerated into 
hypocrisy. 

CECIL, Robert, Earl of Salisbury, son of 
the preceding, on account of his deformity 
and weak constitution, received the rudiments 
of his education at home. In 1588 he served 
in the fleet against the Armada, and in 1591 
was knighted, and sworn of the privy council. 
In 1596 he was appointed secretary of state, 
to the great disgust of the Earl of Essex. The 



year following he was ambassador in France, 
and in 1599 succeeded his ftxther in the court 
of wards. He kept up a secret correspond- 
ence with James of Scotland, whom he pro- 
claimed on the death of Elizabeth, in conse- 
quence of which he became the favorite of that 
monarch. On the death of Lord Dorset, in 
1608, he became lord high treasurer, discharg- 
ing the duties of the office with fidelity, and 
dying from excessive exertion in 1612, aged 
forty-nine. 

CECROPS, a native of Sais, in Egypt, came 
to Attica 1556 B.C., founded the city of Ath- 
ens, instructed the uncivilized Greeks, intro- 
duced the worship of Minerva, and laid the 
foundation of the future prosperity of Greece. 
He died after a reign of fifty years. 

CELEBES, an island in the East Indian 
seas, separated from Borneo by the Strait of 
Macassar, having an area of 70,000 square 
miles, and containing several separate states. 
The fruits and flowers of this island are abun- 
dant, and numbers of wild animals are found 
here. The Dutch, who possess a part of the 
island, obtain here gold, ivopy, sandal wood, 
rice, cotton, camphor, ginger, long pepper, 
and pearls. The population is estimated at 
between two and three millions. 

CELLINI, Benvenuto, united the talents 
and skill of a sculptor, engraver, and gold- 
smith. He was born in Florence in 1500, and 
enriched his native city with his works. 
Wild, fiery, and impetuous, although honest, 
he was fi'equently involved in quarrels in 
which he entirely disregarded the rank and 
strength of his opponents. At the siege of 
Rome, in 1527, according to his own account, 
he killed the Constable of Bourbon. Although 
he behaved with gallantry during the siege, 
he was accused of secreting the Roman crown 
jewels, and imprisoned. Francis I., having 
procured his release, invited him to the French 
court, but Florence was not to be forgotten 
by the sculptor, and thither he returned, and 
died Feb. 13th, 1570. 

CELSUS, Augustus Cornelius, a celebrated 
physician and medical writer of Rome, who 
flourished about a.d. 37. 

CELTJ5, one of the ancient nations of Gal- 
lia, whose country extended from Brittany to 
the Alps and Rhine. Their government was 
aristocratical, and their aptitude for warUke 
pursuits great. 



CEL 



190 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



CELTIBERTA, an ancient country in the 
north-cast of Spain, along the Iberus. The 
Celtiberians were completely subdued by the 
Romans in the Sertorian war. 

CENTAURS, an ancient people of Thessaly, 
about Mount Pelion. As little was known 
with regard to their actual history, they 
formed the favorite theme of writers of fable 
and traditionary talcs, being represented as 
half horse and half man, and being, according 
to some, the offspring of an intermixture of 
the human and brute races, or, according to 
others, the chikh-en of Txion and the Cloud. 
They were probably young men who, having 
learned to break and ride horses, hunted the 
wild bulls that ravaged the neighborhood of 
Mount Pelion, during the reign of Ixion. 
Hence thej^ were called Centaurs. In fables, 
Hercules, Theseus, and Pirithous are said to 
have contended against them. 

CENTRAL AMERICA, the central portion 
of the long isthmus that unites North and 
South America, has an area of about 150,000 
square miles. Under the Spanish rule it 
formed the kingdom of Guatemala^ For a 
short time after the revolt fi-om Spain it was 
united to the Mexican empire of Iturbide. 
In 1821 its independence was declared, and 
after some sanguinary struggles, a federal re- 
public was established. This has since been 
dissolved, and the country is now divided into 
the distinct republics of Guatemala, San Sal- 
vador, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Honduras ; 
under wliich heads further mention will be 
found. The country is mountainous, contain- 
ing numerous volcanic summits, the soil fer- 
tile, and the products various. The original 
inhabitants were the Toltecas Indians from 
Mexico, whom it was found no easy task by 
the Spaniards to expel. These people, like 
the Mexicans, had made considerable advan- 
ces in the arts, as their buildings of various 
descriptions proved. 

CERRO GORDO, a mountain pass on the 
road from Vera Cruz to Mexico. It was 
stormed by Scott's army, April 18th, 1847, 
and the Mexicans under Santa x\nna driven 
from their strong position. There were 12,000 
of the Mexicans, horse and foot, besides pow- 
erful batteries of artillery. Three thousand, 
including five generals, surrendered as pris- 
oners of war ; Santa Anna fled by a defile on 
a baggage mule ; the remnant of his army, 



leaving over a thousand killed and wounded 
on the field of battle, scampered off on the 
road, and were pursued as far as Jalapa. 
This brilliant victoiy, which destroyed the 
Mexican army, cost Scott 63 killed and 368 
wounded, out of a total force of 8,500. 

CERVANTES SAAVEDRA, Miguel de, 
was born of a noble family, at Alcala de He- 
nares, in New Castile, in 1547. He early cul- 
tivated poetry, and preserved throughout his 
life a strong inclination for the mvises. In 
1569, Cervantes, in the flower of his age, went 
to seek in Italy glory or fortune. He first 
entered the service of Cardinal Acquaviva, in 
the capacity of page. The war between the 
Turks and the Venetians offered him a field 
more worthy of his birth and courage. He 
was enrolled beneath the banners of the Duke 
of Paliano, Mark Antony Colonna, general of 
the naval foree sent to succor the island of 
Cyprus. This expedition was unfortunate; 
but, in the following year, the victory of Le- 
panto established the naval honor of Chris- 
tendom, and in this engagement, whose glory 
he shared, the left hand of Cervantes was 
maimed for life. In 1575 he was taken bj'^ a 
corsair and carried to Algiers, where he suf- 
fered the evils of slavery for six years. The 
tale of " The Captive," inserted in his novel 
of" Don Quixote," describes vividly the scenes 
through which he passed. His marriage fol- 
lowed close upon the publication of " Galatea," 
in 1584. This novel celebrates his mistress 
Catharine Salazer y Palacios. His pen then 
became the only support of Cervantes. The 
gloomy reign of Philip II., and that of his 
successor Philip III., were unfavorable to the 
efforts of genius, but while the latter of these 
monarchs filled the throne, the inimitable 
novel of " Don Quixote " made its appearance. 
The first part appeared at Madrid in 1605, 
and the second in 1615. The other works of 
Cervantes are forgotten in the contemplation 
of this. One day, as Philip lit. was standing 
in a balcony of his palace at IMadrid, he ob- 
served a student reading on the banks of the 
river Manzanares, who seemed to be repeat- 
edly interrupted in his occupation by the ex- 
cess of his delight, striking his forehead and 
showing other tokens of the extraordinary 
amusement his book afforded him. " Either 
that fellow is mad," said the king, " or he is 
reading ' Don Quixote.' " Inquiry proved 



CER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



191 



Philip. right in his conjecture, for the student 
was reading Cervantes' matchless tale of 
chivalry. 

The history of the knight of La Mancha 
still excites the interest of people of all coun- 
tries, of all ranks, and of all ages. Who de- 
lights not to recall his principal adventures, 
the attack on the windmills, the affair of the 
puppet's, the affray with the wine-skins, the 
vigil of arms, the scene of his studies ? This 
celebrated work was written in prison, Cer- 
vantes having become obnoxious to the au- 
thorities of La Mancha, who procured his im- 
prisonment by the employment of one of the 
thousand arts known to the civil functionaries 
of Spain. He revenged himself by making 
his hero a townsman of his judges, and in 
choosing their country for the theatre of his 
exploits. Cervantes died at Madrid, on the 
23d of April, 1616, in his sixty-ninth year. 
It is a coincidence worth noting, that on the 
same day, Shakespeare expired. He was in- 
terred pursuant to his own directions, in the 
church of the fraternity of the Trinity in that 
city. His intimate friends mourned for the 
virtuous citizen and tne man of worth. The 
wits of his day, who had decried his talents, 
did not consider his loss an irreparable one, 
and were far enough from believing that Spain 
would one day have only the romance of 
"Don Quixote" to oppose to the master- 
works of other nations. 

CEVENNES, a chain of mountains in the 
south of France, forming a branch of the 
Alps; the highest summits are 6,500 feet 
high. Their fastnesses afforded an asylum 
to the Huguenots in the religious wars of 
France. 

CEYLOX, an island off the Coromandel 
coast of Hindostan. It is a little less in 
size than Ireland. The climate is generally 
healthy, the soil fertile, and the variety of its 
productions surprising. In the bosom of the 
earth are found precious metals ; the rocks are 
enriched with valuable gems, and the tropi- 
cal fruits grow wild here. Ceylon yields the 
chief supply of cinnamon to the world. 
Among the ancients the elephants of Ceylon 
were noted for their size and beauty. They 
ofTtcn make predatory incursions in troops, 
and do great injury to the crops. In the 
recesses of the forests are also found leopards, 
jackals, monkeys, hyenas, bears, and rac- 



coons; The number of inhabitants exceeds 
1,500,000. The Cingalese, who form a portion, 
are divided into castes like the Hindoos, and 
profess the religion of Buddha. "Ceylon," 
says Bishop Heber, "might be one of the 
happiest, as it is one of the loveliest, spots in 
the universe, if some of the old Dutch laws 
were done awaj^ ; among which, in my judg- 
ment, the most obnoxious are the monopoly 
of cinnamon, and the compulsory labor of the 
peasants on the high roads, and other species 
of corvees.^^ These restraints have since 
been removed by the British. The natives 
of Ceylon claim that their island was the 
seat of Paradise. 

Ceylon was known to the Greeks and Ro- 
mans. The Arabs called it Serendib. There 
is a tradition that St. Thomas, the apostle, 
preached the gospel here, but it is more gen- 
erally believed that Nestorian missionaries 
accompanying Persian merchants were the 
first to introduce Christianity. Churches 
were founded here about the middle of the 
sixth century, but none were existing when 
the Portuguese discovered the island in 1505. 
Xavier .^oon after made many Catholic con- 
verts. The Portuguese so exasperated the 
natives, that the Cingalese took part with the 
Dutch, who succeeded in expelling them in 
1656. The Dutch, being regarded in the 
light of benefactors, were rewarded with lav- 
ish grants of territory, but repaid kindness by 
ingratitude, and bloody wars arose, in which 
the Europeans were invariably victorious. 
In 1795, the English took possession of this 
island, which was formally ceded to them in 
1802, and completely subjected in 1815. 

CILERONEA, an old city of Boeotia, where 
were fought two battles of note in ancient 
history. In the first, Aug. 2d, e.g. 338, Philip 
of Macedon defeated the United armies of 
Athens and Thebes, thus mastering the lib- 
erties of Greece. In the second, b.c. 86, 
Archclaus, lieutenant of Mithridates, was 
defeated by Sylla, and 110,000 Cappadocians 
slain. Chseronea was the birthplace of 
Plutarch. 

CHAISE, Francis de la, a French Jesuit, 
and confessor to Louis XIV. of France, from 
1675, to his death, 1709. It is supposed with 
every rational probability that Father de la 
Chaise instigated the revocation of the edict 
of Nantz. The beautiful cemetery of Pere la 



CHA 



.92 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Chaise at Paris occupies the site of his house 
and grounds. 

CIIALD^EA, an. ancient country of Asia, 
near tlie junction of the Tigris and Eu- 
phrates ; it was the southerly part of Baby- 
lonia, and was extremely fertile. The Chal- 
deans were, an Asiatic tribe originally, and 
possessed great astronomical knowledge. It 
was tliey who founded the mighty empires 
of Babylon anu' Assyria. The knowledge of 
which they boasted was eventually confined 
to the priests, who added to their sciences 
the arts of prophecy, magic, &c. 

CHALMERS, Thomas, D.D., foremost 
among the divines and preachers of Scotland, 
was born March 17th, 1780, at Anstruther 
in Fife. From the country parish of Kilmany 
the fame of his eloquence and zeal was bruited 
abroad, and in 1815 he was transferred to 
Glasgow. Crowds thronged the Tron church, 
not only on the Sabbath, but on week days. 
A series of Thursday discourses on astrono- 
my, displaying, amid the glow of blazing 
eloquence, the sublime poetry and religion of 
the heavens, were published about the same 
time as the " Tales of My Landlord." The 
sermons rivaled even the rapid sale of the 
magic pages of Scott. In 1827, Dr. Chalmers 
was appointed to the chair of divinity in the 
university of Edinburgh. His reputation as 
a divine was enhanced by the works of his 
pen. He headed the secession of 1843 from 



New York after a perilous journey, and, after 
being closely examined by Sir Henry Clinton, 
was admitted to serve under him. He foiled 
in the attempt to accomplish his object, and 
went to Virginia with the royal troops. 
Escaping, he rejoined his friends, after many 
hardships. "When Washington took com- 
mand of the arm}^, during the administra- 
tion of President Adams, it was his intention 
to bring Champe into the field at the head of 
a companj'-, but he learned to his grief that 
the gallant fellow had died in Kentucky. 

CHAMPLAIN, a lake of the United States, 
lying between New York and Vermont, 130 
miles long, and from 1 to 15 miles broad. 
The river Chambly, or Sorelle, forms the out- 
let by which its waters are discharged into 
the St. Lawrence. The lake takes its name 
from Samuel de Cbamplain, a French naval 
officer who founded Quebec and Montreal in 
Canada, of which he was governor-general, 
in the seventeenth century. 0> its waters, 
near Plattsburg, a naval engagement was 
fought the 11th of September, 1814, in 
which Macdonough, the commander of an 
American fleet, gained a complete victory 
over the British. [See Plattsburg.] 

CHAMPOLLION, J. F., a French archteol- 
ogist, who did more than any other man of 
science toward explaining the hieroglyphics 
of Egypt. His death in 1832, at the age of 
forty-one, in the midst of his triumphant 



the established church of Scotland, and was researches, was regretted as an almost irre- 



one of the founders of the Free Church. His 
health was undermined by his great labors, 
and he died in 1847. 

CHAMBERS, Ephraim, the first person in 
England who undertook a work in the form 
now known as a cyclopoedia, or encyclopcedia. 
His dictionary published in 1728, in two folio 
volumes, was the origin of what is now termed 
Rees' Cyclopoedia. He was born about 1C80, 
and died May 15th, 1740. 

CHAMPE, John, a native of Loudon coun- 
ty, Va. At the age of twenty-four, in the 
year 1776, he entered the Revolutionary army 
with the rank of sergeant-major, in Lee's 
cavalry. His reputation for resolution and 
address was such, that he was selected to 
attempt the seizure of Arnold, that the execu- 
tion of the traitor might save the life of 
Andre. His orders were given him, he left 
the American camp as a deserter, ai-rived at 



parable loss. 

CHANNING, William Ellerv, an eminent 
Unitarian divine, was a native of Newport, 
R. L, April 7th, 1780. He died in 1842. 

CHANTREY, Sir Francis, was born at 
Norton in Derbyshire, April 7th, 1781, and 
was apprenticed to a wood carver. His own 
force and talent raised him to good success 
among modern sculptors. He was knighted 
by the queen in 1837. He died Nov. 25th, 
1841. 

CHAPULTEPEC, a castle commanding 
one of the approaches to the city of Mexico. 
It was stormed bj- the American army, Sept. 
12th, 1847, and two days after, Scott entered 
the citj' in triumph. 

CHARLEMAGNE (a compound word sig- 
nifying Charles the Great), King of France, 
Emperor of the West, was born in 742, at 
the chateau of Saltzburg, in L^^pper Bavaria. 



CHA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



193 



He was the grandson of Charles Martel, and 
the son of Queen Bertrade and Pepin the 
Short, on the death of whom, in 768, he was 
crowned king, sharing France with Carloman, 
his younger brother ; but the conditions of the 
partition were frequently changed without 
ever giving mutual satisfaction, and the no- 
bles, who had long sought to weaken the 
royal authority, would without doubt have 
profited by the animosity which existed be- 
tween these two princes, if the death of 
Carloman, which took place in 771, had not 
given Charlemagne an opportunity of becom- 
ing sole king of France by refusing to share 
the rule with his nephews. Their mother 
fled with them to Italy, and found a protector 
in Desiderius, King of the Lombards. They 
fell into the hands of Charlemagne, on the 
taking of Verona, and of their future fate, 
history says nothing. If Pepin had need of 
courage, activity, and extreme prudence to 
found a new dominion, Charlemagne found it 
necessary to enchain the minds of men by 
fear and admiration, for the means employed 
to effect usurpation had enfeebled the sover- 
eign power. 

The people of Aquitania were the first who 
tried to aim at independence. Charlemagne 
marched against them with a small force, but 
he relied upon Carloman, his brother, to 
whom a part of Aquitania belonged, and who 
in consequence was compelled to unite with 
him. Carloman found him at the appointed 
spot, at the head of his troops, but fearing 
to fall before the power of his brother. Carlo- 
man hastily retraced his steps. Abandoned 
thus unexpectedly, in a manner which could 
not foil to encourage the rebels, Charlemagne 
did not hesitate for a moment : without con- 
sidering the number of his followers, or that 
of his enemies, he pursued his way, gained a 
brilliant victory (770), arranged the affiiirs 
of Aquitania with a promptitude and fore- 
sight which displayed the energy of a great 
man and the skill of a politician, and dis- 



ments, and they were divided into many 
tribes, whom it was difficult to unite in the 
same interest. Charlemagne began to wage 
war upon them in 772, and did not complete 
their subjugation until 804; so obstinately 
did they resist, for thirty-two years, the con- 
queror, who, sometimes indulgent to impru- 
dence, and often severe to cruelty, as eager 
to convert as to conquer them, was in reality 
master of their country only when he had 
reduced it to a desert. The two most cele- 
brated chiefs of the Saxons were Witikind 
and Alboin, who finally embraced Christian- 
ity in 783. The cruelties of Charlemagne 
to the Saxons, resembled despair ; and his 
indulgence to them proved that, pressed by 
other affairs, he was willing to make any 
concession which could bring him off with 
honor. 

While he was fighting on the banks of the 
Weser, Pope Adrian implored his succors 
against Desiderius, King of the Lombards, 
who sought to possess himself of Ravenna, 
and urged the pope to crown the sons of Car- 
loman, in order to display Charlemagne in 
the light of an usurper of the throne of his 
nephews, and thus stir up a large portion of 
France against him. Flying to the scene of 
action with the rapidity which the danger 
rendered necessary, Charlemagne seized the 
person of Desiderius, sent him to end his 
days in a monastery, and caused himself to 
be crowned King of Lombardy, in 774. 
Thus ended that kingdom, which shortly after- 
ward took its ancient name of Italy, but 
preserved the laws it had received from the 
Lombards. 

Charlemagne passed into Spain in 778, be- 
sieged and took Pampeluna, and made him- 
self master of the country of Barcelona ; but 
his troops, on their return, were defeated in 
the pass of Roncesvalles, by a part of the 
Saracens, and the mountain Gascons, the un- 
ruly tributaries of Charlemagne, who were 
so intractable, that more than thirty years 



concerted the tributary princes of France, afterward, strong forces were required to op- 
who thought to profit by the youth 'of the pose them. At this battle fell the famous 
monarch. When Charlemagne found himself 
sole master of France, he formed the project 
of subjugating the Saxons. These people. 



who were still pagans, occupied a large por- 
tion of Germany ; like all barbarous nations, 
they preferred plunder to fixed establish- 



13 



Roland, his nephew, whose fate has been 
celebrated by romance writers and poets. 
The disaffection of the inhabitants of Aqui- 
tania having induced Charlemagne to give 
them a separate monarch, he chose the young- 
est of his sons, well known as Louis the Mild, 



CHA 



194 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



778. At the same time the continual eiForts 
of the Lombards and Greeks to reconquer 
Italy, and the want of fidelity in his nobles, 
made him feel the necessity of rallying them 
about the throne, and he gave them for a 
king, Pepin, the second of his sons; the 
eldest, who bore the name of Charles, re- 
mained with him to assist him in his expedi- 
tions. He had another son, Pepin, whose 
mother he had repudiated. This son, hav- 
ing been convicted of taking part in a 
conspiracy against him, was devoted to the 
monastic life. 

On his return from Spain, Charlemagne 
found himself obliged to march against the 
Saxons, and each year renewed the necessity 
of a warlike expedition. He caused 4,500 of 
them to be put to death ; a ferocious revenge 
which only served to prolong and invigorate 
their resistance. Thence he went to Eome to 
have his two sons, Pepin and Louis, crowned 
by the pope, thus confirming the people in the 
belief that the head of religion could alone 
render the royal power legitimate and sacred. 
The year 790, the twenty-seventh of his 
reign, was the first which he passed without 
taking up arms, and this peace lasted only 
until the spring of the following year. Char- 
lemagne had formed the project of re-estab- 
lishing the empire of the west. Irene, who 
reigned as empress at Constantinople, in 
order to prevent the dismemberment of the 
empire, proposed to Charlemagne to unite 
their children, which would have placed Eu- 
rope under one government. Her proposal 
was accepted, but ambition impelled Irene to 
dethrone her son in order to seize the power 
herself, and she offered her hand to Charle- 
magne. This singular union, which ambi- 
tion alone could suggest and carry into effect, 
would have presented a new spectacle to the 
world, had not the empress been hurled from 
her throne. Charlemagne was crowned em- 
peror of the west, by Pope Leo III., in the 
year 800 ; and, although his journey to Rome 
had no other object, he affected to be much 
surprised at the honors which were heaped 
upon him. He was declared Csesar and Au- 
gustus ; the ornaments of the ancient Roman 
emperors were decreed to him ; all the con- 
secrated forms were followed; nothing was 
forgotten but the fact that it was impossible 
that an empire should subsist, the power of 



which was shared by the children of the de- 
ceased monarch. Charlemagne, after having 
made one of his sons a monk, had the mis- 
fortune to lose, in 810, Pepin, whom he had 
created King of Italy; the year following 
Charles, the eldest, followed his brother to 
the grave ; there only remained, of his legiti- 
mate children, Louis, King of Aquitania, 
whom he associated \mui him in the empire 
in 813, his great age and his infirmities mak- 
ing him feel that he was approaching the 
termination of his career. He died the 28th 
of January, 814, in the seventy-first year of 
his age, and the forty-seventh of his reign. 
By his will, made in 806, confirmed by the 
French lords assembled at Thionville, and 
signed by Pope Leo, Charlemagne divided 
his estates among his three sons. He left his 
subjects the power of choosing a successor, 
after the death of the princes, provided he 
was of the blood royal. He provided that 
they should not have recourse to the trial by 
battle, in the case of dispute, but to that 
of the cross. This judgment consisted, in 
doubtful circumstances, in conducting to the 
church two men, who stood upright with 
their elevated arms crossed, during the cele- 
bration of divine service, and the victory was 
gained by the party whose champion remained 
motionless the longest. 

Charlemagne was buried at Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle. His body is said to have been disposed 
in the following manner. He was seated 
upon a throne of gold, clad in his imperial 
habits. He had a crown upon his head, and 
was girt with his sword. He held a chalice 
in his hand, the book of the Evangelists upon 
his knees, his sceptre and gold buckler at his 
feet. The sepulchre was filled with pieces of 
gold, perfumed and sealed, and above, a su- 
perb triumphal arch was raised, with this 
epitaph : " Here rests the body of Charles, the 
great and orthodox emperor, who gloriously 
enlarged the kingdom of the French, and 
governed it happily for forty-seven years." 
Charlemagne was a friend of letters and of 
learned men. He was marked by his plainness 
and frugality of costume. He was the tallest 
and the strongest man of his time. Force he 
used to conquer, but he instituted wholesome 
laws to govern. 

CHARLES I. and II., of England. [See 
Stuaet, House of.] 



CHA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



195 



CHARLES GUSTAVUS, son of John Cas- 
imir, Count Palatine of the Rhine, ascended 
the throne of Sweden on the abdication of 
his cousin Christina in 1654. He obtained 
over the Poles the famous victory of Warsaw, 
besides taking a number of important places. 
The Poles, caUing to their assistance Mus- 
covy, England, and Denmark, obliged Sweden 
to conclude a peace ; but the war breaking 
out again, Charles took Cronenburgh, and laid 
seige to Copenhagen ; his navy having been 



defeated, he was obliged to return home, and 
died in 1660. 

CHARLES XT of Sweden, son of the 
preceding, was born in 1655. On his acces- 
sion a peace was concluded with Denmark, 
but in 1674, in the war with that power, he 
lost several places, which were restored at 
the peace of Nimeguen. He married the 
sister of the King of Denmark, and died in 
1697. In his reign the arts and sciences 
began to flourish in Sweden. 



% 




CHARLES THE TWELFTH. 



CHARLES Xn. of Sweden, son and suc- 
cessor of the preceding, was born in 1682. 
He came to the throne at the age of fifteen, 
and at his coronation snatched the crown 
from the hands of the Archbishop of Upsal, 
and placed it on his own head. He was well 
educated, and very fond of bodily exercises. 
The commencement of his reign gave no 
splendid proof of genius or talent. On the 
formation of a confederacy against him by 
Russia, Denmark, and Poland, he seemed to 
arouse from his slumber. He gave the cast- 
ing voice in the council for the most vigorous 
measures, and immediately prepared to carry 
them into effect. He renounced at once even 
limited enjoyments, and bent all his energies 
to support the character he had marked out 
for himself Of the confederated powers, he 
attacked each in turn, beginning with Den- 
mark, which produced a peace with that 
power. Nov. 30th, 1700, he obtained a brill- 
iant victory over the Russians at Narva; 



although his force consisted of only 8,000 
men, he attacked them in their intrenchments, 
slew 30,000 and took 20,000 prisoners. His 
next enterprise was against Poland, and after 
several battles he dethroned Augustus, and 
placed Stanislaus upon the throne. He re- 
turned to the invasion of Russia, and obtained 
some signal advantages over Peter the Great, 
but at length experienced a terrible defeat at 
Pultowa, July 8th, 1709. Almost all his 
troops were either slain or taken prisoners ; 
he himself was wounded in the leg, and car- 
ried oflF on a litter. Charles sought an asylum 
in Turkey, where he was hospitably received 
by the grand seignior, who provided for him 
a residence at Bender. He availed himself 
of his asylum to persuade the grand seignior 
to enter into a war with Russia, and employ- 
ed much money, much time, and many men- 
aces to induce it. His conduct was at length 
so violent, that he was ordered to leave the 
Turkish territories. He refused to obey. 



CHA 



196 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



The sultan directed that he should be forced 
away ; but Charles, with his retinue, resisted 
the attack of the janizaries, till superiority 
of numbers obliged him to tiike shelter in his 
house, which he defended with great spirit, 
and did not yield till the premises were in 
fiaihes. He then sallied out, sword in hand, 
but being entangled by his long spurs, he fell 
and was taken prisoner. After having been 
confined as a prisoner six months, he finally 
set out on his return to his own dominions. In 
1716, he invaded Norway, but after penetra- 
ting to Christiana, was obliged to return to 
Sweden. He resumed the attack in the win- 
ter of 1718, but was killed by a cannon-shot 
at the siege of Frederickshall, Dec. 11th, 
aged thirty -six years, haying reigned twenty- 
one. Charles was liberal, active, and firm, 
but rash, obstinate, and cruel. At the battle 



also defeated his rival, Conradin, Duke of 
Suabia, and took him and the Duke of Aus- 
tria prisoners. Charles brought infamy on 
his name, by causing his royal captives to be 
put to death, at Naples, on a public scafibld. 
After this he laid Tunis under tribute, and 
quelled the Ghibellines. In 1276, he gained 
the title of King of Jerusalem, and meditated 
an expedition against Constantinople. But 
his arbitrary conduct occasioned a general 
insurrection in Sicily, where 8,000 of the 
French were massacred on Easter Monday, 
1282. This massacre is known by the name 
of the " Sicilian vespers," the bell for evening 
prayers being the signal of revolt. The 
Sicilians chose Peter of Arragon for their 
king. Charles died in 1285. 

CHARLES MARTEL, son of Pepin Heris- 
tel, and mayor of the palace under Chilperic 



of Narva, he had several horses shot under 1 and Thierry IV., kings of France. He gained 



him, and as he was mounting upon a fresh 
one, he said, "These people 'find me exer- 
cise." When he was besieged at Stralsund, 
a bomb fell into the house while he was dic- 
iiting to his secretary, who immediately 
dropped his pen, and started up in a fright. 
" What is the matter ? " said the king, calmly. 
" The bomb ! the bomb ! sire," said the agita- 
ted secretary. " Well, sir," resumed Charles, 
" what has the bomb to do with what I was 
dictating to you ? Go on." When struck 
by the ball that caused his death, he instinc- 
tively grasped his sword-hilt, as if seeking 
for revenge. Charles was exceedingly tem- 
perate, abjuring wine, and living fi-equently 
upon the coarsest bread. No woman ever 
exerted any influence over him. His dress 
consisted of an old cloak, a blue coat with 
brass buttons, a plain waistcoat and breeches 
of leather, high boots with spurs, and long 
leather gloves. His wild career of war 
gained him the name of ' the machnan of the 
north.' 

CHARLES T , King of Sicily dnd Naples, 
born in 1220, was the son of Louis VIII. of 
France. Having married the daughter of the 
Count of Provence, he thereby became his 
successor, and added to his dominions the 
counties of Anjou and !Maine. He was taken 
prisoner with his brother Louis, in Egypt, in 
1248. On his return he defeated Manfred, 
the usurper of the Sicilian crown, and as- 
sumed the title of Kmg of Napl 



many victories, the principal of which was 
over the Saracen general, Abdalrahman, in 
732. On the death of Thierry, in 737, no 
successor was appointed, and Charles con- 
ducted the government. He died in 741, and 
left his dominions between his sons Carloman 
and Pepin; the latter of whom became the- 
first king of the Carlovingian race, which 
name was taken from the founder, Charles 
Martel. 

CHARLES IV., Emperor of Germany, 
was the son of John of Luxemburg, and 
grandson of the Emperor Henry VII. He 
ascended the throne in 1347. In his reign 
the golden bull was given at the diet of Nu- 
remberg, 1356, which established the Ger- 
manic constitution. Charles died in 1378. 
He was a learned man and a great i)atron of 
letters. 

CHARLES v.. Emperor of Germany, and 
King of Spain (in the latter capacity, Charles 
I.), was born at Ghent, in 1500. He suc- 
ceeded to the kingdom of Spain in 1516, and 
to the empire on the death of Maximilian in 
1519. Francis I. of France disputed witli 
him the latter title, and their rivalry occa- 
sioned a violent war in 1521. Charles was 
joined by Henry VIII. of England, and after 
several important actions, took Francis pris- 
oner at the battle of Pavia. A peace having 
been concluded in 1529, Charles turned his 
arms against Africa, where he defeated Bar- 
He j barossa, entered Tunis, and re-established 
CHA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



197 



Muley Hassan on the throne. Soon after this 
he renewed hostiUties against France, rav- 
aging Champagne and Picardy, till he was 
at length obliged to retire, and peace was 
restored in 1538. In 154:1 he attempted the 
conquest of Algiers, but his fleet was dis- 
persed by a storm, and the emperor was 
obliged to return in disgrace. He again 
leagued with England against France, but 
Fortune was not so favorable to him as she 
had formerly been, and he was glad to enter 
mto a treaty in 1545. The Protestant princes 
of Germany confederated against him, and 
obtained liberty of conscience for those of 
their religion. In 1556, he resigned the 
crown to his son Philip, and retired into a 
monastery in Estremadura, where he passed 
the remainder of his days in religious exer- 
cises, mechanical pursuits, and gardening. 
He died in 1558. He encouraged artists, and 
once picked up a pencil which Titian had 
dropped, and presented it to him, saying, that 
Titian was worthy of being served by an 
emperor. 

CHARLES THE Bold, Duke of Burgundy, 
the son of Philip the Good, was born in 1433. 
There were constant wars between him and 
Louis XL of France, who instigated Charles's 
subjects, the Liegois, to revolt against him. 
Charles siezed on Guelderland and Zutphen, 
and afterward invaded Switzerland, but his 
army was put to rout and his baggage 
taken by the Swiss. He collected another 
army, but was again defeated, and slain while 
besieging Nancy, in 1477. As he was that 
day putting on his helmet, the golden lion 
which formed the crest, fell to the ground, 
and he exclaimed, '■'■Ecce magnum signum 
Dei ! " (Behold the great sign of God !) 

CHARLES IX., of France, son of Henry 
II., and Catharine de Medici, was born in 
1550, and succeeded to the throne in loGO ; 
his mother conducted the government ; but 
she so abused her trust that the Huguenots 
revolted, and a civil war ensued, in which the 
insurgents were unsuccessful. The massacre 
of St. Bartholomew's ensued. It is said that 
Charles repented of this horrid crime on his 
death-bed, in 1574. 

CHARLES X. of France and Navarre, as- 
cended the throne which had been filled by 
his brothers, the unfortunate Louis XVI. and 
Louis XVIII., in September, 1824. He bore 



for some time the title of Count of Artois, and 
afterward that of Monsieur. He was fond of 
expensive pleasures, and distinguished for 
his mild manners. Charles was crowned at 
Rheims, being anointed with the holy oil, 
which it was absurdly pretended had been 
brought from heaven by a dove. He swore 
to maintain the charter, but he had not been 
long seated on the throne, before he began to 
play those fantastic tricks which seem to be- 
long peculiarly to the province of legitimacy. 
The press, that vast moral engine at which 
tyrants tremble, became obnoxious to the 
monarch, and a censorship was established in 
1 827. The king showed himself rather favor- 
ably disposed to the Greeks, which produced 
him a temporary popularity. The ministr}^ 
of Prince Polignac, however, caused great in- 
dignation, on account of the arbitrary tone of 
the measures adopted ; and the unwarrantable 
prosecution of the liberal press hastened the 
revolution of 1800, when the Parisians over- 
came the roj^al troops, and the French legis- 
lature exiled Charles X., imprisoned the min- 
isters for life, and seated Louis Philippe on 
the throne. Charles was born Oct. 9th, 1757. 
He died at Gratz in Hungary, Nov. Gth, 1836. 
CHARLES EMMANUEL L, Dukeof Savoy, 
surnamed the Great, was born in 1562. 
Though of a weak constitution, he was of an 
enterprising spirit, and, taking advantage of 
the internal commotions of France in the 
reign of Henry III., he seized part of Dau- 
phiny and Provence ; and on the death of that 
monarch, he aspired to the crown, but was 
disappointed. A war broke out, and the 
French troops took possession of part of Sa- 
voy. By the mediation of the pope, however, 
peace was concluded. The duke made a 
treacherous attempt to seize Geneva, but his 
troops were repulsed, and the prisoners that 
were taken were hung up by the Genevans as 
robbers. On the death of Francis, Duke of 
Mantua, in 1613, this restless prince laid claim 
to the succession, but was obliged to relin- 
quish it. The French persuaded him to turn 
his arms against Genoa, and he gained some 
advantages, but the interference of Spain ef- 
fected a peace. He aspired to the imperial 
crown, and made an attempt on the duchy of 
Montserrat. which involved him in a war with 
France and Spain. He died in 1680, it is sup- 
posed of grief for the loss of Pignerol. 



CHA 



ins 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



CHARLESTON, a city and seaport of 
South Carolina, had in 1860, 40,578 inhabi- 
tants, being about 2,400 less than in 1850. 
It is the natural commercial emporium of 
South Carolina, and of much of North Caro- 
lina and Georgia also. It stands at the head 
of a bay on the point between the mouths 
of Cooper and Ashley rivers, seven miles 
from the sea. It has long been a wealthy 
commercial city. Fort Moultrie, on Sulli- 
van's Island, was assaulted June 28, 1776, by 
sea and land by the British, who w^ere se- 
verely defeated. May 12, 1780, Gen. Lin- 
coln with his army of over 5,000 men capitu- 
lated to Sir Henry Clinton after a month's 
siege. The British evacuated the place Apr. 
14, 1783. Charleston was a principal center 
of the secession roovement, and the scene of 
the first rebel hostilities against the United 
States, by the bombardment of Fort Sumter, 
April 12, 1801, resulting in its surrender to 
the rebels the next day. Soon after the 
harbor was blockaded, and sea and land 
forces were kept actively employed against the 
phxce during the whole of the war. It was 
not however taken until Sherman's north- 



ward march caused its evacuation April 18, 
1865, when the Union troops entered it. 
About a third of it had been destroyed. 

CHARLOTTE AUGUSTA, daughter of 
Queen Caroline and George IV. of England, 
a beautiful, amiable, and accomplished lady, 
became, at the age of twenty, the wife of 
Prince Leopold of Coburg (afterward King of 
Belgium), May 2d, 1816. Nov. 5th, 1817, 
the unfortunate princess, in becoming the 
mother of a child that did not survive her, 
lost her life. The physician who had attended 
her, shot himself The princess was beloved 
by the English nation, and her death deeply 
lamented. 

CHARON, in mythology, the son of Erebus 
and Nox. He was the ferryman of hell, being- 
supposed to carry the dead across the waves 
of Acheron, Cocytus, and the Styx, receiving 
an obolus in pay. This coin was placed in 
the mouth of the dead, as, without it, it Avas 
thought that the deceased would be con- 
demned to long and restless wanderings on 
the dreary banks of Acheron. Charon was 
represented as an old man, of a forbidding 
aspect, dressed in rags. 



--^i^^ -^1 « 




THE CHARTER OAK. 



CHARTER OAK, a stately tree in a cavity 
of whose trunk the royal charter of Connecti- 
cut was hidden by Capt. Wadsworth, when 
demanded by Andross, Oct. 31st, 1687. The 
story is that the debate of the assembly upon 
obeying Sir Edmund's demand was prolonged 
until evening ; when suddenly the lights were 



extinguished, the parchment snatched from 
the table, and borne oft' to its hiding-place. 
This oak was an ancient forest-monarch at 
the first settlement of Hartford. The cavity 
in which the charter was put gradually closed, 
but in time the heart of the tree rotted away, 
leaving a larger opening. Before dawn, Aug. 



CHA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



199 



21st, 1850, the revered tree was prostrated by 
the wind, and only a ragged stump left stand- 
ing. With a touch of sentiment strange for 
this prosaic age, the bells of the city were 
knelled for an hour at twilight. 

CHARYBDIS, the rapacious daughter of 
Neptune and Terra, whom Jupiter changed 
into a whirlpool. The whirlpool whose origin 
was thus related in mythology, was on the 
coast of Sicily, opposite the formidable rock 
called Scylla on the Italian shore. It was 
very dangerous to mariners, and proved fatal 
to part of the fleet of Ulysses. No whirlpool 
is now found that corresponds to the descrip- 
tion of the ancients. The words, IncicUt in 
Scyllam qui vult vitare CharyMim^ became 
proverbial, to show that in our eagerness to 
avoid an evil we often fall into a greater. 

CHASE, Samuel, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, was born in Somerset coun- 
ty, Maryland, April mh, 1841. His father 
was an Episcopal missionary and personally 
superintended his education. Having ac- 
quired eminence and popularity as a lawyer 
in Annapolis, and by his resistance to the 
stamp act, he was elected to the continental 
Congress in 1774, and in 1776 undertook a 
mission to Canada to excite opposition to the 
mother country. He was a delegate to Con- 
gress, 1774-78 and 1784-85. In 1783, he 
went to England as agent of the state of Mary- 
land to recover property intrusted to the Bank 
of England, and while there formed the ac- 
quaintance of Pitt, Fox, and Burke. In 1791, 
he was made chief-justice of the general court 
of Maryland. Washington appointed him as- 
sociate justice of the supreme court of the 
United States, vice John Blair of Virginia, 
who had resigned. He was impeached by 
the house of representatives in 1804, for al- 
leged misdemeanors in political trials, but ac- 
quitted in his trial before the senate, which, 
after long attracting public attention, ended 
March 5th, 1804. He died at the age of sev- 
enty, June 19th, 1811. He was a man of in- 
tegrity, boldness, and decision. While on the 
bench in Maryland, in 1794, nobody being 
willing to assist in the arrest of the ringlead- 
ers in a riot, "Summon me," cried Judge 
Chase; "I'll be the posse comitatus;" and 
he was as good as his word. 

CHATEAUBRIAND, Francois Auguste, 
Vicorate de, was born in Brittany of an an- 



cient family, in 1769. During the terrors of 
the French revolution, he resided chiefly in 
England, paying, however, a visit to the Uni- 
ted States, and roaming into the backwoods. 
When Bonaparte had restored order he re- 
turned to France, and in 1802 gained great 
fame bj'' his " Genius of Christianity." In 
1806 he set out on those oriental journey ings 
recorded in his " Itinerary from Paris to Je- 
rusalem." Under the Bourbons he took part 
in public life and honors. These he aban- 
doned when Louis Philippe was crowned, oc- 
cupying himself thenceforth in literary labors, 
and dying in 1848. 

CHATHAM, William Pitt, Earl of, was 
the son of Robert Pitt, Esq., of Boconock, in 
Cornwall, and born Nov. 15th, 1708. On 
quitting the university at Oxford he went into 
the army as cornet, but soon left the military 
life, and, in 1735, obtained a seat in parlia- 
ment for Old Sarum. His eloquence was first 
displayed on the Spanish convention, in 1738, 
and, in a short time. Sir Robert Walpole found 
him the most powerful opponent he had ever 
encountered. The dowager Duchess of Marl- 
borough left Mr. Pitt a legacy of £10,000 for 
his conduct at this period. In 1746, he was 
made vice treasurer of Ireland, and the same 
year paymaster-general of the army. In 1 755, 
he resigned his places ; but the year following, 
he was appointed secretary of state for the 
southern department. In this post, however, 
he did not remain long, on account of some 
difference with the king ; but such was his 
popularity, that his majesty found it necessary 
to recall him. In 1757, he became prime 
minister, in which situation he gave a new 
turn to affairs, and by the vigor of his meas- 
ures, subverted the power of France in Eu- 
rope, Asia, and America. In the midst of his 
glory, George II. died, and Mr. Pitt resigned 
the helm to Lord Bute ; when his lady was 
created a peeress, and he himself rewarded 
with a pension. His acceptance of a coronet 
in 1766, when he returned to the ministry, 
hurt his popularity, for the people had loved 
to call him ' the great commoner.' The witty 
Lord Chesterfield called it a "fall up-stairs," 
and said, "Everybody is puzzled to account 
for this step. Such an event was, I believe, 
never heard or read of, to withdraw, in the 
fullness of his power and in the utmost grati- 
fication of his ambition, from the House of 



OHA 



200 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Commons (which procured him his power, 
and which could alone insure it to him), and 
to go into that hospital of incurables, the 
House of Lords, is a measure so unaccounta- 
ble, that nothing but proof positive could 
make me believe it ; but so it is." Mr. Pitt 
took the title of Earl of Chatham, and the 
sinecure office of the privy seal in the new 
cabinet, which place he resigned two or three 
years afterward. During the war of our rev- 
olution, he opposed the ministers, and their 
scheme of taxation ; and in a speech on the 
subject of the independence of the colonies, 
April 7th, 1778, he exerted himself so ener- 
getically, as to foil exhausted into the arms 
of those around him. He died on the 11th of 
the following month. A public funeral and 
monument wore voted by parliament ; an an- 
nuity of £4,000 was annexed to the earldom 
of Chatham, and his debts were discharged. 

CHATTERTON, Thomas, a youth whose 
precocious talents and sad fate have excited 
great interest, was born at Bristol, in 1752, 
of poor parents. In his twelfth year he wrote 
a poem of some merit, and at the age of 
sixteen successfully imitated the style of an- 
tique English writers, and introduced to the 
world as works of great antiquity, the fruits 
of his own mind. The reception he met 
with in London, led him to form extrav- 
agant hopes, which were, however, never 
realized, for the wretchedness of his situation 
induced him to commit suicide by poison at 
the age of eighteen in 1770. The poems 
which he wrote at fifteen he ascribed to a 
monk of the fifteenth century, named Thomas 
Rowlej'. For precocious talent this marvel- 
ous boy is without a peer in English litera- 
ture. 

CHAUCER, Geoffrey, the father of Eng- 
lish poetry, was born in London, in 1828. 
He was high in favor with Edward HI., and 
married Philippa, the sister of Lady Catha- 
arinc Swynford, afterward the wife of John 
of Gaunt. This prince was Chaucer's steady 
patron. He filled several responsible offices, 
and was sent abroad as ambassador. His for- 
tunes varied with those of the party to which 
he was attached, but he finally lived in pleas- 
ant retirement at "Woodstock, and completed 
the " Canterbury Tales." He owned a house 
in London, in the garden of the convent of 
Westminster, where the chapel of Henry 



VII. now stands. Here he died, Oct. 25th, 
1400, and was interred in the neighboring 
abbey, the first of the illustrious line of poets 
whose ashes have there been laid to rest. 

CHAUNCY, Charles, was the grandson 
of the erudite and excellent president of Har- 
vard University, where he was educated. 
He was born Jan. 1st, 1705, and was or- 
dained pastor of the first church in Boston, 
in 1727. He died in his eighty -third year, 
Feb. 10th, 1787. His learning, independ- 
ence, and patriotism were constantly and 
clearly displayed. The works which he has 
left behind bear incontrovertible proof of his 
talents. He was the particular friend of Dr. 
Cooper of Boston, and an anecdote which 
regards the two gentlemen, is worthy of pre- 
servation. It must be kept in mind that Dr. 
Chauncy was habitually absent, like many 
literary men, and that Dr. Cooper was famous 
for inviting brother clergymen to officiate for 
him ; so much so, that it was currently re- 
ported that he used to walk out upon Boston 
neck evety Saturday afternoon, and invite 
the first gentleman with o, black coat whom 
he saw coming into town, to preach for him. 
A negro servant of Dr. Chauncy was in 
want of a coat, but as he had high ideas of 
his own importance, he wished, if possible, 
to obtain a new garment, instead of being 
habited in the dark, discarded vestments of 
his worthy master. After having, one morn- 
ing, brought the usual supply of wood into 
Dr. Chauncy's study, he remained standing, 
and the doctor, although rather busj^ was 
not long in noticing him. 

"AVell, Sambo, what do you want?" 

" Want a coat, sar. De old one so patched 
to pieces, I 'fraid to go nowheres." 

"Very well. Sambo, go to Mrs. Chauncy, 
and tell her to give you one of mine." 

The doctor resumed his studies, but Sambo 
retained his position. His master observing 
him a second time, but forgetting what had 
just passed between them, again asked, 
"What do you want, Sambo?" 

"0! just a coat, sar. Old coat full of 
holes." 

"Very well; go to Mrs. Chauncy, and she 
will give you one of mine." 

A second time the doctor resumed his book, 
but finding the black still stationary, he be- 
gan to recall what had passed, and exclaimed, 



CHA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



201 



Well, sir, why don't 



with some asperity, 
you go ? " 

"'Cause T 'fraid, Massa Chauncy." 

"Afraid? of what?" 

"\^hy, sar, I 'fraid to wear a black coat, 
'cause — no — no— it won't do — I can't tell you, 
sar." 

"I insist upon it." 

" Well, then, if I must — sir, 'fraid, 'cause — 
oh no! massa, you'll be so angry." 

" I wish I had my cane here ! " exclaimed 
the doctor. 

Sambo, finding, from his impatient glance 
at the tongs, that there was a possibility of 
seizing a substitute, cried out, " Oh ! sar ! 
nebber mind de cane, I'll tell you why I 
'fraid to wear one of your coats — I 'fraid if I 
had annoder black coat — that Dr 
will ask me to preach for him ! " 



of Berzclius, Licbig, Dumas, Laurent, Hof- 
mann, &c., during the last thirty years. 

CHERBOURG, a French seaport on the 
Channel, containing 24,212 inhabitants. In 
1418, it was taken by Henry V. of England, 
and near it took place the famous naval battle 
of La Hogue, between the French and Eng- 
lish, May 19th, 1692. Cherbourg is remark- 
able for its vast breakwater, and its extensive 
basin and docks, constructed by the French 
government. 

CHESTERFIELD, Philip Dormer Stan- 
hope, fourth Earl of, born in London, in 
1694. After studying in his youth with as- 
siduity, at Cambridge and Leyden, he entered 
public life in 1715, soon after the accession of 
George I. He distinguished himself in the 
Cooper lower house of parliament as a brilliant and 
effective debater, which reputation he sus- 



The doctor burst into laughter. " Go, go, tained in the House of Lords, after the death 
Sambo, and ask Mrs. Chauncy to buy a coat of his father. Till 1748, when deafness com- 



of whatever color you fancy ! " 

Sambo hastened off, grinning with delight, 
to get a scarlet coat, and Dr. Chauncy ran 
to Dr. Cooper to tell him of the whole affair. 

CHEMISTRY was introduced into Europe, 
about 1150, by the Spanish Moors, who had 
learned it and distillation from the African 
Moors, and these from the Egyptians. In 
Egypt, they had, in very early ages, extracted 
salts from their bases, separated oils, and 
prepared vinegar and wine ; and embalming 
was a kind of chemical process. The Chi- 
nese also claim an early acquaintance with 
chemistry. The first chemical students in 
Europe were the alchemists ; but chemistiy 
could not be said to exist as a science till the 
seventeenth century ; during which its study 
was promoted by the writings of Bacon, and 
the researches of Hooke, Mayow and Boyle. 
In the early part of the eighteenth century, 
Dr. Stephen Hales laid the foundation of 
pneumatic chemistry, and Boerhaave com- 
bined the study of chemistry with medicine. 
These were succeeded by Black, Bergman, 
Stahl, &c. In 1772, Priestley published his 
researches on air, and then commenced a new 
era. He was ably seconded by Lavoisier, 
Cavendish, Scheele, Chaptal, &c. The nine- 
teenth century opened with the brilliant 
discoveries of Davy, continued by Dalton, 
Faraday, Thomson, &c. Organic chemistry 
has been very greatly advanced by the labors 



pelled him to retire, he took an active part in 
public life. He displayed great diplomatic 
skill in two foreign embassies, and his lord- 
lieutenancy in Ireland, in 1745, though last- 
ing only a few months, has been always men- 
tioned with high praise. After a sickly and 
melancholy old age, he died March 24th, 
1773. The only writings of this accom- 
plished personage that are at all remembered, 
are his "Letters" to his natural son, remark- 
able for their ease of style and their worldly 
knowledge, but deficient in the loftier points 
of morality. They were not intended for 
publication. The character of Lord Ches- 
terfield has been much misrepresented and 
misunderstood. He was unequaled in his 
time for the solidity and variety of his attain- 
ments, for the brilliancy of his wit, for the 
graces of his conversation, and for the polish 
of his style. His embassy to Holland marked 
his skill, his dexterity, and his address as an 
able negociater; and his administration of 
Ireland indicated his integrity, his vigilance, 
and his sound policy as a statesman and a pol- 
itician. In the House of Lords his speeches 
were more admired and extolled than anj'' 
others of the day. Horace Walpole had 
heard his own father, had heard Pitt, Pul- 
teney, Wyndham, and Carteret; yet in 1743, 
he declared that the finest speech he had 
ever listened to was one from Chesterfield. 
Dr. Johnson called him a lord among wits, 



CHE 



202 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and a wit among lords. When Lord Ches- 
terfield arrived in Ireland, all the Catholic 
places of worship were closed. A Mr. Fitz- 
gerald saying mass in the obscure garret of 
a condemned house, an immense crowd had 
assembled, and the floor giving way, the offi- 
ciating priest, with manyof his flock, were 
buried in the ruins, and the greater number 
were maimed and wounded. Lord Chester- 
field, horror struck at the event, ordered 
that all the chapels in the capital should be 
opened. A zealous Protestant thinking to 
pay his court to the lord lieutenant, came to 
inform him that one of his coachmen was a 
Roman Catholic, and went privately to mass. 
"Does he, indeed ? " said his lordship ; " then I 
shall take care that he never drives me there ! " 
The Bishop of Waterford related that the 
vice-treasm-er, Mr. Gardiner, a man of good 
character and considerable fortune, waited 
upon Lord Chesterfield one moi-ning, and in 
a great fright told him that he was assured 
upon good authority that the people in the 
province of Connaught were actually rising ; 
upon which the viceroy looked at his watch, 
and with great composure answered him, " It 
is nine o'clock and time for them to rise; I 
believe, therefore, that your news is true." 
Lord Chesterfield preserved a Catholic popu- 
lation in the most perfect peace and obedience, 
during the whole of that rebellion which in 
Episcopal England and Presbyterian Scot- 
land, had nearly restored the Stuarts to the 
throne they had forfeited by their blind and 
bigoted attachment to papal institutions. 

CHILI, a republic on the western shore 
of South America, which has an area of 
180,000 square miles. The eastern part of 
Chili is mountainous, and many volcanic sum- 
mits here elevate themselves from the lofty 
chain of the Andes. Innumerable small and 
rapid rivers iiTigate the rich soil, and the 
climate is remarkable for its healthiness. 
The mineral and vegetable productions are 
valuable and abundant. Exclusive of the 
independent Indians, the population has been 
estimated at 1,200,000. The Roman Catholic 
is the established religion. 

Pedro de Valdivia who was sent thither by 
Pizarro, overcame the opposition of the abo- 
rigines, and founded several cities in the 
north and south, but the Araucanians defeat- 
ed the Spaniards, and having taken their 



leader prisoner, put him to death. It was 
many years before the Spaniards were per- 
mitted by the Indians and Dutch to enjoy 
quiet possession of Chili. In 1809, a revolu- 
tionary movement took place, and the party 
which espoused the cause of independence 
was at first successful; but in 181-i nearly 
the whole country was subdued by a Spanish 
army from Peru. Chili remained under the 
control of the roy;iIists until 1817, when 
General San Martin, with a body of troops 
from Buenos Ayres, entered the countrj', and 
being joined by the people generally, de- 
feated the royalists in several engagements. 
The independence of the country was finally 
achieved at the battle of Maypu, April 5th, 
1817. The government has since experienced 
many changes, but Chili has been perhaps 
less disturbed than any of its sister republics. 

Santiago, the capital of the republic, has 
50,000 inhabitants. Valparaiso, the princi- 
pal port and centre of commerce, has 30,000. 
The southern part of Chili is inhabited by 
the Araucanians, a powerful aboriginal nation 
over whom the republic has only a nominal 
authority. They maintained their independ- 
ence through many contests with the Span- 
iards. They subsist by cultivating the land 
and raising cattle. A Toqui (hereditary 
noble) is at the head of government, and he 
strictlj' maintained the neutrality of his 
people during the South American struggle 
for independence. Among the many in- 
teresting customs of this people, we may 
mention that they amuse themselves with a 
species of chess and backgammon, both of 
which they knew previous to the arrival ot 
the Spaniards. 

CHILLINGWORTH, William, a celebra- 
ted English divine and Protestant polemic. 
He was born at Oxford, 1G02, and died in 
1644, having been appointed chancellor of 
Salisbury, in July, 1638. 

CHILTERN HUNDREDS, a phrase often 
encountered in English political history. It 
is an estate of the crown in Buckingham- 
shire, the stewardship whereof is a nominal 
office, conferred on members of parliament 
when they wish to vacate their seats ; for by 
accepting an office under the crown, a mem- 
ber becomes disqualified, unless he be again 
returned by his constituents. This custom 
has existed time immemorial. 
CHI 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



203 




CHINESE LADY OF RANK. 



CHINA is a vast country of Asia, bounded 
on the north by Chinese Tartary, from which 
the famous Chinese wall separates it ; on the 
east by the Eastern Sea ; on the south by 
the Chinese Sea and Further India ; and on 
the west by an extensive and sandy desert, 
and long ridges of mountains, which divide 
it from Western Tartary and Thibet. 

Inclusive of the tributary countries, and 
those states which have voluntarily placed 
themsalves under the protection of China, 
the population is estimated at 853,000,000 
inhabitants, which are scattered over a sur- 
face of about 5,250,000 square miles. The 
subjected countries are Mantchouria, Mon- 
golia, and Tourfan ; the protected ones, Thi- 
bet, Bootan, Corea, and Loo-choo. China 
Proper is divided into eighteen provinces. 
The Yang-tse-kiang and the Hoang-Ho, or 
Yellow River, are the two principal rivers of 



China. The former is more than 3,000 miles 
long, the latter about 2,500. The face of the 
country is greatly diversified ; the northern 
and western parts being the most broken. 

A distinguishing feature of the climate is 
the unusual excess in which heat and cold 
prevail in some parts of the empire at oppo- 
site seasons of the year ; as well as the low 
average of the thermometer in comparison 
with the latitude. The soil is diligently 
tilled, rice being the prevalent crop. But the 
production of most importance to 'outside 
barbarians,' is tea, which is the universal 
beverage throughout China, while enough is 
grown to supply other countries with a hun- 
dred million pounds each year. 

The commerce is very extensive ; the prin- 
cipal articles of export being tea, silk, nan- 
kins, porcelain, and the valuable vegetable 
productions of the east. The imperial canal 



CHI 



204 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and the Chinese wall are nionuuients of 
Chinese skill and industry. The religion of 
China is Buddhism, or the religion of Fo. 
The language of the Chinese is peculiar, its 
ciiaracters being symbols of ideas, instead 
of sounds. The Chinese are, to a certain 
degree, well educated, but revengeful, timid, 
vain, and deceitful. Polygamy is permitted, 
and the condition of females wretched in the 
extreme. Poor parents are permitted to 
drown their female children, and this is done 
without remorse. 

The Chinese is, on the whole, by far the 
best native government of Asia. It is better, 
far, than any of the Mohammedan despo- 
tisms ; it is better than any government that 
the Hindoos e^ver possessed, and it is far pre- 
ferable to the theocracies of the Birmans, 
Siamese, and other Chinese nations. The 
absence of a powerful and influential priest- 
hood, and of an hereditary and privileged 
aristocracj", as well as of petty principalities 
with delegated and hereditary authorit}^, 
may be stated as among the leading causes 
of the prosperity of the Chinese empire. 

The government of China is patriarchal; 
the emperor has the title of " Holy Son of 
Heaven, sole Governor of the earth, and Great 
Father of his people." But it is patriarchal 
on the largest scale of which there is any 
record, for the family consists of more than 
three hundred million members. China may 
be considered as a huge school-house, the 
master having the birch constantly in his 
hand, frequently using it, and delegating his 
authority to thousands of ushers, who are 
equally liberal in its application. But the rod, 
although the chief, is not the only instrument 
of government. There is the canqtie^ or wooden 
ruif, a kind of portable stocks or pillory, very 
convenient to the executors of the law, but 
exceedingly inconvenient to the wearer, who 
can neither sleep nor lie down for it. Then 
there is imprisonment in cages ; furthermore 
decapitation, not however very frequent ; and 
in extreme cases their crucifixion, or as it is 
technically called, the death by painful and 
slow means. The grand panacea, however, 
after all, is the rod. The general application 
of this vigorous instrument of administra. 
tion, is by no means confined to China, but 
embraces the other countries of the east, 
from Japan to Bengal, including nearly one- 



third the human race. There the rod, under 
its various appellations of bamboo, cane, 
cudgel, or birch, is actively at work from 
morning till night, and afterward from night 
till morning. The grand patriarch canes his 
first ministers ; the prime minister canes his 
secretary of state ; the secretaries of state 
admonish the lords of the treasury, by bela- 
boring their backs ; these enforce their orders 
to the first lord of the admiralty by applying 
what is equal to the cat o' nine tails. Gen- 
erals cane field-officers, and field-officers the 
captains and subalterns. Of course the com- 
mon soldiers of the celestial empire are caned 
by everybody. The husbands cane their 
wives, and the wives cane their children. 
The Chinese and their neighbors may be 
truly described as well-flogged nations. 

Whatever may be the actual antiquity of 
the Chinese nation, no doubt seems now to 
exist that they very early knew the art of 
printing, the composition of gunpowder, and 
the properties of the magnetic compass, 
which have been considered by European 
nations three of the most important discov- 
eries of modern times. To these may be 
added two very remarkable manufactures, 
of which they were unquestionably the first 
inventors, and in which they yet excel, those 
of silk and porcelain. Their mode of print- 
ing differs from ours, but its effect in multi- 
plying and cheapening books is the same, 
and it was practiced hy them as far back as 
the tenth century. Gunpowder they did not 
use in fire-arms, but for fireworks, of which 
they are extremely fond, and with which 
they have amused themselves from a very 
remote date. 

The empire is very ancient, and is said by 
the Chinese to have existed forty-one thou- 
sand years before the Christian era. We 
give a list of the dynasties which have sat 
upon the throne in more modern times. 

The Hia dynasty, 2207 to 1767 B.C. 

The Shang dynasty, 1767 to 1122 u.c?. 

The Chow dynasty, 1122 to 256 b.c. 

The Tsin dynasty, 256 to 257 B.C. 

The Hang dynastj^, 207 B.C. to 220 a.d. 

From 220 to 280, China was divided into 
three kingdoms, the Shohang dynasty, 220 to 
263 ; that of the Goei in the north, 220 to 
265, and that of the El in the south, 220 to 
280. 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



205 




GREAT AVALL OF CHINA. 



The Tsin dynasty, 265 to 4-20. 
The U-ta dynasties, 420 to 589. 
The Sui dynasty, 589 to 617. 
The Tang dynastj-, 617 to 907. 
The Hehu-u-ta dynasty, 907 to 960. 
The Song dynasty, 960 to 1279. 
The Mogul Khans, 1279 to 1368. 
The Ming dynasty 1368 to 1614. 
The Ta-tsing dynasty : 

Shun-tchi, 1644 to 1669. 

Kang-hi, 1669 to 1693. 

Yong-tching,1693 to 1733. 

Kien-long, 1736 to 179G. 

Kia-king, 1796 to 1821. 

Taou-kwang, 1821 to 1850. 

Szo-hing, or Yih-Chu, 1850, 
With the Chow dynasty, during whose 



reign Confucius lived, authentic history may 
be said to commence. 

During the reign of Ching the first empe- 
ror of the fourth dynasty, B.C. 256, the great 
wall was built. Elated with his own exploits, 
he formed the design of making posterity 
believe that he was the first emperor that 
filled the Chinese throne, and for this pur- 
pose ordered all the historical books, which 
contained the fundamental records and laws 
of the ancient governments, to be burned, 
ajid four hundred of the learned to be put to 
death, for having attempted to save some of 
the proscribed volumes. 

In the thirteenth century the Chinese called 
in the aid of the Mongols to beat off the east- 
ern Tartars. These fierce allies soon subdued 



CHI 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



not only the Tartars, but the people whom 
they caine to defend, and seized the mastery. 
Kublai Khan (he who ' in Xanadu a stately 
pleasure dome decreed ') was a monarch of 
eminent talents, and endeared himself to the 
Chinese by his equity and virtues. In less 
than a century his successors so degenerated 
that the Chinese regained the ascendency. 
Some of the expelled Mongols found refuge 
among the Tartars, and from these united 
strains came the race known as the Mantchous, 
who in 1G44 expelled the last Chinese dynas- 
ty, and founded a permanent Tartar dominion, 
which is yet in poM^er. 

"When China was sundered into two or three 
states, the northern portion was called by the 
neighboring nations Cathay, vinder which 
name it became known to the Russians and 
Mongols; whilst the inhabitants of India 
called the southern part Chin, under which 
name the Portuguese and other Europeans 
became acquainted with it. Not till the 
seventeenth century was it discovered that 
Cathay was China. 

The Chinese are passionately addicted to 
the use of opium. The government formerly 
prohibited its importation, and in attempts to 
enforce this restriction came in collision with 
the British, whose merchants were largely 
engaged in the contraband traflSc. Hostilities 
commenced in 1839, and continued till Aug. 
29th, 1842. By the treaty of peace, the Chi- 
nese were to pay $21,000,000; the ports of 
Canton, Amoy, Foo-choo-foo, Ning-po, and 
Shanghai were thrown open to the British ; 
and the island of Ilong-kong was ceded to the 
British crown; a great inroad being thus 
made Tipon the exclusiveness which the Chi- 
nese had so rigorously observed. 

As to the insurrection that broke out in 
1851, conflicting accounts are given. The in- 
surgents gained ground steadily, capturing 
the important cities of Nanking, Amoy, 
Shanghai, and besieged Canton ; but victory 
afterward passed to the imperialists, and many 
of the towns held by the rebels were retaken. 
The following is one version of the nature of 
this outbreak. Taou-Kwang, the last empe- 
ror, during the latter years of his reign became 
somewhat liberal in his views, and favored the 
introduction of European arts. His son and 
successor, a rash and narrow-minded prince, 



quickly forsook this wise policy and adopted 
reactionary measures. An insurrection broke 
out in consequence, in the southern province 
of Quang-si, August, 1850, which quickly be- 
came of alarming importance. At first the 
insurgents proposed only to expel the Tartar 
dynasty. In March, 1851, a leader arose 
among them, first by the name of Tien-teh, 
'celestial virtue,' but afterward assuming 
other names. He is said to be a native of 
Quang-si, of obscure origin, who obtained 
some education at Canton, and also became 
acquainted with the principles of Christianity 
from a native convert, and from the missionary 
Roberts. He announced himself as the re- 
storer of the worship of the true God, Shang- 
ti, and had derived many of his dogmas from 
the Scriptures. He declared himself to be 
the monarch of all beneath the sky, the true 
lord of China (and thus of all the world), the 
brother of Jesus, and the second son of God, ■ 
and demanded universal submission. 

In addition to the dangers thus besetting 
the peace of China, new disturbances with 
England broke out in 1857, and a war com- 
menced, but the attention of the British was 
diverted by the serious crisis in India. 

Peking, the capital of the empire, has a 
population of 2,000,000. The principal streets 
vary from 140 to 200 feet in width, but the 
buildings do not correspond, few of the houses 
being above one story. Nanking was the 
capital before the time of the Mongols, and 
had 4,000,000 inhabitants, now dwindled to 
300,000. It is one of the principal seats of 
Chinese learning, and is noted for the porce- 
lain tower attached to one of its pagodas. 
Canton is a place of much commercial impor- 
tance, from having formerly been the only 
port open to American and European vessels. 
It has a million of inhabitants. The surround- 
ing scenery is charming, and the eastern hills 
present a most noble prospect. The houses, 
with the exception of those of the mandarins 
and wealthy merchants, are low ; the streets 
long, narrow, and well-paved, spanned, here 
and there, by triumphal arches, and shaded 
at the sides by continuous ranges of piazzas. 
But the main charm of the city consists in its 
beautiful pleasure gardens, which are studded 
with fish-pools. The exports are tea, India 
ink, varnish, porcelain, rhubarb, silk, nan- 



CHI 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



207 



keen, &c. The climate of Canton is consid- 
ered healthy, although the heat of summer 
and the warmth of winter are great. 

CHIPPEWA, a town in Upper Canada, on 
a river of the same name, two miles north-west 
of Niagara Falls, where the British troops un- 
der Gen. Riall were signally defeated by the 
Americans under Gen. Brown, July 5th, 
1814. On the 25th of the same month, a 
second action ensued, in which the British 
were successful, though Riall was wounded 
and captured. 

CHIVALRY. The institution and spirit of 
chivalry, forming a prominent and important 
feature of history, has been regarded by wri- 
ters and men of erudition in various points 
of view, and while some have condemned it as 
altogether injurious and absurd, others have 
dignified it with the title of sublime. There 
have been found men of modern days, and 
those the fortunate possessors of more than 
common abilities, who could sigh over the 
degeneracy of the times, and lament that the 
age of chivalry is gone. But if the material 
and least worthy part of it has passed away, 
its spirit still remains, still invites men to high 
and honorable deeds, and is indeed imperish- 
able and immortal. The vows of knighthood, 
the ceremonials of installation, the pomp and 
ceremony of knightly feats, — these have gone ; 
but the devotion of the patriot, the ardor of 
the warrior, the warmth of the lover, the fi- 
delity of the friend, the loyalty and truth of 
the man of honor, do not sleep in the graves 
of Charlemagne, Roland, and Bayard. 

In seeking for the origin of chivalry, we 
are led back to the feudal ages, and the con- 
sideration of the condition of the Germanic 
tribes, when its peculiar spirit first began to 
display itself. The tribes were composed not 
of superiors and inferiors, but of masters and 
slaves ; of men whose birthright was ease and 
honor, and of others who inherited ceaseless 
toil. By the noble-born, labor of any kind 
was considered degrading, and the profession 
of arms alone worthy of being followed ; so 
that the lords of the soil were a race of inde- 
pendent warriors, whose thirst for fame was 
a continual excitement. The different feudal 
sovereigns were nominally subject to a legiti- 
mate prince, and were bound to follow his 
banner into battle, at the head of their vas- 
sals, and to respond to his call by bringing, 



at a moment's warning, an armed force to his 
support. Still, when removed from the pres- 
ence of his sovereign, the feudal lord was a 
petty despot, whose vassals felt that he pos- 
sessed absolute power of life and death over 
them. 

Unlimited authority gave rise to various 
abuses, and it was well that chivalry, with 
its high tone of honor and morality, sprang 
up in ages of general darkness, fraud, and 
oppression. The commencement of chivalry 
may be ascribed to the beginning of the tenth 
century. To the feudal system it owed its 
origm, and with that it died out. From the 
twelfth to the fourteenth century, it had a 
great influence in refining the maimers of 
most of the nations of Europe. The knight 
swore to accomplish the duties of his profes- 
sion, as the champion of God and the ladies. 
He devoted himself to speak the truth, to 
maintain the right, to protect the distressed, 
to practice courtesy, and in every peril to vin- 
dicate his honor and character. Great enter- 
prises contributed to bind numbers of knights 
together, and led to the formation of various 
societies and orders ; and when these military 
adventurers were not leagued together in any 
of the holy wars, a reciprocity of principle 
and an identity of religion held them in a 
common chain. Animated by a love of jus- 
tice, a veneration for the fair sex, a high- 
minded regard for truth, a thirst for military 
glory, and a contempt for danger, the knights 
went forth to brave peril, to rescue the unfor- 
tunate, and to crush the oppressor. Numer- 
ous individuals set forth with no fixed purpose 
but that of discovering some wrong and right- 
ing it. These wandering champions were 
called knights errant, and their exploits were 
sung in camp and court by the minstrels, 
whose lays immortalized the sons of chivalry. 
Ch ivalry degenerated, but not rapidly. After 
the lapse of many years from its foundation, 
the number of its ceremonials increased ; its 
pageantry was disgraced by frippery and folly; 
its vows were unobserved ; a devotion to the 
sex was succeeded by boundless licentious- 
ness; and the wandering spirit of knight- 
errantry was displaced by an affectation of 
eccentricity. In the fourteenth century the 
honors of knighthood were restricted to the 
nobility, and then arose the various forms and 
ceremonies, which at length concealed the 



CHI 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



original design of chivalrj^, and brought on a 
premature decline. 

The knightl}' education of a j'outh generally 
commenced with liis twelfth year ; when he 
was sent to the court of some noble pattern 
of chivalry, to learn dancing, riding, the use 
of his weapon, itc, and where his chief duty 
was assiduous attention to the ladies in the 
quality of page. According to his progress 
in years and accomplishments, he became 
squire to some knight ; and when he fairly 
merited the distinction, he was himself knight- 
ed. This honor was not conferred upon a 
youth before his twenty -first year, unless high 
birth, or extraordinary valor and address, 
seemed to warrant the setting aside of the 
asual regulation. Sometimes the honor was 
won by many a field of bloody toil, with many 
drops of sweat and gore ; and not unfrequent- 
I3' one daring achievement, artfully planned, 
gallantly carried into execution, procured the 
wished-for spurs and the anticipated accolade. 
The ceremony of conferring knighthood was 
often performed on the field of battle where 
the honor had been earned ; often it required 
and received the most imposing preparations 
and ceremonies. The youn g candidate gr.cn-d- 
ed his arms for a night, and this was called 
the vigil of arms. In the morning he bathed 
ill water, which was the emblem of the truth 
and purity he swore to preserve sacred. Clad 
ni spotless garments, he kneeled before the 
altar of the nearest church, and, having pre- 
.sented his sword to the officiating priest, re- 
ceived it again with the benediction of the 
reverend man. After taking the oath of alle- 
giance, he knelt before his sovereign, who gave 
him the accolade, or blow ujjon the neck, with 
the flat of his sword, saluted the young war- 
rior, and said, " In the name of God and St. 
Michael [or, in the name of the Father, Son, 
and Holy Ghost], I dub thee a knight. Be 
loyal, brave, and fortunate." 

It was customary for two knights of the 
same age and congenial tempers to form a 
friendship, and this brotherhood in arms last- 
ed generally until one of the two was laid in 
the grave. The courtesy of chivalry softened 
the asperity of war, gave charms to victory, 
and assuaged to the vanquished the pain of a 
defeat. All that ingenuity could plan, and 
wealth produce, to give splendor to knight- 
hood, was displayed in the age of chivalry. 



Magnificent tournaments were held, where 
even kings entered the lists and contended 
for the prize of valor befoi'e the e3'es of thou- 
sands of spectators, among whom beautiful 
ladies appeared the most deeply interested. 
In fact, knights often contended about the 
charms of their lady-loves, and wore their fo- 
vors in their helmets. If the ladies of Rome 
attended gladiatorial shows in throngs, we 
can not wonder that the beauties of the age of 
chivalry looked forward to a tournament with 
great impatience, and eagerlj^ strove for the 
honor of filling the post of temporary queen 
and distributor of the prizes. 

Chivalry exerted a powerful influence on 
poetry, and formed the subject of the poems 
of the troubadours of the south of France, as 
well as supplied themes for the poetical con- 
troversies of the knights, which were decided 
at the Cours iV Amour (courts of love), first 
established in Provence. Even after chivalry 
had died away, its influence was not unfelt by 
poetry, which retained the tone it had impart- 
ed for many centuries. The songs of the 
troubadours were divided into amatory songs, 
duets, pastorals, serenades, ballads, poetical 
colloquies, &c. In the romances of chivalry 
we behold paladins and peers, sorcerers, fair- 
ies, winged and intelligent horses, invisible or 
invulnerable men, magicians who are interest- 
ed in the birth and education of knights, en- 
chanted palaces ; in a word, the creation of a 
new world w^hich leaves our vulgar planet for 
beneath it. Paladins never without arms, in 
a country bristling with fortresses, find their 
delight and honor in punishing injustice and 
defending weakness. The chivalric romances 
may be divided into three classes : those of 
the Round Table ; tliose of Charlemagne ; and 
lastly those of Amadis, which belong to a later 
century. It will sufiScc to speak of the form- 
er. The romances of the Round Table recount 
talcs of the cup from which Jesus Christ drank 
with Joseph of Arimathea. This cup had 
performed such prodigies, that we are not as- 
tonished that those valorous knights of the 
Round Table, Lancelot, Perceval, and Perce- 
forest, are united with the determination to 
recover it. These jrreux chevaliers are the 
perpetual heroes of these romances. Lancelot 
is attached to Guinevre, the wife of King Ar- 
thur, and his marvelous exploits excite the 
admiration of contemporaries. Three centn- 



CHI 






HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



209 



ries after, lords and ladies were still delighted 
at the recital of "the very elegant, delicious, 
mellifluous, and very pleasant historic of the 
very noble and very victorious Perceforest." 
Amidst many pages of wearisome insipidity, 
we find some happy descriptions and situa- 
tions detailed, and graphic portraits of feudal 
men and manners. 

The absurdities of chivalry afforded scope 
for the satirical and comic powers of Cer- 
vantes, and the adventures of the unfortu- 
nate Don Quixote are read with an interest 
which few works of a similar character in- 
spire. Every feature of chivalry is happily 
burlesqued, and the Knight of La Mancna 
goes through all the ceremonials with a ludi- 
crous gravity which is perfectly irresistible. 
The pertinacity with which the knights 
maintained the pi-e-eminence of the ladies of 
their affections is finely satirized in the elec- 
tion which Don Quixote makes of a hideous 
country wench, whose charms he celebrates 
after the most approved fashion and with 
unceasing devotion. Few ladies of chivalric 
romance have attained a degree of reputation 
comparable to that of the immortal Dulcinea 
del Toboso. [See Knighthood, Tourna- 
ments.] 

CHOLERA. The severe epidemic which, 
under the name of Cholera, Asiatic Cholera, 
Malignant Cholera, or Cholera Asphyxia, has 
within a few years afflicted many parts of the 
world, is reputed to have originated in Aug- 
ust, 1817, at Jessore, the capital of a district 
in Bengal, lying to the north-east of Calcutta. 
In the following September, it invaded 
Calcutta; soon after, many other cities of 
Hindostan ; and in a short time it extended 
its ravages into various other countries of 
Asia. It has been estimated that during four- 
teen years from its commencement at Jessore, 
it. carried off no less than eighteen millions 
of the inhabitants of Hindostan ; and its 
ravages are said to have been still greater in 
China. In 1830, it invaded European Russia, 
and afterward Poland, Hungary, Germany, 
Austria, and other countries of Europe. In 
1831, in October, it broke out at Sunderland 
in England; in February, 1832, in London ; 
in Paris, near the last of March ; at Quebec 
and Montreal in June ; and at New York in 
July. The mortality was very great, and the 



steady march of its ravages from the east to 
the west, created a general panic. Since then, 
medical men have become better versed in 
its causes and its treatment, but it has raged 
at times with much severity. It was very 
fatal to the allied French and English army 
at Varna in 1854. 

CHRISTINA, Queen of Sweden, daughter 
of Gustavus Adolphus, was born in 1626, and 
died April 19th, 1689. She succeeded to the 
throne in 1633, and in 1654 resigned it to her 
cousin Charles Gustavus. She was remark- 
able for acts and habits foreign to her sex ; 
namely, learning, murder, and apostasy. Her 
conduct was so flagrant, that she found it 
difiicult to procure an asylum in any state, 
after having been excluded from her own. 
She died at Rome. 

CHRISTIANS. The name of Christians 
was first applied to the followers of Jesus at 
Antioch, about the middle of the first century. 

CHRISTOPHE, Henki, King of Hayti, 
was born Oct. 6th, 1767. In early life he 
was a slave and passed from the hands of one 
master to another, being successively a cook 
and an overseer. The French were conquered 
by the exertions of Dessalines andChristophe, 
the latter of whom was general-in-chief of 
the army during the short-lived imperial 
government of the former. In 1806, an insur- 
rection broke out in Hayti, in which Dessa- 
lines, the emperor, was killed by the negroes ; 
whom he had provoked by his cruelty and 
oppression. His successor, Christophe, as- 
sumed the humbler title of chief of the gov- 
ernment, and in that capacity opened the 
commerce of his dominion to neutral nations, 
by a proclamation distinguished for its lib- 
eral spirit and enhghtened views. In 1811 
Christophe changed the republic into a mon- 
archy, and proclaimed himself King of Hayti. 
A short time before his coronation he created 
a nobility consisting of princes, dukes, counts, 
and barons, to give a greater splendor to the 
ceremony. He created a legion of honor, 
called the order of St. Henri, and altered the 
name of his capital from Cape Fran(,-,ois to Cape 
Henri. His troops, at this time, amounted to 
about 10,000 men, all negroes ; and his fleet 
consisted of one frigate, nine sloops of war, 
and a number of schooners. In October, 
1820, Christophe, hearing that his troops had 



14 



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210 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



abandoned him, shot himself through the 
head, and the opposite party immediately 
proclaimed a republican government. 

CHRYSOSTOM, John, one of the fathers 
of the church, an eloquent and pious man, 
born at Antioch, 351 ; was Bishop of Con- 
stantinople ; died in exile, 407. 

CHURCH, Benjamin, a native of Duxbury, 
Mass., was born in 1639, and distinguished 
himself by his address and daring in the In- 
dian wars. His services during King Philip's 
war were great, and he commanded the party 
that killed the sachem of Mount Hope, in 



offices of edile and pr«3tor, and stood for the 
consulship, at a time when Catahne was 
making the most vigorous efforts to oppose 
him. Cataline, with many dissolute and des- 
perate Romans, had conspired against his 
country, and planned the murder of Cicero 
himself. The plot being discovered, chiefly 
by the efforts of Cicero, he commanded Cata- 
line to leave the city, and the desperate traitor 
marched forth to meet the 20,000 men that 
were assembled to support his cause. The 
rebels were defeated, and the conspirators cap- 
itally punished. After this memorable deliv- 



August, 1676. He died in his seventy-eighth erance, Cicero received the thanks of the 
year, Jan. 17th, 1718. A descendant, of tlie ; people, with the title of father of his country 

and second founder of Rome. 

The vehemence with which he attacked 

Clodius, proved injurious to him ; and when 



same name, was the first traitor in our Revo- 
lution. He was a talented phj^sician iu 
Boston. For a while he was the zealous 
coadjutor of Warren and his fellow-patriots. 
He was detected in treasonable correspond- 
ence with Gov. Gage, and imprisoned. His 
health failing, he was released in 1776, and 
lost at sea on his way to the West Indies. 



his enemy was made tribune, Cicero was ban- 
ished from Rome, though 20,000 young men 
were ready to attest his innocence. After an 
absence of sixteen months, during which he 
had been favorably received wherever he pre- 



CHURCHILL, Charles, an English poet, sented himself, he was recalled, and entered 
born 1731, died in 1764. His political satires Rome to the universal satisfaction. When 
were received with great applause, and his ' he was sent with the power of proconsul to 
"Prophecy of Famine," a severe satire upon Cilicia, his integrity and prudence made him 
the Scots, was read with eagerness, and pro- j successful against the enemy, and on his 
cured notoriety for its author. Though at first ' return he was honored with a triumph, which, 
a clergyman, the close of his life was marked 1 however, the factions prevented him from 
by gross debaucheries. | enjoying. 

CHURUBUSCO, one of the brilliant victo- | During the civil wars between Cresar and 
ries won by the Americans under Scott, in \ Pompey, he joined the latter, and followjed 
the advance upon the city of Mexico. The j him to Greece. When victory had declared 



battle was fought Aug. 20th, 1847. Santa 
Anna's strongly posted force numbered 
30,000; the assailants were not a fourth as 
many. The American loss in killed and 
wounded was 1,000; that of the Mexicans 
was 10,000, one-fourth of whom were pris- 
oners. 

CIBBER, CoLLEV, an English actor and 
dramatist, was born in London in 1671, and 
died in 1757. His comedy of " The Careless 
Husband" received the approbation of even 
the bitter Pope. He was made poet-laureate 
in 1730. 

CICERO, Marcus Tullius, the celebrated 
orator, born at Arpinum 100 b.c, was the 
son of a Roman knight. In Sicily he exer- 
cised the quasstorship with equity and moder- 
ation, and freed the Sicilians from the tyranny 
and avarice of Verres. He discharged the 



in favor of Cfesar, at the battle of Pharsalia, 
Cicero went to Brundusium, and was recon- 
ciled to the conqueror, who treated him with 
great humanity. From this time, Cicero 
retired into the country, and seldom visited 
Rome. After the assassination of Caesar, 
Cicero recommended a general amnesty, and 
was strongly in favor of having the provinces 
decreed to Brutus and Oassius ; but finding 
the interest of the republicans decrease, 
and Antony come into power, he retired to 
Athens. He soon after returned, but lived 
in perpetual fear of assassination. The en- 
mity of Antony finally proved fatal to him, 
when Augustus, Antony, and Lepidus, to 
destroy all causes of quarrel, and each to 
dispatch his enemies, produced their lists of 
proscription. Cicero was among the pro- 
scribed. He fled, but was pursued, and put 



CIO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



211 



to death, in his sixty-fourth year, b.c. 43. 
Cicei'o was a sincere patriot, and was unques- 
tionably one of tlie briglitest ornaments of 
the age in which he lived. His eloquence 
was winning, and his pen had the power of 
his tongue. His orations and philosophical 
wo.-ks are models of style. He possessed a 
sparkling wit 

CID. Don RoDRiGo Diaz, Count of Bivar, 
surnamed the Cid (a Moorish word signifying 
lord), one of the most renowned knights of 
Spain, was born in 1026. He signalized 
himself against the Moors, winning the es- 
teem of his countrymen, who bestowed upon 
him the title of Campeador (incomparable). 
On the accession of Sancho to the throne of 
Castile, the knight of Bivar accompanied him 
to the siege of Zamora, whence he brought 
back the troops and the dead body of the 
warrior monarch, who fell by treachery. Al- 
fonso, the brother of Sancho, was then placed 
on the throne, after swearing that he had no 
participation in the murder of Sancho. The 
Cid's last exploit was the capture of Sagun- 
tum, and he died at Valencia, 1099. He was 
buried at Castile, and near him lies interred 
his beloved and faithful charger, Babieca. 

CILICIA, an ancient country of Asia Minor, 
.south of Mount Taurus, and between Pam- 
phylia and Syria, the coast of which was 
inhabited by a piratical race. The Macedo- 
nians and Syrians successively held it, and 
it was reduced by Pompey to the Roman 
rule. 

OIMBRI, an ancient tribe of the Germans, 
the first of that people with whom the Greeks 
became acquainted. Their origin is doubt- 
ful ; they were warlike, and made themselves 
formidable to the Romans. 

OIMON, an Athenian, son of Miltiades, 
famous for his debaucheries in his youtli, and 
the reformation of his morals when he ar- 
rived at years of discretion. He behaved 
with great courage at the battle of Salamis, 
and rendered himself popular by his munifi- 
cence and valor. He defeated the Persian 
fleet at Cyprus, took two hundred ships, and 
totally routed their land-army near the river 
Euryraedon in Pamphylia, on the same day, 
4T0 B.C. Cimon afterward lost his popularity, 
and was banished by the Athenians, who 



onciled Lacedjeraon and his country. He 
was afterward appointed to carry on the war 
against Persia, gave battle to the enemy on 
the coast of Asia, and totally destroyed their 
fleet. He died as he was besieging the town 
of Citium, in Cyprus, B.C. 449, in the fifty - 
first year of his age. 

CINCINNATI, Society of the, founded in 
1783, by the oflicers of the Revolutionary 
army when about disbanding. Gen. Wash- 
ington was the first president-general, and 
continued such till his death. His successors 
were as follows : 1800, Gen. Alexander Ham- 
ilton; 1804, Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinck- 
ney, S. C. ; 1826, Gen. Thomas Pinckney; 
Col. Aaron Ogden, N. J. ; 1838, Gen. Mor- 
gan Lewis, N. Y. ; 1844, Maj. Popham, N. 1^. ; 
1848, Gen. Dearborn, Mass. 

CINCINNATUS, Lucius Quintus, a cele- 
brated Roman. Having been informed, as he 
ploughed his field, that the senate had chosen 
him dictator, he left his farm with regret, and 
repaired to the assistance of his countrymen, 
whom he found hard pressed by the Volsci 
and ^qui. He conquered the enemy and 
returned to Rome in triumph ; and, sixteen 
days after his appointment, laid down his 
office, and returned to his agricultural em- 
ployments. In his eightieth year he was 
again summoned, against Praeneste, as dicta- 
tor, and after a successful campaign, resigned 
the unlimited power which had been re- 
in him. He flourished about 460 



years b.c. 

CINNA, Lucius Cornelius, a Roman 
consul who leagued with Marius to deluge 
Rome with blood. He was stoned to death, 
B.C. 84. 

CINQUE PORTS. They were originally 
the five (cinque) ports of Hastings, Hythe, 
Romney, Sandwich, and Dover, which, ac- 
cording to the regulations of William the 
Conqueror, were bound, at specified notice, 
to furnish and man a certain number of 
ships of war. Winchelsea and Rye were 
afterward added. These towns were, to use 
the language of the time, compelled to "find 
the service they owed." They stood to the 
crown in the same relation that the holders 
of great estates did, only that they were to 
do their services on shipboard. If a resident 



declared war against the Lacedemonians; I of either of the Cinque Ports served as a 
but having been recalled from his exile, ree- ' soldier, he was released from his naval obli- 

CTN 



212 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



gations. The number of galleys these ports 
were required to furnish, was tifty-two. The 
lord warden appears to have had a general 
charge of them and their naval concerns. In 
time the institution became obsolete, but the 
wardenship was found a comfortable place 
for public men who had small means of 
living, or, with ample means, had yet greater 
avarice. Lord North filled it ; so did William 
Pitt ; and also the Duke of Wellington, it 
being one of the many ofiices possessed by 
him at the time of his death. It was while 
residing at Walmer Castle, a place held l)y 
him in virtue of the wardenship, that he died, 
and, if medical authority can be believed, in 
consequence of his residence there, the bleak 
air from the British Channel and the Ger- 
man Ocean being too rude for the soldier of 
more than fourscore and three years. The 
post of warden has become a complete sine- 
cure, almost a scandalous one; and it was 
said to have been an understood thing among 
men of all parties in England, that it should 
be abolished upon the death of the great 
Wellington ; instead of this it was bestowed 
upon some one of the titled barnacles that 
cluster to Britannia's ship of state. 

CIRCASSIA, a country of Asia, lying be- 
tween the Black and Caspian Sea, on the 
northern slope of the Caucasus. The Cir- 
cassians are Mohammedans. They are a 
warlike race. The females are celebrated for 
their beauty, are sold by their parents, and 
are esteemed the brightest ornaments of an 
eastern seraglio. 

The Russians are nominal masters of Cir- 
cassia, but for the past twenty years the bold 
mountaineers have carried on a war of inde- 
pendence with great success under the lead 
of the chief Schamyl. 

CIRCUMNAVIGATORS. The circumnav- 
igation of the earth, at the time it was first 
achieved, was among the greatest and most 
daring of human enterprises. 

The first was Magellan, or rather by his 
fleet, as he was himself slain on the vogage, 
1519; Groalva, 1537 ; Alvaradi, 1537; Men- 
dana, 1567; Sir Francis Drake, 1577; Cav- 
endish, 1586; Lemaire, 1615; Quiros, 1625; 
Tasman, 1642 ; Cowley, 1683 ; Dampier, 1689 ; 
Cooke, 1708 ; Clipperton and Sherlock, 1719 ; 
Anson, 1740; Byron, 1764; Wallis, 1766; 



Cook, 1768, 1772, 1776 ; his last voyage con- 
tinued by King, 1779; Portlocke, 1788; 
Bougainville, 1766 ; La Peyrouse, 1782 ; 
D'Entrecasteux, 1791. 

CISALPINE REPUBLIC. This name 
was given by Bonaparte to a republic which 
received its constitution in 1797, and which 
finally included a territory of more than 
16,337 square miles, inhabited by three and a 
half millions of inhabitants. It included, 
among other districts, Austrian Lombardy, 
the Mantua and Venetian Provinces, Berga- 
mo, Brescia, Crema, Verona, Rovigo, the 
duchy of Modena, the principality of Massa 
and Carrara, Bologna, Fcrrara, Messola, and 
Romagna. It merged into the kingdom of 
Italy in March, 1805. 

CISTERCIANS, an order of monkhood 
founded by Robert, a Benedictine, Abbot of 
Citeaux in France, 1092. They became so 
powerful that they governed almost all Eu- 
rope in spiritual and temporal concerns. 
They observed a continual silence, abstained 
from flesh, lay on straw, wore neither shoes 
nor shirts, and were most austere. 

CITATE. The Russian general Gortscha- 
koff, intending to storm Kalafat, threw up 
redoubts at Citate, close to the Danube, which 
were stormed by the Turks under Omar 
Pacha, Jan. 6th, 1854. The fighting con- 
tinued on the 7th, 8th, and 9th, when the 
Russians were compelled to retire to their 
former position at Krajona, having lost 1,500 
killed and 2,000 wounded. The loss of the 
Turks was 338 killed and 700 wounded. 

CIUDAD RODRIGO. This strong for- 
tress of Spain was invested by the French, 
under Massena, June 11th, 1810, and yielded 
to them July 10th. It remained in their 
possession until it was stormed by the Brit- 
ish, commanded by Lord Wellington, Jan. 
19th, 1812. The loss of the British and 
Portuguese amounted to about 1,000 killed 
and wounded ; the loss of the garrison was 
the same, besides 1,700 prisoners. 

CLAPPERTON, Hugh, an officer in the 
English navy, born at Annan, in Scotland, in 
1788. Having served with distinction, he 
joined Oudney and Denham, in their expedi- 
tion to Africa. After acquiring a vast fund 
of information in regard to the interior of 
Africa, he returned to England, but, died in 



CLA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



213 



the vicinity of Soccatoo, while on a second 
expedition of discovery, April 13th, 182T. 
Richard Lander was his servant. 

CLARENDON, Edward Hyde, Earl of, 
lord high chancellor of England, was born 
1608, and educated at Oxford. He became 
chancellor of exchequer and member of the 
privy council under Charles I., and was loaded 
with honors by Charles H. Having, how- 
ever, lost the royal favor, he was deprived of 
his oflBces, threatened with impeachment, 
and compelled to fly to France, where he 
died, at Rouen, in 1674. His daughter Anne 
was the first wife of the Duke of York, 
afterward James H. His "History of the 
Rebellion " (as the royalists termed the civil 
war), is much esteemed for the descriptions 
of the author's eminenf contemporaries. 

CLARK, Abraham, one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, was born 
at Elizabethtown, N. J., Feb. 15th, 1726. 
He was a self-taught, energetic man ; in 1776 
was elected to a seat in Congress ; was ever 
an active public man ; and died in 1794, from 
a stroke of the sun. 

CLARK, Adam, LL.D., F.S.A., &c., a dis- 
tinguished Methodist preacher and divine, a 
man of great talents and extensive learning, 
particularly in the oriental languages and 
biblical literature, and author of a well known 
and learned commentary on the Scriptures, 
and various other publications. He was born I 
in 1760, in the county of Londonderry, in 
Ireland, his father being of an English family, 
and his mother a Scotchwoman. By invita- 
tion of John Wesley, he became a pupil in 
Kingswood school, then recently established, 
and was sent out by Mr. Wesley, an itinerant 
preacher, in 1782, at the early age of nine- 
teen. He was greatly admired as a preacher : 
at first his youth attracted great numbers of 
hearers; but afterward the extent of his 
resources, from the gifts of nature and the 
fruits of study, commanded attention wher- 
ever he went ; and hardly any man ever drew 
so large congregations, or of so mixed a 
character. To his great talents and learning 
he united the virtues of the humble Christian ; 
was greatly respected by all denominations ; 
and though catholic in his feelings, he was 
strongly attached to the body of Christians 
with which he was connected. He died Au- 



gust 26th, 1832, at Bayswater, near London, 
of the cholera. 

CLARKE, George Rogers, an American 
ofiicer, who was engaged against the Indians, 
throughout the Revolutionary war, on the 
frontiers of Virginia. In 1778, he was ap- 
pointed to command a force for the pi'otec- 
tion of Illinois. He built Fort Jefferson on 
the eastern bank of the Mississippi, and in 
1781, received a general's commission. He 
died in 1818, near Louisville, Kentucky, aged 
seventy-six. The following anecdote is re- 
lated of him in an authentic work. 

The Indians came in to the treaty of Fort 
Washington in the most friendly manner, 
except the Shawnees, conceited and warlike, 
the first in at a battle, the last at a treaty. 
Three hundred of their finest warriors set 
off in all then- paint and feathers, and filled 
the council-house. Their number and de- 
meanor, so unusual at an occasion of this 
sort, was altogether unexpected and sus- 
picious. The United States stockade mus- 
tered seventy men. In the centre of the 
hall, at a little table, sat the commissary- 
general, Clarke, the indefatigable scourge of 
these very wanderers. General Richard But- 
ler, and Mr. Parsons. On the part of the 
Indians, an old council-sachem and a war- 
chief took the lead. The latter, a tail, raw- 
boned fellow, with an impudent and villain- 
I ous look, made a boisterous and threatening 
speech, which operated effectually on the 
passions of the Indians, who set up a pro- 
digious whoop at every pause. He concluded 
by presenting a black and white wampum, 
to signify they were prepared for either 
event, peace or war. Clarke exhibited the 
same unaltered and careless countenance he 
had shown during the whole scene, his head 
leaning on his left hand, and his elbow resting 
on the table. He raised his little cane, and 
pushed the sacred wampum off the table, 
with very little ceremony. Every Indian, at 
the same time, started from his seat with one 
of those sudden, simultaneous, and peculiarly 
savage sounds, which startle and disconcert 
the stoutest heart, and can neither be de- 
scribed nor forgotten. At this juncture, 
Clarke arose. The scrutinizing eye cowered 
at his glance. He stamped his foot on the 
prostrate and insulted symbol, and ordered 



CLA 



214 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



them to leave the hall. They did so appa- 
rently involuntarily. They were heard all 
that night, debating in the bushes near the 
fort. The raw-boned chief was for war, the 
old sachem for peace. The latter prevailed, 
and the next morning thej^ came back and 
sued for peace. 

CLARKE, Sa.mdel, a distinguished divine, 
metaphysician, and scholar, was born at 
Norwich, England, Oct. 11th, 1075, and died 
May 17th, 1729. Sir James Mackintosh said 
of hmi, that he was "eminent at once as a 
divine, a mathematician, a metaphysical phi- 
losopher, and a philologer ; and, as the inter- 
preter of Homer and Caesar, the scholar of 
Newton, and the antagonist of Leibnitz, 
approved himself not unworthy of corre- 
spondence with the highest order of human 
spirits." 

CLARKSON, Thomas, was born at Wis- 
beach, in Cambridgeshire, March 28th, 1700, 
and graduated at vSt. John's, Cambridge, with 
high honors of scholarship. With untiring 
benevolence he sought the abolition of the 
slave-trade, and his life may be said to have 
passed in labors for its extinction. He had 
the pleasure of seeing it declared illegal by 
the British parliament in 1807. Mr. Clark- 
son was a member of the society of Friends. 
He died in September, 1840. 

CLAUDE, Gelee, commonly called Claude 
Lorraine, from the jjrovince of his birth, wa;^ 
born in the year 1600. His parents were 
very poor, and as Claude showed no disposi- 
tion to learn to read or write, he was placed 
with a pastry-cook. The cooks of Lorraine 
were celebrated, and found good employment 
abroad. Young Claude wandered to Rome 
with some of them. There he engaged him- 
self to Agostino Tassi, a good landscape 
painter, as an ordinary domestic. He both 
prepared his master's meals, and ground his 
colors for him ; but he acquired at the same 
time the rudiments of the art. From this 
menial capacity his application brought him 
to be known as one of the greatest of land- 
scape ixainters. He died at Rome in 1082. 
Claude was extremely slow and careful in his 
execution. He often painted for a week or a 
fortnight on one part of a picture, without 
showing any progress. With the human 
figure or animals he had great difficulty, and 
in such parts of his pictures generally pro 



cured the aid of his friends. His chief 
excellence is in aerial perspective, and the 
management of light generally. His studies 
are said to have been made from the banks 
of the Tiber, and tlie magnificent prospects 
afforded by the Campagua di Roma. Here 
he might be seen at early dawn, in the brill- 
iancy of noon-day, and at the set of sun, 
marking the different effects produced by the 
rays of the sun upon the surrounding objects, 
or taking in, with an attentive and practiced 
eye, the dreamy hues which the vapoiy haze 
cast upon the various parts of the land- 
scape as they slowly receded from his sight. 
All these have been traced upon his canvas 
with a fidelity and beauty which few have 
been able to equal and none to excel. But 
the great charm of liis pictures is the exqui- 
site poetry interwoven in them. In his pic- 
tures of morning, the rising sun dissipates the 
dews, and the fields and verdure brighten at 
the approach of day ; his evening skies expand 
a glowing splendor over the horizon ; and 
vegetation, oppressed by a sultry aridity, 
sinks under the heat of his noon-day suns. 
It was his custom to preserve in a book the 
drawings of the paintings executed by him. 
Six of these registers, termed by him Libri 
di Verita, were found after his decease. This 
curious collection was sold by one of his 
nephews for two hundred scudi, to a French- 
man, who took them to Paris and offered 
them to the king. The purchase being de- 
clined, they were afterward bought by the 
Duke of Devonshire, and now adorn the mag- 
nificent mansion at Chatsworth. 

CLAUDIUS I., Emperor of Rome, the son 
of Drusus, and the successor of the infamous 
Caligula. He made some conquests in Britain, 
and built several noble structures in Rome. 
He was poisoned by his wife Agrippina, who 
wished to place her son, Nero, on the throne, 
A.D. 54. He was then sixty-three years of 
age. 

CLAY, Henry, was born in Virginia, in 
the neighborhood of a region known as the 
Slashes (whence his sobriquet of ' the mill 
boy of the slashes'), the 12th of April, 1777. • 
The straitened circumstances of his father, 
who was a clergyman,^ permitted him but the 
humble education of a district school. At 
an early age he acted as copyist for the clerk 
of the court of chancery at Richmond. 



CLA 



HISTORY AND BlOGRAPI'y. 



215 





When nineteen, he commenced the studj^ of 
law, and such were his assiduity in study and 
the brilliancy of his progress, that he was 
admitted to the bar within one year. In 1799, 
he removed to Lexington, Kentucky. He 
became an active politician as well as a popular 
lawyer. When a convention was called for 
the revision of the constitution of Kentucky, 
he incurred much unpopularity by his efforts 



and the succeeding congress, till in 1814 he 
was appointed one of the commissioners to 
negotiate at Ghent a treaty of peace with 
Great Britain. He returned from Europe in 
1815, having proved himself no less skillful 
as a diplomatist than he was eloquent as an 
oratoi- and able as a debater. He was re- 
elected to Congress from 1815 to 1821 
(being speaker of the house during that time), 



for the election of delegates in favor of the i and in 1823. He became known as a de- 
emancipation of the slaves. His opposition I cided advocate of a protective tariff", and took 
to the alien and sedition laws restored him to i an active part in the passage of the Missouri 
(\wor, and in 1803 he was elected by a large i compromise. In 1824, he received thirty- 
majority to the legislature. Such was the I seven electoral votes for the presidency. His 
repute he gained, that in 1806 he was chosen competitors, Jackson, Adams, and Crawford, 
[Inited States senator to fill a vacancy caused each received a larger number of votes, and 
by the resignation of Gen. Adair. After the there being no choice by the electors, their 
expirationof the brief term (March 3d, 1807), names were balloted upon by the house of 
he returned to Lexington, Avas again chosen representatives, and Mr. Adams was chosen. 



to the legislature, and served as speaker of 
the assembly two sessions. In 1809 he was 
appointed to fill another vacancy in the 
United States senate, and served from Jan. 
4th, 1810, till March 3d, 1811. In 1811 he 
was elected representative in Congress from 
Kentucky, and was chosen speaker of the 
house ; the duties of which arduous office he 
discharged with great ability through that 



The friends of Mr. Clay, by his advice, sup- 
ported Mr. Adams. Upon the accession of 
the new president, Mr. Clay was made sec- 
retary of state. In the heat of partisan 
animosity the charge was engendered that 
his appointment was the result of corruption, 
and the payment in the bargain by which 
the adherents of Clay voted for Mr. Adams. 
Time has proved this to be malicious calumny. 



CLA 



216 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



In 1831, Clay was elected United States 
senator from Kentucky, and in 1832 was an 
unsuccessful competitor with Jackson for the 
presidency. He was re-elected to the senate 
in 1836, and served until his resignation in 
1842, In 1844, he was nominated by the 
Whigs for the presidency, but was defeated 
by Mr. Polk. He returned to the senate in 
1849, and was active in supporting the com- 
promise measures of 1850. His health now 
began to decline, and after a voyage to the 
West Indies for its restoration, he came back 
to Washington, where he departed from life, 
June 29th, 1852, at the age of seventy-five 
years. 

It was the remark of a distinguished sena- 
tor, that Mr. Claj^'s eloquence was absolutely 
intangible to delineation ; that the most la- 
bored description could not embrace it ; and 
that to be understood, it must be seen and 
felt. He was an orator by nature. His eagle 
eye burned with patriotic ardor, or flashed 
indignation and defiance upon his foes, or 
was suffused with tears of commiseration or 
of pity ; and it was because lie felt, that he 
made others feel. A gentleman, after hearing 
one of his magnificent efforts in the senate, 
thus described him: "Everj^ muscle of the 
orator's face was at work. His whole body 
seemed agitated, as if each part was instinct 
with a separate life; and his small white 
hand, with its blue veins apparently dis- 
tended almost to bursting, moved gracefully, 
but with all the energy of rapid and ve- 
hement gesture. The appearance of the 
speaker seemed that of a pure intellect, 
wrought up to its mightiest energies, and 
brightly shining through the thin and trans- 
parent vail of flesh that invested it." 

The particulars of the duel between Mr. 
Clay and Randolph of Roanoke may be inter- 
esting to the reader. The eccentric descend- 
ant of Pocahontas appeared on the ground in 
a huge morning gown. This garment had 
such a vast circumference that the precise 
whereabouts of the lean senator was a matter 
of very vague conjecture. The parties ex- 
changed shots, and the ball of Mr. Clay hit 
the centre of the visible object, but the body 
of Mr. Randolph was untouched. The latter 
had fired in the air. Immediately after the 
exchange of shots, he walked up to Mr. Clay, 
parted the folds of his gown, pointed to the 



hole where the bullet had punctured his 
coat, and exclaimed in the shrillest tones of 
his piercing voice, "Mr. Clay, you owe me a 
coat — you owe me a coat ! " To which Mr. 
Clay replied, with slow and solemn emphasis, 
pointing directly at Randolph's heart, "Mr. 
Randolph, I thank God that I am no deeper 
in your debt ! " 

CLAYTON, John, an eminent botanist, 
author of " The Flora Vuginica," was born 
in England, about 1G85 ; came with his father 
to America, and in 1722, became clerk of the 
county of Gloucester, Virginia, which ofiQce 
he held fifty-one years, to his death, 1773. 

CLAYTON, John MmoLETON, was born in 
Sussex county, Delaware, July 24th, 1796. 
He was a learned lawyer and eloquent advo- 
cate, represented Delawai'e several terms in 
the federal senate, and was secretary of state 
in the cabinet of President Taylor. He died 
at Dover, Del., Nov. 9th, 1856. 

CLEMENT. This name has been borne 
by several popes. Clement XIV. suppressed 
the order of the Jesuits, and gave many proofs 
of great liberality in religious matters. He 
is best known by his real name, Ganganelli. 
He died in 1775. 

CLEOMBROTUS, a king of Sparta, killed 
in a battle fought with Epaminondas at 
Leuctra, b.c. 371. There were two others of 
the name. 

CLEOMENES. This name was borne by 
three kings of Sparta. The first delivered 
Athens from the tyranny of the Pisistratidoe, 
but killed himself in a fit of insanity, B.C. 491. 
The reign of the second was distinguished 
for nothing but an uninterrupted tranquillity. 
Cleomenes III. was the son and successor 
of Leonidas, and began to reign e.g. 230. 
Engaging in a war with the Achaians, he was 
defeated, and obliged to fly into Egypt, where 
he destroyed himself in prison, b.c. 219. 

CLEOPATRA, Queen of Egypt, and one 
of the most famous and fascinating female 
sovereigns of antiquity, was the daughter of 
Ptolemy Auletes, and the sister and wife of 
Ptolemy Dionysius, who deprived her of her 
share in the kingdom, and drove her to seek 
protection of the Romans. She exerted all 
the influence of her beauty to win the heart 
and gain the favor of Csesar, and she was 
successful. Ptolemy was defeated and drown- 
ed. He left the throne to his sister, who 



CLE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



217 



removed her younger brother by poison. 
Cleopatra visited Rome during the lifetime 
of Csesar, but was forced to quit it by the 
clamors of the populace. After the battle of 
Philippi, she was summoned by Antony to 
appear before him to answer to the charge 
brought against her of having assisted Brutus. 
When she made her appearance before An- 
tony, the charms of her person and mind 
ensnared him, and made him forget the at- 
tractions of his wife. At the battle of Actium 
she fled, and her paramour was defeated. He 
afterward committed suicide, and died in her 
arms. Cleopatra, to avoid gracing the tri- 
umph of Augustus, applied an asp to her 
breast, and died of the wound, b.c. 30, She 
was a woman of great talents, but of a most 
ambitious and extravagant spirit. In a con- 
vivial contest with Antony, to see which of 
them could expend the most money on an 
entertainment, she snatched one of her pearl 
ornaments, valued at $50,000, and dissolving 
it in a cup of vinegar, swallowed the con- 
tents. Few scenes of antiquity can have sur- 
passed the splendor of her appointments, 
when she floated over the waves of the river 
Cydnus, to meet Antony. She came to judg- 
ment, but she came in the pride of beauty 
and anticipated triumph. Her galley glowed 
with gold; odors filled its silken sails, and 
the loveliest girls of Egypt performed the 
part of mariners. Beneath an awning on the 
deck lay the queen, in the slight drapery 
with which painters and sculptors sometimes 
invest the goddess of beauty. Silver oars 
struck the water to the dulcet sound of 
music, and beneath and about them sported 
the fair representatives of marine deities. 

CLERFAYT, Francis Sebastian Charles 
Joseph de Croix, Count of, an Austrian gen- 
eral. In 1792, he commanded the Austrian 
troops against France, and after taking Long- 
wy and Stenay, retired into the Low Coun- 
tries. Here he lost the famous battle of 
Jemappes ; but his retreat across the Rhine 
was a masterpiece of skill. Under the com- 
mand of the prince of Coburg, he gained 
considerable advantages at Altenhaven, Quie- 
vrain, Hansen, and Farmars, and decided the 
victory of Nerwinden. With General Pich- 
egru he disputed every foot of ground, till 
the inferiority of his forces obliged him to 



abandon the country. In 1795, he took the 
command of the army of Mayence, forced the 
French camp, and took a number of pris- 
oners. He was following the victory with 
ardor, when he received at Manheim an 
order to desist. On this, he gave in his resig- 
nation, and retired to Vienna, where he died 
in 1798. 

CLERKE, Edward, an able English naval 
commander, the companion, friend, and suc- 
cessor of Captain James Cook, died on the 
coast of Kamschatka, August 22d, 1779, aged 
thirty-nine. 

CLIFFORD, George, the third Earl of 
Cumberland, a nobleman distinguished by 
his naval enterprises in the reign of Elizabeth. 
He did great damage to the Spanish settle- 
ments and trade. He died in 1605. 

CLINTON, Charles, Col., was born in the 
county of Longford, Ireland, 1690; came to 
America, 1729 ; died Nov. 19th, 1773. 

CLINTON, De Witt, the son of Gen. 
James Clinton, was born in Orange county, N. 
Y., in 1769. He studied law, and was elected 
successively member of the state legislature, 
of the senate of the union, and mayor of 
New York. In 1817, he was chosen governor 
of New York, on which occasion his previous 
opponents gave him their votes, from a sense 
of his merit; he was re-elected in 1820. 
Clinton was one of the prime movers of the 
great canal scheme, and having satisfied him- 
self that there was no danger of that being 
defeated, in 1822 he declined again entering 
the elective lists. Having been deprived of 
his seat in the board of canal commissioners, 
by the animosity of his political opponents, 
a revolution in public feeling took place 
which enabled his friends in 1824 to elect 
him governor over Colonel Young, by an 
overwhelming majority. In 1826, he was 
again elected, but died Feb. 11th, 1828. 

CLINTON, George, son of Col. Charles 
Clinton (above), was born in Ulster coimty, 
N. Y., July 15th, 1739. In the old French 
war, and the war of independence, he dis- 
played great gallantry. Having studied law, 
he was admitted to practice in due time, and 
was chosen governor of New York, in 1777, 
and he continued in ofiice eighteen years, 
and then declined re-election. He was again 
elected governor in 1801, and three years 



CLl 



218 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 




after was chosen vice-presi'lont of the TTnited 
States, holding the office till the time of his 
death in 1812. 

CLINTON, Sir Henry, was a son of George 
Chnton (governor of New York in 1T43), 
and grandson of the Eail of Lincoln. He 
served on the continent during the 'seven 
years' war,' and came to America with Gen. 
Howe in the spring of 1775, bearing the 
commission of a major-general. In 1778, he 
succeeded Sir William Howe in the supreme 
command, which he retained till 1782. He 
was appointed governor of Gibraltar, in 1795, 
and died Dec. 22d, the same year. 

CLINTON, James, another son of Col. 



CLI 



Charles Clinton, was born in Ulster county, 
N. Y., Aug. 9th, 1736. His education was ex- 
cellent, and he served with distinction in 
the English and French war of 1756, and in 
the Revolutionary war as brigadier-general. 
After the close of the war, he became a sen- 
ator of the United States. lie died Dec. 
22d, 1812. 

CLIVE, Robert, Baron of Plassey, was 
born in Shropshire, September 29th, 1725. 
Bold and reckless in his youth, he was sent 
as a scapegrace to Madras in his eighteenth 
year. His friends had procured him a clerk- 
ship in the company service. Mercantile 
drudgery he so utterly disrelished that twice 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



219 



he tried suicide by snapping a loaded pistol 
at his head. Each time the pistol hung fire. 
A friend who entered the room soon after- 
ward fired the weapon out the window. 
Startled at his preservation, Clive sprang up, 
crying with an oath, "I must be reserved for 
something great," and abandoned his design. 
War endangered the British possessions, and 
Clive found more congenial employment in 
the field, where he became eminent for his 
successes. He assisted in the Tanjore war 
in 1747, and in 1751 took Arcot by a coup 
de main, and relieved Trichinopoly. He 
afterward took Fort AYilliam in Bengal, de- 
feated Surajah Dowlah, and placed JaflBer Ali 
Cawn upon the throne. The victory of Plas- 
sey, June 23d, 1757, where with little more 
than 3,000 men he defeated Surajah Dowlah 
at the head of 70,000, laid the foundation of 



was one of the projectors of the bank estab- 
lished for the sole purpose of conveying 
rations to the army. Perceiving the good 
effects of a national bank, in 1780, when 
elected a second time to Congress, he stren- 
uously advocated its establishment. In 1784 
he filled a seat in the legislature of Pennsyl- 
vania, and as a member of the convention, 
he assisted in framing the present federal 
constitution. He was also a member of the 
first federal congress. "When, in 1791, the 
famous bill imposing a duty on spirits dis- 
tilled within the United States, was passed, 
Clymer was pLiced at the head of the Penn- 
sylvania excise, and rendered efflcient service 
in putting down the whiskey insurrection. 
He was engaged, with others, to negotiate a 
treaty with the Cherokee Indians in 1796. 
He was afterward appointed president of the 



British power and empire in India. Honors academy of fine arts, and of the Philadelphia 



were heaped upon him in consequence of 
these achievements, and he was made presi- 
dent of Bengal. An attempt to weed out 
tlie gross abuses in Indj,a won him many 
foes, and on his final return home in 1707 he 
was the mark for much obloquy. The ver- 
dict passed by parliament, in refusing to vote 
tliat he had abused his power, and resolving 



bank. He died Jan. 23d, 1813. 

CLYTEMNESTRA, daughter of Tyndarus, 
King of Sparta, by Heda, and twin-sister of 
Helen. In the absence of her husband Aga- 
menmon, at the siege of Troy, ^gisthus 
made his court to her, and publicly lived 
with her. Her infidelity reached the ears of 
Agamemnon, but he was prevented from car- 



Uiat "Lord Clive has rendered great and { rying his schemes of vengeance into execu- 



meritorious services to his country," could 
not heal the wounds in his haughty spirit. 
He died by his own hand, November 22d, 
1774. 

CLOVIS, King of the Franks, born 4C5, 
succeeded his father Childeric in 481. He 
embraced Christianity and was publicly bap- 
tized. He was the founder of the French 
monarchy, drove out the Romans, defeated 
the Goths, subdued several provinces, and 
fixed the royal residence at Paris. He died 



tion, being murdered by the traitress and her 
paramour on his return home. After this 
crime, Clymnestra publicly married Jilgis- 
thus, who ascended the throne of Argos. 
She was killed by her son Orestes. 

COBBETT, William (1762-1835), a self- 
taught man, and pov/erful political writer in 
England. 

COCHIN-CHINA, called also Anam, a 
country of Farther India, composed of Cam- 
bodia, Cochin-China Proper, and Tonquin, is 



in 511. The Salique law was published by | 1,000 miles long, and from 70 to 220 miles 
Clovis. When he was first told of the suf- Inroad. The government is a hereditary mili- 
ferings of Christ, he exclaimed, "Oh! had I tary despotism. The inhabitants are hardy, 
been there with my valiant Gauls, how I ; but treacherous, and the country is fertile, 
would have avenged him ! " | Little attention is paid to religion, although 

CLYMER, George, one of the signers of that of Fo is professed by the lower orders. 



the Declaration of Independence, was bor 
at Philadelphia, in 1739. He became a mer- 
chant under the auspices of his uncle and 
guardian, but he preferred science and liter- 
ture to business. He was chosen to Congress 
in 1776, and was several years a talented and 
patriotic delegate in that body. Mr. Clymer 

COD 



The commerce of the country is mcreasmg. 
A portion of the country was conquered and 
colonized by the Chinese b.c. 214, but the 
Chinese yoke was afterward thrown ofif. 

CODRUS, the son of Melanthus, and last 
king of Athens, who, learning that the oracle 
had assured the Heraclidae that their good 



220 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



fortune depended on sparing his life, rushed 
into the midst of the hostile array in dis- 
guise, and was slain, 1070 b.c. 

COFFEE. Its use as a beverage is traced 
to the Persians. Some ascribe it to the prior 
of a monastery, who, being told by a goat- 
herd that his cattle sometimes browsed upon 
the tree, and that they would then wake at 
night and sport upon the hills, became curi- 
ous to prove its virtues. He accordingly 
tried it upon his monks, to prevent their 
sleeping at matins, and found that it checked 
their slumbers. Coffee came into great re- 
pute in Arabia Felix about 1454, passed 
thence to Egypt and Syria, and thence in 
1511 to Constantinople, where coffee houses 
were opened in 1554. It was first brought 
into England by Nathaniel Canopus, a Cre- 
tan, who made it his common beverage, at 
Baliol College, Oxford, in 1641. The coffee- 
tree was conveyed from Mocha to Holland, 
in 1616 ; carried to the "West Indies in the 
year 1726; first cultivated at Surinam by 
the Dutch, 1718; its culture encouraged in 
the British plantations, 1732. Some affirm 
this tree to have been originally a native of 
Arabia Felix, and certain it is that the finest 
specimens are from the neighborhood of 
Mocha. 

COIN. Homer speaks of brass money as 
existing 1184 b.c. The invention of coin is 
ascribed to the Lydians, who cherished com- 
merce : their money was of gold and silver. 
The most ancient coins known are Macedoni- 
an, of the fifth century b.c. Money was 
coined at Rome in the time of Servius Tullius, 
about 573 b.c. Rude scraps of copper had 
previously been used. Brass money only 
was in use there down to 269 b.c. (when Fa- 
bius Pictor coined silver), a token of little in- 
tercourse with the East, where both gold and 
silver had been in use long before. Iron 
money was used in Sparta, and iron and tin 
in Britain. Julius Caesar was the first who 
obtained the express permission of the senate 
to place his image on the Roman coins. In 
the more simple days of 'the Roman people, 
the likeness of no living personage appeared 
upon their mone}'' : the heads were those of 
their deities, or of those who had received di- 
vine honors. 

English coin was of different shapes, as 
square, oblong, and round, until the middle 



ages, when round coin only was used. The 
names of various pieces now obsolete, are met 
with in Shakspeare and other old English 
authors. The angel was a gold coin, so called 
from bearing the figure of an angel, valued at 
Gs. 8d. in the reign of Henry VI., and at 10s. 
in 1562. It is said the coin was so named 
and stamped, in memory of the tradition that 
Gregory the Great, shortly before his elevation 
to the papal chair, chancing one day to pass 
through the slave-mart at Rome, and seeing 
a group of beautiful youth set up for sale, he 
inquired about their origin, and finding they 
were English, he cried, '■^ Xon Angli, sedAn- 
geli forent, si esse^it CJiristiani;" that is, 
" They would not be English, but angels, if 
they were Christians." Edward IV. coined 
angels with a figure of Michael and the dragon, 
the original of George and the dragon. The 
angelot was a gold coin, half the angel in value, 
struck at Paris when that city was in the 
hands of the English, in the reign of Henry 
VI., 1431. It had its name from the figure 
of an angel supporting the escutcheon of the 
arms of England and France. " Let it be but 
twenty nobles," plead the Hostess of East- 
cheap when fat Falstaff was wheedling a loan 
from her. The noble was first struck in the 
reign of Edward III., and being stamped with 
a rose, was sometimes called a rose noble. 
Its value was 6s. 8d. Master Slender, too, 
complains that swaggering Pistol picked his 
purse of seven groats in mill-sixpences. The 
groat (meaning great coin) was so called be- 
cause up to 1351 it was the largest silver piece. 
Its value was 4:d. Milled sixpences and shil- 
lings were first made in the reign of Elizabeth, 
The guinea was so called from having been at 
first coined of gold brought from the coast of 
Guinea, 1 673. They were then valued at 30s. 
The original pieces bore the figure of an ele- 
phant. In 1717, their value was fixed at 21s. 
by act of parliament. None have been coined 
since 1816. The ancient silver penny was 
the first silver coin struck in England, and 
the only one current among the Anglo-Saxons. 
Until the reign of Edward I., it was stamped 
with a cross, so deeply indented that it might 
be easily parted into two for half pence, and 
into four for farthings (fourthings ) ; whence 
those names. 

COKE, Sir Edward, was born at Mileham 
in the county of Norfolk, Feb. 1st, 1552. He 



COK 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



221 



was a diligent student, from three in the morn- 
ing till nine at night, caring for no knowledge 
not convertible to cash, and when called to 
the bar in 1578, brimful of law, and fortified 
by his hard discipline of study, he rose rap- 
idly in his profession. ' Before he was thirty 
years old, the desperate money-seeker had 
made himself master of manor upon manor, 
and laid the foundation of the enormous pos- 
sessions which at length alarmed the crown, 
lest they should prove too magnificent for a 
subject. In 1592 he was appointed solicitor- 
general, and in 1594 attorney-general, tri- 
umphing over Bacon, who was an aspirant for 
that place. His perversions of criminal law, 
as lawyer for the crown, are notorious ; his 
brutality toward Essex, Raleigh, and the ac- 
complices in the plot of Guy Faux, rendered 
him infamous. He was a man of haughty 
manners, severe spirit, and irritable temper. 
The stand which he made in the name of the 
people against the encroachments of the crown, 
was productive of great benefits ; but it was 
a soiled instrument by which they were se- 
cured. Upon the death of Elizabeth, James 
I. knighted him, and continued him in oflBce. 
In 1606 he was made chief-justice of the 
court of common pleas, "fatigued, if not sati- 
ated with amassing money at the bar." He 
was stubborn for the rights of his oflSce, and 
came in direct collision with the pedantic pre- 
sumption of the king. In 1613 he was made 
chief-justice of the king's bench ; a change 
which he little liked ; for though the rank was 
higher, the gains were much less, and in con- 
sequence of it, his hated rival, Bacon, who 
had come to be solicitor-general, was promoted 
to the attorney-generalship. Coke contmued 
to display independence in his new seat, but 
stopped short of any act that might deprive 
him of the reversion of the chancellorship, to 
which his great acquirements and reputation 
well entitled him. Bacon was active in op- 
posing this, and urged the king to his dis- 
missal from his post as chief-justice, which 
was effected in 1616. He heard his sentence 
with dejection and tears. We must not forget 
this weakness, when we reflect upon his ab- 
ject submission to royalty during his days of 
dependence, and as we approach the more 
stormy times when the spirit of vengeance in- 
cited him to grapple with kingly power in the 
temper of a rebel. 



COK 



As Coke fell, Bacon rose. While the former 
was sheddmg tears for dismissal, the latter 
was intoxicated with joy for elevation to the 
chancellorship. Coke was afterward partially 
restored to royal favor, through influence 
gained by the marriage of his daughter with 
Sir John Villiers, eldest bi-other of the power- 
ful Duke of Buckingham. The marriage was 
an unhappy one ; Sir John was old enough to 
be his wife's father; and before long she 
eloped with a paramour, traveling abroad in 
man's attire, and dying young. But it served 
the ends of her parent, who was restored to 
the privy council, though he got no judicial 
promotion. In his seventieth year he was 
chosen to parliament. Failing to obtain the 
office of lord treasurer, he placed himself at 
the head of the Puritans, who had been re- 
turned to the house in great numbers. His 
hate was gratified by procuring the impeach- 
ment of Bacon, for taking bribes as chancellor. 
He maintained the stand he had taken for the 
liberties of the people, after the accession of 
Charles I., till 1628, when his famous Petition 
of Right was carried ; shortly after which he 
retired from public life. He died in Septem- 
ber, 163-t, in the eighty-third year of his age 
and in the full possession of his faculties. For 
a profound knowledge of the common law he 
was unrivaled. His celebrated "Institute," 
which grew out of a commentary upon "Lit- 
tleton's Treatise on Tenures," has made him 
the great oracle of English law. Though so 
devoted to money-getting, as a judge he was 
above suspicion of corruption. His services 
for public liberty were great : to him England 
is gi-eatly indebted for the movement which, 
beginning on the 30th of January, 1621, ended 
on that very day eight and twenty years with 
the decapitation of Charles I. ; but it is unde- 
niable that the nation's difficulties would have 
waited some time longer for solution, had not 
Coke been inoculated with an opposition to 
despotism by the sudden application of the 
royal lancet, whose sharp edge his judicious 
self-love would never have provoked. 

He owed much of his success in early life 
to his marriages. His first wife, who brought 
him fortune, bore him ten children and died. 
His memorandum-book feelingly describes 
her virtues ; yet within four months the dis- 
consolate widower had mated again, his sec- 
ond wife bringing him both wealth and valu- 



222 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



able connection, and Bacon, her cousin, having 
been a rival suitor for her hand. 

COLBERT, Jean Baptiste, an eminent 
financial minister of Louis XIV. He was 
born at Rheiras in 1617, and died in 1683, 
neglected by the monarch whose power his 
wise policy had so much helped to develope. 

GOLDEN, Cadavallader, mathematician 
and philosopher, born at Dense, in Scotland, 
Feb. 17th, 1688; came to America, 1708, and 
settled in New York. From 1760 till his 
death he was lieutenant-governor of the 
province. He died Sept. 28th, 1776, the day 
of the conflagration of New York. 

COLE, Thomas, a distinguished painter, 
was born in England, during a visit of his 
parents there, and brought while a child to 
this country. From humble beginnings he 
rose to a high rank as a landscape and im- 
aginative artist. He painted his best produc- 
tions after returning from a visit to Italy, 
fixed his abode at Catskill amid the magnifi- 
cent scenery of the Hudson, and died there 
nuich lamented in 1847 

COLERIDGE, Samuel Taylor, was a na- 
tive of Devonshire, being born on the 20th 
of October, 1772, at Ottery St. Mary, of 
which place his father was vicar. He was 
educated at Christ's Hospital in London, 
where he had Charles Lamb for a schoolmate. 
He describes himself as being, from eight to 
fourteen, "a plaj^lcss day-dreamer, a Z^e^Zwo 
librorum,''^ and such he was forever. At 
fourteen he had a stock of erudition that 
might have puzzled a doctor, and a degree of 
ignorance of which a schoolboy would have 
been ashamed. He had no ambition, his 
fiither was dead, and he thought of appren- 
ticing himself to a shoemaker near the school. 
Head-master Bowyer interposed; Coleridge 
became deputy-Grecian, or head scholar, and 
obtained a presentation from Christ's Hospi- 
tal to Jesus' College, Cambridge, where he 
remained from 1791 to 1703. Then creditors 
obnoxious to him, and a love of the French 
revolution obnoxious to the ruling powers at 
Cambridge, led him to London and to enlist 
in the light-dragoons. On his arrival at the 
quarters of the regiment, the general of the 
district inspected the recruits, and looking 
hard at Coleridge, with a military air, in- 
quired, "What's your name, sir?" " Com- 
berbach." "What do you come here for. 



sir ? " as if very doubtful whether he had any 
business there. "Sir," said Coleridge, "for 
what most other persons come — to be made 
a soldier." " Do you think," said the gen- 
eral, " you can run a Frenchman through the 
body?" "I don't know," replied Coleridge, 
"as I never tried; but I'll let a Frenchman 
run me through the body before I'll run 
away." "That will do," said the general, 
and Coleridge was turned into the ranks. 
"Comberbach" made a poor dragoon, stick- 
ing in the awkward squad. He was the 
scribe for his comrades, and they cared for 
his horse and accoutrements. A Latin sen- 
tence that he wrote under his saddle on the 
stable wall, "Eheu! quam infortunii miser- 
rimum est fuisse felicem," awoke his cap- 
tain's curiosity. He was discovered, dis- 
charged, and restored to his friends. 

He became acquainted with Southey and 
Lloyd, and the trio occupied themselves at 
Bristol in planning a scheme for social per- 
fection in the United States, the realization 
of which was prevented by a very prosaic 
social imperfection, the want of funds. They 
tried a better scheme, and married three 
sisters Fricker of Bristol. Coleridge was at 
this time an ardent republican and a strong 
Unitarian. Later in life, both his political 
faith and his religious were changed. He 
had become acquainted with Wordsworth, 
and went to reside at Stowej^ in whose vicin- 
ity his new acquaintance was then dwelling. 
There he wrote some of his most beautiful 
poetry, "Ode on the Departing Year," the 
first part of " Christabel," the "Ancient 
Mariner," &c. In 1798, the munificence of 
the Messrs. Wedgewood enabled him to dwell 
and study fourteen months in Germany. On 
his return he went to reside with Southey 
and AVordsworth in the lake district. He 
won a precarious subsistence by literature. 
His habits were desultory, and he was under 
the thralldom of opium, to whose fascinations 
he had been driven by illness. For the last 
nineteen years of his life he found an asylum 
and relief from the drug, with his friend Mr. 
Gillman, surgeon, at Highgate. There, friends 
clustered about him, eager listeners to the 
rich strains of poetr}'- and philosophy that 
were born upon his lips. He died July 25th, 
1834. 

COLIGNY, Gaspard de, admiral of France, 



COL 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



223 



born in 1516. He served with distinction 
under the gallant Francis I. and Henry II., 
by both of whom he was honored and re- 
warded. He was chief of the Calvinists 
against the Guises, to whom he continued 
formidable even after repeated defeats. Co- 
ligny was the first who fell in the atrocious 
massacre of St. Bartholomew's day, in 1572. 
His head was sent by Catharine of Medicis to 
the pope. 

COLLINGWOOD, Cuthbert, Baron, an 
English admiral, was born at Newcastle-upon- 
Tyne, in 1748. In 1761 he entered the 
naval service, in which he passed through all 
the regular steps of promotion, till he was 
made post-captain, 1794. He bore a part 
with Nelson, in the action off Cape St. Vin- 
cent, Feb. 14th, 1797. In 1804 he was made 
vice-admiral of the blue, and served with 
Oornwallis in the tedious but important 
blockade of Brest. At length, after many 
and various services, Collingwood became 
second to Nelson in the battle of Trafalgar. 
On this occasion, his ship, the Royal Sove- 
reign, commenced the fight in such a manner 
as to draw from Nelson the expression, "Look 
at that noble fellow ! observe the style in 
which he carries his ship into action ! " By 
the loss of Nelson, the command devolved 
upon Collingwood at a critical period, and 
how well he secured by his prudence what 
had been so gloriously won, needs not here 
be related. He was now advanced to be vice- 
admiral of the red, confirmed in the command 
of the Mediterranean fleet, and created a 
peer of Great Britain, by the title of Baron 
Collingwood. He died oif Minorca, March 
7th, 1810 ; and his body was carried to Eng- 
land, and interred in St Paul's. 

COLLINS, William, an interesting Eng- 
lish poet, was the son of a hatter of Chiches- 
ter, where he was born on Christmas day, 
1720. After completing his college course, 
he published his Oriental Eclogues, and went 
to London in 1744. His ill fortunes having 
driven him to the bottle and nervous imbe- 
cility, he died in 1756. 

COLLOT D'HERBOIS, Jean Marie, an 
actor who was hissed from the stage, made 
himself infamous during the French revolu- 
tion by conducting the massacres at Lyons. 
He was banished to Cayenne after the fall of 
Robespierre, where in 1796 he died in horri- I 



ble yet fitting torment from drinking a bottle 
of brandy while ill with the yellow fever. 

COLMAN, George, a dramatic writer, was 
born at Florence, where his father was Eng- 
lish envoy, in 1733. He was a fine scholar 
and good comic dramatist His death took 
place in 1794. His son, George Colman the 
younger, born Oct. 21st, 1762, was also the 
author of many comedies and farces, abound- 
ing in witty and ludicrous delineations of 
character, interspersed with bursts of tender- 
ness and feeling. He died Oct. 26th, 1836. 

COLUMBIA, District of. This tract, 
originally ten miles square, was ceded by 
Maryland and Virginia, to be occupied as the 
seat of the federal government. In 1846, the 
portion on the right bank of the Potomac, 
including the city of Alexandria, was retro- 
ceded to Virginia, so that the territory is now 
only half the original extent The population 
in 1850 was 51,687. The government of the 
district is vested in Congress, the inhabitants 
having no voice in federal affairs. Washing- 
ton, the capital of the United States, is situ- 
ated on the left bank of the Potomac, and 
contained in 1850 40,000 inhabitants. Its 
natural situation is pleasant and healthy, and 
it is laid out on a plan, which, when com- 
pleted, will render it one of the handsomest 
and most commodious cities in the world. 
The scale of this plan has given Washington 
the name of the ' city of magnificent distan- 
ces.' Among the public edifices of the city 
are the capitol, the president's house, the 
general post-olfice, buildings for the execu- 
tive departments, and the Smithsonian In- 
stitute. Washington became the seat of 
government in 1800. The city was founded 
by laying the corner-stone of the capitol, 
Sept 18th, 1798. Washington was taken by 
the British under Gen. Ross, and the public 
buildings destroyed by a general conflagra- 
tion, Aug. 24th, 1814. Part of the capitol, 
and the congressional library, were consumed 
by fire, Dec. 24th, 1851. 

COLUMBUS, Christopher, was a native 
of Genoa, born about 1435, of poor parents, 
who educated him with care. At the age of 
fourteen he went to sea, having evinced an 
early attachment to a sailor's life. Against 
the Mohammedans and Venetians he fought 
with great bravery and skill. Having con- 
ceived the design of a western passage to 



COL 



224 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 




CAPITOL AT WAh 



India, he for a long time sought for patronage 
without avail ; but after struggling eighteen 
years, was at length aided by Ferdinand and 
Isabella, and sailed with three small vessels, 
the Pinta, Nina, and Pinzon, August 3d, 
1492. Land was discovered on the 11th of 
October, which proved to be the island of 
Guanahani, named by Columbus, St. Salva- 
dor. Cuba was discovered on the 28th of 
October. Columbus was the first to announce 
his own discovery, and was received in Spain 
with signal favor. He was created a gran- 
dee of the realm, and loaded with other 
honors. Sept. 25th, 1493, he sailed from 
Cadiz, on his second voyage, with a flojct of 
seventeen sail. He built a town called Isa- 
bella on Hispaniola, but encountered many 
obstacles and difficulties in his new voyage 
of discovery. Meanwhile, that envy which 
never fails to pursue true merit stirred up 
clamors against Columbus, which were stifled, 
however, by his return to Spain in 1496, 
with valuable treasures. In 1498 he departed 
on his third voyage. Arrived in the new 
world, he found his enemies still exasperated 
against him, and they scrupled not to repre- 
sent him to his sovereigns as endeavoring to 
make himself independent. Their stories 
were believed. Don Francisco de Bobadilla, 
was sent out by the court, and invested tem- 
porarily with the chief power, being permit- 
ted to use his own judgment in quelling the 
disturbances of the colonies. This person 
scrupled not to arrest Columbus and put him 
in irons, from which he would not suffer him- 



self to be freed, when he was carried on 
board the vessel, which was to bear him to 
Spain. "No," said he, when the attendants 
offered to remove them ; " the truth must be 
apparent, and my patrons are too noble, too 
generous, to overlook me. Then, if fortune 
again smiles upon me, these will serve as 
affecting memorials of sorrow past : I will 
not part with them, and I even wish that, 
when I am no more, they may be suspended 
over my sepulchre." In irons, he and his two 
brothers returned to Spain. There the honor 
and fidelity of Columbus became apparent, 
and he was nominally reinstated in his dig- 
nities. But the disposition of the sovereigns 
toward him was altared. Though Bobadilla 
was recalled, Columbus in vain supplicated 
to be restored to his government; he was 
put off by vague promises, and the post 
finally given to Don Nicholas Ovando, a prac- 
tical as Avell as accomplished man. Thus, 
after three momentous voyages, and the ac- 
quisition of much fame, he found himself 
displaced ; thwarted in a point in which he 
conceived his honor concerned, and his 
hard-earned authority torn from his possess- 
ion. Columbus now sought only to obtain 
the fulfillment of the royal promises with 
regard to the furtherance of his expedition, 
imagining that the continent he had discov- 
ered was Asia, and hoping to find a way to 
the East Indies by the isthmus of Darien. 
With four small caravels, the largest being 
but of seventy tons burthen, he set out on 
his fourth voyage of discovery. Leaving 



COL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



225 



Cadiz on the 9th of May, 1502, he reached Mar- 
tmique June 15th. Having touched at Cuba, 
he pursued a south-westerly course, until he 
reached Guanaja, an island on the coast of 
Honduras, whose inhabitants had attained a 
pretty high degree of civilization. Their 
persons were covered with cotton garments, 
dyed with a variety of bright and pleasing 
colors. He mentions a curious occurrence as 
taking place here. He had been presented, 
among other animals, with a peccary, or 
American pig, and one of those monkeys 
with prehensile tails, indigenous to America. 
The peccary being thrown in the way of the 
monkey, the latter, by a dexterous use of its 
tail, confined the jaws of the pig in such a 
manner as to expose it helplessly to the action 
of the monkey's claws. " This appeared to 
me so strange," Columbus writes to his 
patrons, " that I thought fit to write it down 
for the information of your majesties." 

The admiral, in his endeavors to discover a 
strait leading to the Pacific Ocean, encoun- 
tered great hardships and fatigues, which had 
a baneful influence upon his health, and was 
finally shipwrecked. Ovando was himself 
averse to succoring Columbus, after a mes- 
senger had acquainted him with the peril of his 
situation ; but the people of Hispaniola were 
so well disposed towaixl the admiral, that, for 
the sake of maintaining his own reputation, 
he was forced to send him relief Columbus, 
arrived at St. Domingo, met with a reception 
such as to banish, for a brief space, the re- 
membrance of his sutFerings ; but his bodily 
weakness could not be disguised. When 
sufficiently recovered, he set sail for Spain, 
arriving there on the 7th day of November, 
1504. 

The services of this distinguished man were 
mdeed important. In his third voyage he 
had discovered the continent of America ; in 
his last, had received intelligence of the im- 
mense wealth of Mexico, which was destined 
to increase, to an enormous extent, the reve- 
nue of Spain. Columbus vainly looked for 
the reward of his services ; he had stipulated 
that certain dignities and an income should be 
his, but he found himself in hopeless indi- 
gence. His kind patroness, the queen, was 
no more, and her husband, stern and selfish, 
disregarded the claims of the enterprising 
navigator. He evaded the request of Colum- 



15 



bus to be restored to the vice-royalty of 
which he had been deprived, and repeated 
disappointments, in connexion with his bod- 
ily infirmities, hastened the death of the 
latter, which took place at Valladolidj on the 
20th of May, 1506. His remains were after- 
ward removed to the cathedral of Havana in 
Cuba. 

Columbus was a man of great and inventive 
genius. The operations of his mind were 
energetic, but irregular; bursting forth, at 
times, with that irresistible force which char- 
acterizes intellects of such an order. His 
ambition was lofty and noble, inspiring him 
with high thoughts, and an anxiety to distin- 
guish himself by great achievements. He 
aimed at dignity and wealth in the same ele- 
vated spirit with which he sought renown ; 
they were to rise from the territories he should 
discover, and be commensurate in importance. 
The vast gains that he anticipated from his dis- 
coveries, he intended to appropriate to princely 
purposes ; to institutions for the relief of the 
poor of his native city, to the foundation of 
churches, and above all, to crusades for the 
recovery of the holy sepulchre. He was tena- 
cious of his rank and privileges, not from a 
mere vulgar love of titles, but because he 
prized them as testimonials and trophies of 
his illustrious deeds. Every question of com- 
promise concerning them he repulsed with 
disdain. "These things," said he, nobly, 
" concern my honoi'." In his testament, he 
enjoined on his son Diego, and whoever after 
him should inherit his estates, whatever 
other titles might be granted by the king, 
always to sign himself simply "The Admi- 
ral," by way of perpetuating in the family 
the source of its real greatness. He was 
naturally irritable and impetuous, and keenly 
sensible to injury and injustice; yet the 
quickness of his temper was counteracted by 
the benevolence and generosity of his heart. 
The magnanimity of his nature shone forth 
through all the troubles of his stormy career. 
COMETS. The first comet that was dis- 
covered and described accurately was by 
Nicephorus. At the birth of the great Mith- 
ri dates, 135 B.C., two large comets appeared, 
which were seen for seventy-two days to- 
gether, whose splendor eclipsed that of the 
noonday sun, and which occupied forty-five 
degrees, or a fourth part of the heavens. The 



COM 



226 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



appearance of comets was supposed to be the 
forerunner of wars, famine, pestilence, the 
deaths of great men, earthquakes, inunda- 
tions, and other calamities. The splendid 
comet of 1456 was believed by Pope Calix- 
tus to be at once the sign and instrument of 
divine wrath, and the affrighted pontiff or- 
dered public prayers to be raised in every 
town, and the bells to be tolled at the noon 
of each day, to warn the people to supplicate 
the divine mercy. He at the same time ex- 
communicated both the comet and the Turks, 
whose arms had lately proved victorious over 
the Christians. In more modern times cer- 
tain natural effects have been vulgarly at- 
tributed to the influence of comets ; such as 
tempests, hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, cold 
or hot seasons, floods, the dysentery, the 
plague, the cholera, and other disorders. 
Much alarm has also prevailed at times from 
fear that a comet might jostle the earth into 
destruction. Tycho Brahe was the first to 
rationally explain the phenomena of comets, 
about 1577. Newton discovered that their 
orbits are ellipses. A most brilliant comet, 
moving with immense swiftness, appeared in 
1769 ; it passed within two million miles of 
the earth. Behind its nucleus a vast stream 
of light, thirty-six millions of miles in length, 
stretched across the heavens, a prodigious 
luminous arch. A comet still more brilliant 
appeared in 1811, and was visible to the 
naked eye all the autumn. Herschel com- 
puted the length of its tail at a hundred 
millions of miles ! Halley was the first to 
fix the identity of comets, and predict their 
periodical return. He demonstrated that 
the comet of 1682 was that which was seen 
in 1456, 1531, and 1607. The revolution 
of Halley's comet is accomplished in about 
seventy-six years; it appeared in 1759 and 
1835. The comet of 1G80, which terrified 
the world by its near approach, is supposed 
to have a period of five hundred and seventy- 
five years, and to be the same that appeared 
in 1106, in 531, and in 44 b.c. 

COMMODUS ANTONINUS, Lucius ^uus 
AuRELius, Emperor of Rome, son of Marcus 
Aurelius, was born a.d. 161. At sixteen 
years of age he was associated with his father 
in the government, and in 180 ascended the 
throne. He surpassed in profligacy and cru- 
elty all his wicked predecessors. He maimed 



and disemboweled his subjects for pleasure. 
From his great strength, he bore a striking 
resemblance to the statues of Hercules, in the 
di-ess of whom he appeared. He debauched 
his own sisters, and mixed with the vilest and 
most degraded of the human race. Having 
exhausted the treasury by his extravagance, 
he replenished it by imposing enormous taxes 
on the people. Habited like a slave, he ckove 
his own chariot, and fought as a gladiator, 735 
times. He was poisoned by his favorite mis- 
tress, Martia, in 192. 

COMPASS, Mariner's. The date of one of 
the greatest of human discoveries is uncertain, 
and there are as great discrepancies in the 
accounts of its origin. Some have supposed 
it to have been known to the Chinese in the 
remotest ages. Marcus Paulus, a Venetian, 
is said to have discovered it a.d. 1260. By 
others it is claimed it was in use in Europe as 
early as 1180. Roger Bacon (1294) is said to 
have kjiown the polarity of the loadstone ; it 
was known in Norway previous to 1266 ; and 
it is mentioned in a French poem of 1150. 
Until the time of Flavio Gioja, a Neapolitan 
mariner, the needle was laid upon a couple of 
pieces of straw, or small splinters, in a vessel 
of water; he suspended it on a point, as we 
now have it. Columbus noticed the variation 
of the compass, in 1492 ; the dip of the needic 
was discovered in 1576. 

COMTE, AuGUSTE, a celebrated French 
thinker, and the founder of the Positive phi- 
losophy, was born in 1797, and died in 1857. 
CONCORD, a village of Massachusetts, 
twenty miles north-west of Boston. At Con- 
cord and Lexington the first armed resistance 
was made to the troops of Great Britain, 
April 19th, 1775. [See Lexington.] 

CONDE, Louis DE Bourbon, Prince of, was 
the son of Charles of Bourbon, Duke of Ven- 
dome, and was born in 1530. He signalized 
himself at the battle of St. Quintin, and be- ' 
came leader of the discontented Huguenots. 
He was wounded at the battle of Dreux, in 
1562, and slain in that of Jarnac, in 1569. 

CONDE, Louis, Prince of, commonly called 
the Great, was born at Paris in 1621. At the 
age of twenty -two he gained the battle of Ro- 
croi against the Spaniards, and captured Thi- 
onville and other places. He next entered 
Germany, where he gained innumerable lau- 
rels. Being recalled thence, he was sent into 



CON 



HISTORY AiXD BIOGRAPHY. 



'22"; 



Catalonia, but failed in his attempt to take 
Lerida. In 1648, he defeated the Imperialists 
in Flanders with prodigious slaughter. In 
the civil war Conde at first adhered to the 
court, but afterward opposed it without suc- 
cess. He refused to accede to the peace, and 
entered into the service of the Spaniards in 
the Low Countries, where his military ex- 
ploits were uncommonly splendid. At the 
peace of the Pyrenees, in 1G59, he obtained 
his pardon, and served his country with his 
wonted activity and success. He contended 
with the Prince of Orange in the Netherlands, 
and was wounded in the memorable passage 
of the Rhine. The conquest of Franche 
Compte was also chiefly owing to him. After 
the death of Turenne, he carried on the war 
against Germany with advantage. He died in 
1G87 at Fontainebleau. 

CONDILLAC, EtienneBonnetde, a French 
metaphysician, died in 1780, aged sixty-five. 

CONDORCET, Marie Jean Antoine, Mar- 
quis de Caritat, an eloquent man, a good 
mathematician, an earnest political writer 
among the Girondins, and a victim of the reign 
of terror. Born in Picardy in 1743, in 1794 
he poisoned himself in prison to avoid the 
guillotine. 

CONFEDERATION OF THE RHINE. In 
1806, Napoleon, determined that there should 
not exist, on the continent, any power capable 
of opposing his designs, contrived to dismem- 
ber the German empire, and induce the em- 
peror to abandon his title of Emperor of Ger- 
many. In pui'suance of these views, a new 
union was formed by several of the German 
princes, under the name of the Confederation 
of the Rhine. The Kings of Bavaria and 
Wirtemberg, the Elector of Baden, the Duke 
of Berg, the Landgrave of Hesse Darmstadt, 
and others, published at Ratisbon a declara- 
tion, that as the Germanic constitution then 
existing could afibrd no guarantee for the 
public tranquillity, the contracting parties 
had agreed, that their states should be forever 
separated from the Germanic body, and united 
by a particular confederation, under the title 
of "The Confederate States," of which the 
Emperor of the French was constituted the 
head and protector. The treaty of confeder- 
ation was projected and drawn up at Paris, 
and ratified at Munich, on the 25th of July, 
1806 : it contained forty articles relative to 



the territories which each of the contracting 
parties was to possess, and other important 
particulars. Every continental war, in which 
either France or any of the confederate states 
should be engaged, was to be common to all ; 
the contingent to be fm-nished by each of the 
members, was determined in the followin;;- 
proportion; France, 200,000 men, Bavaria 
30,000, Wirtemberg 12,000, Baden 8,000, 
Berg 5,000, Darmstadt 4,000, Nassau and the 
other states 4,000. By this confederation, 
the Germanic body was completely dissolved, 
and a very considerable part of its members 
ranged themselves under the banners of 
France. Francis II., in consequence of this 
organization, resigned his title of Emperor of 
Germany, and took that of Emperor of Aus- 
tria. Thus was dissolved the German, or as 
it was styled in diplomatic language, the Holy 
Roman Empu-e, 1006 years after Charlemagne 
received the imperial title and crown from 
the hands of the pope. [See Germany.] 

CONFUCIUS, the celebrated Chinese phi- 
losopher, lived about 550 e.g. 

CONGO, a kingdom of Africa, in Lower 
Guinea, which is under the sway of the Por- 
tuguese. It is rich and fertile. It was dis- 
covered in 1484 by Diego Cam, a Portuguese. 
The native government is despotic. 

CONGRESS, Continental. The first met 
in Philadelphia, Sept. 5th, 1774; Oct. 8th, 
resolve to support Massachusetts. Second 
congress assembled May 10th, 1775, in Phil- 
adelphia; June 7th, style the colonies "The 
Twelve United Colonies," Georgia not having 
yet acceded to the Union; June 22d, 1775, 
appoint eight major-generals ; May 5th, 1776, 
declare the authority of England abolished ; 
July 4th, declare independence ; Dec. 12th, 

1776, adjourn from Philadelphia to meet at 
Baltimore ; 30th, resolve to send commission- 
ers to Prussia, Austria, Spain, &c. ; Sept. 18th, 

1777, on the approach of the British army 
toward Philadelphia, adjourn to meet in Lan- 
caster, whence they again adjourn on the 30th 
of the same month to meet in Little York ; 
meet again in Philadelphia, July 2d, 1778. 
Sept. 14th, 1778, appoint Benjamin Franklin 
minister to France, the first regularly consti- 
tuted ambassador from the United States, the 
former foreign agents being styled commis- 
sioners ; Oct. 4th, 1782, resolve against a sep- 
arate peace; June 26th, 1783, adjourn to 



CON 



228 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Princeton, and thence to Annapolis, where 
they meet November 20 th ; Nov. 1st, 1784, 
meet at Trenton, N. J.; Jan. 11th, 1785. at 
New York, which continued to be the place 
of meeting till the adoption of the federal con- 
stitution. From 1781 to 1788, Congress met 
aimuaily on the first Monday in November, 
pursuant to the articles of confederation. 
A-^ril 1st, 1789, Congress first assembled un- 
di'r the federal constitution ; Sept. 22d, 1790, 
pass an act to remove to Washington city in 
1800. 

CONGREVE, William, a celebrated Eng- 
lish dramatist and poet, born in 1672, died 
in 1729. His plays are replete with wit and 



glitter, but are blemished bya lack of morality. 
The dramatist was an intimate friend of the 
Duchess of Marlborough (daughter of the 
great duke), and left her the bulk of his for- 
tune, about £10,000. She honored him with 
a stately funeral, and converted the bequest 
into a superb diamond necklace, which she 
wore in his honor. It is said that she had a 
statue of him in ivorj^ moved by clockwoi'k, 
and placed daily at her table ; that she had a 
wax doll made in imitation of him, and that 
the feet of this doll were regularly blistered 
and anointed by the doctors, as poor Con- 
greve's feet had been when he suffered from 
the gout. 



femiiri. 




CONNECTICUT, one of the New England 
states, has an area of 4,674 square miles. 
Population in 1860, 4601,47. The surface is 
for the most part hilly, but nowhere moun- 
tainous. The state is well watered, mostly by 
small streams, which are sources of important 
power for manufactures. The Connecticut, 
which passes through nearly the centre of the 
state from north to south, is navigable as far 
as Hartford. The Thames in the east, and the 
Housatonic in the west, are the other largest 
streams. The soil is generally productive, 
but not highly fertile, and in general is more 
suited for grazing than tillage. Along the 
river valleys, however, fine rich meadows 
lie. Connecticut does better in manufactur- 
ing than in agriculture. Her clocks, her 
pistols, her rifles, her axes, her gimpowder, 
and lier rubber goods find a market through- 
out the world ; while along her streams, and 



in her busy villages, are myriads of estab- 
lishments, in which other ingenious wares 
and fabrics are wrought by mdustrious and 
prosperous artisans. 

The present constitution was adopted in 
1818, till which time the charter granted by 
Charles XL, in 1662, was the basis of the 
government. All state oflBcers, and the 
members of both branches of the legislature^ 
are elected annually by the people. The 
legislature convenes at Hartford and New 
Haven in alternate Mays. Every Avhite male 
citizen, who has gained a settlement in the 
state, attained the age of twenty-one years, 
resided in the town six months, has a good 
moral character, and can read the constitution 
of the state, shall, upon taking the oath pre- 
scribed, be an elector. 

The judicial power is vested in a supreme 
court of errors and a superior court. The 



CON 



HISTORY AND BlOCxRAPHY. 



219 



former consists of a chief-justice and two i independence came. Only one of the thir- 



associates ; the latter has six judges ; all 
chosen by the legislature for terms of eight 
years. This commonwealth ha.s long been 
eminent for the attention given to education. 
The school fund, arising from lands originally 
held by the state in Ohio, had in March, 1858, 
a capital of $2,046,397.32. To the revenue 
from this source, the towns add largely by 
taxation. A normal school for the instruc- 
tion of teachers, and a reform school for 
juvenile delinquents, are maintained by the 
state. Yale College at New Haven is among 
the best and most ancient universities of the 
country. The American Asylum for the Deaf 
find Dumb at Hartford, was the first institu- 
tion of the kind on this continent. 

The towns of Windsor, Hartford, and 
Wethersfield were settled in 1635 and 1636 
by emigrants from the Massachusetts colony. 
It was in the following year that the Pequots 
were extirpated. The emigrants had at first 
considered themselves under the jurisdiction 
of the parent colony at Boston Bay, but on 
the 14th of January, 1639, the planters con- 
vened at Hartford, and decided for a distinct 
commonwealth. The instrument adopted 
upon this occasion is the earliest precedent 
of a written constitution, proceeding from a 
people, and in their name establishing and 
defining a government, and is the germ of 
the free representative plan which now dis- 
tinguishes our country in the eyes of the 
world. So wisely did Ludlow, Haynes and 
Hooker lay the foundations, that the people 
of Connecticut have found no necessity for 
any fundamental change in the polity which 
the fathers ordained. The colony of New 
Haven had been founded in 1638 by Eaton, 
Hopkms, Davenport, and others. By the 
charter granted by Charles H. in 1662, the 
two colonies of Hartford and New Haven 
were united. This was the instrument after- 
ward hidden in the Charter Oak from the 
clutch of Andros. Curiously enough for a 
document coming from a Stuart, it sanctioned 
the democracy which the quiet independence 
of the colonists had framed for themselves a 
quarter of a century before. The common- 
wealth suffered under King Philip's war, sus- 
tained its due burden in the wars against the 



teen colonies contributed a larger quota of 
men to the patriot army during that struggle. 
Her venerable governor during this crisis, 
the patriotic Trumbull, the original ' Brother 
Jonathan,' was one of Washington's chief 
supports. Irving .says: " There could be no 
surer reliance for aid in time of danger than 
the patriotism of Governor Trumbull; nor 
were there men more ready to obey a sudden 
appeal to arms than the yeomanry of Con- 
necticut ; however much their hearts might 
subsequently yearn toward the farms and 
firesides they had so promptly abandoned. 
No portion of the Union was more severely 
ta.iked, throughout the Revolution, for mili- 
tary service ; and Washington avowed, when 
the great struggle was over, that ' if all the 
states had done their duty as well as the little 
state of Connecticut, the war would have 
been ended long ago.'" 

Connecticut is divided into eight counties. 
The city of Hartford is on the west bank of 
the Connecticut River, fifty miles from its 
mouth. It is a handsome town, [jrosperous 
in its trade and manufactures, and has a pop- 
ulation of 25,000. New Haven, the sister 
capital, is at the head of a small bay opening 
upon Long Island Sound, and has 30,000 
inhabitants. The many and noble trees that 
adorn its ways have gained it the name of the 
Elm City. Other prominent towns of Con- 
necticut are Norwich, New London, Bridge- 
port, and Middletown. 

CONSPIRACIES AND Insurrections, the 
most reiiiarkable in ancient or modern his- 
tory. A conspiracy was formed against the 
infant republic of Rome, to restore the ban- 
ished Sextus Tarquin, and the regal govern- 
ment, in which the two sons of Junius Brutus, 
the first consul, being concerned, were pub- 
licly condemned and put to death by their 
father, 507 b.c. Another by the Tarquin 
faction against the Roman senators ; Publius 
and Marcus discover it ; the other conspira- 
tors are put to death, 496 b.c. Of Cataline 
and his associates, to murder the consuls and 
senate, and to burn the city of Rome, detected 
by Cicero, 63 b.c An insurrection in Spain 
cost the fives of 30,000 Spaniards, and double 
that number of Moors, a.d. 1500. At Malta, 
to destroy the knights, for which 125 slaves 



French in America, and yet grew, in strength 
and wealth, and numbers, till the contest for I suffered death, Jmie 26th, 1749._ At Lisbo 

CON 



230 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



by several of the nobility, who shot the king, 
1758. At St. Domingo and the other French 
West India Islands, where near 10,000 ne- 
groes were slain, and 400 whites, and 550 
plantations destroyed, 1704. Of Moreau, 
Pichegru, and Cadoudal against Bonaparte, 
Feb. 15th, 1804. Of the Prince of Asturias 
against his father, 1807. Of the inhabitants 
of Madrid against the French, in which 
many persons were killed, 1808. In Paris, 
for which the conspirators, three ex-generals 
and eleven officers were executed, October 
30th, 1812. At Travencore, to massacre the 
European officers at an entertainment, 1812. 
At Lisbon to overturn the Portuguese gov- 
ernment. May, 1817. 

Conspiracies and insurrections in England. 
Of the barons against Henry III. for cancel- 
ing Magna Charta, 1258. Of the Duke of 
Exeter and others, against the life of Henry 
IV., discovered by dropping a paper acci- 
dentally, 1400. Of Richard, Duke of Glou- 
cester, against his nephews, Edward V. and 
his brother, whom he caused to be murdered, 
■ 1483. Of the Earl of Suffolk and others 
against Henry VII., 1506. Insurrection of 
the London apprentices, 1515. Against 
Queen Elizabeth, by Dr. Story, 1571 ; by 
Anthony Babington and others, in behalf ryf 
Mary of Scotland, 1586 ; by Lopez, a Jew, 
and others, 1593; by Patrick York, an Irish 
fencing-master, employed by the Spaniards 
to kill the queen, 1594; ofWalpole, a Jesuit, 
who engaged one Squire to poison the queen's 
saddle, 1598 ; all the conspirators were exe- 
cuted. Against James I., by the Marchioness 
de Verneuil, his mistress, and others, 1004. 
The Gunpowder plot discovered, Nov. 5th, 
1605. Of Sindercomb and others to assassin- 
ate Oliver Cromwell ; discovered by his as- 
sociates ; Sindercomb was condemned, and 
poisoned himself the day before he was to 
have been executed, 1656. An insurrection 
of the Puritans, 1657. An insurrection of 
the fifth-monarchy men against Charles II., 
1060. A conspiracy of Blood and his asso- 
ciates, who seized the Duke of Ormond, 
wounded him, and would have hanged him 
if he had not escaped ; they afterward stole 
the crown, 1670 and 1671. The pretended 
l^lot of the French, Spanish, and English 
Jesuits, countenanced by the pope, to assassi- 
nate Charles II., discovered by Dr. Tongue 



and the infamous Titus Oates, 1678; another 
to assassinate him at the Kye-house farm, 
near Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, in his waj' 
from Newmarket, called the Rye-house plot, 
1683. Of Lord Preston, the Bishop of Ely, 
and others to restore King James, 1691. Of 
Granvil, a French chevalier and his associates, 
to assassinate King William in Flanders, 
1692. A conspiracy by the Earl of Ayles- 
bury and others, to kill the king near Rich- 
mond, as he came from hunting, discovered 
by Pendergrass, called the Assassination plot, 
1696. Of Simon Eraser, Lord Lovat, in favor 
of the Pretender, against Queen Anne, 1703. 
Of the Marquis Guiscard, 1710. To assassi- 
nate George I. by James Sheppard, an enthu- 
siastic youth, who had been taught to consider 
the king as an usurper, 1718. Of Layer and 
others to bring in the Pretender, 1722. Of 
Col. Despard and his associates to assassinate 
George III. and overturn the government, 
1802. Of Robert Emmet in Dublin, 1803. 
Of Thistlewood and a gang of desperate pol- 
iticians, commonly called the Cato Street con- 
spiracy, 1820. 

(For Southern Rebelmon, see the Chro- 
nology, end of this work.) 

CONSTANTINE the Great, son of the 
Emperor Constantius Chlorus, by Helena, 
was born at York, about the year 274. On 
the death of his father, in 300, he was pro- 
claimed emperor by the army. He defeated 
the Franks, after which he crossed the Rhine, 
and committed great ravages in Belgium. 
Constantine married Fausta, the daughter of 
Maximian, in 300. His father-in-law, taking 
advantage of his absence from Aries, where 
he held his court, seized the treasury, and 
assumed the miperial title, but being taken 
prisoner by Constantine, strangled himself. 
A war now broke out between Constantine 
and Maxentius, the son of Maximian ; the 
former reduced Italy, and defeated Maxen- 
tius, who was drowned in the Tiber. At this 
period the era of Constantine's conversion to 
Christianity is fixed. As he was riding at 
the head of his troops, an immense cross of 
exceeding brightness is said to have appeared 
above the horizon, bearing the inscription, 
"In this conquer." Constantino was no 
longer an infidel. He now entered Rome in 
triumph, and received from the senate the 
title of Augustus, in conjmiction with Licin- 



CON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



231 



ius and Maximin, the former of whom mar- 
ried his sister, Constantia. A civil war 
shortly broke out between Licinius and Max- 
imin, in which the latter was slain. Licin- 
ius then formed a conspiracy against Con- 
stantine, which being discovered, war ensued 
between them, in which Constantine was 
successful, and peace was concluded. A sec- 
ond war broke out in 323, and terminated in 
the defeat of Licinius, and his resignation of 
the imperial dignity. Not long afterward 
he was strangled. Constantine now began 
to show his regard for the religion he had 
adopted, by destroying the heathen temples, 
building numerous churches, and journeying 
to Jerusalem to visit the Holy Land, where 
he erected a magnificent church at Bethle- 
hem. With this zeal for religion he blended 
coui'age and justice. He conquered the 
Goths, founded Constantinople, removing the 
seat of empire thither, and performed many 
actions that entitle him to the name of Great. 
I>ut he sullied his character by putting to 
death his son Crispus. He died in 337. 

CONSTANTINOPLE, called by the Turks 
Stamboul, is situated on the European side 
of the Bosphorus. Its circuit, including the 
suburbs, is about thirty-five miles, and the 
number of inhabitants, by the most moder- 
ate computation, 630,000 Greeks, Armenians, 
Jews, and Turks. It was built upon the 
ruins of the ancient Byzantium by Constan- 
tine the Great. It became afterward the 
capital of the Greek empire; and, having 
escaped the destructive rage of the barbarous 
nations, it was the greatest as well as the 
most beautiful city in Europe, and the only 
one, during the Gothic ages, in Avhich there 
remained any image of the ancient elegance 
in manners and arts. It derived great advan- 
tages from its being the rendezvous of the 
crusaders; and, being then in the zenith of 
its glory, the European writers, in that age, 
speak of it with astonishment. During the 
third crusade, a revolution happened at Con- 
stantinople, which divided the eastern empire 
for fifty-eight years. Alexius Angelus, sur- 
named the tyrant, having dethroned Isaac 
II., placed himself upon the throne of Con- 
stantinople, in 119.5 ; and Alexius, the son of 
Isaac, applied to the French and Venetians, 
who passed that way to the Holy AVars, to 
assist him in the recovery of his father's em- 



pire. They accordingly, in 1203, reduced 
Constantinople, after a siege of eight days, 
and replaced Isaac on the throne. The next 
year, Alexius Dacus Murzoufle assassinated 
the emperor, whom the crusaders had re-es- 
tablished, and seized the crown. On hearing 
this, the French returned, attacked the city, 
reduced it in three days, deposed Murzoufle, 
and chose Baldwin, Count of Flanders, em- 
peror. 

He had four successors, the last of whom, 
Baldwin II., was deposed in 1262, by Michael 
Paleologus. In the mean time Theodore Las- 
caris, who had been charged by the clergy to 
take arms against the tyrant Murzoufle, find- 
ing Constantinople in the power of the French, 
retired with his wife and family to Nice, 
where, in 1204, he was crowned emperor, and 
formed a small empire out of that of Constan- 
tinople. He had but three successors, the 
last of whom, John Ducas, was deprived of 
his sight in 1255 by order of Michael Paleo- 
logus, his preceptor, who usurped the throne 
in 1259, and in 1262 made himself master of 
Constantinople, so that the empire was re- 
united. It continued till 1453, when Con- 
stantinople was taken by Mohammed II., sul- 
tan of the Ottoman Turks ; since which it has 
remained the seat of their empire. 

Constantinople is at this day one of the 
finest cities in the world, from its situation 
and port. It is frequently called the Porte 
by way of eminence. The city has met with 
many disasters from convulsions, earthquakes, 
and the plague. 

CONSTITUTION, the English, which 
owes its foundation to the era of the con- 
quest, has been made the model of most of 
the constitutions enjoyed by republican 
states. The Bill of Rights, which was the 
basis of the English constitution, was passed 
in the time of the revolution, and contained 
the following provisions : 1. The pretended 
power of suspending laws, or the execution 
of laws by regal authority, without the con- 
sent of parliament, is illegal. 2. That the 
pretended power of dispensing with laws, or 
the execution of laws by regal authority, as 
it hath been assumed and exercised of late, 
is illegal. 3. That the commission for erecting 
the late court of commissioners for ecclesias- 
tical causes, and all other commissions and 
courts of like nature, are illegal and perni- 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



cious. 4. That levying money for, or to the 
use of the crown, by pretense of prerogative, 
vpithout grant of parliament, for longer time, 
or in all other manner than the same is, and 
shall be granted, is illegal. 5. That it is the 
right of the subjects to petition the king, and 
that all commitments and prosecutions for 
such petitioning, are illegal. 6. That the rais- 
ing or keeping a standing army within the 
kingdom in time of peace, unless it be with 
consent of parliament, is against law. 7. That 
the subjects which are Protestants, may have 
arms for their defense, suitable for their con- 
ditions, and as allowed by law. 8. That 
election of members of parliament ought to 
be free. 9. That freedom of speech, and 
debates or proceedings in parliament, ought 
not to be impeached or questioned in any 
court or place out of parliament. 10, That 
excessive bail ought not to be required, nor 
excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and un- 
usual punishments inflicted. 11. That ju- 
rors ought to be duly empanneled and 
returned; and that jurors which pass upon 
men in trials for high treason, ought to 
be freeholders. 12. That all grants and 
promises of fines and forfeitures of particular 
persons, before conviction, are illegal and 
void. 13. And that for the redress of all griev- 
ances, and for the amending, strengthening, 
and preserving of laws, parliaments ought to 
be held Irequently. 

The English constitution comprehends the 
whole body of laws by which the British 
people are governed, and to which it is pre- 
sumptively held that every individual has 
assented. — Lord Somers. This assemblage 
of laws is distinguished from the term gov- 
ernment in this respect — that the constitution 
is the rule by which the sovereign ought to 
govern at all times, and government is that 
by which he does govern at any particular 
time. — Lord BoUngTtrol-e. The king of Eng- 
land is not seated on a solitary eminence of 
power ; on the contrary, he sees his equals in 
the co-existing branches of the legislature, 
and he recognizes his superior in the law. — 
Sheridan. The beautiful pile of the British 
constitution is the work of ages ; the produc- 
tion of a happy concurrence and succession 
of circumstances, growing by degrees, and 
accommodating itself, in accordance with its 



growth, to the tempers and manners, the 
customs and character of the British people. — 
Montesquieu. 

CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED 
STATES, as 2)ro2wscd to the convention held 
at Philadelphia^ 17th September, 17S7, and 
since ratijied ly the several states with 
amendments. 

We the people of the United States, in 
order to form a more perfect vmion, establish 
justice, insure domestic ti'anquillity, provide 
for the conunon defense, promote the general 
welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty 
to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and 
establish this Constitution for the United 
States of America. 

Article I. Section 1. All legislative pow- 
ers herein granted shall be vested in a con- 
gress of the United States, which shall consist 
of a senate and house of representatives. 

Sec. 2. The house of representatives shall 
be composed of members chosen every second 
year by the people of the several states, and 
the electors in each state shall have the quali- 
fications requisite for electors of the most 
numerous branch of the state legislature. 

No person shall be a representative who 
shall not have attained to the age of twenty- 
five years, and been seven years a citizen of 
the United States, and who shall not, when 
elected, be an inhabitant of that state in M'hich 
he shall be chosen. 

Representatives and direct taxes shall be 
apportioned among the several states which 
may be included within this union, according 
to their respective numbers, which shall be 
determined by adding to the whole number 
of free persons, including those bound to ser- 
vice for a term of years, and excluding In- 
dians not taxed, three-fifths of all other per- 
sons. The acliual enumeration shall be made 
within three years after the first meeting of 
the congress of the United States, and within 
every subsequent term of ten years, in such 
manner as they shall by law direct. The 
number of representatives shall not exceed 
one for every thirty thousand, but each state 
shall have at least one representative. 

When vacancies happen in the representa- 
tion from any state, the executive authority 
thereof shall issue writs of election to fill 
such vacancies. 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



233 



The house of representatives shall choose 
their speaker and other oiHcers ; and shall 
have the sole power of impeachment. 

Sec. 3. The senate of the United States 
shall be composed of two senators from each 
state, chosen by the legislature thereof, for 
six 3^ears ; and each senator shall have one 
vote. 

Immediately after they shall be assembled 
in consequence of the first election, they 
shall be divided as equally as may be into 
three classes. The seats of the senators of 
the first class shall be vacated at the expira- 
tion of the second year, of the second class at 
the expiration of the fourth year, and of the 
third class at the expiration of the sixth year, 
so that one-third may be chosen every second 
year ;. and if vacancies happen by resignation, 
or otherwise, during the recess of the legisla- 
ture of any state, the executive thereof may 
make temporary appointments until the next 
meeting of the legislature, which shall then 
fill such vacancies. 

No person shall be a senator who shall not 
have attained to the age of thirty years, and 
been nine years a citizen of the United States, 
and who shall not, when elected, be an in- 
habitant of that state for which he shall be 
chosen. 

The vice-president of the United States 
shall be president of the senate, but shall 
have no vote, unless they be equally divided. 

The senate shall choose their other ofiicers, 
and also a president ^jw tem2wre, in the ab- 
sence of the vice-president, or when he shall 
exercise the office of president of the United 
States. 

The senate shall have the sole power to 
try all impeachments. When sitting for that 
purpose, they shall be on oath or affirmation. 
When the president of the United States is 
cried, the chief justice shall preside : and no 
person shall be convicted without the concur- 
rence of two-thirds of the members present. 

Judgment in cases of impeachment shall 
not extend further than to removal from 
office, and disqualification to hold and enjoy 
any office of honor, trust or profit under the 
United States : but the party convicted shall 
nevertheless be liable and subject to indict- 
ment, trial, judgment and punishment, accord- 
ing to law. 

Sec. 4. The times, places and manner of 



holding flections for senators and representa- 
tives, shall be prescribed in each state by the 
legislature thereof; but the congress may at 
any time by law make or alter such regula- 
tions, except as to the places of choosing 
senators. 

The congress shall assemble at least once 
in every year, and such meeting shall be on 
the first Monday in December, unless they 
shall by law appoint a dilferent day. 

Sec. 5. Each house shall be the judge of 
the elections, returns and qualifications of 
its own members, antl a majority of each shall 
constitute a quorum to do business ; but a 
smaller number may adjourn from day to day, 
and may be authorized to compel the attend- 
ance of absent members, in such manner, 
and under such penalties as each house may 
provide. 

Each house may determine the rules of its 
proceedings, punish its members for disor- 
derly behavior, and, with the concurrence of 
two-thirds, expel a member. 

Each house shall keep a journal of its pro- 
ceedings, and from time to time publish the 
same, excepting such parts as may in their 
judgment require secrecy ; and the yeas and 
nays of the members of either house on any 
question shall, at the desire of one-fifth of 
those present, be entered on the journal. 

Neither house, during the session of con- 
gress, shall, without the consent of the other, 
adjourn for more than three days, nor to any 
other place than that in which the two houses 
shall be sitting. 

Sec. 6. The senators and representatives 
shall receive a compensation for their services, 
to be ascertained by law, and paid out of the 
treasury of the United States. They shall in 
all cases, except treason, felony and breach 
of the peace, be privileged from arrest during 
their attendance at the session of their re- 
spective houses, and in going to or returning 
from the same ; and for any speech or debate 
in either house, they shall not be questioned 
in any other place. 

No senator or representative shall, during 
the time for which he was elected, be appoint- 
ed to any civil office under the authority of 
the United States, which shall have been cre- 
ated, or the emoluments whereof shall have 
been increased during such time ; and no 
person holding any office under the United 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



States, shall be a member of either house 
during his continuance in office. 

Sec. 7. All bills for raising revenue shall 
originate in the house of representatives ; but 
the senate may propose or concur with amend- 
ments as on other bills. 

Every bill which shall have passed the 
house of representatives and the senate, shall, 
before it become a law, be presented to the 
president of the United States ; if he approve 
he shall sign it, but if not he shall return it, 
with his objections to that house in which it 
shall have originated, who shall enter the ob- 
jections at large on their journal, and proceed 
to reconsider it. If after such reconsidera- 
tion two-thirds of that house shall agree to 
pass the bill, it shall be sent, together with 
the objections, to the other house, by which 
it shall likewise be reconsidered, and if ap- 
proved by two-thirds of that house, it shall 
become a law. But in all such cases_ the 
votes of both houses shall be determined by 
yeas and nays ; and the names of the persons 
voting for and against the bill, shall be entered 
on tlic journal of each house respectively. If 
any bill shall not be returned by the president 
within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it 
shall have been presented to him, the same 
shall be a law, in like manner as if he had 
signed it, unless the congress by their adjourn- 
ment prevent its return, in which case it shall 
not be a law. 

Every order, resolution, or vote to which 
the concurrence of the senate and house of 
representatives may be necessary (except on 
a question of adjoui-nment) shall be presented 
to the president of the United States ; and 
before the same shall take effect, shall be ap- 
proved by him, or being disapproved by him, 
shall be repassed by two-thirds of the senate 
and house of representatives, according to the 
rules and limitations prescribed in the case of 
a bill. 

Sec. 8. The congress shall have power — To 
lay and collect taxes, duties, hnposts and ex- 
cises, to pay the debts and provide for the 
common defense and general welfare of the 
United States; bvit all duties, imposts and 
excises shall be uniform throughout the Uni- 
ted States ; 

To borrow money on the credit of the Uni- 
ted States ; 

To regulate commerce with foreign nations, 



and among the several states, and with the 
Indian tribes ; 

To establish an uniform rule of naturaliza- 
tion, and uniform laws on the subject of bank- 
ruptcies throughout the United States ; 

To coin money, regulate the value thereof, 
and of foreign coin, and fix the standard of 
weights and measures ; 

To provide for the punishment of counter- 
feiting the securities and current coin of the 
United States ; 

To establish post-ofBces and post-roads ; 

To promote the progress of science and use- 
ful arts, by securing for limited times to au- 
thors and inventors the exclusive right to 
their respective writings and discoveries ; 

To constitute tribunals inferior to the su- 
preme court ; 

To define and punish piracies and felonies 
committed on the high seas, and offenses 
against the law of nations ; 

To declare war, grant letters of marque and 
reprisal, and make rules concerning captures 
on land and water ; 

To raise and support armies, but no appro- 
priation of money to that use shall be for a 
longer term than two years ; 

To provide and maintain a navy ; 

To make rules for the government and reg- 
ulation of the land and naval forces ; 

To provide for calling forth the militia to 
execute the laws of the union, suppress insur- 
rections and repel invasions ; 

To provide for organizing, arming, and dis- 
ciplining, the militia, and for governing such 
part of them as may be employed in the serv- 
ice of the United States, reserving to the states 
respectively, the appointment of the officers, 
and the authority of training the militia ac- 
cording to the discipline prescribed by con- 
gress ; 

To exercise exclusive legislation in all cases 
whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding 
ten miles square) as may, by cession of par- 
ticular states, and the acceptance of congress, 
become the seat of the government of the 
United States, and to exercise like authority 
over all places piirchased by the consent of 
the legislature of the state in which the same 
shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, 
arsenals, dock-yards, and other needful build- 
ings ; — and 

To make all laws which shall be necessarj' 



CON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



235 



and proper for carrying into execution the 
foregoing powers, and all other powers vested 
by this constitution in the government of the 
United States, or in any department or oflScer 
thereof. 

Sec, 9. The migration or importation of such 
persons as any of the states now existing shall 
think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited 
by the congress prior to the year one thousand 
eight hundred and eight, but a tax or duty 
may be imposed on such importation, not ex- 
ceeding ten dollars for eacli person. 

The privilege of the writ of habeas corpus 
shall not be suspended, unless when in cases 
of rebellion or invasion the public safety may 
require it. 

No bill of attainder or ex post facto law 
shall be passed. 

No capitation, or other direct, tax shall be 
laid, unless in proportion to the census or enu- 
meration herein before directed to be taken. 

No tax or duty shall be laid on articles ex- 
ported from any state. 

No preference shall be given by any regula- 
tion of commerce or revenue to the ports of 
one state over those of another: nor shall 
vessels bound to, or from, one state, be obliged 
to enter, clear, or pay duties in another. 

No money shall be drawn from the treasury, 



laid by any state on imports or exports, shall 
be for the use of the treasury of the United 
States ; and all such laws shall be subject to 
the revision and control of the congress. No 
state shall, without the consent of congress, 
lay any duty of tonnage, keep troops, or ships 
of war in time of peace, enter into anj^ agree- 
ment or compact with another state, or with 
a foreign power, or engage in war, unless. ac- 
tually invaded, or in such imminent danger 
as will not admit of delay. 

Article II. Section 1. The executive 
power shall be vested in a president of the 
United States of America. He shall hold his 
office during the term of four years, and, to- 
gether with the vice-president, chosen for the 
same term, be elected as follows : 

Each state shall appoint, in such manner as 
the legislature thereof may direct, a number 
of electors, equal to the whole number of sen- 
ators and representatives to which the state 
may be entitled in the congress : but no sen- 
ator or representative, or person holding an 
office of trust or profit under the United States, 
shall be appointed an elector. [The electors 
shall meet in their respective states, and vote 
hy 'ballot for two persons, of whom one at least 
shall not he an inhabitant of the same state 
xcith themselves. And they shall make a list 



but in consequence of appropriations made by ! of all the2iersons voted for, and of the number 



law ; and a regular statement and account of 
the receipts and expenditures of all public 
money shall be published from time to time. 

No title of nobility shall be granted by the 
United States: and no person holding any 
office of profit or trust under them, shall, 
without the consent of the congress, accept 
of any present, emolument, office, or title, of 
any kind whatever, from any king, prince, or 
foreign state. 

Sec. 10. No state shall enter into any treaty, 
alliance, or confederation; grant letters of 
marque and reprisal ; coin money ; emit bills 
of credit ; make anything but gold and silver 
coin a tender in payment of debts ; pass any 
bill of attainder, ex post facto law, or law im- 
pairing the obligation of contracts, or grant 
any title of nobility. 

No state shall, without the consent of the 
congress, lay any imposts or duties on imports 
or exports, except what may be absolutely 
necessary for executing its inspection laws : 
and the net produce of all duties and imposts. 



of votes for each ; which list they shall- sign 
and certify, and transmit sealed to the seat 
of the government of the United States, di- 
rected to the president of the senate. The 
president of the senate shall, in the presence 
of the senate and house of representatives, open 
all the certificates, and the votes shall then be 
counted. The person having the greatest 
number of votes shall be the j)resident, if such 
number be a majority of the whole number of 
electors appointed; and if there be more than 
one who have such majority, and have an equal 
number of votes, then the house of representa- 
tives shall immediately choose by ballot one 
of them for president ; and if no person have 
a majority, then from the five highest on the 
list the said house shall in like manner choose 
the president. But in choosing the president, 
the votes shall be taken by states, the repre- 
sentation from each state having one vote; a 
quorum for this purpose shall consist of a 
member or members from two-thirds of the 
states, and a majority of all the states shall 



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236 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



he necessary to a choice. In every case, after 
the choice of the president, the person having 
the greatest nuniber of votes of the electors 
shall he the vice-jyresident. But if there 
should remain two or more xcho have equal 
votes, the senate shall choose from them ly 
hallot the vice-president.] [See 12th Amend- 
men t. 

The congress may determine the time of 
choosing the electors, and the day on which 
they shall give their votes ; wliich day shall 
be the same throughout the United States. 

No person except a natural born citizen, or 
a citizen of the United States, at the time of 
the adoption of this constitution, shall be 
eligible to the office of president ; neither 
shall any person be eligible to that office who 
shall not have attained to the age of thirty -five 
years, and been fourteen years a resident 
within the United States. 

In the case of the removal of the president 
from office, or of his death, resignation, or in- 
ability to discharge the powers and duties of 
the said office, the same shall devoh e on the 
vice-president ; and the congress may by law 
provide for the case of removal, death, resig- 
nation, or inability, both of the president and 
vice-president, declaring what officer shall then 
act as president; and such officer shall act 
accordingly, until the disability be removed, 
or a president shall be elected. 

The president shall, at stated times, receive 
for his services, a compensation, which shall 
neither be increased nor diminished during 
the period for which he shall have been elect- 
ed, and he shall not receive within that pe- 
riod any other emolument fi'om the United 
States, or any of them. 

Before he enter on the execution of his of- 
fice, he shall take the following oath or affirm- 
ation : — 

"I do solemnly swear [or affirm] that I 
will faithfully execute the office of president 
of the United States, and will to the best of 



relating to the duties of their respective offi- 
ces, and he shall have power to grant reprieves 
and pardons for otFenses against the United 
States, except in cases of impeachment. 

He shall have power, by and with the ad- 
vice and consent of the senate, to make trea- 
ties, provided two-thirds of thcsenatorspresent 
concur ; and he shall nominate, and by and 
with the advice and consent of the senate, 
shall appoint ambassadors, other public min- 
isters and consuls, judges of the supreme 
court, and all other officers of the United 
States, whose appointments are not herein 
otherwise provided for, and which shall be 
established by law : but the congress may 
by law vest the appointment of such inferior 
officers, as they think proper, in the president 
alone, in the courts of law, or in the heads of 
departments. 

The president shall have power to fill up 
all vacancies that may happen during the re- 
cess of the senate, by granting commissions 
which shall expire at the end of their next 
session. 

Sec. 3. He shall from time to time give to 
the congress information of the state of the 
union, and recommend to their consideration 
such measures as he shall judge necessary and 
expedient; he may, on extraordinary occa- 
sions, convene both houses, or either of them ; 
and in case of disagreement between them, 
with respect to the time of adjournment, he 
may adjourn them to such time as he shall 
think proper; he shall receive ambassadors 
and other public ministers ; he shall take care 
that the laws be faithfully executed, and shall 
commission all the officers of the UnitedStates. 

Sec. 4. The president, vice-president and 
all civil officers of the United States, shall be 
removed from office on impeachment for, and 
conviction of, treason, bribery, or other high 
crimes and misdemeanors. 

Article HI. Section 1. The judicial power 
of the United States, shall \)e vested in one 



my ability, preserve, protect and defend the supreme court, and in such inferior courts as 



constitution of the United States." 

Sec. 2. The president shall be commander- 
in-chief of the army and navy of the United 
States, and of the militia of the several states, 
when called into the actual service of the 
United States; he may require the opinion, 
in writing, of the principal officer in each of 
the executive departments, upon any subject 



the congress may from time to time ordain 
and establish. The judges, both of the su- 
preme and inferior court, shall hold their 
offices during good behavior, and shall, at 
stated times, receive for their services, a com- 
pensation, which shall not be diminished 
during their continuance in office. 

Sec. 2. The judicial power shall extend to 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



237 



all cases, in law and equity, arising under 
this constitution, the laws of the United 
States, and treaties made, or which shall be 
made, under their authority; — to all cases 
affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, 
;ind consuls ; — to all cases of admiralty and 
maritime .jurisdiction; — to controversies to 
which the United States shall be a party ; — to 
controversies between two or more states ; — 
\hetween a state and citizens of another 
Iff ate] ; — between citizens of different states, — 
between citizens of the same state claiming 
lands under grants of different states, and be- 
tween a state, or the citizens thereof, and 
foreign states, citizens or subjects. 

In all cases affecting ambassadors, other 
public ministers and consuls, and those in 
which a state shall be party, the supreme 
court shall have original jurisdiction. In all 
the other cases before mentioned, the supreme 
court shall have appellate jurisdiction, both 
as to law and fact, with such exceptions, and 
under such regulations as the congress shall 
make. 

The trial of all crimes, except in cases of 
impeachment, shall be by jury; and such 
trial shall be held in the state where the said 
i'limcs shall have been committed ; but when 
not committed within any state, the trial 
shall be at such place or places as the con- 
gress may by law have directed. 

Sec. 3. Treason against the United States, 
shall consist only in levying war against them, 
or in adhering to their enemies, giving them 
aid and comfort. No person shall be con- 
victed of treason unless on the testimony of 
two witnesses to the same overt act, or on 
confession in open court. 

The congress shall have power to declare 
the punishment of treason, but no attainder 
of treason shall work corruption of blood, or 
forfeiture except during the life of the person 
attainted. 

Article IV. Section 1. Full faith and 
credit shall be given in each state to the 
public acts, records, and judicial proceedings 
of every other state. And the congress may 
by general laws prescribe the manner in 
which such acts, records and proceedings 
shall be proved, and the eflect thereof 

Sec. 2. The citizens of each state shall be 
entitled to all privileges and immunities of 
citizens in the several states. 



A person charged in any state with trea- 
son, felony, or other crime, who shall flee from 
justice, and be found in another state, shall 
on demand of the executive authority of the 
state from which he fled, be delivered up, to 
be removed to the state having jurisdiction of 
the crime. 

No person held to service or labor in one 
state, under the laws thereof, escaping into 
another, shall, in consequence of any law or 
regulation therein, be discharged from such 
service or labor, but shall be delivered up on 
claim of the party to whom such service or 
labor may be due. 

Sec. 3. New states may be admitted by the 
congress into this union ; but no new state 
shall be formed or erected within the juris- 
diction of any other state ; nor any state be 
formed by the junction of two or more states, 
or parts of states, without the consent of the 
legislature of the states concerned as well as 
of the congress. 

The congress shall have power to dispose 
of and make all needful rules and regulations 
respecting the territory or other property be- 
longing to the United States ; and nothing in 
this constitution shall be so construed as to 
prejudice any claims of the United States, or 
of any particular state. 

Sec. 4. The United States shall guarantee 
to every state in this Union a republican form 
of government, and shall protect each of them 
against invasion ; and on application of the 
legislature, or of the executive (when the 
legislature can not be convened) against 
domestic violence. 

Article V. The congress, whenever two- 
thirds of both houses shall deem it necessary, 
shall propose amendments to this constitu- 
tion, or, on the application of the legislatures 
of two-thirds of the several states, shall call 
a convention for proposing amendments, 
which, in either case, shall be valid to all 
intents and purposes, as part of this consti- 
tution, when ratified by the legislatures of 
three-fourths of the several states, or by con- 
ventions in three-fourths thereof, as the one 
or the other mode of ratification may be pro- 
posed by the congress; provided that no 
amendment which may be made prior to the 
year one thousand eight hundred and eight 
shall in any manner affect the first and fourth 
clauses in the ninth section of the first arti- 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



cle ; and that no state, without its consent, 
shall be deprived of its equal suffrage in the 
senate. 

Article VI. All debts contracted and 
engagements entered into, before the adoption 
of this constitution, shall be as valid against 
the United States under this constitution, as 
under the confederation. 

This constitution, and the laws of the 
United States which shall be made in pursu- 
ance thereof; and all treaties made, or which 
shall be made, under the authority of the 
United States, shall be the supreme law of 
the land ; and the judges in every state 
shall be bound therebj^, anything in the con- 
stitution or laws of any state to the contrary 
notwithstanding. 

The senators and representatives before 
mentioned, and the members of the several 
state legislatures, and all executive and judi- 
cial oflBcers, both of the United States and 
of the several states, shall be bound by oath 
or affirmation, to support this constitution ; 
but no religious test shall ever be required as 
a qualification to any office or public trust 
under the United States. 

Article VII. The ratification of the con- 
ventions of nine states, shall be sufficient for 
the establishment of this constitution be- 
tween the states so ratifying the same. 

Amendments. Article the first. Congress 
shall make no law respecting an establishment 
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise 
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, 
or of the press ; or the right of the people 
peaceably to assemble, and to petition the 
government for a redress of grievances. 

Article the second. A well-regulated mili- 
tia, being necessary to the security of a free 
state, the right of the people to ivcep and bear 
arms, shall not be infringed. 

Article the third. No soldier shall, in time 
of peace be quartered in any house, without 
the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, 
but in a manner to be prescribed by law. 

Article the fourth. The right of the peo- 
ple to be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers, and effects, against unreasonable 
searches and seizures, shall not be violated, 
and no warrants shall issue, but upon proba- 
ble cause, supported by oath or affirmation, 
and particularly describing the place to be 



searched, and the persons or things to be 
seized. 

Article the fifth. No person shall beheld 
to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous 
crime, unless on a presentment or indictment 
of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the 
land or naval forces, or in the militia, when 
in actual service in time of war or public 
danger ; nor shall any person be subject for 
the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy 
of life or limb ; nor shall be compelled in 
any criminal case to be a witness against him- 
self, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or prop- 
erty, without due process of law ; nor shall 
private property be taken for public use, 
without just compensation. 

Article the sixth. In all criminal prosecu- 
tions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a 
speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury 
of the state and district wherein the crime 
shall have been committed, which district 
shall have been previously ascertained by 
law, and to be informed of the nature and 
cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with 
the witnesses against him ; to have compul- 
sory process for obtaining witnesses in his 
favor, and to have the assistance of counsel 
for his defense. 

Article the seventh. In suits at common 
law, where the value in controversy shall 
exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by 
jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by 
a jury shall be otherwise re-examined in any 
court of the United States, than according to 
the rules of the common law. 

Article the eighth. Excessive bail shall 
not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, 
nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted. 
Article the ninth. The enumeration in the 
constitution, of certain rights, shall not be 
construed to deny or disparage others retained 
by the people. 

Article the tenth. The powers not dele- 
gated to the United States by the constitu- 
tion, nor prohibited by it to the states, are 
reserved to the states respectively, or to the 
people. 

Article tlie eleventh. The judicial power 
of the United States shall not be construed 
to extend to any suit in law or equity, com- 
menced or prosecuted against one of the 
United States by citizens of another state. 



CON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



239 



or by citizens or subjects of any foreign 
state. 

Article tlie twelfth. The electors shall 
meet in their respective states, and vote by 
ballot, for president and vice-president, one 
of whom, at least, shall not be an inhabitant 
of the same state with themselves ; they shall 
name in their ballots the person voted for as 
president, and in distinct ballots the person 
voted for as vice-president; and they shall 
make distinct lists of all persons voted for as 
president, and of all persons voted for as 
vice-president, and of the number of votes for 
each, which lists they shall sign and certify, 
and transmit sealed to the seat of the gov- 
ernment of the United States, directed to the 
president of the senate ; — The president of the 
senate shall, in the presence of the senate 
and house of representatives, open all the certi- 
ficates, and the votes shall then be counted ; — 
The person having the greatest number of 
votes for president, shall be the president, 
if such number be a majority of the whole 
number of electors appointed ; and if no per- 
son have such majority, then from the per- 
sons having the highest numbers not ex- 
ceeding three on the list of those voted for as 
president, the house of representatives shall 
choose immediately, by ballot, the president. 
But in choosing the president, the votes shall 
be taken by states, the representation from 
each state having one vote ; a quorum for this 
purpose shall consist of a member or mem- 
bers from two-thirds of the states, and a 
majority of all the states shall be necessary 
to a choice. And if the house of representa- 
tives shall not choose a president whenever 
the right of choice shall devolve upon them, 
before the fourth day of March next follow- 
ing, then the vice-president shall act as pres- 
ident, as in the case of the death or other 
constitutional disability of the president. 

The person having the greatest number of 
votes as vice-president, shall be the vice- 
president, if such number be a majority of 
the whole number of electors appointed, and 
if no person have a majority, then from the 
two highest numbers on the list, the senate 
shall choose the vice-president: a quorum 
for the purpose shall consist of two-thirds of 
the whole number of senators, and a major- 
ity of the whole number shall be necessary to 
a choice. 



But no person constitutionally ineligible to 
the oflBce of president shall be eligible to that 
of vice-president of the United States. 

Article the Thirteenth^ Section 1. Neither 
slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as 
a punishment for crmie, whereof the party 
shall have been duly convicted, shall exist in 
the United States, or any place subject to 
their jurisdiction. 

Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to en- 
force this by appropriate legislation. 

CONSULS. These officials were appointed 
at Rome, 509 b. c. They possessed regal 
authority for the space of a year. At first 
they were both patricians, but in the year 
588 B. c. the people obtained the privilege of 
choosing one from their own number, and 
sometimes both were plebeians. A consular 
government was set up in France, Nov. 9th, 
1799, when Bonaparte, Cambaceres, and Le- 
brun were made consuls. Bonaparte was 
created first consul for life. May 6th, 1802. 

CONTI, Armand de Bourbon first an ec- 
clesiastic, then a soldier, opposed his brother 
the great Conde. After being successively 
governor of Guienne, general of the armies in 
Catalonia, and governor of Languedoc, he 
died in 1066. 

CONTRERAS. In this engagement, fought 
early in the morning of the 20th of August, 
184:7, a part of Scott's army commanded by 
Gen. Persifer F. Smith, stormed Gen. Valen- 
cia's intrenched camp. More than a thousand 
prisoners were captured, and some fifteen 
hundred Mexicans killed and wounded. The 
American loss in killed, wounded and miss- 
ing was about one hundred. The battle of 
Cherubusco was fought later in the same day. 

COOK, James, a famous English navigator, 
born in Yorkshire, in 1728, early went to sea. 
He was employed in several important ser- 
vices, and explored the South Sea Islands in 
1769. From New Zealand he sailed to New 
Holland, New Guinea, andBatavia, returning 
home in 1771. His next voyage to the 
southern hemisphere was commenced in 
1772, in two ships, the Resolution and Ad- 
venture. On this voyage Cook discovered 
the island of New Georgia, and returning, 
July 80th, 1775, was well received and 
rewarded for his services. In July, 1776, 
he sailed to determine the long agitated ques- 
I tion of a northwest passage to the Pacific 



COO 



240 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Ocean, but the attempt was abandoned as 
impracticable, and the Kesolution and Discov- 
ery anchored at the Sandwich Islands, on their 
return, Nov. 26th, 1778. Their reception 
was at first favorable, but when Cook went 
on shore to seize the king of Owhyhee, with 
the intention of keeping him as a hostage, till 
one of the English boats stolen by the sava- 
ges was restored, he was attacked by the 
natives, one of whom felled him by a club, 
and then dispatched him with a dagger. This 
event occurred on the 14th of February, 
1779. 

COOPER, Sir Astley Paston, an eminent 
English surgeon, born in 1768, died in 1841. 

COOPER, James Fenimore, a distinguished 
American novelist, died at Cooperstown, N. 
Y., Sept. 14th, 1851. He was born at Bur- 
lington, N. J., Sept. 15th, 1789; his father 
being a judge of some distinction, and a large 
landholder in Otsego county. After grad- 
uating at Yale College, he entered the navy 
as a midshipman in 1805. In 1810, he left 
the service, married, soon settled at Coopers- 
town, and commenced his brilliant career in 
fiction, publishing the series of tales of early 
American life which won him such enviable 
distinction. In 1826, he visited Europe, 
everywhere meeting with a most cordial 
reception. During his stay of several years 
abroad, he wrote several of his best sea 
stories. Some of his later works, after his 
return home, embodied political opinions and 
strictures upon the faults of American life 
and character, which subjected him for some 
years to a warm and bitter hostility. 

COPERNICUS, Nicolas, the illustrious 
astronomer, was born at Thorn in Prussia, 
Feb. 'l9th, 1473. Till his time the Ptolemaic 
theory, which made the earth the centre of 
the planetary system and of the universe, had 
been implicitly believed. Contrary teaching 
was afterward denounced as not only a heresy 
in science but in religion, and a contempt of 
Scripture. The astronomical studies of Co- 
pernicus convinced him of the earth's annual 
motion and the sun's immobility as the centre 
of our solar system. Dreading the prejudices 
of the world, he long delayed the publication 
of his theory. A printed copy of the work in 
which he embodied it was only placed in his 
hands a few hours before his death, which 
occurred May 22d, 1543. 



COPLEY, John Singletox, a self-taught 
painter, a native of Boston, where he was born 
in 1738. He went to England in 1776, where 
he met with great encouragement, and died in 
London in 1815. The painting of the death 
of Lord Chatham in the House of Lords, after 
his immortal speech in favor of America, was 
one of his best performances. His son, Joiix 
Singleton Copley, born in Boston, May 21st, 
1772, was raised to the peerage as Lord Lj-nd- 
hurst upon his appointment as lord chancellor 
in 1827, and occupied an eminent position 
among the statesmen of his adopted country. 

CORDAY, Charlotte, one of those rare 
characters in history who by an utter sacrifice 
of self have gained a world's admiration, was 
born in 1768. The blood of Corneille, the 
great dramatist, coursed in her veins. She 
was educated in a convent, and seems to have 
formed her naturally enthusiastic mind upon 
the classic models of antiquitj^ Her assassin- 
ation of Marat, one of the atrocious triumvi- 
rate, is one of the most startling passages in 
the bloody drama of the French revolution. 
Not aware that he was but the tool of Danton 
and Robespierre, to him she ascribed the woes 
of the republic, and on him she resolved to 
avenge her ill-fated country. She left home 
secretly, and proceeded to Paris, where she 
calmly remained near Marat's dwelling two 
days, before she attempted to execute her 
bloody intent. With difficulty she obtained 
admittance to Marat (who stood in great fear 
of assassination), on the evening of July 13th, 
1793 ; having previously written him in a note 
that she was from the seat of rebellion, and 
would ''put it in his power to do France a 
great service." Marat was in a bath ; a soiled 
handkerchief was bound around his head, in- 
creasing his natural hideousness; a coarse 
covering was thrown across the bath ; a board 
placed transversely supported his papers. 
Entering into conversation with Charlotte, he 
penned with ferocious joy the fresh list of vic- 
tims with which she pretended to supply him ; 
crying, with a malignant smile, "Before a 
week they shall have perished on the guillo- 
tine." " These words," Charlotte said after- 
ward, "sealed his fate." Drawing from be- 
neath the handkerchief that covered her bosom 
the knife she had hidden there, with desperate 
determination she plunged it to the hilt in the 
monster's heart. One loud, dying shriek for 



COR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



241 



help he gave, and then sank back dead in the 
bath. She left the closet, and sat down calmly 
in the next apartment. The household of 
Marat rushed to the fatal spot; the tumult 
spread; a crowd gathered, who gazed with 
wonder upon the murderess, as she stood be- 
fore them with still disordered garments, 
flushed cheeks, and her long dark disheveled 
hair, loosely bound by a broad green ribbon, 
falling around her ; so calm, so serenely lovely, 
that those who most abhorred the deed she 
had wrought, gazed upon her with involuntary 
admiration. She submissively surrendered 
herself to arrest. Her self-possession, sincer- 
ity, and maidenly modesty at the trial, which 
immediately ensued, were marvelous in the 
midst of the tumult that agitated Paris. At 
the very commencement of the prosecution, 
"All these details of form are needless," she 
said. "It was I who killed Marat." "I 
killed one man to save a hundred thousand." 
" I was a repviblican before the revolution ; 
I never wanted energy. I mean by energy 
the feeling of those who are willing to forget 
their own interest for the sake of their coun- 
try." She was condemned. A heavy storm 
broke forth as the car of the doomed, on which 
she sat clothed in a red smock as a murderess, 
went from the prison to the guillotine. An 
immense crowd lined every street through 
which she passed. Hootings and execrations 
at first were her portion ; but as her pure and 
serene beauty dawned on the throngs ; as the 
exquisite loveliness of her countenance, and 
the sculptural beauty of her figure, became 
more fully revealed, — pity and admiration su- 
perseded every other feeling. Her bearing 
was so gracefully calm and dignified as to 
rouse sympathy in the hearts of those who 
detested not only her crime, but the cause for 
which it had been committed. Many men of 
every party uncovered their heads and bowed 
as the cart passed before them, and one young 
man cried out for the erection of a monument 
to her memory, that should bear the inscrip- 
tion, " Greater than Brutus." 

CORDELIERS, friars of the order of St. 
Francis ; clothed in coarse gray cloth, with a 
small ccm-\ and cloak of the same stuff, having 
a girdle of cord or rope, tied with three knots, 
whence their name, which was first given to 
them by St. Louis of France, 1227. 

CORINTH, a famous city of ancient Greece, 



16 



situated on the isthmus of the same name. 
It was founded B.C. 1520. Corinthus, son of 
P6lops, gave his name to the city. The in- 
habitants were once famed for their power, 
wealth, intelligence, and voluptuousness. 
They founded Syracuse in Sicily, which the}" 
afterward delivered from oppression. Corinth 
was destroyed, by the Roman consul Mum- 
mius, 146 B.C. The consul, who M'as no judge 
of the fine arts, assured the soldiers who had 
charge of the incomparable paintings sent 
from Corinth to Rome, that if they injured 
them, he should make them furnish new ones. 
Julius Csesar attempted to restore the city to 
its former importance. The government, at 
first monarchical, was changed 757 B.C., and 
it became the head of the Achajan league. In 
1453 it fell into the hands of the Turks. Co- 
rinth is now a small town of 2,000 inhabitants. 
CORIOLANUS, the surname of Caius Mar- 
cius, given him for his victory over Corioli. 
After having served his country faithfully, 
and received many wounds in her service, he 
was refused the consulship; indignant at 
the ingratitude of his countrymen, who ban- 
ished him, he joined the Volsci, a warlike na- 
tion hostile to the Romans. Coriolanus ter- 
rified the Romans by approaching their capital 
at the head of a powerful army of Volscians. 
The offended Roman refused to listen to pro- 
posals made in the hope of inducing him to 
withdraw, and pitched his camp -within five 
miles of the city. His enmity against his 
country would have been fatal, had not his 
wife, Volumnia, and his mother, Veturia, aided 
by the presence of his children, prevailed upon 
him to withdraw his army. Coriolanus, in 
yielding to his mother, and raising her from 
her suppliant posture, pronounced a sentence 
which was prophetic of his fate: "Oh! my 
mother, you have saved Rome, but you have 
destro3red your son." The Volscians, indig- 
nant at the treachery of Coriolanus, put him 
to death, B.C. 488. 

CORNEILLE, Pierre, a French author 
who flourished in the time of Louis XIV., and 
was the founder of French tragedy. 

CORNELIA, daughter of Scipio Africanus 
the elder, mother of the Gracchi, a Roman 
matron who lived about 130 B.C. A lady of 
Campania having shov.^n her jewels to Corne- 
lia, in paying a visit to the latter requested to 
see her jewels in return. At that moment 



COR 



242 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



her boys entered the room, and the noble Cor- 
nelia, pointing them out to her visitors, ex- 
claimed, " These are my jewels ! " At her 
death the Romans, mindful of her worth, 
erected a monument to her memory. 

CORNWALLIS, Charles, Marquis of, born 
in 1738, entered the English army at an early 
age, and rose rapidly. He commanded the 
British army in the South during the Revolu- 
tion, and was finally captured at Yorktown. 
In 1786, he was made governor-general of In- 
dia, where he reduced Tippoo Saib. From 
1798 to 1801 he was lord-lieutenant of Ireland, 
and was of eminent service in restoring quiet 
to that distracted country. In 1805, he was 
once more made governor-general of India, 
but died at Ghazepore, soon after his arrival 
out, Oct. 5th of that year. 

CORREGGIO. Antonio Allegri, com- 
monly called Correggio from his birth-place, a 
small town in Modena, was born in the winter 
of 1493-4. In 1519, we find him a master of 
established reputation at Parma. His frescoes 
in the churches of Parma are his greatest 
works, but he likewise produced many cele- 
brated paintings in oil. His proverbial grace 
— apparent, not only in his undulating forms 
and soft transitions, but in the action and ex- 
pression of his figures — is a distinctive char- 
acteristic of his works ; and he is still unri- 
valed in a certain harmony which results from 
delicate gradations of light and shade. He 
died of a fever at Correggio, March 5th, 1534. 
CORSICA, an island in the Mediterranean, 
north of Sardinia. Its area is 3,377 square 
miles, and the population in 1851 was 226,253. 
It is mountainous, but the numerous valleys 
are extremely fertile. The Corsicans know 
not how to develope the resources of their 
island. They are in an almost barbarous 
state, recklessly brave, revengeful, fond of 
freedom, and indolent. Corsica has been 
successively occupied by the Carthaginians, 
the Romans, the Goths, the Saracens, the 
Franks, the Pope, the Pisanese, the Genoese, 
the French, and the English, falling into the 
hands of the last in 1794.' The English, 
however, did not long retain possession of the 
island, and it was again restored to France. 
Ajaccio is the chief town and port. 

CORTEZ, Fernando, the conqueror of 
Mexico, was born in 1485, in Estremadura. 
F*^ came to the West Indies in high hopes. 



and Velasquez, governor of Cuba, gave him 
the command of an expedition designed for 
the reduction of Mexico, which consisted of 
ten ships, six hundred men, ten small field- 
pieces, and eighteen horses. With this small 
armament he accomplished his enterprise, in 
1519, and added the empire of Mexico to 
that of Spain. He took Montezuma prisoner, 
although received with hospitality, and the 
unfortunate king was killed by his own sub- 
jects in an attack on the Spaniards. The 
conduct of the conquerors so exasperated 
the Indians that they compelled Cortez to 
quit the city with great loss, but he regained 
it after some hard fighting. On the capture 
of Guatimozin, son of Montezuma, the city 
surrendered, and the empire of Mexico was 
at an end. A commission arrived to deprive 
Cortez of his command, and he returned to 
Spain in 1528 to procure redress. He died 
in obscurity, in 1554. 

CORUNNA, a seaport in the north-west 
of Spain. Sir John Moore's army, amounting 
to about 15,000, had just accomplished a safe 
retreat hither when they were attacked by 
Soult with 20,000 troops, Jan 16th, 1809. 
The French were repulsed, but the loss of 
the British was immense. Their illustrious 
commander was struck by a cannon-ball, 
which carried away his left shoulder with 
part of the collar-bone, leaving the arm hang- 
ing by the flesh, and died in the arms of vic- 
tory. In the evening his corpse, wrapped 
in a cloak, was interred by the oflBcers of his 
staff, and the remnant of the army hastily 
embarked. 

COSSACKS, the name of several warlike 
tribes that inhabit the south-western prov- 
inces of Russia, and form an effective portion 
of the Russian cavalry. Their horses are 
small but hardy, and will travel for a who'le 
campaign from fifty to seventy miles a day. 
They fight in little bands, and their arms are 
long lances, bows and arrows, sabres, and 
pistols or guns. The chief is called a hetman. 
COUNCILS OF THE CHURCH. The 
following are among the most memorable 
ecclesiastical councils of ancient days. Of 
the apostles at Jerusalem, a.d. 50. Aries in 
France, 314; the western bishops met to sup- 
press the Donatists; three fathers of the 
English church were present. Nice, 325; 
the first CEcumenical or General Nicene-; 



COU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



243 



Constantine the Great presided ; Arius and 
Eusebius were condemned for heresy; this 
council composed the Nicene creed. Tyre, 
335, when the doctrine of Athanasius was 
canvassed. Constantinople, 337, when the 
Arian heresy gained ground. Rome, 342 ; 
concerning Athanasius ; it lasted eighteen 
months. Sardis, 34:7. Rimini, 359; four 
hundred fathers attended, and Constantine 
obliged them to sign a new confession of 
faith. Constantinople, the second general, 
381 ; Pope Damasius presided. Ephesus, 
the third, 431 ; Pope Celestine presided. 
Chalcedon, the fourth, 451 ; Pope Leo pre- 
sided, and Marcian and his empress attended. 
Constantinople, the fifth, 553 ; and the sixth 
in 680. Authority of the six general coun- 
cils re-established by Theodosius, 715. Nice, 
second Nicene and seventh general, 787. 
Constantinople, eighth, 869. Clermont in 
France, 1094 ; convened by Urban II. to au- 
thorize the first crusade ; Philip I. of France 
was excommunicated. The Lateran councils 
were so called because held in the basilica of 
the Lateran at Rome. First Lateran, ninth 
general, 1122 ; the right of investitures set- 
tled by treaty between Pope Calixtus II. and 
the Emperor Henry V. Second Lateran, 
tenth general, 1139; Innocent II. presided; 
the preservation of the temporal ties of eccle- 
siastics was the principal subject, and occa- 
sioned the attendance of one thousand fathers. 
Third Lateran, eleventh general, 1179 ; held 
against schismatics. Fourth Lateran, twelfth 
general, 1215 ; four hundred bishops and a 
thousand abbots attended. Lyons, thirteenth 
general, under Innocent IV. 1245. Lyons, 
fourteenth general, under Gregory X., 1274. 
Vienne, in Dauphiny, fifteenth general, 1311 ; 
Clement V. presided, and the kings of France 
and Aragon attended; the order of knight- 
templars was suppressed. Pisa, sixteenth 
general, 1409; Gregory XII. and Benedict 
XIII. deposed, and Alexander elected. Con- 
stance, seventeenth general, 1414; Martin V. 
elected pope, John XXIIL being deposed. 
This council condemned Jerome of Prague 
and John Huss to be burned alive, a sentence 
executed upon the latter July 6th, 1415, and 
on the other the 6th of May following, in a 
suburb of Constance called Paradise ! Huss, 
under a safe-conduct from the Emperor Sigis- 



mund, had complied with a summons from 
the council to defend his opinions before 
the clergy of all nations, and was treacher- 
ously cast into prison. Jerome hastened to 
Constance to defend him, was himself loaded 
with chains, and finally shared the fate of 
his friend. Basle, eighteenth general, 1431. 
Fifth Lateran, nineteenth general, begun by 
Julius IL, 1512, and continued under Leo 
X., till 1517, for the suppression of the prag- 
matic sanction of France against the council 
of Pisa. Trent, the twentieth and last general 
council styled oecumenical, 1545 ; it was held 
to condemn the doctrines of Luther, Zuing- 
lius, and Calvin ; it continued with intervals 
till 1563. 

COURTRAI, anciently Cortoriacum, a town 
of Belgium, twenty-two miles south-west of 
Ghent, famous for the battle fought in its 
vicinity, in 1302, between the Flemings and 
Fi'ench. The latter were* defeated with great 
loss, and, from the fact that four thousand 
gilt spurs were found upon the field, the en- 
gagement was called the Battle of the Spurs. 

COWLEY, Abraham, an English poet, the 
son of a grocer, born in 1618, died in 1667. 
He was an easy writer, and patronized by 
royalty. 

COWPENS, S. C. Here, Jan. 17th, 1781, 
a British force led by Tarleton was brilliantly 
defeated by the Americans under Gen. Daniel 
Morgan. This was an important check to 
the plans of Cornwallis. 

COWPER, William, the poet, son of the 
Rev. Dr. Cowper, was born at Berkhamstead, 
Herts, Nov. 15th, 1731. His education was 
acquired at a public school, where girlish 
timidity and delicacy subjected him to con- 
stant agony from the tyranny and roughness 
of his school-fellows. He studied law, and 
obtained the place of clerk of the House of 
Lords; but when the time approached for 
him to enter upon the duties of his office, his 
terror at presenting himself before the peer- 
age, not only induced him to relinquish the 
place, but produced a fit of sickness. About 
this time his religious fears brought on a 
temporary derangement. He led the life of 
a despondent recluse, at Olney, now and then 
afflicted by a recurrence of his insanity, 
j which in his last years settled into a constant 
I shadow of religious agony and terror. His 



COW 



244 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



death took place April 25th, 1800. Of all 
his poems the humorous ballad of "John 
Giipin," and " The Task," are the best. 

CRABBE, George, a popular British poet, 
was born Dec. 24th, 1754, at Aldborough in 
Suffolk. He was intended for a surgeon, and 
actually opened a shop, to which he confined 
himself for some time, although barely making 
his expenses. In 1778 he went to London 
as a literary adventurer, but was for a long 
time unsuccessful. When a prison was in 
near view, and ruin appeared to threaten him, 
he conceived the idea of writing to Edmund 
Burke, for assistance and advice. That great 
man at once became his friend and patron, 
urged him to persevere, and induced him to 
study divinity and take orders. Thenceforth 
his circumstances were comfortable. He 
married the object of his early affections, 
devoted himself to literature, and received 
the applause due to a genius of the highest 
order, and continued to use his pen till his 
death in 1832. Crabbe excelled in descrip- 
tions of humble life, and his poems are marked 
by a sombre strength and pathos. Byron 
called him, 

"Nature's sternest painter, but her best." 

CRANMER, TnoMAS, Archbishop of Can- 
terbury, who aided the progress of the refor- 
mation in England, was yet the slave of the 
king, and never permitted conscience to 
interfere with the wishes of the crowned 
tyrant. He joined the partisans of Lady 
Jane Grey, and was accordingly sent to the 
Tower on the accession of Mary. Hav- 
ing been accused of blasphemy, perjury, in- 
continence, and heresy, he was burnt at 
Oxford, March 21st, 1556. Cranmer was born 
in 1489. He was at once a divine and a 
statesman. In his character of divine he was 
perfectly ready to go as far in the way of 
change as any Swiss or Scottish reformer. In 
his character of statesman he was desirous to 
preserve that organization which had, during 
many ages, admirably served the purposes of 
the bishops of Rome, and might be expected 
now to serve equally well the purposes of the 
English kings and of their ministers. His 
temper and his understanding eminently fitted 
him to act as mediator. Saintly in his pro- 
fessions, unscrupulous in his dealings, zealous 
for nothing, bold in speculation, a coward 



and a time-server in action, a placable enemy 
and a lukewarm friend, he was in every way 
qualified to arrange the terms of the coalition 
between the religious and the worldly ene- 
mies of popery. He was more courageous at 
the stake than he had been in life. The 
night before martyrdom his enemies seduced 
him by hope of life to sign a written recan- 
tation. When the tire was lit about him, he 
thrust his right hand, with which he had 
signed, into the flame before it could reach 
his body, sometimes saying, " This unworthy 
hand!" and then, "Lord Jesus, receive my 
spirit." 

CRASSUS, Marcus Licinius, a Roman con- 
sul, distinguished for some gallant actions, 
and active in crushing the gladiatorial revolt 
which was headed by Spartacus. He was 
slain b}" the Parthians, b.c. 53. He was the 
colleague of Cajsar and Pompey in the first 
triumvirate, b.c. 60. 

CRAWFORD, TnoMAS, an eminent sculp- 
tor, was born in New York, N. Y., March 
22d, 1814. From an early age he manifested 
a remarkable fondness for art, which his 
father lost no opportunity of encouraging. 
His tendency being manifestly toward the 
plastic arts, in 1834, at twenty years of age, 
he was sent to Italy, where he was so fortu- 
nate as to gain admittance into the studio of 
Thorwaldsen, to whose instruction and friend- 
ship he became indebted for much of his 
subsequent success. The purity of form and 
severe classicism of this eminent master are 
reflected in many of his pupil's works. After 
a few years of study, Crawford established 
his studio in Rome, and soon received abund- 
ant employment. A malignant tumor in his 
eye caused his death, Oct. 7th, 1857. 

CREBILLON, the elder, French tragic 
poet, died 1762, aged eighty-eight. 

CRESSY, or CRECY, a town of France ten 
miles north of Abbeville, where was fought 
a famous battle between the French under 
Philip and the English, in which the latter, led 
by Edward III. and his son the brave Black 
Prince, were completely victorious, August 
26th, 1346. Over 30,000 French were slain, 
while the loss of the English waa very small. 
The crest of John, the Bohemian king (who 
fell fighting for the French), three ostrich 
feathers, with the motto Ich dien, " I serve," 



CRE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



245 



was adopted by the Black Prince, and has 
ever since been borne by the heir to the 
English ci'own. 

CRICHTON, James, a Scotch gentleman, 
born in 1550, of a good family, who, from his 
proficiency in the arts and sciences, particu- 
larly music and manly exercises, was styled 
the Admirable. He traveled in France and 
Italy, and in Mantua, having pleased the 
duke, was appointed preceptor to his son. 
During the carnival of 1583, Crichton, while 
playing upon his guitar, was attacked in the 
streets by a masked band, against which 
he defended himself with his accustomed 
spirit, until he recognized his pupil in the 
leader. Throwing himself upon his knees, 
he presented his sword to the young noble- 
man, who stabbed his preceptor to the heart. 
The motives which impelled him are un- 
known. 

CRTLLON, Louis de Balbe, surnamed the 
Fearless, a celebrated French commander, 
born of a noble family, in Provence, in 1541. 
He was the friend of Henry IV. He distin- 
guished himself at the siege of Calais, and 
against the Huguenots and the Turks. "Hang 
thyself, brave Crillon; we have fought at 
Arques, and thou wast absent," was Henry's 
laconic announcement of one of his most 
brilliant victories to his favored friend. In 
1592, he successfully defended Villeboeuf 
with an inferior force against Marshal Villars, 
and when called upon to surrender, gallantly 
answered, "Crillon is within, and Villars 
without." The assailants were unsuccessful. 
One day, hearing a sermon in which the suf- 
ferings of Christ were forcibly described, he 
seized the handle of his sword and cried, 
"Where wert thou, Crillon?" He died in 
1616. 

CROESUS, the last king of Lydia, famed 
for his immense wealth. Being defeated by 
Cyrus, B.C. 548, he was conducted to the 
stake, but saved his life by repeating, in the 
hearing of Cyrus, the saying of Solon, that 
no man could be pronounced happy till his 
death. 

CROMWELL, Oliver, was born of a good 
family at Huntingdon, April 25th, 1599, and 
received a careful education. The excesses 
in which he indulged on quitting the univer- 
sity, were ended at his marriage with Eliz- 
abeth Bouchier, daughter of a baronet of 



Essex, at the age of twenty-one. He was 
chosen to a seat in parliament in 1628, and 
again in 1640. He wlis a strong opponent of 
the measui'es of the court. In 1642, when 
hostilities were determined upon, Cromwell 
raised a troop of horse, and seized the plate 
of the university at Cambridge to defray the 
expenses of the war. He soon acquired the 
rank of colonel, and the superior courage of 
his troops, procured for them at Marston 
Moor the name of ironsides. He also distin- 
guished himself at the battle of Newbury, 
1643. He had now gained so great an in- 
fluence, that when the famous self-denying 
ordinance was passed, by which all mem- 
bers of either house of parliament were ex- 
cluded from command in the army, Crom- 
well was particularly excepted. He was 
constituted lieutenant-general, and by his 
skill and courage the battle of Naseby was 
won in 1645, followed by a sei'ies of suc- 
cesses which decided the fate of the roy- 
alists. 

The parliamentary troops had been at first 
far inferior to the high-spirited cavaliers. 
But the army which grew up under the rigid 
discipline of Cromwell, was irresistible. The 
stubborn courage of the English was, by the 
system of Cromwell, at once regulated and 
stimulated. Other leaders have maintained 
order as strict ; other leaders have inspired 
their followers with a zeal as ardent ; but in 
his camp alone the most rigid discipline was 
found in company with the fiercest enthu- 
siasm. His troops moved to victory with the 
precision of machines, while burning with the 
wildest fanaticism of crusaders. From the 
time when the army was remodeled to the 
time when it was disbanded, it never found, 
either in the British islands or on the conti- 
nent, an enemy who could stand its onset. 
In England, Scotland, Ireland, Flanders, the 
Puritan warriors, often surrounded by diflS- 
culties, sometimes contending against three- 
fold odds, not only never failed to conquer, 
but never failed to destroy and break in 
pieces whatever force was opposed to them. 
They at length came to regard the day of bat- 
tle as a day of certain triumph, and marched 
against the most renowned battalions of Eu- 
rope with disdainful confidence. Turenne 
was startled by the shout of stern exultation 
with which his English allies advanced to the 



CRO 



246 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



combat, and expressed the delight of a true 
soldier when he learned that it was ever the 
fashion of Cromwell's pikcmen to rejoice 
greatly when they beheld the enemy ; and the 
banished cavaliers felt an emotion of national 
pride when they saw a brigade of their coun- 
trymen, outnumbered by foes and abandoned 
by allies, drive before it in headlong route 
the finest infantry of Spain, and force a pas- 
sage into a counterscarp which had just been 
pronounced impregnable by the ablest of the 
marshals of France. But that which chiefly 
distinguished the army of Cromwell from 
other armies was the austere morality and the 
fear of God which pervaded all ranks. It is 
acknowledged by the most zealous royalists 
that, in that singular camp, no oath was 
heard, no drunkenness or gambling was seen, 
and that, during the long dominion of the 
soldiery, the property of the peaceable citizen 
and the honor of woman were held sacred. 
If outrages were committed, they were out- 
rages of a very diiferent kind from those of 
which a victorious army is generally guilty. 
No servant girl complained of the rough gal- 
lantry of the red-coats ; not an ounce of plate 
was taken from the shops of the goldsmiths ; 
but a Pelagian sermon, or a window on which 
the Virgin and Child were painted, produced 
in the Puritan ranks an excitement which it 
required the utmost exertions of the officers 
to quell. One of Cromwell's chief difficulties 
was to restrain his pikemen and dragoons 
from invading by main force the pulpits of 
ministers whose discourses, to use the lan- 
guage of that time, were not savory ; and too 
many cathedrals still bear the marks of 
the hatred with which those stern spirits 
regarded every vestige of popery. — Macavlay. 
Charles I. w\as betrayed by the Scotch, and 
brought to the scaffold. For this step Crom- 
well should not alone be held responsible. 
He acquiesced in what he could not have 
prevented, had he desired a quieter result. 
England was declared a commonwealth. 
Ireland and Scotland raised the standard of 
the second Charles. Cromwell, in 1649, 
went to Ireland, which he subdued, and leav- 
ing Ireton as deputy, returned to England in 
1650. Against the Scots, he gained the battle 
of Dunbar, Sept. 3d, 1 650, and that day twelve- 
month, defeated the royal forces at Worcester. 



The Rump parliament a,nd the army came 
in collision. Armed men cleared the house, 
and the victorious general was declared lord 
high protector of the commonwealth, Dec. 
12th, 1653, by the Barebones parliament. 
Opposed as he was by both royalists and 
republicans, he could be safe only by being 
absolute. The government, in form' a re- 
public, was • in truth a military despotism, 
moderated by the wisdom, the sober-minded- 
ness, and the magnanimity of the protector. 
The laws were violated only when demanded 
for the safety of his person or government. 
The cavalier who refrained from disturbance 
was unmolested. Justice M'as administered 
with exactness and purity not before known. 
Never, since the reformation, had there been 
so little religious persecution. 

Cromwell's foreign policy extorted the 
ungracious approbation of those who most 
detested him. England had been of scarcely 
more weight in European politics than Yen- 
ice or Saxony. She at once became the most 
formidable power in the world, dictated terms 
of peace to Holland, avenged the common 
injuries of Christendom on the pirates of 
Barbary, vanquished the Spaniards by sea 
and land, seized one of the finest West 
India islands, and acquired on the Flemish 
coast a fortress which consoled the national 
pride for the loss of Calais. She was su- 
preme on the ocean. She was the head of 
the Protestant interest. All the Protestant 
churches scattered over Roman Catholic 
kingdoms acknowledged CromAvell as their 
guardian. The pope himself was forced to 
preach humanity and moderation to popish 
princes ; for a voice which seldom threatened 
in vain had declared that, unless fevor were 
shown to the people of God, English guns 
should be heard in the castle of vSaint Angelo. 

The protector had thus conquered peace 
at home and triumph abroad. The death 
of his favorite daughter smote him sorely ; he 
became depressed in spirits, was seized with a 
slow fever, and died, Sept. 3d, 1658. This 
best and greatest ruler that England has ever 
had was buried with more than regal pomp 
in Westminster Abbey. In mean revenge, 
after the restoration, his body was torn 
from its sanctuary and exposed upon the 
gallows at Tyburn, 



CRO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



247 



CROMWELL, KiCHAKD, succeeded his fa- 
ther as protector of England, was soon deposed 
by the army, and lived a quiet life as a coun- 
tr}' gentleman. 

CROMWELL, Thomas, Earl of Essex, son 
of a blacksmith at Putney, in Surrey, was 
born about the year 1490. Early in life he 
became clerk to the English factory at Ant- 
werp, which he left to serve in Italy, where 
he fought beneath the banners of the Consta- 
ble of Bourbon. Returning home, he was 
taken into the service of Cardinal Wolsej^, 
who procured him a seat in the House of 
Commons. When Wolsey fell, Cromwell be- 
came a servant of the king, was raised to the 
office of chancellor of the exchequer, and in 
1534: made secretary of state and master of 
the rolls. About this time he was also elected 
chancellor of Cambridge. The next year he 
was appointed visitor-general of the monaste- 
ries. In 1530 he was made lord keeper of 
the privy -seal, and the same year advanced to 
the peerage by the title of Lord Cromwell ; 
and the papal supremacy being abolished, he 
was nominated the king's vicar-general in the 
convocation. In 1537 he was appointed chief- 
justice itinerant of all the forests beyond 
Trent, elected knight of the garter, and made 
dean of Wells. To these honors was added 
the grant of many manors after the dissolution 
of the monasteries, and in 1539 he was cre- 
ated Earl of Essex. Soon after, his fortune 
declined as fast as it had risen. His ruin was 
hastened by the marriage which he projected 
between Henry and Anne of Cleves, and he 
was sent to the Tower, where he was deserted 
by all his friends except Cranmer, who, how- 
ever, could not save him from the scaffold, 
and he suffered death with fortitude, July 
28th, 1540. 

CRUDEN, Alexander, author of a well- 
known biblical concordance, was born in Ab- 
erdeen, May 31st, 1701. He was exceedingly 
eccentric, and at times insane. He was found 
dead in his chamber in the attitude of prayer, 
Nov. 1st, 1770. 

CRUSADES, the name given to the expe- 
ditions fitted out by the Christian warriors of 
Europe, for the recovery of the Holy Land, 
from the end of the eleventh to the end of the 
thirteenth century. The crusaders derived 
their name from the badge of the cross which 
was wrought upon their mantles and appeared 



in various parts of their equipments. The 
age was one in which the people were pecul- 
iarly adapted to the reception of enthusiastic 
religious impulses. The Christians could not 
bear to think that the places which they held 
so dear, and which the history of their religion 
hallowed, should be desecrated by the pres- 
ence of infidels, and rendered dangerous to 
those pilgrims whom reverence called to Pal- 
estine. The church called upon the chivalry 
of Europe, and the knights responded to the 
summons. 

The rise of the crusades is immediately at- 
tributable to the enthusiasm of a wandering 
pilgrim, called Peter the Hermit, who, having 
experienced the tyrannical exactions imposed 
on the visitors of the holy sepulchre, repre- 
sented them to Urban II. in such lively colors, 
that the prelate selected him as the instrument 
of a grand design which he had formed to 
overthrow the Mohammedan power, and Peter, 
armed with the holy commission, went from 
province to province, to kindle up that enthu- 
siasm by which he was himself consuming. 
When the feelings of the people and the po- 
tentates appeared ripe for some wild project, 
Urban held a council in the open fields at Pi- 
acenza, and proposed his scheme, which was 
warmly applauded, but not as warmly em- 
braced. Another council was therefore held 
at Clermont, graced by the presence of am- 
bassadors from all nations, and the result was 
as favorable as he could have anticipated. The 
pope held out to the crusaders the promise of 
spiritual pardon, and imposed on them only 
the penance of plunder for their sins. Thus 
excited, the enthusiasm became general ; no- 
blemen sold their estates for outfits ; the 
meanest lords of the manors set forth at their 
own expense ; the poor gentlemen followed 
them as esquires ; and above 80,000 collected 
under the banners of the cross. Godfrey of 
Boulogne was at the head of 70,000 foot, and 
10,000 horse, splendidly armed, were under 
the command of many lords, who were joined 
by Hugh, brother to Philip I; of France, Ray- 
mond of Toulouse, Bohemond, King of Sicily, 
and others of equal and less note. A propo- 
sal was made to the pope to put himself at 
their head, but he refused. This refusal, 
however, did not damp their ardor. 

Confiding in their cause, their numbers, 
and their equipments, they traversed Germany 



CRU 



248 



COTTAGE. CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and Hungary, took Nice, Antioch, and Edessa, 
and arrived at Jerusalem. The city was taken 
by storm, after five weeks' siege, July 15th, 
1099. The numerous inhabitants and garri- 
son were put to the sword. Neither aa-ms 
defended the valiant nor submission the timid ; 
no age or sex was spared; infants on the 
breast were pierced by the same blow with 
their mothers who implored for mercy. Even 
a multitude to the number of ten thousand, 
who had surrendered themselves prisoners, 
and were promised quarter, were butchered in 
cold blood by these ferocious conquerors. 
The streets of Jerusalem were covered with 
corpses ; and the triumphant warriors, after 
every enemy was subdued or slaughtered, im- 
mediately turned themselves in humiliation 
toward the holy sepulchre ! They threw away 
their weapons still streaming with blood ; they 
advanced, with bowed heads, and naked feet 
and hands, to that sacred monument ; they 
sung anthems to their Saviour, who had there 
purchased their salvation by his death and 
agony ; and their devotion so overcame their 
fury, that they dissolved in tears, and bore 
the appearance of every soft and tender sen- 
timent. So inconsistent is human nature with 
itself! and so easily does superstition ally, 
both with the most heroic courage and with 
the fiercest barbarity ! Godfrey of Boulogne, 
not M'ithout opposition from the priests, was 
elected King of Jerusalem, but died in 1100. 
In 1102, an immense army which departed 
for the Holy Land, was defeated, and no fewer 
than 200,000 men lost to Europe by the en- 
terprise. The capture of Baldwin and the loss 
of Edessa occasioned a new crusade in 1147. 

France again gave the impulse to the relig- 
ious excitement. Pope Eugenius IH. induced 
St. Bernard of Clairvaux to act the part of 
Peter the Hermit, and the consequence was 
that Louis the Young, accompanied by his 
wife, Eleanor of Guienne, departed for the 
Holy Land, and Conrad IH., in whose hands 
the red cross was placed, led a large army into 
Asia. Both of them, however, were unsuc- 
cessful. 

The unfortunate issue of the second crusade 
was precipitated by the dissensions of the 
Christians, and the uncommon abilities of Sa- 
ladin, who, advancing at the head of an army 
that placed implicit confidence in the courage 
and skill of their leader, animated by a relig- 



ious fury no less absorbing than that which 
filled the breast of the crusaders, threw him- 
self upon Jerusalem, which, unable to hold 
out against him, once more echoed to the 
shouts of Saracen conquerors, as they again 
erected their crescent on the ramparts of the 
city. The Christians lost all their possessions 
but Antioch, Tripoli, Joppa, and Tyre. 

The leaders of the third crusade (1189) were 
Frederick I. of Germany, surnamed Barbaros- 
sa, the chivalric Philip Augustus of France, 
and the lion-hearted Richard L of England. 
Barbarossa was ultimately unsuccessful, but 
the monarchs of France and England took 
possession of Ptolemais or Acre. Philip Au- 
gustus, from motives of jealousy, left the field 
to Richard, who proved himself a worthy rival 
of Saladin, and the two commanders performed 
wonderful feats of arms which were the ad- 
miration of both armies. The fourth c^'usade 
was conducted by Andrew H. of Hungary, 
and the fifth by Frederick IL of Germany. 
The results of these ought to have shown 
that the Christians could not hope to gain 
permanent possession of the country. In 
1270 St. Louis, King of France, undertook 
the sixth and last crusade, which, though 
well conceived, and vigorously carried on, 
was unsuccessful. In this last crusade no 
fewer than 150,000 persons perished: add to 
this the numbers that died in former expedi- 
tions, and it will be seen that the east was the 
tomb of above two millions of Europeans; 
and several countries were depopulated and 
impoverished by the crusades. Yet the holy 
wars were not without good. They created 
an intimate connection and a constant inter- 
course between the nations of Europe, which, 
as it was favorable to commercial enterprise, 
increased the wealth, improved the arts, and 
contributed to establish the civilization of the 
Christian world. 

CUBA, subject to Spain, is the largest of 
the West Indies. Its area is 42,383 square 
miles, and its population exceeds a million, of 
whom about one-half are slaves. The island 
is rich and fertile, producing sugar, coffee, 
and tobacco abundantly. Havana, the capital 
of Cuba, is on the northern coast of the island ; 
population, composed of whites, mulattois, 
and negroes, 150,000. The streets of the city 
are dirty, but the strongly fortified harbor is 
one of the finest in the world. The public 



CUB 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



249 



edifices of the city, particularly the Catholic 
churches, are very splendid. The commerce 
of Havana is extensive and increasing. It 
was founded in 1511, by Diego Velasquez, 
and has been twice taken by the English, but 
was restored to Spain in 1763. The bones of 
Columbus repose in the cathedral of Havana. 

Cuba was discovered by Columbus in 1492. 
In 1511 it was conquered by the Spaniards, 
and as little gain was anticipated from mines, 
the natives were cruelly exterminated. In 
1762 a powerful expedition for the conquest 
of the island was fitted out by the British, 
and Havana capitulated in August. The 
plunder obtained by the British was immense. 
By the treaty of 1763, Cuba was restored to 
the Spaniards. An expedition headed by Lo- 
pez, to wrest Cuba from Spanish dominion, 
landed on the island May 17th, 1850, and 
ended in defeat and disaster. Lopez made a 
second attempt in August, 1851. His party 
was taken, fifty of them shot, and he himself 
garrotted at Havana. 

CULLODEN MUIR, a heath in Scotland, 
where the Duke of Cumberland defeated the 
young Pretender, after an obstinate resistance, 
on the 16th of April, 1746. Prince Charles 
sought safety in flight among the Highland 
wilds. The duke's troops practiced great 
cruelties upon the vanquished, as well as upon 
the defenseless inhabitants near the field of 
battle. The defeat quenched the hopes of the 
house of Stuart forever. 

CUMBERLAND, William Augustus, Duke 
of, second son of George II., was born in 
1721. He was wounded at the battle of Det- 
tingen, but refused the assistance of a surgeon 
until the latter had finished dressing the 
wound of a poor soldier who had been shot 
at the same time with himself He com- 
manded the British army at the battles of 
Fontenoy and Val, which were lost through 
the cowardice of the Dutch troops. In 1746 
he defeated the Pretender at Culloden, but 
disgraced his character by his cruel treatment 
of the vanquished. He died in 1765. 

CUMBERLAND, Richard, an English 
dramatist and miscellaneous author, son of 
the Bishop of Clonfert, was born in 1732, and 
educated at Trinity College, Cambridge. He 
died in London, May 7th, 1811. His fame 
rests altogether on his comic dramas. He 
was extremely sensitive, self-conceited, and 



jealous, and Sheridan, considering him as 
fair game, held him up to ridicule as Sir Fret- 
ful Plagiary in "The Critic." He was much 
annoyed at the success of the "School for 
Scandal," and it was only for fear of exciting 
ridicule by refusing to witness it, that he 
carried two of his children to sec the play. 
Cumberland sat behind them, the picture of 
jealousy and envy. When they laughed at 
any witticisms, in common with the audience, 
Cumberland would gravely extend a finger 
and thumb, inflict a severe pinch, and say, 
" What are you laughing at, my dears ? • I 
don't see anything to laugh at." 

CUNNERSDORF, a village on the Oder, 
at no great distance from Frankfort, where 
Frederick the Great with 50,000 men attacked 
the Russian and Austrian army of 90,000 in 
their camp, and at first gained considerable 
advantages ; but pursuing them too far, the 
Austrians and Russians rallied, and retrieved 
a complete victory. The Prussians lost two 
hundred guns, and 20,000 men in killed and 
wounded, Aug. 12th, 1759. 

CURIUS DENTATUS, Marcus Annius, a 
Roman consul, famous for his fortitude and 
frugality. He gained several victories, and 
defeated Pyrrhus, B.C. 272. The Samnite 
ambassadors found him cooking some vege- 
tables for his dinner in an earthen pot, yet he 
indignantly refused the vessels of gold with 
which they attempted to bribe him. 

CURRAN, John Philpott, was born of 
humble parents, near Cork, in 1750. He was 
called to the bar in 1775. In his boyhood he 
had been afiiicted like Demosthenes, and his 
nickname at school was "stuttering Jack 
Curran." This impediment, like Demos- 
thenes, he overcame, and became famous for 
his forensic and parliamentary oratory. He 
entered the Irish parliament about 1785. 
His eloquence shone in his conversation as 
well, and was rivaled by his wit and sarcasm. 
Byron said that Curran spoke more poetry 
than any man had ever written. This admira- 
tion the Irishman did not fully reciprocate. 
He constantly objected to Byron's moody 
egotism as the great drawback on his poetry. 
"Any subject," said Curran, "but that eter- 
nal one of self I weary of knowing once a 
month the state of any man's hopes or fears, 
rights or wrongs. I would as soon read a 
register of the weather, the barometer up so 



CUR 



250 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



many inches to day, and down so many inches 
to-morrow. I feel skepticism all over me at 
the sight of agonies on paper, things that 
come as regular and notorious as the full of 
the moon. The truth is, his lordship weeps 
for the press, and wipes his eyes with the 
public." 

In the Irish parliament, when once merci- 
lessly exposing the corruption of the place- 
men, Curran spoke of the immaculate virtue 
of "those saints on the pension list; they 
toil not, neither do they spin, but they are 
arrayed like Solomon in his glory." At 
another time he used this strong figure con- 
cerning those whose path to power had lain 
through treachery to Ireland : " Those found- 
lings of fortune, overwhelmed in the torrent 
of corruption at an early period, lay at the 
bottom like drowned bodies, while soundness 
■or sanity remained in them ; but at length 
becoming buoyant by putrefaction, they rose 
as they rotted, and floated to the surface of 
the polluted stream, where they were drifted 
along, the objects of terror, and contagion, 
and abomination." 

Of his wit many tales are related. Lundy 
Foot, a celebrated tobacconist, set up a car- 
riage, and asked Curran for a Latin motto. 
" Quid rides," said Curran. Being told that 
a very stingy and slovenly barrister had 
started for the continent with a shirt and a 
guinea, " He'll not change either till he comes 
back," said Curran. He was cross-examin- 
ing a witness : "My lord, my lord," cried the 
fellow to the judge, " I can't answer yon little 
gentleman, he's putting me in such a dol- 
drum." "A doldrum! Mr. Curran, what 
does he mean by a doldrum ! " exclaimed 
Lord Avonmore. "Oh, my lord, it's a very 
common complaint with persons of this sort : 
it's merely a confusion of the head arising 
from the corruption of the heart." Once 
when he was arguing for the defense in a 
state trial, the judge shook his head in doubt 
or denial at one of his points. " I see, gen- 
tlemen," said Curran to the jury, "I seethe 
motion of his lordship's head. Common ob- 
servers might imagine it implied a difference 
of opinion ; but they would be mistaken : it 
is merely accidental. Believe me, gentlemen, 
if you remain here many days, you will your- 
selves perceive that when his lordship shakes 
his head, there is nothing in it." 



Curran died in London in 1817. 

CURTIUS, Marcus, a noble Roman youth, 
of whom it is related, that when a pestilential 
chasm opened in the Roman forum, 302 u. c, 
and the oracle declared that it could only be 
closed when the most precious thing in Rome 
was thrown into it, Curtius, saying that arms 
and courage were mvaluable, assumed his 
military dress, and mounting an armed horse, 
sprang into the abyss, which closed over him 
forever. 

CUSHING, TnoMAs, a patriotic American, 
born in 1725. He early obtained a seat in 
the general court of Massachusetts, and was 
chosen speaker of the house of representatives. 
The supposed extent of his influence induced 
Doctor Johnson, in his pamphlet " Taxation 
no Tyrannjr," to remark, " One object of the 
Americans is said to be, to adorn the brows 
of Mr. Cushing with a diadem." Mr. C. was 
a member of the two first continental con- 
gresses, and of the council of Massachusetts, 
and was created judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas, and of probate in the county of 
Suffolk. Having been honored with the post 
of lieutenant-governor of his native state, he 
died in 1788. 

CUTLER, Timothy, a talented American 
divine, some time president of Yale College. 
He became rector of Christ Church, in Bos- 
ton, and died in his eighty -second j'ear, Aug. 
17th, 1765. 

CUVIER, George Leopold Christian 
Frederic Dago^ert, Baron of, a celebrated 
French naturalist, born at Montbeliard, Aug. 
25th, 1769. His researches are well known 
to the generality of readers. He died at Paris, 
May 13th, 1832. 

CYCLADES, in ancient geography a name 
given to certain islands in the iEgean Sea, 
particularly those that surround Delos as 
with a circle. They werp subjected by Mil- 
tiades, but revolted during the Persian inva- 
sion. 

CYPRUS, an island in the Mediterranean, 
famed among the ancients for its uncommon 
fertility and the mildness of its climate. It 
now contains 140,000 wretched inhabitants. 
Venus was worshiped here, and the ancient 
Cyprians were much given to love and pleas- 
ure. Its original colonists are unknown. 
The Egyptians took it in 550 e.g., and the 
Romans, 58 B.C.. It was occupied for some 



CYP 



HISTOEY AND- BIOGRAPHY. 



251 



time by the Arabs on the decline of the Ro- 
man empire. They were, however, driven 
from it during the crusades, and the title of 
King of Cyprus was for some time held by 
Richard I. of England. In 1480, it fell into 
the hands of the Venetians, from whom it was 
wrested, in 1571, by the Turks, 

CYRUS. Concerning this monarch there 
are two distinct and irreconcilable accounts, 
those of Herodotus and Xenophon. The 
latter, in his " Cyropedia," has rather given 
us the picture of what a monarch should 
be, than of what a monarch was, and the 
account of Herodotus is generally adhered to 
in historical narratives. Cyrus, King of Per- 
sia, was the son of Cambyses and Maudane, 
the daughter of Astyages, the last monarch 
of Media. From a belief that he was fated 
to dethrone his grandfother, he was exposed 
as soon as born; but was preserved by a 
shepherdess, who educated him as her own 
son. As he was playing with his equals in 
years, he was elected a king in one of their 
sports, and he exercised his power with such 
independent spirit, that he ordered' one of his 
companions to be whipped severely for diso- 
bedience. The father of the boy, who was a 
nobleman, complained to the king of the ill 
treatment which his son had received from a 
shepherd's boy. Astyages ordered Cyrus 
before him, and discovered that he was Mau- 
dane's son, from whom he had so much to 
apprehend. He therefore treated him with 
suspicious coldness ; and ^yrus, unable to 
bear his tyranny, escaped from his confine- 
ment and began to levy troops to dethrone 
his grandfather. He was assisted and en- 
couraged by the ministers of Astyages, who 
were displeased with his oppression. Cyrus 



marched against and defeated Astyages in a 
battle fought b.c. 5 GO. From this victory the 
empire of Media became tributary to the Per- 
sians. Cyrus subdued the eastern parts of 
Asia, and made war against Croesus, King of 
Lydia, whom he conquered b.c. 548. He 
invaded the kmgdom of Assyria, and took 
the city of Babylon by turning the course 
of the Euphrates, and marching his troops 
through the bed of the river under the walls, 
while the people were celebrating a grand 
festival. He afterward led his troops against 
Tomyris, the queen of the Massagetge, a Scyth- 
ian nation, but was defeated in a bloody 
battle, B.C. 529. The victorious queen, who 
had lost her son in a previous encounter, was 
so incensed against Cyrus, that she cut off 
his head, and threw it into a vessel filled 
with human blood ; crying, " Satisfy thyself 
with the blood for which thou hast thirsted." 

CYRUS, the Younger, was the son of 
Darius Nothus, and brother of Artaxerxes. 
On the death of his father, he attempted the 
life of his brother, to obtain the throne, -but 
was pardoned through the intercession of 
his mother, Parysatis. He then obtained the 
governorship of Lydia, whence he marched 
against his brother. The war ended with 
the death of Cyrus, B.C. 400. Several thou- 
sand Greeks accompanied Cyrus in his ex- 
pedition, and their retreat, led by Xenophon, 
and by him described, is a memorable chap- 
ter of ancient history. 

CYTHERA, the ancient name of an island 
in the Ionian sea, now Cerigo, containing 
a population of 8,000. Venus was wor- 
shiped here, and here was one of her most 
splendid temples; hence she was called 
Cytherea. 



CYT 



252 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



D. 



DACIER, Anna Lefevre (the wife of An- 
drew Dacier), was born in France in 1651. 
She was celebrated for her learning and 
beauty. She edited and translated several 
of the ancient classics, and distinguished her- 
self by her defense of Homer in answer to 
Lamotte. She died in 1720. 

DAEDALUS, an artist and machinist of 
Athens, who lived three generations before 
the Trojan war. He was the builder of the 
Cretan labyrinth. Being imprisoned with 
his son, Icarus, he is said to have invented 
wings cemented with wax, by which they 
soared high in the air. Icarus, neglecting 
the instructions of his father, fell into the sea, 
which was named from him the Icarian. 
His father reached Sicily, and founded a town 
there. 

DAGUERRE, L. J. M., an artist of France, 
eminent for the discovery of the process for 
taking pictures upon metal plates, through 
the action of light. He was born in 1789, 
and died July 10th, 1851. 

DAHOMY, a fertile kingdom of western 
Africa, the people of which are ferocious. 
The king's sleeping-chamber is paved with 
the skulls, and ornamented with the jaw- 
bones, of his vanquished enemies. 

DALE, Richard, a commodore in the 
American navy, was born in Virginia in 1756. 
He served on board the Bon Homme Richard 
under Paul Jones, and was the first to spring 
to the deck of the Serapis in the bloody en- 
gagement which resulted in her capture. He 
died at Philadelphia, Feb. 24th, 1826. 

D'ALEMBERT, Jean le Rond, a distin- 
guished mathematician and astronomer, born 
at Paris in 1717, died in 1783. He wtis the 
son of Madame de Tencin and the poet Des- 
touches, who exposed him while an infant. 
At ten years of age, the principal of the 
school in which he received his early educa- 
tion, declared that his pupil had learned all 
that he could teach him. He undertook to 
write the mathematical part of the " Diction- 
naire Encyclopedique," and contributed many 
admirable articles to it, which, however, in- 
volved him in the attacks made upon the 
work He refused the brilliant offers of Fred- 



eric XL of Prussia, and Catherine of Rus- 
sia, tempting him to settle in their respective 
capitals. 

DALLAS, Alexander James, a native of 
Jamaica, an able lawyer, who came to this 
country, in 1783, and held various responsi- 
ble oflBces under our government, being made 
secretary of the treasury in 1814. In 1815, 
he assumed the duties of secretary of war, and 
on hii^i devolved the task of reducing the 
army. He died Jan. 16th, 1817, aged fifty- 
seven. 

DAMIENS, Robert Francois, a crazy fa- 
natic, who stabbed Louis XV., at Versailles, 
on the 5th of January, 1757. He had long 
meditated the deed, and took opium to pre- 
pare himself After the most cruel tortures, 
he was broken on the wheel, March 28th, 
1757. 

DAMON and PYTHIAS, two Syracusans, 
who were" devotedly attached to each other. 
Dionysius condemned Pythias to death, but 
allowed him to absent himself in order to 
arrange his affairs, on condition that Damon 
should remain as hostage. The appointed 
time having expired, Damon was led to the 
scaffold, and the executioner was about to 
raise his axe, when Pythias arrived, breath- 
less with haste, threw himself into the arms 
of his friend, and embraced him tenderly. 
Dionysius, moved by the scene, in common 
with the people, restored both the friends to 
the enjoyment of life and liberty, 387 b.c. 

DAMPIER, William, an English circum- 
navigator, born in 1652, known for his 
adventures in both hemispheres. 

DANDOLO, Henry, a doge of Venice, filled 
that highest office in the gift of the republic 
in 1192, being then eighty -four years old. 
Neither his age nor his defective vision pre- 
vented him from discharging his duties with 
honor. Joining the fourth crusade, he was 
the first to spring on shore with the standard 
of St. Mark, at the storming of Constantino- 
ple. He died at the age of ninety-seven. 
There were several other doges of this 
family. 

DANTE. The city of Florence ranks next 
to Athens in its classic associations. There 



DAN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



253 



certainly is no city so modern, yet so linked 
to the past. Time seems here almost to have 
spared the footprints of the great men whose 
fame has defied him. In the rooms of Mi- 
chael Angelo, his staff leans in the corner, his 
unfinished sketches lie upon the table. One 
may press the same stairs which John Milton 
ascended when he visited Galileo. Among 
the great names associated with this city, 
there is one other, before which every man 
bows who has been touched by the tragedy 
of life, — Alighieri Durante, better known as 
Dante, who in Italian literature is the Homer 
and the Shakspeare. Dante was born in 1265. 
He was provided by his early widowed mother 
with the best education which could be 
obtained in that age. It was a custom in 
Florence to celebrate the return of spring 
by May-day festivities ; and it was probably 
upon one of these occasions, at her father's 
house, that he was inspired with the beauty 
of Beatrice Portinari. He tells us that she 
was so beautiful that all the citizens crowded 
to see her when she walked in the city, and 
so pure that they bent down their eyes in her 
presence. She became the wife of another 
person, and died in 1290, when Dante was in 
his twenty -fifth year. He was married the 
year after, but he never forgot her. At the 
time of the troubles between the Bianchi and 
Neri, two factions of the Guelphs in Florence, 
Dante espoused the ctuse of the former. The 
latter gained the mastery. He was banished 
in 1302, and his property confiscated. He 
went from place to place, restless and un- 
happy, loathing a state of dependence, yet 
unable to retrieve his fortune. He died at 
Ravena, Sept. 14th, 1321. The fame of his 
"Divina Commedia" is imperishable, and 
the Florentines, who had persecuted him 
during his lifetime, paid him the highest 
honors at his death. His characters were 
those of his own period, with whose history 
the public were acquainted, and whose fami- 
lies and descendants were alive, and fre- 
quently in the enjoyment of wealth and 
power. But the position in which he placed 
them, threw an interest round their story, 
stronger than could have been produced by the 
adventures of any individual, however illus- 
trious, of a more remote date. The terror and 
pity, and in some cases the vengeance, of the 
Italians were awakened, when the shadowy 



forms of their contemporaries were made to 
pass in review before them, stripped of those 
external advantages which while living had 
rendered them respected, and had cast a veil 
over their crimes. The cruel husband shrunk 
from the picture of his murdered wife, herself 
condemned to perdition, yet prophesying that 
for him was destined the lowest pit in hell. 
The son beheld his father plunged in eternal 
woe, yet continuing to feel a tender interest 
in his welfare. The ti'eacherous assassin, 
who still occupied his place among the nobles 
of the land, trembled at seeing himself rep- 
resented as in hell, while, according to the 
bold sujiposition of the poet, a demon ani- 
mated his bod3^ The ' mighty mantle ' itself 
was no protection to the wearer : Pope Nich- 
olas III., plunged headforemost in the flames, 
was represented as waiting there for the 
arrival of his guilty successors. The effect 
was indescribable. Some, unable to endure 
the contempt of their countrymen, condemned 
themselves to voluntaiy exile ; some, struck 
with terror and despair, died broken-hearted ; 
and others fell victims to the private ven- 
geance of the poet's friends. 

DANTON, George Jacques, a foremost 
actor in the French revolution, was born at 
Arcis-sur-Aube, October 28th, 1759. After 
the assassination of Marat and the fall of the 
Girondins, Danton and Robespierre came in 
conflict, and the former was guillotined, 
April 5 th, 1794. He combined some of the 
greatest and most odious qualities. He has 
been called the colossus of the revolution, 
"head of gold, bosom of flesh, loins of brass, 
feet of clay," and characterized as a " gigan- 
tic mass of valor, ostentation, fury, affection, 
and wild revolutionary force and manhood." 

DARDxiNELLES, are the fortifications on 
the European and Asiatic sides of the Helles- 
pont, which is hence called the ' Strait of the 
Dardanelles.' 

DARIUS. The name of several sovereigns 
of Persia, of whom the first is the most cele- 
brated. Darius I., a noble satrap of Persia, 
was the son of Hystaspes, and conspired with 
six other noblemen, to destroy Smerdis, the 
usurper of the Persiiir. crown. After the 
death of the usurper, it was agreed among 
the conspirators that he whose horse first 
neighed should be appointed king. In con- 
sequence of this singular resolution, the 



DAR 



254 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



groom of Darius led his master's horse -with 
a mare to the place near which the seven 
noblemen were to pass. On the morrow 
before sunrise, when they proceeded all to- 
gether, the horse of Darius neighed, and he 
was saluted by his companions king, b.c. 522. 
He soon showed himself fit to grace the 
throne. He took Babylon, and conquered 
Thrace ; was defeated by the Scythians, but 
favored by fortune in his campaign against 
the Indians. The burning of Sardis, which 
was a Grecian colony, incensed the Athenians, 
and a war was kindled between them and 
the Persians, in which the latter were un- 
successful. Undismayed at the disaster at 
Marathon and his immense losses, Darius 
resolved to lead his troops to Greece in person, 
but died in the midst of his warlike prepara- 
tions, B.C. 485. Darius II., or Darius Nothus, 
reigned 423-404 b.c. Darius III., surnamed 
Codomanus, the son of Arsanes and Sysi- 
gambis, was descended from Darius Nothus. 
He was no sooner seated on the throne than 
Alexander of Macedon invaded his kingdom. 
The Persians were defeated in the battles of 
the Granicus and Issus ; in the last of which, 
Darius, leaving his wife, children, and mother, 
fled in disguise on the horse of his armor- 
bearer, and was saved by the darkness of the 
night. Being again defeated in the battle of 
Arbela, Darius in despair fled to Media, 
where he was killed by Bessus, the perfidious 
governor of Bactria, and was found by the 
Macedonians in his chariot, ejjpiring of his 
wounds, B.C. 331. For this murder Bessus 
Buffered a horrible death. Four trees having 
been with great exertion bent down to the 
ground, he was bound upon them, a limb 
tied to each. The trees being loosed flew 
back with great violence, rending his body in 
pieces. 

DARKE, William, usually called Major 
Darke, a brave veteran officer, born in Phila- 
delphia county, 1736, served in the war of 
1755-63 ; again in the Revolutionary war, 
and finally in the Indian war, under Gen. St. 
Clair, and died November 20th, 1801. 

DARLING, Grace. Off the coast of North- 
umberland in England, there lies a group of 
small islets or rocks, some of which can be 
seen only at low water; they are called the 
Fame Islands. Their aspect is wild and des- 
olate in no common degree. Composed of 



rock, with a slight covering of herbage, and 
in many places ending in sheer precipices, 
they are the residence of little else thaji wild 
fowl. Between the smaller islets the sea 
makes with great force, and many a ship in 
times past has laid her bones upon the pitiless 
rocks which every ebb tide exposes to view. 
Upon Longstone, one of the outer cluster 
known as the Staples, there stands a light- 
house, which at one time was kept by William 
Darling, a worthy and intelligent man, of 
quiet manners, with resources of mind and 
character sufllcient to turn to profitable use 
the many lonely hours which his position nec- 
essarily entailed upon him. He had a numer- 
ous family of children ; among them a daugh- 
ter Grace, who had reached the age of twenty- 
two years when the incident occurred which 
has made her name so famous. She had 
passed most of her life upon the little island 
of Longstone, and is described as having been 
of a retiring and somewhat reserved disposi- 
tion. In personal appearance, she was about 
the middle size, of a fair complexion and 
pleasing countenance, with nothing masculine 
in her aspect, but gentle and feminine, and, 
as might be supposed, with a winning expres- 
sion of benevolence in her face. Her smile 
was particularly sweet. She had a good un- 
derstanding, and had been respectably edu- 
cated. 

On Wednesday evenftg, Sept. 5th, 1838, 
the steamer Forfarshire, of about three hun- 
dred tons' burden, under the command of 
Captain John Humble, sailed from Hull for 
Dundee in Scotland. She had a valuable 
cargo of bale goods and sheet iron ; and her 
company, including twenty-two cabin and 
nineteen steerage passengers, comprised sixty- 
three persons. On the evening of the next 
day, when in the neighborhood of the Fame 
Islands, she encountered a severe storm of 
wind, attended with a heavy rain and a dense 
fog. She leaked to such a degree that the 
fires could not be kept burning, and her en- 
gines soon ceased to work. She became 
wholly unmanageable, and drifting violently, 
at the mercy of the winds and waves, struck 
on one of the reefs of Longstone Island, about 
four o'clock on Friday morning. 

As too often happens in such fearful emer- 
gencies, the master lost his self-possession, 
order and discipline ceased, and nothing but 



DAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



255 



self-preservation was thought of. A portion 
of the crew, including the first mate, lowered 
one of the boats and left the ship. With 
them was a single cabin passenger, who threw 
himself into the boat by means of a rope. 
These men were picked up, after some hours, 
and carried into the port of Shields. The 
scene on board was fearful : men paralyzed 
by despair ; women wringing their hands and 
shrieking with anguish ; and among them the 
helpless and bewildered master, whose wife, 
clinging to him, frantically besought the pro- 
tection he could no longer give. The vessel 
struck aft the paddle boxes ; and not above 
three minutes after the passengers (most of 
whom had been below, and many of them in 
their berths) had rushed upon the deck, a 
second shock broke her into two pieces. The 
after part, with most of the passengers and 
the captain and his wife, was swept away 
through a tremendous current, and the thirty- 
five or forty wretches perished in the waves. 
The fore part, on which were five of the crew 
and four passengers, stuck fast to the rock. 
These few survivors remained in their dreadful 
situation till daybreak, with a fearful sea run- 
ning around them, and expecting every mo- 
ment to be swept into the deep. With what 
anxious eyes did they wait for the morning 
light ! and yet what could mortal help avail 
them even then? Craggy and dangerous 
rocky islets lay betwee'n them and the nearest 
land, and around these rocks a sea was raging 
- in which no boat was likely to live. But, 
through the providence of God, a deliverance 
was in store for them ; a deliverance wrought 
by the strong heart of an heroic girl. As soon 
as day broke on the morning of the 7th, they 
were descried from the Longstone light, by 
the Darlings, at nearly a mile's distance. 
None of the family were at home, except Mr. 
and Mrs. Darling and Grace. Although the 
wind had somewhat abated, the sea (never 
calm among these jagged rocks) was still 
fiercely raging ; and to have braved its perils 
would have done the highest honor to the 
strong muscles and well-tried nerves of the 
stoutest man. But what shall be said of the 
errand of mercy having been undertaken and 
accomplished mainly through a female heart 
and arm ! Mr. Darling was reluctant to ex- 
pose himself to what seemed certain destruc- 
tion; but the earnest entreaties of his daugh- 



ter determined him to make the attempt. At 
her solicitation the boat was launched, with 
the mother's assistance; and father and 
daughter entered it, each taking an oar. It 
is worthy of notice that Grace never had oc- 
casion to assist in the boat previous to the 
wreck of the Forfarshire, others of the family 
being always at hand. 

~ It was only by the exertion of great mus- 
cular 6itrength, as well as by the utmost cool- 
ness and resolution, that the father and daugh- 
tt;r rowed the boat up to the rock. And when 
there, a greater danger arose from the diffi- 
culty of so managing it as to prevent its being 
dashed to pieces upon the sharp ridge which 
had proved fatal to the steamer. With much 
difiiculty and danger, the father scrambled 
upon the rock, and the boat was left for a 
while to the unaided strength and skill of the 
daughter. However, the nine sufferers were 
safely rescued. The delight with which the 
boat was first seen was converted into amaze- 
ment when they perceived that it was guided 
and impelled by an old man and a slight young 
woman. Owing to the violence of the storm, 
the rescued persons were obliged to remain at 
the lighthouse of the Darlings from Friday 
morning till Sunday, during which time Grace 
was most assiduous in her kind attentions to 
the sufferers, giving up her bed to one of them, 
a poor woman who had seen her two children 
perish in her arms, while on the wreck. 

This heroic deed of Grace Darling's shot a 
thrill of sympathy and admiration through 
all Great Britain, and indeed through all 
Christendom. The Humane Society sent her 
a flattering vote of thanks and a piece of plate, 
and a considerable sum of money was raised 
for her from the voluntary contributions of an 
admiring public. The lonely lighthouse be- 
came the centre of attraction to thousands of 
curious and sympathizing travelers ; and 
Grace was pursued, questioned, and stared at 
to an extent that became a serious annoyance 
to her gentle and retiring spirit. But in all 
this hot blaze of admiration, and in her im- 
proved fortunes, she preserved unimpaired the 
simplicity and modesty of her nature. Her 
head was not in the least turned by the world- 
wide fame she had earned, or by the flattering 
caresses of the wealthy, the fashionable, and 
the distinguished, which were lavished upon 
her. The meekness with which she bore her 



DAR 



256 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



honors equaled the courage which had won 
them. She resumed her former way of hfe, 
and her accustomed duties, as quietly as if 
nothing had happened. Several advantageous 
offers of marriage were made to her, but she 
declined them all ; usually alleging her deter- 
mination not to leave her parents while they 
lived. 

She was not destined long to enjoy the ap- 
plause she had earned, or the more substantial 
tokens of regard which had been bestowed 
upon her. She began to show symptoms of 
consumption toward the close of the year 
1841 ; and although all the means of restora- 
tion which the most affectionate care and the 
best medical advice could suggest were re- 
sorted to, she gradually declined, and breathed 
her last, in calm submission to the will of 
God, Oct. 20th, 1842. Her funeral was very 
numerously attended, and a monument has 
been erected to her memory in Bamborough 
church-yard, where she was bmued. 

DARNLEY, Henry Stuart, Earl of, the 
husband of Mary, Queen of Scots, came to an 
untimely death ; his house being blown up in 
the night, Feb. 10th, 15G7. He was the fa- 
ther of James I. of England. [See Stuarts.] 
DARWIN, Erasmus, an English physician 
and poet, born in 1731, at Elton, was the 
author of the "Botanic Garden" and other 
works. He died in 1802. 

DAUN, Leopold, Count, marshal of the 
German empire, and during the seven years' 
war the most successful opponent of Fred- 
erick the Great, died in 1706, aged sixty-one. 
DAVENANT, Sir William, an English 
poet of the seventeenth century, the author 
of "Gondibert," a heroic poem, and a the- 
atrical writer and manager under Charles H. 
He was born in 1605, and died in 1668. 
He succeeded Ben Jonson as poet-laureate. 
Scandal hinted that he was the natural son 
of Shakspeare. 

DAVID, Jacques Louis, a French painter, 
born at Paris in 1750, died at Brussels in 
1825. David, though an uncompromising 
democrat, voting for the death of Louis XYL, 
was the favorite painter of Napoleon ; he 
was exiled on the emperor's fall. Among 
his finest works are "Paris and Helen," the 
"Rape of the Sabine Women," and "Napo- 
leon crossing the Alps." His best perform- 
ances in portrait-painting are the numerous 



likenesses of his imperial patron. The orig- 
inal sketch for one of these, which indeed 
was never afterward finished, was taken 
during the last few hours of unlimited power 
possessed by Napoleon in Paris. The greater 
part of the preceding day and night had been 
spent in arranging the final operations of the 
campaign which terminated in the battle of 
Waterloo. When now past midnight, instead 
of retiring to repose, the emperor sent for 
David, to whom he had promised to sit, and 
who was in waiting in an apartment of the 
Tuileries. "My friend," said Napoleon to 
the artist, "there are yet some hours till 
four, when we are finally to review the de- 
fenses of the capital ; in the mean time, do 
your utmost, while I read these dispatches." 
But exhausted nature could hold out no 
longer ; the paper dropped from the nerveless 
hand, and Napoleon sank to sleep. In this 
attitude the painter has represented him: 
the pale and lofty forehead, the care-worn fea- 
tures, the relaxed expression, the very accom- 
paniments, bear an impress inexpressibly 
tender and melancholy. With the dawn 
Napoleon awoke, and springing to his feet 
was about to address David, when a taper 
just expiring in its socket arrested his eye. 
Foltling his arms on his breast, a usual pos- 
ture of thought with him, he contemplated 
its dying struggles, when, with the last gleam, 
the rays of the morning sun penetrated 
through the half-closed window-curtains. 
"Were I superstitious," said Napoleon, a 
faint smile playing about his beautiful mouth, * 
"the first object on which my sight has 
rested this day might be deemed ominous ; 
but," pointing to the rising sun, " the augury 
is doubtful : at least the prayer of the Gre- 
cian hero will be recorded : we shall perish 
in light." 

DAYIDSON, LucRETiA Maria, displayed 
great talents for composition at the age of 
four years. She died of incessant applica- 
tion, August 27th, 1825. She was born at 
Plattsburg, on Lake Champlain, September 
27th, 1808. She was a beautiful girl, and 
her poetic genius was of a high order. 

DAYIDSON, William, a native of Lan- 
caster county, Pennsylvania, was born in 
1746, and in 1750, removed by his parents to 
Mecklenburg, N. C. At the opening of the 
Revolution, he entered the army, in which 



DAY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



257 



he rose to the rank of brigadier-general, and 
fell defending the passage of the Catawba 
River at Cowan's Ford, against Ijord Corn- 
wallis, Feb. 1st, 1781. 

DAVIE, William Richardson, a distin- 
guished character in the American Revolu- 
tion. He reached the rank of general, and 
was afterward governor of North Carolina, 
and envoy to France. He was born in Eng- 
land, 1756, and died at Camden, S. C, in 
1820. He was a member of the convention 
that framed the federal constitution. 

DAVIES, Samuel, a distinguished Ameri- 
can divine, president of Nassau Hall (now 
Princeton College), born in Delaware, Nov. 
3d, 1724, died in 17G2. 

DAVIS, John, an Enghsh navigator, who 
gave his name to the straits at the entrance 
of Baffin's Bay, which he entered in endeav- 
oring to discover the north-west passage in 
1585. He afterward made two more voyages 
for the same purpose, and five to the East 
Indies in the Dutch service. He was killed 
by Japanese pirates on the coast of Malacca 
in 1605. 

DAVOUST, Louis Nicholas, Duke of 
Auerstadt and Prince of Eckmuhl, marshal 
and peer of France, born in 1770, died in 
1823. He studied with Bonaparte, and 
served under him in his most brilliant cam- 
paigns. He only submitted to Louis XVII. 
when the hopes of Napoleon were irretrieva- 
bly destroyed. 

DAVY, Sir Humphrey, a distinguished 
English chemist, born in 1779, at Penzance, 
Cornwall, died at Geneva, May 29th, 1829. 
His experiments on the nature of explosive 
gas, to which his attention was directed by 
the frequent accidents occurring to mines 
from fire damps, resulted in the invention 
of the safety-lamp. Other important discov- 
eries were made by this distinguished man. 

DAY, John, the first printer who intro- 
duced the Greek and Saxon characters into 
England, died in 1584. Stephen Day was 
the first printer in New England, about 1638. 

DEAD SEA, the ancient Laeus Asphaltites^ 
a piece of water in Palestine, 180 miles in 
circuit, which occupies the space whereon 
the condemned cities of the vale of Siddim 
stood. The following account of it is from the 
pen of a traveler. " After the pilgrims had 
bathed in the Jordan, we left them and turned 



17 



down to the south, in company with three or 
four other English travelers, and a guard from 
the governor, to visit the Dead Sea. We 
rode across plains of ban-en sand for an hour 
and a half, when we stood upon the banks of 
this memorable lake. Without any reference 
to what others have said, I can testify to the 
following facts. The water is perfectly clear 
and transparent. The taste is bitter, and 
salt far beyond that of the ocean. It acts 
upon the tongue and mouth like alum, and 
smarts in the eye like camphor, and produces 
a burning pricking sensation over the whole 
body. It stiffened the hair of the head much 
like pomatum. The water has a much 
greater specific gravity than the human body, 
and hence, no efforts cause us to sink below 
the surface; and standing, perpendicularly, 
you would not descend lower than the arms. 
Although there was evidence in the sands 
thrown upon the beach, that in great storms 
there were waves, yet there appeared to be 
some foundation for the reports of its immo- 
bility. Notwithstanding there was a consid- 
erable breeze, the water lay perfectly lifeless. 
Historians say that large quantities of bitu- 
men were gathered from the surface of this 
lake ; and is it not quite possible, to say the 
least, that it formerly existed in such quanti- 
ties as to spread over the whole face of the 
sea, and thus effectually prevent the wind 
from interrupting its death-like quietude? 
Modern travelers state that there is very little 
of this substance now to be found, and cer- 
tainly we saw nothing like it. We saw no 
fish or living animals in the water, though 
birds were flying over it in variovis directions 
unharmed. We all noticed an unnatural 
gloom hanging, not merely over the sea, but 
also over the whole plain below Jericho. 
This is mentioned also by ancient historians. 
It had the appearance of the Indian summer 
of the valley. Like a vast funeral pall let 
down from heaven, it completely shuts out 
all prospect, at a short distance down the sea." 
DEANE, Silas, was a native of Groton, 
Conn. He was a member of the first con- 
gress, 1774. In June, 1776, he was sent to 
France as agent for the colonies, and the 
ensuing autumn was associated with Frank- 
lin and Lee as commissioner. His manage- 
ment was unsatisfactory, and he was recalled 
at the close of 1777. He was charged with 



DEA 



258 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



using his official position for purposes of 
private gain. Returning to Europe after 
peace came, he died at Deal, England, in 
1789, in great destitution. 

DExVRBURN, Henry, was born at Hamp- 
ton, N. H., 1751. He served with distinction 
through the Revolution. At the battle of 
Monmouth, Washington noticing his efficien- 
cy, sent to inquire what troops he com- 
manded. " Full-blooded Yankees from New 
Hampshire," was the answer. From 1801 to 
1809, Gen. Dearborn was secretary of war. 
As the senior major-general he commanded 
the army in 1812 and 1813. From 1822 to 
1824, he was minister to Portugal. He died 
in 1829. 

DECATUR, Stephen, an American naval 
commander, born in Maryland, January 5th, 
1779. Soon after his entrance into the navy 
(1798), he received a first-lieutenancy, and for 
his gallant conduct in recovering the frigate 
Philadelphia in the harbor of Tripoli, was 
promoted to the rank of captain. He suc- 
cessively commanded the Constitution, the 
Congress, the Chesapeake, and the United 
States. With the latter he captured the 
Macedonian, October 25th, 1812. In the 
war with Algiers in 1815, Decatur terrified 
the regency into submission in forty-eight 
hours ; was equally successful at Tripoli ; 
and procured the renunciation of tribute, and 
an agreement on the part of the Barbary 
powers, to regard captives as prisoners of 
war, and not slaves. Decatur was killed 
in a duel by Commodore Barron, March 22d, 
1820. 

DECIUS, the name of a Roman consul 
who devoted himself to death in battle to save 
his country, B.C. 340. Also a Roman empe- 
ror of this name, who reigned from a.d. 249 
till December, 251. He persecuted the 
Christians. 

DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE. 
At an early period in the contest between the 
mother country and her colonies, sagacious 
men saw that complete emancipation of the 
latter from the royal rule must come. Many 
of the patriots did not anticipate this, but the 
progress of events brought about the mea- 
sure which men like Patrick Henry, Benja- 
min Franklin, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas 
Paine, Timothy Dwight, had long foreseen 
and desired. North Carolina wa' the first 



colony that formally instructed her delegates 
to sustain such a measure, in April, 1776. 
Indeed, in Mecklenburg county, a year pre- 
vious, the lovers of liberty had declared them- 
selves independent of the crown, and framed 
a republican government. The lead of North 
Carolina was followed by Massachusetts, 
Virginia, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New 
Hampshire, and New Jersey. Maryland 
positively forbade her delegates to vote for 
independence. The delegates of the other 
colonies were left to act as they thought best. 
Virginia had taken a step in advance of her 
sisters: she had desired her delegates to 
propose a declaration of independence. Ac- 
cordingly, on the 7th of June, 1776, Richard 
Henry Lee moved the resolution, " That these 
united colonies are, and of right ought to be, 
free and independent states ; that they are 
absolved from all allegiance to the British 
crown ; and that all political connection be- 
tween them and the state of Great Britain 
is, and ought to be, totally dissolved." John 
Adams seconded it. This bold and concise 
resolve made great inroad upon the doubt and 
delay and hesitation which had clung about 
the subject in the minds of many. A com- 
mittee wa, , selected to draught a declaration ; 
it consisted of Thomas Jefferson of Virginia, 
John Adams of Massachusetts, Benjamin 
Frankhn of Pennsylvania, Roger Sherman 
of Connecticut, and Robert R. Livingston of 
New York. Mr. Lee had been summoned 
away by the illness of his wife, and hence Mr. 
Jefferson was put upon the committee in his 
stead. To Mr. Jefferson was assigned the 
writing of the document, and his draught, 
after a few slight emendations by Adams and 
Franklin, was unanimously adopted by the 
committee. It met more criticism and altera- 
tion in Congress, to which body it was re- 
ported on the 1st of July. Mr. Lee's resolu- 
tion was adopted on the 2d, and the declara- 
tion on the 4th. 

In the subjoined copy of the Declaration of 
Independence, those portions in italic are the 
passages of the original draught which were 
omitted or changed by Congress, and the sub- 
stitutions follow within brackets. 
"A Declaration by the Representatives of the 
United States of America, in general Con- 
gress assembled. 
"When, in the course of human events, it 



DEO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



259 



becomes necessary for one people to dissolve 
the political bands which have connected 
them with another, and to assume, among 
the powers of the earth, the separate and 
equal station to which the laws of nature and 
of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect 
to the opinions of mankind requires that they 
should declare the causes which impel them 
to the separation. 

" We hold these truths to be self-evident ; 
that all men are created equal ; that they are 
endowed by their Creator with inlierent and 
inalienahle [certain unalienable] rights ; that 
among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit 
of happiness. That, to secure the serights, 
governments are instituted among men, deriv- 
ing their just powers from the consent of the 
governed ; that, whenever any form of gov- 
ernment becomes destructive of these ends, 
it is the right of the people to alter or to abol- 
ish it, and to institute a new government, 
laying its foundations on such principles, and 
organizing its powers in such form, as to them 
shall seem most likely to effect their safety 
and happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dic- 
tate, that governments, long established, 
should not be changed for light and transient 
causes; and, accordingly, all experience 
hath shown that mankind are more disposed 
to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to 
right themselves by abolishing the forms to 
which they are accustomed. But when a long 
train of abuses and usurpations, 'begun at a 
distingidslied period, and pursuing invaria- 
bly the same object, evinces a design to reduce 
them under absolute despotism, it is their 
right, it is their duty, to throw off such gov- 
ernment, and to provide new guards for their 
future security. Such has been the patient 
sufferance of these colonies ; and such is now 
the necessity which constrains them to ex- 
punge [alter] their former systems of govern- 
ment. The history of the present king of 
Great Britain is a history of unremitting [re- 
peated] injuries and usurpations; among 
■which a.p2-)ears no solitary fact to contradict 
the uniform tenor of the rest; hut all have, 
[having] in direct object, the establishment 
of an absolute tyranny over these states. To 
prove this, let facts be submitted to a candid 
world ; foi' the truth of tehich we pledge a 
faith yet unsullied hy falsehood. 



" He has refused his assent to laws the most 
wholesome and necessary for the public good 
" He has forbidden his governors to pass 
laws of immediate and pre.ssing importance, 
unless suspended in then operation till his 
assent should be obtained ; and when so sus- 
pended, he has neglected utterly [utterly 
neglected] to attend to them. 

" He has refused to pass other laws for the 
accommodation of large districts of people, 
unless those people would relinquish the 
right of representation in the legislature ; a 
right inestimable to them, and formidable to 
tyrants only. 

" He has called together legislative bodies 
at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant 
from the repository of their public records, 
for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into 
compliance with his measures. 

"He has dissolved representative houses 
repeatedly and continually, for opposing with 
manly firmness his invasions on the rights of 
the people. 

" He has refused, for a long time after such 
dissolutions, to cause others to be elected ; 
whereby the legislative powers, incapable of 
annihilation, have returned to the people at 
large for their exercise, the state remaining 
in the mean time exposed to all the dangers 
of invasion from without and convulsions 
within. 

"He has endeavored to prevent the popula- 
tion of these states ; for that purpose ob- 
structing the laws for the naturalization of 
foreigners ; refusing to pass others to encour- 
age their migration hither ; and raising the 
conditions of new appropriations of lands. 

^'Ee has suffered the ndministration of 
justice totally to cease in some of these states, 
[He has obstructed the administration of 
justice by] refusing his assent to laws for 
establishing judiciary powere. 

" He has made our judges dependent on his 
will alone, for the tenure of their offices and 
the amount and payment of their salaries. 

"He has created a multitude of new oflHces 
ly a self-assumed poioer, and sent hither 
swarms of oflBcers to harass our people and 
eat out their substance. 

" He has kept among us, in times of peace, 
standing armies and ships oficar, without the 
consent of our legislatures. 



DEC 



2(30 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



" He has affected to render the mihtary inde- 
pendent of, and superior to, the civil power. 

" He has combined with others to subject us 
to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions, 
and unacknowledged by our laws ; giving his 
assent to their acts of pretended legislation : 
"For quartering large bodies of armed 
troops among us ; 

"For protecting them, by a mock trial, 
from punishment for any murders which they 
should commit on the inhabitants of these 
states ; 

" For cutting off our trade with all parts of 
the world ; 

"For imposing taxes on us without our 
consent ; 

" For depriving us [in many cases] of the 
benefits of trial by jury ; 

" For transporting us beyond seas to be 
tried for pretended offenses ; 

" For abolishing the free system of English 
laws in a neighboring province, establishing 
therein an arbitrary government, and enlarg- 
ing its boundaries, so as to render it at once 
an example and fit instrument for introduc- 
ing the same absolute rule into these states 
[colonies] ; 

"For taking away our charters, abolishing 
our most valuable laws, and altering funda- 
mentally the forms of our governments ; 

" For suspending our own legislatures, and 
declaring themselves invested with power to 
legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. 

" He has abdicated government here, with- 
ilmwing his governors, and [by] declaring us 
out of his allegiance and protection, and 
waging war against us. 

" He has plundered our seas, ravaged our 
coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the 
lives of our people. 

He is at this time transporting large ar- 
mies of foreign mercenaries to complete the 
works of death, desolation, and tyranny, 
already begun with circumstances of cruelty 
and perfidy [scarcely paralleled in the most 
barbarous ages, and totally] unworthy the 
head of a civilized nation. 

"He has constrained others [our fellow- 
citizens], taken captive on the high seas, to 
bear arms against their country, to become 
the executioners of their friends and breth- 
ren, or to fell themselves by their hands. 
[He has excited domestic insurrections 



among us, and] he has endeavored to bring 
on the inhabitants of our frontiers the mer- 
ciless Indian savages, whose known rule of 
warfare is an undistinguished destruction of 
all ages, sexes, and conditions of existence ; 
he has excited treasonable insurrections of 
our fellow-citizens with the allurements of 
forfeiture and confiscation of our 'property. 

"J?e has waged cruel war against human 
nature itself molating its most sacred rights 
of life and liberty in the persons of a distant 
people, who never offended him, captivating 
and carrying them into slavery in another 
hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in 
their transportation thither. This piratical 
toarfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is 
the waif are of the Christian Mng of Great 
Britain. Determined to keep open a marJcet 
where men should be bought and sold, he has 
prostituted his negative for supptressing every 
legislative attem])t to prohibit or to restrain 
this execrable commerce. And that this as- 
semblage of horrors might want no fact of 
distinguished dye, he is now exciting those 
very 2)eop)le to rise in arms among us, and to 
purchase that liberty of which He has de- 
prived them by murdering the peopile upon 
whom He obtruded them: thus paying off 
former crimes committed against the liber- 
ties of one people icith crimes which he urges 
them to commit against the lives of another. 

" In every stage of these oppressions, we 
have petitioned for redress in the most humble 
terms : our repeated petitions have been 
answered only by repeated injury. A prince 
whose character is thus marked by every act 
which may define a tyrant, is unfit to be the 
ruler of a people who mean to be free [free 
people]. Future ages will scarce believe that 
the hardiness of one man adventured, within 
the short compass of twelve years only, to 
build a foundation, so broad and undis- 
guised, for tyranny over a j)eople fostered 
and fix-ed in principles of freedom. 

" Nor have we been wanting in attentions 
to our British brethren. We have warned 
them, from time to time, of attempts by their 
legislature to extend a [an unwarrantable] 
jurisdiction over these our states [us]. We 
have reminded them of the circumstances of 
our emigration and settlement here, no one 
of which could warrant so strange a preten- 
sion ; that these were effected at the expense 



DEO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



261 



■of OUT own hlood and treasure, unassisted ty 
the wealth or strength of Oreo.t Britain; 
that ill constituting, indeed, our several 
forms of government, we had adopted one 
common Mng, thereby laying a, foundation 
for perpetual league and amity with them; 
hut that submission to their parliament 
was no part of our constitution, nor ever in 
idea, if history may he credited ; and "We 
[have] appealed to fheir native justice and 
magnanimity, as well as to [and vre have 
conjured them \)j\ the ties of our common 
kindred, to disavow tliese usurpations which 
were lilcely to [would inevitably] interrupt 
our connection and correspondence. They 
too have been deaf to the voice of justice and 
consanguinity; andichen occasions have heen 
given tliem, by the regular course of their 
laics, of removing from their councils the 
disturbers of our harmony, tliey have, by 
their free election, rc-estahlislied them in 
poicer. At this very time, too, they are per- 
mitting their chief magistrate to send over, 
not only soldiers of our common blood, hut 
Scotch and foreign mercenaries to invade and 
destroy us. These facts have given the last 
stab to agonizing affection, and manly spirit 
bids lis to renounce forever these unfeeling 
brethren. We must endeavor to forget our 
former love for them. [We must therefore 
acquiesce in the necessity which denounces 
our separation, and hold them, as we hold 
the rest of mankind, enemies in war; in 
peace, friends. ] 

" We might have been a free and great 



sisted between us and the parliament or 
people of Great Britain ; and finally, we do 
assert the colonies to he free and independent 
states; [colonies, solemnly publish and de- 
clare that these united colonies are, and of 
right ought to be, free and independent states ; 
that they are absolved from all allegiance to 
the British crown, and that all political con- 
nection between them and the state of Great 
Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved ;] 
and thatj as free and independent states, 
they have full power to levy war, conclude 
peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, 
and to do all other acts and things which 
independent states may of right do. And 
for the support of this declaration, [with a 
firm reliance on the protection of Divine Prov- 
idence,] we mutually pledge to each other our 
lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor." 

The Declaration was signed by John Han- 
cock, president of Congress, on the day of 
its adoption. It was suitably engrossed on 
parchment, and on the 2d of August the 
delegates set their names to it. The signers 
were as follows; New Hampshire, Josiah 
Bartlett, William AVhipple, ]\iatthew Thorn- 
ton. Massachusetts, John Hancock, John 
Adams, Samuel Adams, Robert Treat Paine, 
Elbridge Gerry. Rhode Island, Stephen Hop- 
kins, William EUcry. Connecticut, Roger 
Sherman, Samuel Huntington, William Wil- 
liams, Oliver Wolcott. New York, William 
Floyd, Philip Livingston, Francis Lewis, 
Lewis Morris. New Jersey, Richard Stock- 
ton, John Witherspoon, Francis Hopkinson, 



people together; but a communication o/" ! John Hart, Abraham Clark. Pennsylvania, 
grandeur and of freedom., it seems, is below \ Robert Morris, Benjamin Rush, Benjamin 
their dignity. Be it so, since they will have \ Franklin, John Morton, George Clymer, 
it. The road to haptpiness and to glory is James Smith, George Taylor, James AVilson, 
open to lis too ; we will climb it apart from George Ross. Delaware, Caesar Rodney, 



them, and acquiesce in tlie necessity ichich 
denounces our eternal separation. 

"We, therefore, the representatives of the 
United States of America in general congress 
assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge 
of the world for the rectitude of our inten- 
tentions, do, in the name, and by the author- 
ity, of the good people of these states, reject 
and renounce all allegiance and subjection 
to the Ungs of Great Britain, and all others 
who may hereafter claim by, through, or 
tinder them; we utterly dissolve all political 
connection which may heretofore have suT)- 



George Read, Thomas M'Kean. Maryland, 
Samuel Chase, Thomas Stone, William Paca, 
Charles Carroll of Carrolton. Virginia, 
George Wythe, Richard Henry Lee, Thomas 
Jefferson, Benjamin Harrison," Thomas Nel- 
son, Jr., Francis Lightfoot Lee, Carter Brax- 
ton, North Carolina, William Hooper, Joseph 
Hewes, John Penn. South Carolina, Ed- 
ward Rutledge, Thomas Hay ward, Jr., 
Thomas Lynch, Jr., Arthur Middleton. Geor- 
gia, Button Gwinnett, Lyman Hall, George 
Walton. Sketches of these patriotic and brave 
men will be found in their appropriate places 



DEC 



262 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



The declaration thus put forth was made 
good through an arduous struggle and des- 
perate endurance, and a prosperous people 
reverently look to the 4th of July, 1776, as 
the birthday of their freedom and happiness. 

DEFOE, Daniel, the father of the English 
novel, born at London in IGGl, was intended 
to be a Presbyterian minister, but turned aside 
to commercial enterprises, in which he was 
unsuccessful. He becaiye a vigorous political 
pamphleteer, offended the ruling powers, and 
reaped a plentiful crop of fines, pillory, and 
prison. Dear-bought experience led him to 
abandon politics, and in 1709 there came forth 
"Robinson Crusoe," that freshest and most 
fascinating of romances. This was followed 
by various other fictions, some almost as vivid, 
till his life closed in 1731. There is a curious 
instance of the wonderful air of truth with 
which he could invest his fictions. For a 
heavy theological book he wrote an elaborate 
puflT, entitled, "A true Eelation of the Appa- 
rition of one Mrs. Veal,, the next day after her 
Death, to one Mrs. Bargrave, at Canterbury, 
the Eighth of September, 1705, which Appa- 
rition recommends the perusal of Drelincourt's 
Book of Consolations against tlxe Fears of 



Death." The circumstantial account was 
widely credited, and the ghostly recommend- 
ation worked off a large edition of a volume 
otherwise wholly unsalable. 

DEJANIRA, daughter of .linens, king of 
Calydon, an iEtolian city, was the wife of 
Hercules, and the innocent cause of his death. 
The centaur Nessus, whom Hercules killed 
for insulting Dejanira, in dying, gave her a 
tunic dipped in his blood, which he said would 
restore to her the atiections of her husband if 
he put it on. When she considered herself in 
danger from his inconstancy, she sent Hercules 
the garment, which he no sooner put on than 
a mortal poison penetrated to his vitals, and 
he died in agon3^ 

DE KALB, Baron, was a native of Alsace. 
He had served forty-two years in the French 
sei'vice when he came to America with La- 
fayette in the spring of 1777. Congress at 
once gave the silver-haired and vigorous vet- 
eran a major-general's commission. His ex- 
perience was of much service to the Americans. 
In the battle of Camden, Aug. 16th, 1780, 
while trying to rally his scattered troops, he 
fell pierced with eleven wounds. 




DELAWARE has the bay of the same name 
and the Atlantic Ocean on the east, Marjiand 
on the south and west, and Pennsylvania on 
(he north. Having a length from north to 
south of ninety-two miles, and varying in 
width between ten and thirty-six miles, its 
area is 2,120 square miles. It is thus the 
smallest state in the Union with the exception 



of Rliodc Island, and in point of population 
it falls behind that state. The population of 
Delaware in 1860was 112,216; of whom 19,829 
were free colored persons, and 1,798 slaves. 
The surface is very level, in the south marshy, 
and in the north slightly undulating. The 
Brandywine is a fine mill-stream. The com- 
merce of Delaware is inconsiderable. Agri- 



DEL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



263 



culture IS the chief occupation of the inhabit- 
ants, and grain and flour are the principal ex- 
ports, A canal navigable for steamers and 
ships crosses the state, connecting the Chesa- 
peake and Delaware Bays. It was completed 
in 1829 at a cost of $2,250,000. 

Delaware was first settled by the Swedes 
and Fins, in 1627. The Dutch gained posses- 
sion of it, but the English in 1664 became the 
masters of it. It was granted to Wiliiam Penn, 
and it formed a part of Pennsylvania till 1776, 
though from 1701 with a distinct legislative 
assembly. It was generally styled the Three 
Lower Counties upon Delaware. The name 
' Delaware ' was given to the bay and river in 
honor of Lord De La Ware, who was governor 
of Virginia in 1611. 

The general assembly of Delaware consists 
of a senate of nine members, and a house of 
twenty-one representatives. Its sessions and 
the general elections are biennial. The gov- 
ernor is elected for four years, and is not eli- 
gible for a second term. The right of suffrage 
is granted to every white male citizen of the 
age of twenty -two or more, who has resided 
within the state one year, and paid a county 
tax ; and every white male citizen under 
twenty-two and over twenty -one, who has re- 
sided in the state a year, can vote without 
payment of such tax. The state is divided 
into three counties, which are subdivided into 
hundreds. Judicial power is vested in four 
judges (one of whom is chief-justice, theothers 
associate law judges, residents of separate 
counties) and a chancellor, all appointed by 
the governor, and holding office during good 
behavior. The chief-justice and two associates 
constitute the superior court. No associate 
judge can sit within his own county. Such 
inferior courts as are needed may be estab- 
lished by the general assembly. The whole 
bench, including the chancellor, form a court 



and airy streets cross at right angles; the 
houses are generally brick. The flouring 
mills of Wilmington are among the largest 
in the country ; gunpowder is extensively 
made ; and the valuable water-power of the 
Brandywine moves the busy machinery of 
many other thriving manufactories. New- 
castle, five miles from Wilmington, and once 
the capital, has nearly 2,000 inhabitants. 
Lewiston is a small village, near Cape Henlo- 
pen, opposite which a breakwater has been 
built by the general government at a cost of 
httle less than $2,250,000. 

DELHI, an ancient city of Hindostan, on 
the river Jumna. It contains many splendid 
edifices. It was taken by the Mohammedans 
in 1193. Once it was the great capital of the 
Mogul empire, and so late as 1700 it had a 
million inhabitants. It is now in decay. In 
1738, when Nadir Shah invaded Hindostan, 
he conquered Delhi, and dreadful massacres 
and famine followed. In 1803, the Mahrattas, 
aided by the French, got possession of the 
place, but they were afterward expelled by 
Gen. Lake. In 1857, the Sepoy rebels made 
Delhi their headquarters. A small force of 
British besieged it. After standing their 
ground for months before an overwhelming 
array of native forces, the Europeans assaulted 
the city, although containing at least twice 
their number of enemies, and after a stout re- 
sistance, carried it on the 20th of September. 

DELOS, the smallest island of the Cyclades. 
was famed in ancient times for the number 
and skill of its artists, and for the splendid 
temple and oracle of Apollo. It was the birth- 
place of Apollo and his sister Diana, according 
to fable, being raised as an asylum to their 
mother, Latona, when she was pursued from 
place to place by the implacable Juno. 

DELPHI, the seat of a famous oracle of 
Apollo, situated in Phocis, on the southern 



of error and appeal and the powers of a court [ side of Parnassus. The fount of inspiration 
of chancery are vested in the latter magistrate ! was said to be a chasm from which issued an 



together with the residentjudge of the county. 
Among religious sects, the Presbyterians and 
Methodists are the most numerous ; there are 
also many Episcopalians and Baptists, some 
Roman Catholics, and a few Quakers. 

Dover (pop. 4,200) is the capital, but Wil- 
mington is the most important town. Its 
population in 1860, was 21,508. The broad 



intoxicating vapor. A temple was built over 
this, and the tripod of the priestess (sometimes 
called the Pythoness from Pythius, the sur- 
name of Apollo) was placed where she could 
breathe the ascending vapor. She was agita- 
ted with extreme fury ; she howled and vowed, 
her eyes sparkled, and she gave every evi- 
dence of being possessed by a spirit. The 



DEL 



264 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Pythian games were celebrated in the vicinity 
of Delphi, which is now the village of Castri. 
[See JiiSOP, Oracles.] 

DELUGE, the flood or inundation of waters 
by which God destroyed mankind and animals 
^n the time of Noah, and in which, as St. Pe- 
ter says, only eight persons were saved. Ac- 
cording to the received chronology, this great 
event was threatened in the year of the world 
1536. It began Dec. Vth, 1656, and continued 
three hundi-ed and seventy -seven days. The 
ark rested on Mount Ararat, May 6th, 1657, 
and Noah left the ark Dec. 18th following. 
The year corresponds with that of 23-48 b.c. 
Almost all savage nations, even those sunk 
the deepest in barbarism, have a tradition of 
an universal deluge. A traveler among the 
Indians of the north-west coast of America 
heard of it from one of the savages, and asked 
him how long ago it occurred ? The savage 
scooped up from the floor of his cabin a hand- 
ful of sand, and promptly replied, "As many 
moons ago as there are grains of sand in this 
heap." The Araucanians in Chili preserve 
the tradition of a universal deluge from which 
a few persons Avere saved upon the top of a 
mountain having three peaks, called Thegtheg, 
or ' thundering mountain,' which floated upon 
the waves. The Aztecs supposed that a uni- 
versal deluge occurred, in which all mankind 
except one man and one woman were changed 
into fishes. This lucky pair were saved in 
the hollow of a tree. Their childi-en were all 
born mute, were taught speech by a dove, 
and each learned a different language. In 
1524, alarm was spread quite widely in Eu- 
rope by the prediction that another general 
deluge was at hand, and arks were everywhere 
built for refuge against the fluvial calamity ; 
but the appointed time happened to be un- 
commonly dry and fine. 

DEMETRIUS, surnamed Soter, son of Se- 
leucus Philopatcr, the son of Antiochus the 
Great, King of Syria. IIis father gave him as 
a hostage to the Romans. After the death of 
Seleucus, Antiochus Epiphanes, the deceased 
monarch's brother, usurped the kingdom of 
Syria, and was succeeded by his son Anti- 
ochus Eupater. This usurpation displeased 
Demetrius, who was detained at Rome; he 
therefore procured his liberty on pretense of 
going to hunt, and fled to Syria, where the 
troops received him as their lawful sovereign, 



B. c. 1 62. He put to death Eupater and Lysias, 
and established himself on his throne by cru- 
elty and oppression. Alexander Balas, the 
son of Antiochus Epiphanes, laid claim to the 
crown of Syria, and slew Demetrius in battle 
in the twelfth year of his reign. 

DEMETRIUS, a Macedonian, son of Antigo- 
nus and Stratonica, surnamed from his suc- 
cesses, Pohorcetes, or the ' destroyer of towns.' 
At the age of twenty-two, he was sent by his 
father against Ptolemy, who had invaded 
Syria. He was defeated near Gaza, but soon 
repaired his loss by a victory over one of the 
generals of the enemy. He afterward sailed 
with a fleet of two hundred and fifty ships to 
Athens, and restored the Athenians to liberty, 
by freeing them from the power of Cassander 
and Ptolemy, and expelled the garrison which 
was stationed there under Demetrius Phale- 
reus. After this successful expedition, he 
besieged and took Munychia, and defeated 
Cassander at Thermopylae. This uncommon 
success raised the jealousy of the successors 
of Alexander ; and Seleucus, Cassander, and 
Lysimachus, united to destroy Antigonus and 
his son. Their hostile armies met at Ipsus, 
B.C. 391. Antigonus was killed in the battle ; 
and Demetrius, after a severe loss, retired to 
Ephesus. His ill success raised him many 
enemies ; the fickle Athenians, who had lately 
adored him as a god, refused to admit him 
into their city. He soon after ravaged the 
territories of Lysimachus, and reconciled him- 
self to Seleucus, to whom he gave his daughter 
Stratonice in marriage. Athens now labored 
under tyranny ; and Demetrius relieved it and 
pardoned its inhabitants. The loss of his 
Asiatic possessions recalled him from Greece, 
and he established himself on the throne of 
Macedonia, 294 b.c. Here he was continually 
at war with the neighboring states ; and the 
superior power of his adversaries obliged him 
to leave Macedonia, after he had filled the 
throne seven years. He passed into Asia and 
attacked some of the provinces of Lysimachus 
with various success ; but famine and pesti- 
lence destroyed the greatest part of his ai'my, 
and he retired to the court of Seleucus for 
support and assistance. He met with a kind 
reception, but hostilities between them soon 
began ; and after he had gained some advan- 
tages over his son-in-law, Demetrius was to- 
tally forsaken by his troops in battle, and be- 



DEM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



265 



came an easy prey to the enemy. Though 
he was kept in confinement by his son-in-law, 
yet he hved like a prince, and passed his time 
in hunting, and in every laborious exercise. 
His son Antigonus offered Seleucus all his 
possessions, and even his person, to procure 
his father's liberty ; but all proved unavailing, 
and Demetrius died in the fifty -fourth year of 
his age, b.c. 284. 

DEMOCRITUS, a philosopher of Abdera, 
who was born about 494 b.c. He is com- 
monly called the laughing philosopher, be- 
cause he is said to have been in the habit of 
amusing himself with the follies of mankind, 
while Horaclitus (the weeping philosopher) 
wept at them. He placed the chief good in 
a tranquil mind. 

DEMOSTHENES, an Athenian orator, son 
of a sword-cutler, born about 381 b.c, famous 
to have risen to the highest reputation by per- 
severance in overcoming the apparently insur- 
mountable obstacles which opposed him. He 
was the determined opponent of Philip of 
Macedon, continually urging the Athenians to 
resist him. The orations which he delivered 
on these occasions were termed Philippics, a 
name since applied to all invective declama- 
tion. He was banished from Athens, and 
suddenly died 319 B.C. 

DENHAM, Dixon, lieutenant-colonel in the 
British army, associated with Captain Clap- 
perton and Doctor Oudney, in exploring Cen- 
tral Africa. Socn after being appointed lieu- 
tenant-governor of Sierra Leone, he died in 
1828, at the age of forty -two. 

DENHAM, Sir John, author of "Cooper's 
Hill" and other poems, born in Dublin 1615, 
died in 1668. 

DENMARK (the land or mark of the Dane), 
also called the Danske Stat (the States of Den- 
mark), is in form a slender peninsula, with an 
area of 21,900 square miles, and a population 
of 2,005,024 in I860.. Its colonial possessions 
are the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and 
the "West Indian isles of Santa Cruz, St. 
Thomas, and St. John's. The surface of Den- 
mark presents an almost uniform plain, eleva- 
ted only a few feet above the level of the sea, 
but occasionally relieved by small groups of 
hills, whose wooded summits break the mo- 
notony of the landscape, and with the numer- 
ous small lakes and inlets from the sea give 
the country a very pleasing appearance. Den- 



DEN 



mark is an agricultural country, and in gen- 
eral the soil is well suited to tillage. The cli- 
mate is temperate. Among the vegetable pro- 
ductions are wheat, rye, oats, barley, beans, 
pease, and potatoes. The commercial exports 
are principally grain, horses, cattle, beef, pork, 
butter, and cheese. The herring and other 
fisheries form an important branch of industry. 
The Lutheran is the predominant religion, 
but every other is tolerated. Much attention 
is paid to education. By law every child be- 
tween the ages of seven and fourteen must at- 
tend some school ; and free schools are pro- 
vided for all whose parents are unable to pay 
tuition. The press is under rather stiict cen- 
sorship. The government was formerly an 
absolute hereditary monarchy ; in 1848 a con- 
stitution somewhat limiting the royal power, 
was promulgated. Another constitution was 
granted in 1854. As Duke of Holstein and 
Lauenburg, the king is a member of the Ger- 
manic confederation. 

The capital of the kingdom is Copenhagen 
{Kjolenliami, 'merchants' haven'), which had 
a population of 129,695 in 1850. It stands on 
the east coast of the island of Zealand, and 
has a good harbor, and an extensive commerce, 
although formerly but a poor fishing village. 
It was threatened by Charles XII., who, how- 
ever, gave up the idea of capturing it. The 
city has suffered severely from several confla- 
grations. In April, 1801, it was bombarded 
by the British under Lord Nelson. The Dan- 
ish fleet was taken, and a flag of truce alone 
saved the city from destruction. It was again 
attacked in 1807 by the English under Admi- 
ral Gambler, and Lord Cathcart. After severe 
firing, which commenced on the 2d of Septem- 
ber, a capitulation was settled on the 8th, and 
the citadel, dock-yards, batteries, vessels, and 
naval stores were taken possession of by the 
British. Altona (population 33,000) is the 
second city in the kingdom. Its suburbs and 
those of Hamburg are only separated by a 
fleld. Though not so active as its neighbor, 
its commerce is yet important. 

The early history of Denmark is obscure 
and uninteresting, containing merely the ad- 
ventures of predatory warriors, whose pre- 
eminence consisted in ferocity and courage. 
During the eighth and ninth centuries they 
established their dominion in parts of England, 
which they scourged by their invasions until 



266 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the middle of the eleventh century ; a band 
of them under Rollo planted themselves in 
Normandy ; they colonized the Orkneys, the 
Hebrides, and Iceland, and pushed their set- 
tlements as far south as Spain, Italy, and 
Sicily. 

Canute the Great, vrho sat on the Danish 
throne in the early j^ears of the eleventh cen- 
tury, possessed himself of the whole of Eng- 
land, a part of Scotland, and all Norway. To 
this monarch Denmark was indebted for laws, 
internal organization, an era of might, and the 
ordination of Christianity as the religion of 
the countiy. His successors were of weaker 
mettle, till the time of Margaret, the daughter 
of Waldemar, often called the Semiramis of 
the north, who in 1397 united in her own 
person, the crowns of Sweden, Denmark, and 
Norway. This union, however, did not con- 
tinue longer than the beginning of the six- 
teenth century, when Christian II. was obliged 
to renounce all claims to Sweden. Christian 
II. was nicknamed the Wicked. The crown 
was transferred to Frederick, Duke of Schles- 
wig and Holstein ; whence these duchies be- 
came united with the kingdom. During the 
wars of the French revolution Denmark re- 
mained neutral ; but on contesting the right 
of search as to her mercantile shipping, in- 
sisted upon by England, which led her into a 
defensive alliance with Russia, Prussia, and 
Sweden, she sacrificed her colonies in the East 
and West Indies, and suffered severely off 
Copenhagen in 1801, as we have already men- 
tioned. Her colonies were restored to her by 
the treaty of peace that followed. In the 
treaty of Tilsit, in 1807, were secret articles, 
providing that the Danish navy should be de- 
livered to Napoleon, to aid him in his threat- 
ened descent upon England. This occasioned 
a fresh rupture vcith England, and a second 
attack upon Copenhagen. By the treaty of 
Kiel in 1814, Denmark accepted Pomerania 
from Sweden in exchange for Norway. Pom- 
erania, the next year, she turned over to 
Prussia for the duchy of Lauenburg and a 
large sum of money. In 1845, she sold her 
African and East Indian colonies to England. 
The Duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, 
peopled mostly by Germans, after long quar- 
reling, revolted from Denmark in 1849, and 
were compelled to submit by the interposi- 
tion of Prussia and Austria. A similar diffi- 



culty arose in 18G4, from an attempt to fuse 
the Duchies thoroughly with Denmark ; and 
Austria and Prussia now interfered on the 
other side, and easily forced Denmark to give 
up the Duchies. 



KINGS OF DENMARK. 

Gormo, the old. 

Harsild II., suniamed Blue-tooth. 

Suenon, or Sweyn, surnamed the Forked- 
beard. 

Canute II., the Great, King of Denmark, 
England, and Norway. 

Canute III., his sou, the Hardicanute of 
England. 

Magnus, surnamed the Good, of Norway. 

Suenon, or Sweyu II. 

[Interregnum.] 

Haj-ald, called the Shnple. 

Canute IV. 

Olaus IV., the Hungry. 

Eric III., styled the Good. 

[Interregnum.] 

Nicholas I., killed at Sleswick. 

Eric IV., surnamed Harelbot. 

Erick V. the Lamb. 

\ Suenon, or Sweyn III., bolioadcd. 
1 Canute V., until 11.54. 

Waldemar, styled the Great. 

Canute VI., surnamed the Pious. 

Waldemar II., the Victorious. 

Eric VI. 

Abel ; assassinated his elder brother Eric ; 
killed in an expedition against the Vri- 
sons. 

Christopher I., poisoned. 

Eric VII. 

Eric VIIL 

Christopher II. 

[Interregnum.] 

Waldemar III. 

Olaus V. 

Margaret, styled the Semiramis of the 
North, Queen of Denmark, Norway, and 
Sweden. 

Margaret, and Eric IX. (Eric XIII. of 
Sweden), jointly. 

Eric IX. reigns alone ; obliged to resign 
both crowns. 

[Interregnum.] 

Christopher III., King of Sweden. 

Christian I., Count of Oldenburg, elected 
King of Scandinavia, which compre- 
hended Denmark, Sweden, and Norway ; 
succeeded by his son. 

John, succeeded by his son. 

Christian II., called the Cruel, and the 
Nero of the North ; among other enor- 
mous crimes he caused all the Swedish 
nobility to be massacred ; dethroned for 
his tyranny in 1 523 ; died in a dungeon, 
1559. [In this reign Sweden succeeded 
in sundering itself from the crown of 
Denmark.] 
. Frederick,' Duke of Holstein, uncle to 
Christian II. ; a liberal ruler. 



88.3. 
935. 
985. 



1042. 
1047. 
1073. 
1077. 
1080. 
1086. 
1095. 
1103. 
1105. 
1135. 
1137. 

1147. 

1157. 
1182. 
1202. 
1241. 
1250. 



1252. 
1259. 
1280. 
1230. 
1334. 
1340. 
1876. 
1387. 



1397. 

1412, 

1438, 
1440, 
1448, 



1481 
1613 



DEN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



267 



1534. Christian III., son of Frederick ; estab- 
lislicd the Lutheran faith; esteemed 
tlie 'Fatlier of his People.' 

1559. Fredcriclc II., son of Christian III. 

1588. Christian IV., son of Frodericlc II. ; chosen 
head of the Protestant league against 
the emperor. 

1648. Frederick III.; changed the government 
from an elective to an hereditary mon- 
archy, vested in his own family. 

1670. Christian v., son of Frederick III.; suc- 
ceeded by his son. 

1699. Frederick IV.; leagued with the Czar 
Peter and Poland against Charles XII. 
of Sweden. 

IISO. Christian VI., his son. 

1746. Frederick V., his son. 

1766. Christian VII., son of the preceding; mar- 
ried Caroline Matilda, sister of George 
III., of England. In a spasm of jeal- 
ousy, 1772, he banished his wife to 
Zell (where she died), and put to death 
his ministers Brandt and Strueusee. 

1784. [Regency.] The Crown-Prince Frederick 
declared regent in consequence of the 
insanity of Ids father. 

1808. Frederick VI., previously regent. 

1S39. Christian VIII , his son. 

1848. Frederick VII, his son, born October 6th, 
18(18; died Nov. 1.5, 1863. 

1863. Christian IX., his son, born April 8, 1816, 
became King, Nov. 16, 1863. 

DANNEWITZ, Battle of. In this con- 
flict a remarkable victory was obtained by 
Marshal Bernadotte, then Crown-Prince of 
Sweden, over Marshal Ney, Sept. 6 th, 1813. 
The loss of the French exceeded 16,000. 

DENNIE, Joseph, born at Boston, in 1768, 
and educated at Harvard College, possessed 
brilliant genius, which he evinced in several 
papers that he edited, the Portfolio among 
others. He wanted industry and discretion, 
and died in 1812, of disease produced by 
irregularity and anxiety. 

D'EON, the Chevalier. This extraordinary 
personage, who had been acting in a diplo- 
matic capacity in several countries, and who 
was for some time the minister of Louis XV. 
in London, was proved to be a woman, on a 
trial in an action to recover wagers as to his 
sex, in 1777. He subsequently wore female 
attire for many years : yet at his death, in 
London, 1800, it was manifest, by the dissec- 
tion of liis body, and other undoubted evi- 
dence, that he was a male. 

DESAIX DE VOYGOUX, Louis Charles 
Antoine, a French general, was born of a 
noble family at St. Hilaire de Agat, in Bre- 
tagne, in 1768. He served under Pichegru 



and Moreau, and commanded, under Bona- 
parte in Upper Egypt, a division of troops 
destined to pursue and keep in awe the Mam- 
elukes, whom he attacked and put to flight 
near the pyramids of Saccara, in Upper Egypt. 
At the battle of Marengo, the splendid suc- 
cess of which was the result of the opportune 
arrival of his columns on the field, he was 
killed, June 14th, 1800. His last words were, 
"Tell the first consul that my only regret in 
dying is that I perish before having done 
enough to live in the recollection of posteritj^" 
When Napoleon heard of his death, he cried, 
" Victory at such a price is dear." At night 
Bourrienne said to Napoleon, " What a glo- 
rious day!" "Yes," was the sad reply, 
" very glorious, could I this evening but have 
embraced Desaix upon the field of battle." 
On the same day that the fatal bullet pierced 
the heart of Desaix, an assassin in Egypt 
plunged a dagger into the bosom of Kleber. 
At St. Helena Napoleon said, " Of all my 
generals, Desaix and Kleber had the greatest 
talent. In particular Desaix, as Kleber loved 
glory only as the means of acquiring wealth 
and pleasure ; Desaix loved glory for itself. 
To him riches and luxury were of no value. 
He was a little black man, an inch shorter 
than myself, always badly dressed, sometimes 
even ragged, and despising alike comfort and 
convenience. Wrapped in a cloak, he slept 
under a gun as contciit.illy as in a palace. 
Frank and honest in all his ways, the Arabs 
called him the just sultan. Nature intended 
him to figure as a consummate general. De- 
saix and Kleber wer.e irreparable losses to 
France." 

DESCARTES, Rene, born at La Haye, in 
Touraine, in 1596, and died at Stockholm in 
1650. As a soldier, mathematician, and ori- 
ginal philosopher, he greatly distinguished 
himself 

DESIEZE, Raymond, the talented advocate 
who defended the unfortunate Louis XVL 
On the restoration of the Bourbons, he was 
loaded with honors, 1750-1828. 

DESMOULINS, Bexoit Camille, a French 
revolutionist, who was condemned to death 
by the revolutionary tribunal in April, 1794, 
at the age of thirty -three. 

DESSAIX, Joseph Marie, Count, a native 
of Savoy, whei'e he was born in 1764, and 
distinguished for his military services in the 



DES 



268 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



French army. At the siege of Toulon, he 
bore a part. He was appointed by Napoleon 
general of division, and grand officer of the 
legion of honor. He died in 1825. 

DESSALINES, Jean Jacques, Emperor of 
Hayti, was originally a slave. After the 
French had been expelled from the island in 
1803, Dessalines was appointed governor- 
general, but assumed the title and state of 
emperor ; and having been guilty of many at- 
rocities, he was killed by a soldier, Oct. 17th, 
180G. 

DETTINGEN, Battle of, between the 
British, Hanoverian, and Hessian army, 52,000 
strong, commanded by George H. and the 
Earl of Stair, and the French army, 60,000 
strong, under Marshal Noailles and the Due 
de Grammont, June IGtli, 1743. The French 
were defeated. 

DE WITT, John, grand-pensionary of Hol- 
land, a famous statesman, was born in 1625. 
He imbibed from his father a hatred for the 
house of Orange. Accordingly, in the war be- 
tween England and Holland, he attempted to 
abolish the stadtholdership, and succeeded in 
separating that office from that of captain- 
general. He was forced, however, to make 
some concessions, and beheld, with mortifica- 
tion, William of Orange procure the post of 
commander-in-chief. De Witt resigned his 
employments when William was chosen stadt- 
holder, to the joy of all, and, being thrown 
into prison, was murdered by the populace, 
who broke in upon him, August 20th, 1672. 
When De Witt was once asked how it hap- 
pened that he got through so much business 
and of such varied kind, for he was not only 
a great statesman and a minister, but also a 
most eminent mathematician and literary 
man ; his answer was that it was by two 
rules which he always observed: to do one 
thing only at a time, and never to put off till 
to-morrow what he could do to-day. These 
were his golden rules. 

DEXTER, Samuel, a distinguished orator, 
lawyer, and statesman, was born at Boston, 
Mass., in 1761, and was educated at Harvard 
College. He studied law, but was soon 
chosen to the state legislature, and thence 
transferred to Congress where his ability and 
patriotism were properly appreciated. Under 
President Adams he was at first secretary of 
war, and then of the treasury. Declining 



the public offices which were afterward 
offered him, he employed himself in the 
lucrative and honorable profession of the law, 
being intrusted with cases of the utmost 
importance. He died at Athens, N. Y., in 
1816. 

DIAMONDS were first polished and cut at 
Bruges, 1489. Diamond mines were discov- 
ered in Brazil, 1728 ; those at Coulour in the 
East Indies, 1640; those at Golconda, in 
1584. A diamond wos sent from Brazil for 
the court of Portugal, weighing 1680 carats, 
or fourteen ounces, and was valued at £224,- 
000,000; it is not very brilliant, and its true 
value is only £400,000. Governor Pitt's 
weighed 126 carats, and 106 after cutting, 
and sold for £125,000, to the king of France. 
That which belonged to Aurung Zebe weighed 
793 carats, in a rough state, and when cut 
279 carats, worth £779,244. The Grand 
Duke of Tuscany's weighed 139 carats. The 
celebrated diamond called the Koh-i-noor, or 
'Mountain of Light,' was found in the mines 
of Golconda in 1550. Precisely three centu- 
ries after, it was brought to England. Its 
original weight was nearly eight hundred 
carats. Unskillful cutting reduced it to two 
hundred and seventy-nine. Its value has 
been estimated at two millions sterling. 

DIANA, in mj^thology the daughter of 
Jupiter and Latona, and twin sister of Apollo, 
born at Delos. She was the goddess of hunt- 
ing, chastitj', and marriage, though she re- 
mained unmarried. She is supposed to have 
been the Isis of the Egyptians. 

DICKENSON, John, was born in Mary- 
land, Nov. 13th, 1732. He was bred to the 
law in Philadelphia and at the Temple in 
London. He was an earnest advocate of the 
rights of the colonies. He had been a mem- 
ber of the stamp-act congress of 1765, and 
he represented Pennsylvania in the earlier 
continental congresses. Opposed to political 
separation from Great Britain, as too prema- 
ture, he yet would not vote against his 
brother patriots, and on the memorable 4th of 
July he was absent from his seat. Independ- 
ence once declared, he defended it both by 
word and sword. He helped to frame the 
federal constitution, and was its warm friend. 
He died at Wilmington, Del., Feb. 14th, 1808. 

DIDO, the founder of the city of Carthage, 
also called Elisa, was a daughter of Belus, 



DID 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



269 



monarch of Tyre, and married Sichaeus, or 
Sicharbas, her uncle, a priest of Hercules. 
Pygmalion, the successor of Belus, murdered 
the husband of Dido, for the sake of his 
wealth, and with a number of Tyrians the 
unhappy queen set sail to found a colony in 
some distant land. A storm drove them 
upon the African shore, where Dido built her 
citadel, 869 b.c, and soon had the satisfaction 
of finding the colony in a thriving condition. 
The persecutions of Jarbas, the Mauritanian 
king, who wished to marry her, proved fatal 
to her, for having vowed to her husband 
never to wed a second time, she ascended a 
funeral pile, and perished in the flames. For 
this action she was called Dido, or 'valiant 
woman.' Her connection with ^neas was 
an invention of Virgil, for they were not 
even contemporaries. 

DIEMEN, Anthony van, governor-general 
of the Dutch East India settlements, born in 
1593. He went to the Indies as a clerk, 
but rose with great rapidity. His adminis- 
tration was judicious and successful. He 
died in 1045. [See Van Diemen's Land. 

DIGBY, Sir Kenelm (son of Sir Everard 
Digby, who was condemned and executed for 
his participation in the gunpowder plot), was 
born at Gothurst, in Buckinghamshire, in 
1G03. He was educated at Oxford, and was 
originally a Protestant, but was converted to 
the Romish religion in 1636. He was one 
of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber to 
Charles I., commissioner of the navy, and 
governor of the Trinity-house. He fought 
against the Venetians at Scuderoon. He was 
the author of several philosophical treatises. 

DIOCLETIAN, a famous Roman emperor, 
born of an obscure family of Dalmatia, first 
a common soldier, then general, and pro- 
claimed emperor, 284 a.d. He made Maxi- 
man a comrade, his colleague, and created 
two subordinate emperors, Galerius and Con 
stantius, with the title of Caesars. Some of 
the acts of his reign are meritorious, but he 
disgraced himself by a persecution of the 
Christians. After a reign of twenty-one 
years, he voluntarily and publicly abdicated 
the throne at Nicomedia, May 1st, a.d. 305, 
and his colleague shortly after followed his 
example. He found sufficient pleasure in 
the cultivation of his little garden, and died 
in 313. 



DIODATI, John, a Protestant divine, pro- 
fessor of theology at Geneva, where he died 
in 1649. 

DIODORUS SICULUS (Diodorus the Si- 
cilian), a Greek historian of the time of Julius 
Csesar and Augustus. 

DIOGENES (born at Sinope in Pontus, 
413 B.C.) was a famous Cynic philosopher, 
one of that sect that sternly opposed luxury 
and immorality, discarding all superfluities. 
Diogenes humorously ridiculed the follies of 
human nature, and made even the objects of 
his satire laugh at his practical jests and 
lessons. He perambulated the streets of 
Athens in the garb and manner of a sturdy 
beggar, and slept in a tub. He was rigidly 
temperate, and despised the forms of polite 
society. While at Corinth Alexander the 
Great paid him a visit, but was astonished at 
the indifferent air of the philosopher. He 
made an offer of service, but Diogenes re-" 
plied, " I only want you to stand out of my 
sunshine." His independence made such 
an impression on the Macedonian that he 
cried, "If I were not Alexander, I should 
wish to be Diogenes." He once carried a 
lantern about Athens at mid-day, and being 
asked why he was doing so, answered, " I am 
looking for a man." Being asked what was 
the most dangerous animal? he answered, 
"Among wild ones, the slanderer; among 
tame, the flatterer." Plato having described 
man as a two-legged animal without feathers, 
and received applause for the definition, 
Diogenes plucked a live fowl, and carrying it 
to the Academy, exclaimed, " Here is Plato's 
man!" He died at a great age, 324 b.c. 
Had this itinerant philosopher lived in these 
degenei'ate days, he would have become ob- 
noxious to the police as a vagrant, and found 
it extremely diflicult to avoid the stocks, the 
work-house, or the treadmill ! 

DIOMEDES, a king of Bistones, who is 
fabled to have fed his horses upon human 
flesh, and to have therefore been killed by 
Hercules. 

DIOMEDES, a Grecian hero, king of Argos, 
who led his subjects to the siege of Troy. 
After the war he went to Italy, where he is 
said to have lived to a good old age. 

DION, of Syracuse, was related to Dio- 
nysius, and often gave him advice. The 
tyrant banished him to Greece, where he 



DIO 



270 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



raised troops, and entering the harbor of 
Syracuse with only two ships, reduced it in 
three days. The tyrant fled, and Dion re- 
tained the power in his own hands, but was 
murdered by a false friend, Calippus of 
Athens, b.c. 354. 

DIONYSIUS I., or the Elder, from the 
rank of a common soldier raised himself to 
the throne of Syracuse. He was inimical to 
the Carthaginians, and fought against them 
■with various success. His tyranny and cru- 
elty rendered him so odious to his subjects, 
that he lived in constant dread of assassina- 
tion, and never permitted even his wife and 
children to enter his presence until their gar- 
ments had been searched for concealed weap- 
ons. He is said to have built a subterraneous 
cave, called the ear of Dionysius, because it 
was built in the form of a human ear, con- 
centrated the sound of voices within it, and 
conveyed them distinctly to his hearing. 
The artists employed upon the work were 
killed for fear of their disclosing the secrets 
of its construction, and the use to which it 
was applied. 

Dionysius was constantly betraying his 
unhappiness. When one of his flatterers, 
Damocles, was discoursing on his magnifi- 
cence, riches, and power, Dionysius said to 
him, "These things seem to delight you; 
make a trial of my place, by way of experi- 
ment." Damocles was instantly arrayed in 
the imperial purple, and surrounded by the 
king's guards, while every knee was bent to 
do him homage. In the midst of this show, 
Dionysius ordered a naked sword to be hung 
from the ceiling by a horse-hair, directly over 
the royal throne, where Damocles was sitting 
at a feast. From that moment the courtier- 
king lost his appetite, his joy vanished, and 
he begged to be restored to the security of 
his former condition. Dionysius thus tacitly 
acknowledged that his happiness was poisoned 
by a dread of the punishment which was 
due to his iniquity and cruelty. He died of 
poison administered at the instigation of his 
son, B.C. 368. He was very vain, and im- 
agined that he possessed literary talents of 
a high order, although his poetical effusions 
were lamentable failures. 

DIONYSIUS, the Younger, was the son of 
Dionysius I. By the advice of Dion, Plato 
was invited to court, and the philosopher 



endeavored to instill into the tyrant's minu 
some of those precepts which were his own 
guide through life. The king neglected his 
advice, and, after suffering for frankness, Plato 
quitted him in disgust. Driven from the 
throne he had disgraced, b.c. 857, he again 
returned to it after an absence of ten years, 
but lost it a second time, and finallj^ went to 
Corinth, where to support himself he kept 
a school, that, as Cicero observes, he might 
still be a tyi-ant. AVe can readily imagine 
the sufferings of the wretched urchins upon 
the interior and exterior of whose heads the 
ex-king labored. His pupils, we are told, 
were few, nor can we wonder that the peda- 
gogue was so poorly patronized. 

DIONYSIUS, one of the judges of the 
Areopagus at Athens, was converted to 
Christianity by the apostle Paul, and was the 
first Bishop of Athens. He was the author 
of some polemical writings, and suffered 
martyrdom. 

DISCOVERIES, in modern times. 

861. Faroe Islands — discovered about this 
time by a Norwegian vessel. 

871. Iceland — discovered by some Norwe- 
gian chiefs w^ho were compelled to leave their 
native country. According to some accounts, 
it had been visited before this, by a Scandi- 
navian pirate, Naddodd. 

980. Greenland — discovered by the Ice- 
landers about this period. The first colony 
established there was destroj'ed by a pesti- 
lence in the fourteenth century, and hj the 
accumulation of ice which prevented all com- 
munication between Iceland and Greenland. 

1000. Winenland — a part of the continent 
of America, from Labrador as far south as 
Rhode Island, is supposed to have been dis- 
covered by the Icelanders. It was called 
Winenland, or Vinland, from the abundance 
of a species of vine found there. The Ice- 
landic chronicles are full and minute respect- 
ing this discovery. 

1330. Canary /^Zcs— discovered by a French 
ship driven among them by stress of weather, 
having been known to the ancients. 

1344. Madeira— Tha discovery of this 
group is attributed to an Englishman, Robert 
Macham ; it was revisited in 1419 by Juan 
Gonzales, and Tristan Vaz, Portuguese. 

1364. Guinea — ^the coast of, discovered by 
some seamen of Dieppe, about this period. 



DIS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



271 



1434. Cape Bojador — doubled for the first 
time by the Portuguese. 

1439. Azores — discovered by V<anderberg ; 
settled by the Portuguese in 1448. 

1449. Cape Verde Islands — discovered by 
Antonio de Noli, a Genoese in tlie sei'vice of 
Portugal. 

1484. Congo — discovered by the Portu- 
guese, under Diego 0am. 

1486. Cape of Good Rope — discovered by 
Bartholomew Diaz. It was originally called 
' The Cape of Tempests,' and was also named 
'The Lion of the Sea,' and 'The Head of Af- 
rica.' The appellation was changed by John 
II., King of Portugal, who augured fovorably 
of future discoveries from Diaz having reached 
the extremity of Africa. 

1492. Bahamas. — These islands were the 
first points of discovery by Columbus. San 
Salvador was first seen by this great naviga- 
tor, on the night between the 11th and 12th 
of October in this year. 

Cuha and Eispanlola or St. Domingo were 
also discovered by Columbus in his first voy- 



1493. Jamaica^ St. Christopher^ s.^ and Bo- 
miniea — discovered by Columbus in his sec- 
ond voyage. 

1497. Cape of Good Hope — doubled by 
Vasco di Gama, and the passage to India dis- 
covered. 

1497. Newfoundland — discovered by John 
Cabot, who first called it Prima Vista and 
Baccalaos. The title of Prima Vista still be- 
longs to one of its capes, and an adjacent island 
is still called Baccalao. Cabot sailed down 
the coast and touched upon Florida, thus 
reaching the continent before Colarnbus. 

1498. Continent of America — discovered 
by Columbus. 

Malabar., Coast o/— discovered by Vasco di 
Gama. 

Mozamhique.1 Island of — discovered by 
Vasco di Gama. 

1500. Brazil — discovered April 24th, by 
Alvarez de Cabral, a Portuguese, who was 
driven on its coast by a tempest. He called 
it the Land of the Holy Cross. It was subse- 
quently called Brazil, on account of its red 
wood ; and was carefully explored by Amerigo 
Vespucci, from 1500 to 1504. 

1501. Lalrculor and River St. Lawrence — 
discovered by Cortereal, who sailed from Lis- 

DIS 



bon on a voyage of discovery for the Portu- 
guese. The Cabots had entered the St. Law- 
rence in 1499. 

1502. Gulf of Mexico. — Some of the shores 
of this gulf were explored by Columbus on 
his last voyage. 

St. Helena — discovered by Jean de Nova, 
a Portuguese. 

1505. Ceylon — discovered by the Portu- 
guese. Ceylon was known to the Eomans in 
the time of Claudius, a.d. 41. 

1506. Madagascar — discovered by Lorenzo 
Almeida ; revisited by the Portuguese navi- 
gator Fernandez Pereira, in 1508. This island 
was first called St. Lawrence, having been 
discovered on the day of that saint. 

1509. Sumatra — reached by Diego Lopez 
Sigueira, a Portuguese navigator. 

1510. Molucca Isles — discovered by the 
Portuguese. 

Suiida /sZes-^discovcrcii by Abreu, a Por- 
tuguese. 

1512. Maldives. — A Portuguese navigator, 
who was wrecked on these islands, found 
them in possession of Arabians. 

Florida — discovered by Ponce de Leon, a 
Spanish navigator. 

. 1513. Borneo and Java. — The Portuguese 
became acquainted with these islands. 

1513. South Sea.— The Pacific Ocean, or 
South Sea, was discovered this year from the 
mountains of Darien, by Nunez de Balboa, 
and subsequently navigated by Magellan. 
The supposition that the New World was part 
of India now ceased. 

1513. Perzf— discovered by Perez de laRua. 

1516. Bio de la Plata — entered by Diaz de 
Solis. 

1517. China — Fernand Perez d'Andrada 
reached China by sea. 

1518. Mexico — discovered by the Span- 
iards ; conquered by Cortes, in 1521. 

1519. Magellan^ Straits e?/"— passed by Ma- 
gellan with a fleet of discovery fitted out by 
Charles V. The first voyage round the world 
was undertaken by this navigator ; and his 
vessel performed the enterprise, although he 
perished by the way. 

1520. Terra del Fuego — discovered by Ma- 
gellan. 

1520. Ladrone Islands — discovered by Ma- 
gellan. 

1521. Philippines. — This archipelago dis- 



272 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



covered by Magellan, who lost his life here in 
a skirmish. 

1524 New France. — The first voyage of 
discovery made by the French under the pat- 
ronage of Francis I. ; one of whose ships, after 
reacliing Florida, coasted along as far as 50 "^ 
N. lat., and gave to this part the name of New 
France. 

1524. North America — traveled over from 
Florida to Newfoundland by Verazzani, a 
Florentine, in the service of France. 

1527. NeiD Guinea — discovered by Saave- 
di"a, a Spaniard, sent from Mexico, by Cortez. 

1530. Guinea — the first voyage to, made 
by an English ship for elephants' teeth. 

1535. Canada — visited by Jacques Cartier, 
of St. Malo ; a settlement having previousl}^ 
been made in 1523, by Verazzani, who took 
possession in the name of Francis I. of France. 

1535. California — discovered by Cortez. 

1537. Chili — discovered by Diego de Al- 
magro, one of the conquerors of Peru. 

1542. Japan — discovered by the Portu- 
guese, Antonio de Meta and Antonio de Pey- 
xoto, who were cast by a tempest on its coasts. 

1552. Spitzbergen — observed by the Eng- 
lish, but mistaken for part of Greenland. 
Visited by Barentz, a Dutch navigator, in 
search of a north-east passage, in 1595. 

1553. White Sea. — This sea, which had 
not been visited since the time of Alfred, was 
now supposed to be discovered by Chancellor, 
an English navigator. 

1575. Solonion's Isles — discovered by Men- 
dana, a Spaniard, sent by the governor of Peru. 

157G. FroMsher's Strait — discovered by 
the English navigator whose name it bears. 

Greenland — further explored by Frobisher, 
who also penetrated further between this 
country and Labrador. 

1577. New Albion — discovered by Drake, 
who was the second to attempt a voyage round 
the world, which he performed in three years. 
He gave the name of New Albion to the north- 
west coast of America. 

1580. Siberia — first made known to Europe 
by Yermak Timopheievitch, a Cossack chief 

1585. Davis's Strait — discovered by the 
English navigator whose name it bears, in his 
voyage for the discovery of a north-west 
passage. 

1594. Fa IHa n d Islands — discovered by the 
English navigator, Hawkins. 



1595. Marquesas — discovered by Mendana, 
a Spaniard, on his voyage from Peru to found 
a colony in the Solomon Isles. 

Solitary Island — discovered by Mendana 
on the same voyage. 

1606. Australia — by the Dutch. 
Archipelago del Espiritu San ?o— discovered 

by Quiros, a Spaniard, sent from Peru. 
These islands are the Cyclades of Bougainville, 
and the New Hebrides of Cook. 

OtaJieite — supposed to be discovered by 
Quiros, who named it Sagittaria. 

1 607-10. Hudson's i?«7/— discovered by the 
celebrated English navigator, Hudson, on his 
third voyage. Venturing to pass the winter 
in this bay on his fourth voyage, he was, with 
four others, thrown by his sailors into a boat, 
and left to perish. It is probable that Sebas- 
tian Cabot entered and partially explored this 
bay in 1512. 

1607. GhesapeaTie Bay — discovered by 
John Smith. 

1615. Straits of Le Maire — discovered, 
with the island of Staten on the east, by Le 
Maire, a merchant of Amsterdam, and Schou- 
ten, a merchant of Horn. 

1616. Cape Horn — doubled by Le Maire 
and Schouten, Dutch navigators, who called it 
after the town of which Schouten was a native. 
These enterprising men perfoi'med a voyage 
round the world in about two years. 

1616. Baffin's Bay— dis,coYered by William 
BaflSn, an Englishman. The nature and ex- 
tent of this discovery were much doubted, till 
the expeditions of Ross and Parry proved that 
BaflBn was substantially accurate in his state- 
ment. 

1636. Arctic Ocean. — In this year the Rus- 
sians discovered that this ocean washed and 
bounded the north (jf Asia. The first Russian 
ship sailed down the Lena into this sea. 

1642. Neto Zealand — with the southern 
part of Van Diemen's Land, discovered by 
Tasman, a Dutch navigator. 

1686. Faster Island — discovered by Rog- 
gewein, a Dutch navigator. 

1690. Kamschatl-a — discovered by a Cos- 
sack chief, Morosko. This country was taken 
possession of by the Russians in 1697. It 
was not known to be a peninsula until visited 
by Behring in 1728. 

1699. Japan — visited by Kampfer, a Ger- 
man. 
DIS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



273 



1699. Kew Britain. — This island, and the 
straits which separate it from New Guinea, 
discovered by Dampier. This enterprising 
seaman made a voyage round the world at the 
period of this discovery. 

1728. Behring^s Strait — explored and des- 
ignated by a Danish navigator in the service 
of Russia, whose name it bears. Behring thus 
established that the continents of Asia and 
America are not united, but are distant from 
each other about thirty -nine miles. 

17-41. Aleutian Isles — on the coast of North 
America, discovered by Behring. , 

1765. Bulce of Yorh's Island — discovered 
bj^ Byron. 

Isles of Banger — discovered by Byron. 

1767. Otalieite — discovered by AYallis. 

1768. CooFs Strait — discovered by Capt. 
Cook on his first voyage round the world, 
which occupied from 1768 to 1771. 

1770. Ifeio South Wales — discovered by 
Captain Cook. 

1772. Island of Besolat ion — the first land 
south of India, discovered by Kerguelen, and 
called by his name. Subsequently called the 
Island of Desolation by Captain Cook. 

1774. Ifew Caledonia — discovered by Cook 
in his second voyage, 1772-1775. 

1778. Icy Cape — discovered by Captain 
Cook. 

1778. Sandwich Islands — discovered by 
Cook in his third voyage, which commenced 
in 1776. He lost his life at Owhyhee in 1779. 

1797. Bass's Straits. — Mr. Bass, surgeon 
of H. B. M. S. Reliance, penetrated as far as 
Western Port, in a small open boat, from Port 
Jackson, and was of opinion that a strait ex- 
i.sted between New South Wales and Van Die- 
man's Land. In 1799, Lieut. Flinders cir- 
cumnavigated Van Dieman's Land, and named 
the strait after Mr. Bass. 

1801—6. Missouri River — explored to its 
sources by Captains Lewis and Clarke, and 
the origin and source of the Columlia ascer- 
tained. 

1819. New South Shetland — discovered by 
Capt. Smith, of the brig William, bound to 
Valparaiso. 

1821. Asia — the northern limits of, deter- 
mined by Baron Wrangel. [See Africa and 
Arctic Discoveries.] 

DJEZZAR, AcHJiET, Pacha of Acre, origin- 
ally a slave ; aided by the English, he checked 



the career of NajDoleon, in Syria. He died in 
1804. Djezzar signifies 'butcher,' and the 
pacha won the name by his cruelties. 

DODD, William, an English clergyman, 
born in 1729 ; he was popular as a preacher, 
and as an author, and was appointed one of 
the king's chaplains, which place he lost by 
being convicted of offering a bribe to obtain 
preferment. The Magdalen hospital in London 
was erected under his supervision. His ex- 
travagant excesses led him into continual em- 
barrassments. In 1777, he was convicted of 
forging a bond for £4,200 in the name of his 
patron. Lord Chesterfield. High influence 
was exerted and great interest made to save 
him, but when the case came before the coun- 
cil, the minister of the day said to George III., 
"If your majesty pardon Dr. Dodd, you will 
have murdered the Perreaus." These were 
two unfortunate wine-merchants who had been 
executed for forgery less than a year before. 
The doctor was accordingly hanged at Ty- 
bui'n, June 27th. Forgery is no longer a cap- 
ital crime in England. 

DODDRIDGE, Philip, D.D., a distin- 
guished divine among the English dissenters, 
was born in London, June 26th, 1702. His 
pious parents early instructed him in religious 
knowledge. The chimney in the room where 
the family were wont to sit, was ornamented 
with quaint Dutch tiles, and from these the 
good mother taught her boy the history of 
the Old and New Testaments before he could 
read. Under such training he early entered 
the ministry, and at tvi'enty preached his 
first sermon. He settled at Northampton, 
where as pastor, an instructor of students in 
theology, and the author of many pious 
works, he led an arduous and faithful life till 
1751, when ill health sent him to Portugal. 
He survived his arrival at Lisbon but five 
days, dying the 26th of October, 1751. Dr.. 
Johnson pronounced an epigram by Dr. 
Doddridge one of the finest in the English, 
language. The subject is his family 
motto, "Dumvivimus vivamus." 

"Live while you live, the epicure wonid say. 
And seize the pleasures of the present day. 
Live while you live, the sacred preacher cries. 
And give to God each moment as it flies. 
Lord, in my views let both united be ; 
I live in pleasure when I live to thee." 

DODINGTON, George Bubb (Lord Mel- 



18 



DOD 



274 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



combe Regis), was the son of a gentleman of 
fortune, and was born in 1691. He enjoyed 
many posts of honor and emolument under 
different parties, and he did not scruple to 
avow openly his political tergiversations. He 
was advanced to the peerage in 1761, and died 
in the following year. Bubb Dodington was 
eccentric, genei-ous, convivial, and magnifi- 
cent in private life. Many anecdotes are 
related of him. For the amusement of the 
young Prince of Wales he used to suffer him- 
self to be rolled up in blankets, and trundled 
down the stairs. Before he took the name 
of Dodington, he was one day lamenting to 
Lord Chesterfield the shortness of his patro- 
nymic, Bubb. "You can easily remedy it," 
said his lordship ; " call yourself Sillybub, 
and that will do very well." He winced 
under the whimsical satire which an oppo- 
nent issued, with the title of " A Grub upon 
Bubb." When his fortune increased, he 
built himself a splendid villa, which if cost 
constituted elegance would have been a 
model. But Bubb had no taste, and his 
villa was a failure. The second story ap- 
peared much too heavy for the first; for, 
while the latter was ornamented in the light- 
est style, the suite of rooms above was adorned 
with marble fire-places, marble slabs, and 
massy wainscoting. The proprietor, in 
showing this to a friend one day, said, " They 
tell me, sir, that this is out of place, and ought 
to be down-stairs." "Make yourself per- 
fectly easy," was the consolatory answer ; "it 
will soon be there ! " 

DODSLEY, Robert, was born at Mans- 
field, Notts, in 1703. He was at first a stock- 
ing weaver, then a footman, and his first 
volume was a collection entitled " The Muse 
in Livery." He acquired a very handsome 
fortune by his efforts as author and book- 
seller, and retired to Durham, where he died 
in 1764. His "Economy of Human Life" 
is an excellent little moral treatise. As a 
public-spirited publisher, he was of good 
service to literature and literary men. 

DOLCE, Carlo, an eminent Florentine 
painter, 1616-1686. 

DOMENICHINO is the name by which 
DoMiNico Zajipiere is best known. He was 
born at Bologna in 1581. He studied paint- 
ing in the school of the Carracci, and is ac- 
counted the ablest of all their scholars. At 



Rome, he earned a high reputation. He 
received only fifty scudi (about fiftj^ dollars) 
for his " Communion of St. Jerome," consid- 
ered the best altar-piece in Rome, with the 
exception of Raphael's "Transfiguration." 
In 1630, he removed to Naples, was much 
persecuted by his rivals there and in Rome, 
and died April 15th, 1641, not without sus- 
picion of having been poisoned. 

DOMINIC DE GUZMAN, St., was born 
in Spain in 1170, and died at Bologna in 1221. 
He was the founder of the order of Domini- 
cans, whose power and influence were at one 
time almost universal. They were called in 
France Jacobins, and in England Black 
Friars. The inquisition was at first in their 
hands. 

DOMITIAN, Titus Flayius Sabinus, son 
of Vespasian, and brother of Titus, whom, 
according to some accounts, he destroyed by 
poison, was born, a.d. 51, and ascended the 
throne, a.d. 81. The beginning of his reign 
promised tranquillity to the people, but their 
hopes were soon swamped in his cruelty and 
debauchery. He perished by the hands of 
an assassin, the 18th of September, a.d. 06, 
in the forty-fifth year of his age, and the 
fifteenth of his reign. He was the last of the 
twelve Caesars. 

DONIZETTI, Gaetano, a popular operatic 
composer, born at Bergamo, in 1798, died 
there insane, April 8th, 1848. He wrote 
sixty-three operas, of which the most famous 
are, "Anna Bolena," "Lucrezia Borgia," 
" Lucia di Lammermoor," " La Fille du Regi- 
ment," " La Favorita," "Linda di Chamouni," 
and "Don Pasquale." 

DONNE, John, an English poet and divine 
of some celebrity, was the son of a merchant, 
and was born in London in 1573. His 
education was obtained at Oxford and 
Cambridge. Originally a Catholic, in his 
nineteenth year he abjured the Romish re- 
ligion, and was made secretary to the Lord 
Chancellor Ellesmere, whose favor he lost for 
a time by a clandestine marriage with his 
niece. The juvenile pair appear to have fore- 
seen all the consequences of their union, for 
the doctor indorsed a paper in the following 
manner, "John Donne, Anne Donne, un- 
done." His prospects, however, brightened; 
he took orders, became one of King James's 
chaplains, and died in March, 1631. 



DON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY- 



275 



DORIA, Andrea, a Genoese commander, 
born in 1468. After having been employed 
by several princes, he received a command in 
Corsica, which island he completely reduced. 
He gained wealth and honor in his attacks 
upon the Barbary states. On the breaking 
out of the revolution in Genoa, he went into 
the service of France, and next into that of 
the pope ; but on the capture of Rome he 
returned to Francis I., who made him the 
general of his galleys, and admiral of the 
■jLevant. The French having become masters 
x)f Genoa, in 1528, Doria succeeded in deliv- 
ering the republic from a foreign yoke, re- 
ceived the oflBce of doge for life, and was 
rewarded with the title of father of his coun- 
try. He next carried arms through the Med- 
iterranean in the service of Charles V., and 
died in 1560, full of years and honors. 

DORIS was a small district of ancient 
Greece, the seat of the Dorians, the most 
powerful of the Hellenic tribes. About B.C. 
1104, the Dorians migrated to the Pelopon- 
nesus. They sent out many colonies. They 
invented the Doric order of architecture, the 
most ancient of the five. The lyric poets of 
Greece in general wrote in the Doric dialect. 

DORSET, Thomas Sackville, Lord Buck- 
hurst and Earl of Dorset, was the son of Sir 
Richard Sackville, and was born at Witham, 
in Sussex, in 1527. He was educated at 
Oxford, whence he removed to Cambridge, 
and next to the Inner Temple. On leaving 
the Temple, he went abroad ; and after his 
return, was made Lord Buckhurst. In 1587 
he \^as sent on an embassy to the United 
Provinces. After this he was made knight 
of the garter, and chosen chancellor of Ox- 
ford. On the death of Burleigh he was 
appointed lord treasurer; and in the next 
reign created Earl of Dorset. He died in 
1608. Edward (1590-1652), his grandson, 
bearing the same titles, was a partisan of 
Charles I., and regent during the king's 
absence in Scotland. 

Charles Sackville, sixth Earl of Dorset 
and Middlesex, was born in 1637. In his 
youth he was one of the most notorious 
libertines of the wild time which followed 
the Restoration. He was the lover of Nell 
Gwynn before she became a royal mistress : 
she called him her Charles the First. Yet, in 
the midst of follies and vices, his courageous 



spirit, his fine understanding, and his "natu- 
ral goodness of heart, had been conspicuous, 
and with all his errors he was a general 
favorite. In 1665, he volunteered on board 
the fieet under the Duke of York in the war 
against the Dutch, and there, the night 
before an engagement, wrote that song, un- 
equaled in its kind, "To all you ladies 
now at land." The judgment of the world 
became still more favorable to Dorset when 
he had been sobered by time and marriage. 
His graceful mannerF, his brilliant conversa- 
tion, his soft heart, his open hand, were uni- 
versally praised. No day passed, it was said, 
in which some distressed family had not 
reason to bless his name. And yet, with all 
his good nature, such was the keenness of his 
wit, that scoffers whose sarcasm all the town 
feared stood in craven fear of the sarcasm of 
Dorset. All political parties esteemed and 
caressed him ; but politics were not much to 
his taste. He took just so much part in par- 
liamentary and diplomatic business as suf- 
ficed to show that he wanted nothing but in- 
clination to rival the leading statesmen of the 
age, and turned away to pursuits which 
pleased him better. He was the best judge 
of painting, of sculpture, of architecture, of 
acting, that the court could show. More 
than one clever play which had failed on the 
first representation was supported by his 
single authority against the whole clamor of 
the pit, and came forth successful from the 
second trial. He was a munificent patron of 
the letters. Dryden was saved from ruin by 
his almost princely generosity ; he was the 
first to call attention to Butler's "Hudibras ; " 
and by him Montague and Prior were intro- 
duced into public life. The few songs and 
satires he occasionally composed show that, 
with more industry, he might have been a 
rival where he was content to be a benefac- 
tor. He died at Bath, January 19th, 1706. 

DORT, a commercial town in the south of 
Holland. The resolutions of the synod of 
Dort, held here by the Protestants in 1618 
and 1619, form the present code of the Dutch 
Reformed Church. This synod was attended 
by deputies from the reformed churches 
throughout Europe. Its object was to settle 
the difficulties between the doctrines of Lu- 
ther, Calvin, and Arminius. The tenets of 
the latter were condemned. 



DOR 



27( 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



DOUGLAS, Stepukn Aknold, was born 
in Brandon, Vt., April 23, 1813. His father, 
a physician, died leaving his wife and son in 
indigent circumstances. Young Douglas 
attended school only one third of the year, 
working on the farm or in a cabinet shop the 
remainder. In 1820 he removed to Illinois, 
taught school for a support and studied law. 
Admitted to the bar in 1834, though im- 
perfectly trained, yet he displayed such abili- 
ties, that the next year he was elected State At- 
torney. From that period till his death, June 
3, 1861, he was in public life, as Secretary of 
State, Judge of Supreme Court of Illinois, 
Representative to Congress, and three suc- 
cessive times U. S. Senator. He was for a 
long time at the head of the Committee on 
Territories. Though not the originator he 
was the mover and advocate of the famous 
" Kansas and Nebraska Bill," and of the 
repeal of the "Missouri Compromise." He 
was the advocate, if not the originator, of the 
" Squatter Sovereignty " doctrine, giving to 
the settlers of a territory the power to deter- 
mine its statu.s in regard to slavery. He was 
a Democratic candidate for the Presidency in 
1860. At the commencement of the rebellion 
he took a decided s.tand in support of the 
Union, and his last letters and dying words 
evinced his patriotism and his hostility to the 
foes of the republic. He was a man of ex- 
traordinary talent, energy and determination. 
He possessed that genial, electric nature which 
drew around him a host of political and per- 
sonal friends. The West gave him the sou- 
iriquet of " Little Giant." 

DOW, Gerard, one of the most celebrated 
of the Dutch genre painters, was born at 
Leyden in 1613. In 1628, he was placed 
with Rembrandt, whose pupil he continued 
. three years. His works are remarkable for 
high finish and for lightness of handling. 
He died at L. in 1680. 

DOW, Lorenzo, an eccentric Methodist 
preacher, was born in Coventry, Conn., Oct. 
16th, 1777. Traveling extensively over the 
United States, England and Ireland, he is 
supposed to have preached to more persons 
than any other man of his time. He died 
Feb. 2d, 1834. 

DRACO, archon and lawgiver of Athens, 
flourished about 600 b. c. He was very pop- 
ular, and fell a victim to the favor of his 



countrymen, for, being in the theatre at .Egi- 
na, the people gave him the customary token 
of approbation by throwing their caps and 
garments upon him, and such was the number 
of these that he was smothered under their 
weight. He was buried under the theatre. 
His code (623 b.c), on account of its severity, 
was said to be written in letters of blood. 
Idleness was punished as heavily as murder. 
The smallest transgi-ession, he said, deserved 
death, and he could not find any punishment 
more rigorous for atrocious crimes. 

DRAKE, Sir Franx'is, the first Englishman 
to circumnavigate the globe in a single voy- 
age, was born in 1546, near Tavistock in Dev- 
onshire. He took to the sea while a lad, and 
early became a skillful mariner. In 1565 and 
1566, he undertook a trading voyage to the 
West Indies, during which he was much de- 
spoiled by Spanish cruisers. An expedition 
with Sir John Hawkins to the Spanish main, 
was also destroyed by the Spaniards, and in 
1572, Drake with three small vessels sailed to 
seek reprisals. He captured a large treasure 
on the isthmus of Panama. During this ad- 
venture he climbed a " goodlie and great high 
tree," from which he saw the broad Pacific, 
whose waters none of Europe but the Span- 
iards yet had sailed, and whose shores were 
supposed to be garners of almost exhaustless 
treasures. The bold mariner, while he gazed, 
"besought God to give him health and life 
once to sail an English ship in those seas." 
With a squadron of five little vessels he sailed 
from England, Nov. 13th, 1577, and entered 
the Pacific through the dangerous straits of 
Magellan the following Maj^. In the severe 
storms that were encountered, his consorts 
either forsook him or perished. Captures of 
Spanish galleons soon filled the Golden Hind 
with treasure, and the enraged sufferers col- 
lected a large force at the south to catch him 
on his way home. He tried to find a passage 
round the north of America, but the severity 
of the high latitudes which he reached, turned 
him back. He crossed the Pacific, doubled 
the Cape of Good Hope, and dropped anchor 
in Plymouth harbor Nov. 3d, 1580, having 
been not quite three years away, and in that 
time circumnavigated the world, in the very 
teeth of that old Egyptian monk Cosmos, who 
had no patience with the unscriptural and im- 
pious doctrhie of the earth's sphericity, argu- 



DRA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



277 



ing stoutly that it is a plain surrounded by an 
immense wall, at whose north side is a great 
mountain, behind which the sun is hidden 
every night. England rang with the renown 
of Drake's exploits and treasures. Queen 
Elizabeth knighted him, and Spain prayed for 
the privilege of hanging him as a pirate. In 
the war which soon occurs between the two 
countries, Drake does great service, attacking 
and burning the Spanish fleet in Cadiz harbor. 
So the armada can not sail till next year, and 
when it does put forth to be shattered by the 
winds and waves, Vice-Admiral Drake is 
active in completing its destruction. In 1595, 
with his old comrade Sir John Hawkins, 
Drake sails on an expedition against the Span- 
ish West Indies, falls a victim to the climate, 
and dies off Portobello, January 28th, 1596. 

DRAYTON, William Henry, a native of 
South Carolina, was born in 1742. In 1775, 
he was chosen president by the provincial 
congress, and the next year chief-justice of 
the colony. In 1777, he was made president 
of South Carolina, and the next year was 
chosen member of congress. His death took 
place in September, 1779. 

DRESDEN, the capital of Saxony, on the 
Elbe, contains 105,000 inhabitants. Here, on 
the 28th of August, 1813, Napoleon defeated 
the allies and forced them to retire to the Bo- 
hemian frontier. In this battle Moreau re- 
ceived his mortal wound, while conversing 
with the Russian emperor. On the 6th of 
November, Marshal St. Cyr was blockaded in 
Dresden, and after an ineffectual negotiation 
with Schwartzenberg, surrendered his whole 
force, amounting to 30,000 men. 

DRESS. Excess in dress was restrained by 
a law in England in the reign of Edward IV., 
1465, and again in the time of Elizabeth, 1574. 
That brave gallant. Sir Walter Raleigh, we 
are told, wore a white satin-pinked vest, close- 
sleeved to the wrist, and over the body a 
brown doublet finely flowered, and embroid- 
ered with pearls. In the feather of his hat a 
large ruby and pearl drop at the bottom of 
the sprig in place of a button. His breeches, 
with his stockings and ribbon garters, fringed 
at the end, all white ; and buff shoes, which 
on great court days were so gorgeously cov- 
ered with precious stones, as to have exceeded 
the value of £'6,600; and he had a suit of 
armor of solid silver, with sword and belt 



DRE 



blazing with diamonds, rubies, and pearls. 
Sir Walter's garb was outdone by the coat 
glittering with diamonds that Prince Ester- 
hazy sported at Paris in 1815. Accounts of 
magnificent attire come to us fi'om remote an- 
tiquity. The costume of the Grecian and Ro- 
man women was comely and graceful. Ovid 
sings that the women of Cos, whose country 
was famous for the silkworm, wore white gar- 
ments of cotton and silk, so clear and thin, 
and so beautiful and delicate in texture, that 
their bodies could be seen through the vesture. 
The Romans went for many ages without 
any regular covering for the head, and hence 
the heads of all the_ ancient statues are bare. 
But at one period the cap was a symbol of 
liberty, and when the Roman bestowed it upon 
a slave he had his freedom. Sometimes the 
cap has been a mark of infamy. In Italy 
Jews were distinguished by a yellow cap, and 
in France those who had been bankrupts were 
forever after obliged to wear a green cap. 
History first mentions the general use of caps 
and hats, in place of the hoods and chaperons 
before worn, at the triumphal entry of Charles 
VII. into Rouen, in 1449. The monarch wore 
a hat lined with red velvet, and surmounted 
with a rich plume. Hats were first manufac- 
tured in England in 1510, by Spaniards; be- 
fore which time both men and women wore 
close-knit woolen caps. Breeches were a 
badge of servitude among the Greeks. The 
garment was worn by the Dacians, Parthians, 
and other northern nations, and is said to have 
been worn in Italy in the time of Augustus 
Cfesar. Shirts were not generally worn in 
the west of Europe till the eighth century. 
Woolen shirts were commonly worn in Eng- 
land until about 1253, when linen began to 
be used. Shoes were made of leather, linen, 
rush, or wood, among the Jews. The Jewish 
women wore moons as ornaments in their 
shoes (Isaiah iii. 18). Pythagoras M'ould have 
his disciples wear shoes made of the bark of 
trees ; that they might not wear those from 
skins, as they refrained from the use of aught 
that had had life. Sandals were worn by 
Grecian women of rank. The Romans wore 
an ivory crescent on their shoes, and those of 
Caligula were enriched with precious stones. 
The Egyptians made theirs from the bark of 
the papyrus. Our English ancestors had an 
odd way of adorning their feet. They wore 



27^ 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the beaks or points of their shoes so long that 
they were cumbersome in walking and must 
be tied up to the knees. Fine gentlemen fast- 
ened theii-s with chains of silver, or silver gilt, 
and others with laces. This fashion was pro- 
hibited in 1467, on forfeiture of twenty shil- 
lings and on pain of being cursed by the clergy. 
Shoes as at present worn were introduced 
about 1633, and shoe-buckles in 1668. Boots 
are said to have been the invention of the Ca- 
rians, and were made of iron, brass, or leather. 
Leathern boots are mentioned by Homer. 

DRUIDS. Among the ancient Germans, 
Gauls, and Britons, the Druids were priests 
or ministers of religion. They were also the 
instructors of the young, and the only 
learned men of the nations to which they 
belonged, and also acted as judges. They did 
not make use of writing, but their scholars 
were obliged to get by heart all their lessons 
from hearing them repeated. This was a 
very tedious way of getting forward, and we 
are not at all surprised that it took twenty 
years of a man's life to acquire a very lim- 
ited stock of learning. 

In general, little was known about very 
ancient tribes and nations, until the Romans 
invaded their countries, and conquered them. 
So it is from the Romans that we have de- 
rived our knowledge of the habits, character, 
and religion of the Druids. It is very scan- 
ty, for the precautions of these singular men 
were too successful in preventing their secrets 
from being divulged. The Druids of Britain 
were very celebrated. There has been much 
dispute about the derivation of the word 
'druid,' but it is most probable that it comes 
from an old British word, derw^ meaning 
'oak,' because the Druids held the oak-tree 
almost sacred ; it was their favorite tree, and 
their groves contained no other. Little is 
known concerning them before the age of 
Julius Caesar, who invaded Britain after hav- 
ing subdued Gaul, about 54b.c. Caesar says 
that they were divided into several classes ; 
the priests, the soothsayers, the poets, and 
the judges, and instructors of youth. 

The priests, those Druids who were called 
so by way of distinction, had the charge of 
the religious ceremonies. They worshiped 
their gods, and ofiered sacrifices to them 
upon altars. Their temples or places of wor- 
ship, were very singular. They were gener- 



ally circles of vast standing pillars, over 
which they sometimes laid huge stones mak- 
ing a circle in the air. In tlie middle stood 
the altar-stone. Of this kind was the cele- 
brated Stonehenge, near Salisbury, in Eng- 
land. In the island of Anglesej^, near the 
northern extremity of Wales, there are dru- 
idical pillars yet remaining. This island is 
supposed to have been the residence of the 
chief Druid of Britain. The religion of the 
Druids, when stripped of its mysteries and 
unmeaning practices, adapted for the gratifi- 
cation of the ignorant, seems to have been a 
belief in one supreme being. They had a 
doctrine of the immortality of the soul, and 
it was among the strongest incitements to 
virtue and courage. As teachers of morali- 
ty, they sustained their precepts by their 
own example. Their austerity and contem- 
plative habits inspired the populace with 
reverence and awe. A Druid's robe was 
pure white, indicating holiness and truth. 
Like the priests of other rude nations, they 
were compelled to clothe religion with C3re- 
monies and customs calculated to stir the 
wonder and fear of their votaries. 

The poets, or bards, according to some, did 
not properly belong to the class of Druids, 
because they did not mix religion with their 
songs. They inspired the people to warlike 
actions, sang the praises of patriotism and 
bravery, and preserved the oral chronicles 
of the nation. 

The Druids studied astronomy, and made 
great proficiency in the science. We all 
know what terror and astonishment an 
eclipse, or any singular appearance in the 
sky, creates among an ignorant people who 
do not know the causes of these things, or 
the means of finding out beforehand at what 
time they will happen. Among such people, 
persons who can foretell any occurrence, are 
looked upon as inspii'ed with a knowledge 
more than human. By such arts, the Druids 
extended and strengthened their influence 
over the people. The Roman soothsayers, 
or fortune-tellers, pretended to foretell events 
by the appearance of the entrails of 
beasts that were sacrificed on their altars. 
In the same way, but with much greater 
cruelty, the druidical soothsayers examined 
the bleeding bodies of human victims, who 
had been immolated in sacrifice. 



DRU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



27i 



^; 




STONEHENGE. 



When the Roman general, Suetonius, de- 
termined to put an end not only to the cere- 
monies of the Druids, but to the priests 
themselves, they took refuge in the island of 
Anglesey. Here they were determined to 
make a bold resistance. Having some hopes 
of gaining a victory over the Eomans, they 
kindled large fires, in which they intended 
to consume the Roman prisoners, should they 
take any. Suetonius landed near Parthamel. 
The Druids, in great numbers, encircled the 
army of their countrymen, urging them to 
be brave and praying for the vengeance of 
heaven upon the invaders. The scene was 
rendered more terrific to the Romans by the 
appearance of the British women, who were 
dressed in black, and ran yelling to and fro, 
with disheveled hair, brandishing torches. 
However, the Romans were brave men, and 
they con(|uered. They cut down the sacred 
groves of oak ; they demolished the temples 
of the Druids, and cruelly threw them into 
their own fires. 

The Druids, who were the judges in all 



cases M'hicli required a recourse to law, set- 
tled these matters by their opinion, from 
which there was no appeal except to the 
Arch-Druid. As the Druids were thought 
to receive knowledge and instruction directly 
from the gods, they had the power of mak- 
ing, altering, and executing laws. Any per- 
son, who desired to possess the great power 
of the order, could become a Druid only by 
a long course of very strict study, and a life 
of privation which r.ot many had patience 
to go through. 

The schools of the Druids in Britain were 
very famous, before the invasion of the 
Romans. Even youth from Gaul came thith- 
er. Scholars took an oath not to betray 
the secrets and learning which they were 
taught. Students always resided with their 
teachers and school-fellows, and were forbid- 
den to converse with any others. Acade- 
mies were numerous, one being attached to 
almost every temple of note. Instruction 
was conveyed in verse. The whole circle of 
the sciences with which the Druids were 



DRU 



280 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



acquainted was taught m twenty thousand 
verses, which pupils were twenty years in 
committing to memory. Besides an ac- 
quaintance with geometry, astrology, astron- 
omy, geography, natural philosophy, and 
politics, they professed a knowledge of the 
arts of magic, and whosoever refused obedi- 
ence was declared accursed. 

The Druidesses, or female priests, were di- 
vided into classes. The first class was com- 
posed of those who never married, and who 
pretended to have the power of foretelling 
events, and performing miracles. These 
were held in great regard. Then there was 
a second class of married women, who spent 
the greater part of their lives in the perfoi-m- 
ances of religious ceremonies, among the 
Druids. The third class consisted of those 
who did the meanest work about the temples. 
The Druids measured time, not by the 
days but the nights, guided by the changes 
of the moon. They had so great a venera- 
tion for the oak, that they never performed 
any ceremony without being adorned with 
garlands woven of its leaves. Those who 
professed a knowledge of medicine would 
never betray the secrets by which they cured 
the sick. They were, without doubt, only 
acquainted with the healing powers of a few 
herbs. They placed great faith in the vir- 
tues of the mistletoe, probably from its 
growing on the oak. They called it by a 
name meaning 'all-heal.' The efficacy of 
this plant they thought depended on certain 
ceremonies to be observed in gathering it. 
Among the annual festivals of the Gauls and 
Britons, was that in which the Arch-Druid 
cut the mistletoe from the oak. This cere- 
mony was conducted with great pomp. 
When they found an oak which had the 
rare plant upon it, they made preparations 
for a banquet beneath. Two milk-white 
bulls were tied to it by the horns, and then 
the Arch-Druid, dressed in a snowy robe, 
ascended the oak, and detached the mistletoe 
with a golden knife. Sacrifice and feasting 
followed. A vestige of this reverence for the 
mistletoe has survived in England to the 
present day — the custom of using among the 
evergreen decorations for Christmas a mistle- 
toe, under which, in presumed imitation of 
the Druids, it is customary to kiss the maids. 
On every May-day a festival, m honor of the 



sun, was held. The sun was called Cti, 
Belenus, and some other names. 




The existence of a law forbidding the in- 
structions of the Druids to be written, shows 
that they were acquainted with the art of 
writing. We are told that in writing they 
made use of the characters of the Greek 
alphabet, with which they Avere acquainted 
before the invasion of the Eomans. The 
Gauls and Britons never went upon any war- 
like expedition without first praying to some 
god for assistance. When a victory was 
gained, a certain portion of the spoils was 
set apart for that god who had, as the people 
thought, enabled them to be successful. 
The priests were, of course, to direct to what 
use these spoils should be put, and a large 
share of them were, without doubt, reserved 
for themselves. The Druids too often pos- 
sessed themselves of the offerings made in 
the temples of the gods. Besides the money 
there received for giving instruction in the 
sciences, for curing diseases, and for giving 
judgment in law-suits, the priests of each 
temple claimed every year certain dues from 
all the families in their district. They hit 
upon a very cunning method to secure the 
payment of these taxes. Every family upon 
the last evening of October was obliged by 
law to put out all its fires, and to pay its 
yearly dues at the temple. On the first of 
November, those who had paid punctually 
received sacred fire from the altar to kindle 
theirs at home. Delinquents were not al- 
lowed to take any tire, and if any one lent it 



DRU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



2S1 



to them, or even conversed with them, that of an ancient family. John fledged his muse 



person was punished in the same manner, 
and not allowed to enjoy the protection of 
justice or the pleasures of society. The sa- 
cred fire in the temple was never allowed to 
go out. It is surprising that this sacred 
flame, like that in the temple of Vesta, 
should be preserved by Christian priests for 
ages after the disappearance of the Druids. 
No earlier than 1220, Loundres, Archbishop 
of Dublin, extinguished the ancient flame, 
which was kept in a small cell near the 
church of Kildare. So firmly rooted was the 
superstition that the fire was relit in a few 
years, and actually kept burning until the 
suppression of monasteries. 

The Druids were greatly restricted in their 
privileges when Britain was a province in the 
hands of the Romans, and they resented with 
great warmth the order which the Roman 
emperors issued, that no more human victims 
should be slain at the altars. After the loss 
they experienced in the isle of Anglesey, 
they made no figure in Britain. The few 
who were determined still to persevere in the 
rites of their order, fled to Scotland, Ireland, 
and the smaller British islands, in which they 
kept up their authority some time. Even 
after the Druids ceased to exist, the supersti- 
tions they had spread gave trouble to those 
who wished to make the people believe in the 
gospel. In the reign of Canute the Great, 
during the eleventh century, it was found 
necessary to provide by law against these 
wretched superstitions. " We strictly forbid 
all our subjects," says the king, "to worship 
the gods of the Gentiles ; that is to say, the 
sun, moon, fires, rivers, fountains, hills, or 
trees or woods of any kind." 

DRUSES, a warlike people of Syria, 30,000 
in number, inhabiting the mountains of Li- 
banus and Anti-Libanus. Their origin is 
traced to about the commencement of the 
twelfth century. They are a religious sect, 
neither Christians nor Mohammedans. Thej-- 
reached the summit of their power under 
Fakardin, who, being taken prisoner by the 
Turks, was strangled in 1631. Thenceforth 
they were the vassals of the Turks. 

DRYDEN, John, one of the great masters 
of English verse, was born at Oldwinckle, 
Northamptonshire, in August, 1631. His 
fjither, Erastus Driden, was a strict Puritan, 



in heroic stanzas lamenting the death of 
Cromwell. The restoration came, and he 
welcomed the returning monarch as easily 
as he had mourned the departed protector. 
Theatricals revived, and Dryden wrote many 
successful dramas, all stained with licentious- 
ness, a fault of the age that he helped on 
rather than strove to check. In 1665, he 
wedded Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of 
the Earl of Berkshire, adding thereby neither 
to his wealth nor his joy. When Mrs. Dry- 
den wished she were a book, that she might 
enjoy more of his company, he answei'ed, 
"Be an almanac then, my dear, that I may 
change you once a year." The envious at- 
tacks of his detractors he silenced by those 
trenchant satires, " Absalom and Achitophel " 
and "Mac Flecknoe." He began to have 
doubts of the Protestant faith, and shortly 
after the accession of James II., the laureate 
was received into the Romish communion. 
His sincerity has been suspected ; unjustly, 
we think : he adhered to his new belief when 
it was no longer popular or profital^le. He 
continued busy in toil with his pen, till death 
came. May-day, 1700. With great pomp he 
was interred in Westminster Abbey. The 
vigorous and idiomatic prose of Dryden 
Hvals the excellence of his verse. 

The house in which Dryden died still 
stands in London, a respectable, old-fashioned 
dwelling. Some years ago it was tenanted 
by a comely dame — a Wife of Bath — ^who 
dealt in contraband laces, gloves, &c. Lord 
Holland often called to see the interior, but 
the cautious mistress, sure that his portly and 
comfortable presence was that of a custom- 
house officer or other functionary of govern- 
ment, kept the door in her hand, and steadily 
rejected the solicitations of the literary peer 
and pilgrim. 

DUBOIS, William, Cardinal, the son of an 
apothecary, was born at a small town in 
Limousin, in 1656. He became prime min- 
ister to the Duke of Orleans, regent of France, 
by the basest of means, flattering the vices 
of his master. He died August 10th, 1723. 

DUDLEY, Edmund, an English statesman 
under Henry VIL, born in 1462. On the 
accession of Henry VIII, he was sent to the 
Tower with his associate, Sir Richard Emp- 
son, tried, and beheaded in 1510. 



DUD 



282 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



DUDLEY, John, Duke of Northumberland, 
son of the preceding, was born in 1502, and 
restored in blood in 1511. He became the 
favorite of Henry VHI., and he married his 
son, Lord Guilford, to Lady Jane Grey, 
when he found that Edward VI. was dying. 
Lady Jane Grey was prevailed upon to accept 
the fatal crown, but Mary's adherents proved 
too powerful for her party, and the Duke of 
Northumberland died upon the scaffold, 
August 22d, 1553. 

DUDLEY, Robert, Earl of Leicester, son 
of the preceding, was born in 1532. He was 
condemned with his father, but pardoned, 
and afterward restored to blood by Queen 
Mary. In the reign of Elizabeth, he was 
made master of the horse, knight of the 
garter, and a member of the privy council. 
In 15 GO his M'ife died, not without suspicion 
of violence, it being generally believed that 
Dudley aspired to the hand of his sovereign. 
The story of the unhappy countess is beauti- 
fully told in the ballad of " Cumnor Hall," 
which gave Scott the hint for his splendid 
romance of " Kenilworth." The following 
are the concluding verses : 

" The death-bell thrice was heard to ring. 
An aerial voice was heard to call, 

And thrice the raven flapped his wing 
Around the towers of Cumnor Hall. 

"The mastiff howled at village door, 
The oaks were shattered on the green; 

Woe was that hour — for never more 
That hapless countess e'er was seen. 

" And in that manor now no more 
Is cheerful feast and sprightly ball. 

For ever since that dreary hour 
Have spirits haunted Cumnor HaU. 

" The village maids, with fearful glance. 
Avoid the ancient moss-grown wall ; 

Xor ever lead the merry dance 

Among the groves of Cumnor Hall. 

"Full many a traveler oft hath sighed. 
And pensive wept the countess' fall, 

As wandering onward they've espied 
The haunted towers of Cumnor Hall ! " 

Elizabeth proposed Dudley to Mary, Queen 
of Scots, as a husband, but that unfortunate 
princess indignantly rejected him. In 1564, 
he was created Earl of Leicester ; soon after 
which, he was elected chancellor at Oxford. 
About 1572, he privately married Lady Doug- 
las Howard, but he never acknowledged her. 



DUN 



and even forced her to marry another. In 
1575, the earl entertained the queen magni- 
ficently at his castle of Kenilworth in War- 
wickshire, but offended her very much by 
marrying the Countess of Essex. In 1585, 
he was appointed governor of the Protestant 
Low Countries, but returned the same year 
by the queen's command. In 1588, he was 
appointed to the chief command of the forces 
at Tilbury. He died Sept. 4th of the same 
year. 

DUMOURIEZ, Charles Francois, was 
born of a noble family at Cambraj^, in 1739. 
Becoming general in the French army, he 
gained the battle of Jemappcs, over the 
Austrians, Nov. 6th, 1792. He soon after 
appeared before Brussels, which opened its 
gates. On the 15th of March, 1793, in a 
general engagement with the Austrians at 
Nerwinden, he was totally defeated. He had 
a scheme for raising the Due de Chartres 
(Louis Philippe) to the throne of France. 
The convention dispatched four commis- 
sioners empowered to arrest him. These he 
cavised to be delivered up to the Austrians, 
and he himself fled to the allies for protection. 
He received a pension from the British gov- 
ernment, and died at Turville Park, England, 
March 14th, 1823. 

DUNBAR, Battle of, between the Scot- 
tish and English armies, in which John Baliol 
was defeated by the Earl of Warrenne, and 
Scotland subdued by Edward I. ; fought 
April 27th, 1296. Battle between the Scots, 
and the English under Cromwell, who gained 
a signal victory, Sept. 3d, 1650. 

DUNCAN, Adam, Viscount, a brave Brit- 
ish naval oflScer, was born in Scotland in 
1731. He entered the navy at an early age, 
and in 1761 was appointed post-captain, in 
which station he shared in the honors of the 
reduction of Havanna. In 1779, he com- 
manded the Monarch in Rodney's victory over 
the Spaniards. In 1794, being made vice- 
admiral of the white, he took the command 
of the North Sea fleet. After watching the 
Dutch fleet in the Texel for two years, a mu- 
tiny in the fleet compelled him to return to 
England, and enabled the enemy to put to 
sea. This news restored Duncan's men to a 
sense of their duty ; they engaged the enemy 
on the 11th of October, 1799, off Camper- 
down, and completely defeated them, taking 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



283 



the Dutch admiral, De Winter, and eight ships. 
For this achievement Duncan was made a 
viscount. He died suddenly, August 4th, 
1804. 

DITNDAS, Henry, Viscount Melville, son 
of Lord Arniston, was born in 1740. He was 
a steady follower of William Pitt, and upon 
that minister's retirement in 1801, Dundas 
resigned his places, and was created Viscount 
Melville. When Mr. Pitt came into power 
again in 1804, he was made first lord of the 
admiralty, but was impeached in 1805, for 
crimes and misdemeanors in his former situa- 
tion as treasurer of the navy. He was, how- 
ever, acquitted, and died in Scotland, May 
2nh, 1811. 

DUNKIRK, a city in French Flanders, 
with 27,000 inhabitants, about twenty-seven 
miles from Calais. It was taken from the 
Spaniards by Marshal Turenne, 4th of June, 
and transferred to the English on the 17th, in 
1758. In 1662, it was sold by Charles II. to 
Louis XIV., for £500,000. In 1666, an en- 
gagement which lasted four days took place 
between the English and French fleets oif Dun- 
kirk. At the peace of Utrecht, William III, 
exacted from the French a promise to demolish 
the defenses and fill up the harbor, which was 
but partially complied with. Since the peace 
of 1783, Dunkirk has, however, been the 
unmolested resort of armed ships of war, and 
smuggling vessels at all times. In 1793, the 
Duke of York was defeated by Hoche near 
Dunkirk. 

DUNSINANE, Battle of, fought in 1057, 
between Macbeth, Thane of Glammis, and 
Seward, Earl of Northumberland. Edward 
the Confessor had sent Seward on behalf of 
Malcolm, whose flxther, Duncan, the usurper 
had murdered. Macbeth was defeated and 
slain. Shakspeare has immortalized tliis 
conflict. 

DURER, Albrecht, the 'evangelist of art,' 
was born at Nuremberg, May 20th, 1471, the 
third of eighteen children. Though brought 
up to be a goldsmith, as were his father and 
maternal grandfather, he early adopted paint- 
ing as his profession. He distinguished him- 
self both as a painter and as an engraver on 
copper and wood. Feb. 2d, 1494, he married 
Agnes Frey, the pretty daughter of a Nurem- 
berg musician, receiving with her a dowry of 
two hundred florins ; for which, says an old 



writer, he had afterward at least two thousand 
unhappy days. She is said to have been im- 
perious, avaricious, and fretful, constantly 
urging him to work, to make provision for 
her after his death. He was the most distin- 
guished artist of his time north of the Alps, 
and in 1515 an interesting exchange of draw- 
ings took place between him and Raphael. 
One of the latter's is preserved in Vienna, 
with this inscription by Diirer on the back : 
" 1515, Raphael of Urbino, who has been so 
highly esteemed by the pope, drew these 
naked figures, and sent them to Albrecht 
Diirer in Nuremberg, to show him his hand." 
Albrecht was a sculptor as well, and unques- 
tionably a man of remarkable attainments. 
Even Melancthon said painting was the least 
of his accomplishments. He died at Nurem- 
berg, April 6th, 1528. 

DUROC, Michael, a friend and favorite 
ofiicer of Napoleon, Duke of Friuli, grand- 
marshal of the palace, senator, general of 
division, grand cordon of the legion of honor, 
and other orders, was born in 1772. Under 
Napoleon, in Italy, in Egypt, and in Germany, 
he distinguished himself, being the greater 
part of the time aide-de-camp to the empe- 
ror. He was killed in entering the village of 
Merkersdorf, after the battle of Bautzen, May 
23d, 1813. Napoleon was cut to the heart 
by the loss of his dear friend. Marshal Du- 
roc was one of those men who seem too pure 
and perfect for this world, and whose excel- 
lence helps to reconcile us to human nature. 
The splendor of his position had not power 
to dazzle or corrupt him. He remained 
simple, natural, and independent, a warm 
and generous friend, a just and honorable 
man. I pronounce this eulogy without fear 
of contradiction. — Caulaincourt. 

DUVAL, Claude, a noted highwayman in 
England, during the reign of Charles II., was 
a Frenchman by birth. Many romantic 
tales were told of him ; that he was the 
page of the Duke of Richmond, took to the 
road, became captain of a formidable gang, 
and had the honor to be named first in 
the royal proclamation against notorious 
offenders ; how, at the head of his troop, 
he stopped a lady's coach, in which there was 
a booty of four hundred pounds ; how he 
took only one hundred, and suffered the fair 
owner to ransom the rest by dancing a coranto 



DUV 



284 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



with him on the heath ; how his vivacious ] 
gallantry stole away the hearts of all women ; I 
how his dexterity at sword and pistol made I 
him a terror to all men ; how, at length, in the j 
year 1670, he was seized when overcome by j 
wine ; how dames of high rank visited him in 
prison, and with tears interceded for his life ; 
how the king would have granted a pardon 
but for the interference of Judge Morton, the 
terror of highwaymen, who threatened to 
resign his office unless the law was carried 
into full effect ; and how, after the execution, 
the corpse lay in state with all the pomp of 
scutcheons, wax-lights, black hangings, and 
mutes, till the same cruel judge who had 
intercepted the mercy of the crown sent 
officers to disturb the obsequies. — 2[acaulay. 
DWIGHT, TiJiOTHY, an eminent divine, 



born at Northampton, in Massachusetts, in 
1752. His mother was a daughter of Jona- 
than Edwards. Timothy was graduated at 
Yale College, in which institution he was 
tutor at nineteen. He served in the army as 
chaplain, and about the close of the Revolu- 
tionary war was elected a member of the 
state legislature. Mr. Dwight then kept a 
school in Greenfield, Connecticut, where he 
was ordained minister in 1783. In 1794, he 
published the poems of " Greenfield Hill" and 
the "Conquest of Canaan," both of which 
were republished in England. In 1795, he 
succeeded the reverend Doctor Styles as presi- 
d6nt of Yale College, filling also the office of 
professor of theology. He died January 1 1th, 
1817. His " System of Theology " is a learned 
and valuable work. 



E. 



EARTHQUAKES. The following are 
among the most memorable that have oc- 
curred. 



372 
144 
17 

79. 

114. 

558. 

742. 

1137. 

1302. 

1456. 
1531. 



1596. 



1638. 
16(52. 



1692. 



B.C. Ellice and Bula in the Peloponnesus 

swallowed up. 
B.C. Isle of Hiera rose from the ^gean 

Sea during an earthquake. 
A.D. Awful one in Asia, which overturned 

twelve cities. 
One, together with an eruption of Vesuvius, 

destroying Herculaneum and Pompeii. 
Antioch destroyed. 
At Constantinople ; its edifices destroyed, 

and thousands perished. 
Awful one in Syria, Palestine, and Asia ; 

more than five hundred towns destroyed, 1737. 

and the loss of fife defied all calculation. 
Catania in Sicily overturned, and 15,000 

persons buried in the ruins. 
Ischia ravaged by a volcanic eruption, 

preceded by violent earthquakes. 
At Naples ; 40,000 inhabitants perished. 
February, at Lisbon ; 1,500 houses, and 

30,000 people buried in the ruins ; sev- 
eral neighboring towns engulphed with 

their inhabitants. 
In Japan ; several cities laid in ruins, and 

thousands perished. 
Awful one at Calabria. 
In China ; 300,000 persons buried in Pekin 

alone. 1754, 

Jamaica ravaged by an earthquake, and 

many of the inhabitants swallowed up 

by rents in the ground ; three-quarters 

of the houses of Port Royal, with the 

EAR 



1C93, 



ground they occupied, sank with then 
tenants under water. 

Shocks of earthquake in Sicily, which ob- 
literated Catania, overturned fifty-four 
cities and three hundred hamlets, and 
destroyed more than 100,000 persons. 

Earthquakes in Java, when no less than 
two hundred and eight severe shocks 
were counted ; the fish killed in the riv- 
ers by the mud which filled them, and 
great numbers of wild animals des- 
troyed. 

Again in China; 100,000 lives lost at 
iPekin. 

One in Hungary which turned a mountain 
round. 

Earthquake in Kamtschatka, which caused 
an inundation of the sea, formed new 
hills, lakes, and bays. 

Earthquake in Peru ; two hundred shocks 
experienced in the first twenty-four 
hours ; Lima and Callao destroyed ; 
several new bays formed; nineteen 
ships sunk and four carried a great dis- 
tance up the country by the rise of the 
sea ; several volcanoes burst forth in the 
vicinity, and poured forth torrents of 
water,'which overflowed extensive tracts. 

Concepcion (or Fence) in Chili destroyed 
by an earthquake, and overwhelmed by 
the sea. 

At Grand Cairo ; half of the houses and 
40,000 persons swallowed up. In April, 
1755, another earthquake completed the 
destruction. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



285 



a 




EARTHQUAKE AT LISBON. 



1755. Earthquake destroyed Lisbon, Nov. 1st, 1166. 
and 60,000 persons perished in six min- 
utes. The sea first retired, and then 
rolled in, rising fifty feet above its usual 
level : the largest mountains in Portugal 
rocked and spht asunder, and sent forth 
flames and clouds of dust. The shock 
was felt nearly all over Europe, in the 
north part of Africa, in the Atlantic, 
and even in the AVest Indies ; a vast 
wave swept over the coast of Spain, in 
some places, sixty feet in height, and 
near Morocco the earth opened, swal- 
lowed up about lo,000 persons with 
their herds, and then closed over them. 
This awful shock is said to have extended 
five thousand miles. The cities of Co- 
imbra. Oporto, and Braga suffered 
dreadfully, and St. Ubes was wholly over- 
turned. In Spain, a large part of Mal- 
aga was laid in ruins. More than half 
the isle of Madeira became waste, and 
two thousand houses in the island of 
Meteline, in the Archipelago, were over- 
thrown. 

1759. The volcano of JoruUo in Mexico rose 
during an earthquake from the plain of 
Malpais, forming a hill 1,600 feet high. 

EAR 



1774. 



17i 



1783. 



1797. 



Violent shocks agitate Venezuela, occur- 
ring hourly for above a year. 

Eruption of the volcano Papandayang in 
Java; a tract of country fifteen mile.g 
long by six broad was engulphed, forty 
villages swallowed up or overwhelmed, 
and the cone of the volcano was reduced 
in height 4,000 feet. 

During the eruption of the volcano on the 
side of which the city of Guatemala was 
built, the ground gaped open and swal- 
lowed the whole city with its 8,000 in- 
habitants. 

Earthquake in Calabria destroyed all the 
towns and villages, twenty miles round 
Oppido, and 40,000 persons were swal- 
lowed up or overwhelmed ; the shocks 
continued for four years. 

Eruption of the volcano Asamayama in 
Niphon, preceded by an earthquake, 
during which the earth yawned and 
swallowed many towns. 

Between the 4th and 20th of February, 
the whole country from Santa Fe to 
Panama was destroyed, including the 
cities of Cuzco and Quito, 40,000 of 
whose dwellers were in one second 
hurled into eternity. 



286 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



1811. Earthquake in South Carolina, and in the 

valley of the Mississippi ; the latter was 
convulsed to such a degree between the 
mouths of the Ohio and the St. J'rancis 
as to create lakes and islands, and deep 
chasms were formed in the ground, iioni 
which vast volumes of water, sand, and 
coal were thrown up to the height of 
sixty or seventy feet. 

1812. The city of Caraccas destroyed by an 

earthquake, and 10,UOO persons buried 
under its i-uins. 

1819. An earthquake in Cutch destroyed many 
towns and villages; deepened the eas- 
tern arm of the Indus from one to eigh- 
teen feet; submerged some tracts and 
elevated others. 

l'^22. Aleppo destroyed by an earthquake. 

1822. Chih ravaged by an earthquake, the shock 
of which was lelt for a distance of 1,200 
miles ; the coast in the neighborhood of 
Valparaiso for a distance of one hundred 
miles was raised above its former level 
from two to four, and even six or eight 
feet : the whole tract thus raised had an 
area of about 100,000 square miles. 

1827. Earthquake commits great ravages around 
Bogota. 

1831. The island of Sciacca rose from the sea 
near the southern coast of Sicily ; the 
depth of the sea at this spot was six 
hundred feet, and the island was one 
hundred feet above the surface : circuit 
8,240 feet: in the winter of 18-31, the 
island was swept away by the waves, 
leaving only a shoal. 

1837. In many cities of southern Syria, Jan. 
22d, by which hundreds of houses were 
thrown down, and thousands of the in- 
habitants perished. 

1839. At Martinique, Jan. 11th, by which nearly 

half of Port Royal was destroyed, and 
the whole island damaged. 

1840. At Fernate, Feb. 14th; the island laid 

waste, almost every house destroyed, 
and thousands of the inhabitants lost 
their lives. 

1842. At Cape Haytien, St. Domingo, May 7th, 
which destroyed nearly two-thirds of the 
town, and almost 5,000 lives. 

1857. Shocks felt quite heavily at St. Louis and 
at Buffalo in October. Dec. 16th, a se- 
vere earthquake shook the kingdom of 
Naples, sending 9, .350 persons into eter- 
nity, and seriously injuring 1,859 ; at 
Montemurro, a place of 7,000 inhabit- 
ants, 5,000 were crushed to death by 
the falling houses, and 500 severely 
hurt. 

EASTERN EMPIRE. The Roman em- 
pire was divided a.d. 364. The following 
were the rulers of the Eastern empire, and 
the principal incidents in its history, down 
to its conquest by the Turks. [See Rome.] 
864. Valens. 
379. Theodosius the Great. Maximus the tyrant, 



718. 



deieated and put to death, 388. Theodo- 
sius defeats Eugenius, 392. 

Arcadius, the son of Theodosius. 

Theodosius II. He institutes public schools 
and endeavors to restore learning, 425. 

Marcian, a Thracian of obscure family. 

Leo I., the Thracian. 

Ardaburius. 

Leo the Younger, died the same year. 

Zeno, called the Isaurian. 

Anastasius, an Illyrian of mean birth. 
Constantinople besieged by Vitahanus, 
whose fleet is burned with a brazen spe- 
culum by Proclus, 514. 

Justin I., originally a private soldier. 

Justinian, founder of the Digest. Turkish 
empire begins in Asia, 545. 

Justin II., nephew of Justinian. 

Tiberius II., renowned for his virtues. 

Maurice, the Cappadocian, murdered with 
all his children by his successor. 

Phocas, a centurion, raised to the throne 
by a revolt of the soldiery. His crimes 
and cruelties led to his assassination. 
Power of the popes begins, through the 
concessions of Phoeus, 606. 

Heraclius. The Persians besiege Constan- 
tinople, 626. 

Constantine III., reigned a few months; 
poisoned by his step-mother Martina. 

Constans II., assassinated in a bath. 

Constantine IV. Pogonatus. In this year, 
the Arabs besieged Constantinople. In 
673 it is besieged by the Saracens, and 
their fleet destroyed by the Greek fire, 
a composition invented by one Callinicus, 
an ingenious engineer of Heliopolis in 
Syria. It burned the briskest in water, 
and diffused itself on all sides, according 
to the impression given to it. Nothing 
but oil, or a mixture of vinegar, urine, 
and sand, could quench it. It was blown 
out of long tubes of copper, and shot out 
of cross-bows and other spring instru- 
ments. The invention was kept a secret 
for many years by the court of Constan- 
tinople, and is now lost. 

Justinian II., son of the last emperor, an 
abhorrent character, dethroned and mu- 
tilated by his successor. 

Leontius, dethroned and mutilated by his 
successor. 

Tiberius III. Aspimar. 

Justinian II. restored ; Leontius and Tibe- 
rius degraded in the Hippodrome, and 
put to death. Justinian slain, 711. 

Philippicus Bardanes, assassinated. 

Anastatius II. ; fled on the election of The- 
odosius in 716; afterward delivered up 
to Leo. III., and put to death. 

Theodosius III. Second siege of Constan- 
tinople by the Arabs. 

Leo III., the Isaurian. The great icono- 
clastic controversy commences, 726. 
The alternate prohibition and restoration 
of images involve the peace of seveial 
reigns. 

Constantine V. Copronymus, son of Leo. 



EAS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



287 



775. 
780. 



802. 
811. 
811. 



820. 
829. 
842. 



867. 
886. 
911. 



920. 
928. 



945. 
959. 



975. 
1028. 
1034. 

1041. 

1042. 

1054. 
1056. 
1057. 

1059. 
1067. 



Leo IV., his son. 

Constautine VI. and his mother Irene, 
790, Constantine reigns alone, by the 
desire of the people, who hate Irene. 
792, she again reigns conjointly with her 
son, and afterward alone. For her cru- 
elties and murders she is deposed and 
exiled. 
Nicephorus I., surnamed Logothetes, slain. 
Staurachius, reigns a few days only. 
Michael I. Defeated in battle, he abdicates 
and retires to a monastery. 

Leo v., the Armenian ; killed in the temple 
at Constantinople on Christmas by con- 
spirators for his successor. 

Michael II., the Stammerer. 

Theophilus, son of Michael. 

Michael III., surnamed Porpbyrogenete.s, 
and the Sot, son of the preceding; mur- 
dered by his successor. 

Basilius I., the Macedonian. 

Leo VI., styled the Philosopher. 

Alexander, and Constantine VII., brother 
and son of Leo, the latter only six years 
old; the former dying in 912, Zoo, 
mother of Constantine, assumes the re- 
gency. 

Romanus Lecapenus usurps the imperial 
power. 

Constantine VIII., his son. 

Stephen and Christopher. Five emperors 
now reign : of these, Christopher dies in 
931 ; Romanus is exiled by his sons Con- 
stantine and Stephen, who are themselves 
banished the next year. 

Constantine VII. now reigns alone; pois- 
oned by his daughter-in-law, Theophania. 

Romanus II., son of the preceding, whose 
death he had contrived. The monster 
banishes Helena his mother. 

Nicephorus II. Phocas ; weds Theophania, 
his predecessor's consort, who has him 
assassinated.' 

John I. Zemisces, the celebrated general. 
He takes Basilius II. and Constantine 
IX., sons of Romanus IL, as colleagues. 
John dies, supposed by poison, and 

Basilius II. and Constantine IX. reign. The 
former dies in 1025, the latter in 1028. 

Romanus III. Argyropulus. Zoe, his con- 
sort, poisons him and 

Michael IV., her paramour, a Paphlagonian 
money-lender, ascends the throne. On 
his death Zoe gives the crown to 

Michael V., surnamed Calaphates, her 
adopted son. Him she dethrones, has 
his eyes put out, and marries 

Constantine X. Monomachus, who reigns 
jointly with her. Zoe dies in 1050. 

Theodora, widow of Constantine. 

Michael VI. Stratiotes, or Strato ; deposed. 

Isaac I. Comnenus, chosen emperor by the 
soldiery ; abdicates. 

Constantine XL, surnamed Ducas. 

Eudocia, consort of the preceding, and 
Romanus IV., surnamed Diogenes, whom 
she marries, reign to the prejudice of 
Michael, Constantine's son. 



1078, 
1081, 



1143. 
1180. 



1185. 



1195. 



1203. 



1204. 



1206. 
1217. 



1221. 
1228. 



1204. 
1222. 
1255. 
1259. 
1260. 



1332. 
1341, 



Michael VII. Parapinaces recovers his 
throne, and reigns jointly with Constan- 
tine XII. 

Nicephorus III. ; dethroned by 

Alexius I. Comnenus ; defeated by Robert 
Guiscard at Dyrrachium, and by the 
Turks in Asia Minor. In conjunction 
with the crusaders, he regains Nicroa, iu 
1097, but afterward quarrels with them. 

John Comnenus, his son, surnamed Kalos ; 
died of a wound from a poisoned arrow. 

Manuel Comnenus, son of John. 

Alexius II. Comnenus, son of Manuel, un- 
der the regency of Maria his mother. 
By her misconduct he is compelled to 
admit Andronicus Comnenus as his col- 
league. This miscreant strangles him 
and seizes the throne. 

Andronicus I. Comnenus. He is put to 
death by 

Isaac II. Angelus Comnenus, who is de- 
posed, imprisoned, and deprived of his 
eyes by his brother, 

Alexius III. Angelus, called the Tyrant. 
He is besieged in Constantinople by the 
French and Venetians, who take the city 
and reinstate Isaac. In Thrace, whither 
he flees for safety, Alexis falls into the 
hands of Theodore Lascaris, who puts 
his eyes out, and imprisons him in a 
monastery, where he dies. 

Isaac II. again, associated with his son 
Alexius IV. Father and son are mur- 
dered by Mourzoufle. The French and 
Venetians take Constantinople by storm. 
Mourzourfle is put to death, after his eyes 
have been torn from his head. 

LATIN EMPERORS. 

Baldwin!., Earl of Flanders, on the capture 
of Constantinople is elected emperor; 
made a prisoner by the King of Bulgaria, 
and never heard of afterward. 

Henry I., his brother. 

Peter de Courtenay, Henry's brother-in- 
law. 

Robert de Courtenay, his son. 

Baldwin II., his brother, a minor, and John 
de Brienne of Jerusalem, regent and as- 
sociate emperor. 

[Constantinople recovered, and the empire 
of the Franks or Latins ends.] 

GREEK EMPIRE AT NICE. 

Theodore Lascaris. 
John Ducas, Vataces. 
Theodore Lascaris IL, his son. 
John Lascaris, and 
Michael VIII. Palsologus. 

AT CONSTANTINOPLE AGAIN. 

Michael VIII. puts out the eyes of John, 

and reigns alone. 
Andronicus II. Palceologus, son of Michael ; 

deposed by his grandson, 
Andronicus the Younger. 
John Paloeologus, under the guardianship 



EAS 



288 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



of Jolin Cantacuzenus ; the latter pro- 
claimed emperor at Adrianople. 

1347. John Cantacuzenus. 

l:i.j5. John PalaBologus, restored. 

1391. Manuel Palaeologus, his son. 

1425. John Palteologus II., his son. 

1 448. Constantine XIII. PaUeologus, his son, the 
last emperor. Mahomet II., the Ottoman 
aultan, laid siege to Constantinople by 
sea and land. After it had held out fifty- 
eight days, the Turks carried it by as- 
sault. May 29th, 1453. The unfortunate 
Constantine threw himself among the 
victors, and was cut to pieces. 

EATON, William, was born at Woodstock, 
Conn., Feb. 23d, 1764. After serving in the 
army at an early age, he prepared himself for 
entrance into Dartmouth College. In 1792 
he received a captain's commission in the 
army, and in 171)7 was appointed consul for 
Tunis. He engaged in the war with Tripoli, 
in 1804, hoping to reinstate Hamet Bashaw 
on the tlirone which had been usurped by his 
brother. With a force of 500 men of different 
nations, Eaton crossed the desert from Alex- 
andria to Derne, overcoming serious obstacles. 
Derne was taken, the Tripolitan armj' re- 
pulsed, but, in the midst of triumph, Eaton 
learned that peace had been concluded be- 
tween the United States and Tripoli. On his 
return to the United States, he was received 
with great favor. Aaron Burr in vain en- 
deavored to obtain his aid in his conspiracy, 
and on his trial Eaton testified against him. 
In 1811 he fell a victim to habits of intemper- 
ance. 

EBRO, a river in Spain, the scene of a sig- 
nal defeat of the Spaniards by the French, 
near Tudela, Nov. 23d, 1808; and also the 
scene of several important movements of the 
allied British and Spanish armies during the 
Peninsular war, between 1809 and 1814. 

ECKMUHL ; a Bavarian village on the La- 
bel-, where Napoleon severely defeated the 
Austrians, commanded by the Archduke 
Charles, April 22d, 1809. For his skill and 
intrepidity in this battle Marshal Davoust had 
his title of Prince of Eckmiihl. 

ECLIPSES. The first ecHpse recorded, 
happened March 19th, 721 b.c, at 8' 40" p.m., 
according to Ptolemy : it was lunar, and was 
accurately observed at Babylon. The follow- 
ing were extraordinary eclipses. 

Of the. mn : — That observed at Sardis (pre- 
dicted by Thales), 585 b.c. At Athens, 424 
B.C. A general one at the death of Christ, 



A.D. 33. At Rome, caused a total darkness 
at noon-day, a.d. 291. At Constantinople, 
968. In France, June 29th, 1033, dark at 
noon-day. In England, March 21st, 1140, 
occasioned a total darkness. Another June 
23d, 1191, entire darkness, and the stars very 
visible at ten in the morning. In the same 
year, the true sun, and the appearance of an- 
other, so that astronomers alone could distin- 
guish the diiference by their glasses. Another, 
total, 1331. A total eclipse of the sun in Eng- 
land, when the darkness was so great, that 
the stars faintly appeared, and the birds went 
to roost in the morning about ten, April 22d, 
1715. Great eclipse in the United States, 
1806 ; another, 1811 ; another, 1831 ; another 
in 1834. The 19th of May, 1780, was a re- 
markable daj'- throughout New England. It 
was known as the Darlc day. Candles were 
lit ; the birds were hushed, and the fowls re- 
tired to roost. 

Edi'pses of the moon. Total, observed by 
the Chaldeans at Babylon, 721 b.c. At Syra- 
cuse, 413 B.C. In Asia Minor, 219 B.C. At* 
Rome, predicted by Q. Sulpitius Gallus, 168 
B.C. Another, which terrified the Roman 
troops, and quelled their revolt, a.d. 14. 

ECUADOR, a South American republic, 
has an area of 825,000 square miles, and a 
population of about 665,000. It is divided 
into the three departments of Equator or 
Quito, Guayaquil, and Assuay. The depart- 
ment of the Equator, lying between two par- 
allel ranges of the loftiest Andes, forms the 
finest table plain in all America. Almost 
ten thousand feet is it raised above the level 
of the sea. In soil and climate, its felicity 
nearly approaches that of the fabled golden 
age. The clime is perpetual spring, at once 
benign and equal, and even during the four 
months of rain the mornings and evenings 
are clear. Vegetation never droops; the 
country is called the evergreen Quito; the 
trees and meadows are clad with perpetual 
verdure. Above this smiling valley, resting 
as it were on its verdant hills, rise the lof- 
tiest volcanic cones of the Andes, crowned 
with everlasting ice ; Chimborazo, Pichincha, 
and their gigantic fellows. In this valley 
are found many monuments of the sway of 
the Incas, for though their main seat of em- 
pire was at Cuzco, Quito was one of their 
most valued provinces. The productions 



ECU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



289 



are various, but the most valuable are those 
of the temperate climates, grains, fruits, and 
rich pasturage. The city of Quito is the 
capital both of the department and of the 
republic. It has four streets, broad, hand- 
some, and well paved, and three spacious 
squares, in which the principal dwellings are 
situated ; but the other streets, straggling up 
the side of Pichincha, are crooked and irreg- 
ular. The churches and convents are built 
with great magnificence and some taste. 
There are a university and two colleges, 
and Quito is considered comparatively a 
South American Athens. The inhabitants 
are gay, hospitable, and courteous. They 
ai-e fond of the sweet bits of this life, and 
confectionery and viands are among the chief 
products of their city. Silver and gold are 
worked rather extensively. The population 
of Quito is decreasing, and is now but about 
40,000. 

The department of Guayaquil is also very 
fertile. The city of Guayaquil, founded by 
Pizarro in 1533, on the bay of the same name, 
has a population of 25,000, and with its ex- 
cellent harbor is a flourishing commercial 
town. Guayaquil has its plagues, like old 
Egypt. The air swarms with musquitoes, 
and flies that are still more tormenting ; the 
ground teems with snakes, centipedes, and 
other reptiles of dangerous bite. There is a 
chameleon whose scratch is believed to be 
mortal ; a belief which seems quite chimeri- 
cal, but which greatly worries the citizens. 
The ants can not be subdued: sometimes, 
when a tart is cut up, they are seen running 
in all directions, leaving the interior a void. 
Then the shores are crowded with caymans 
and alligators. Earthquakes are common, 
as indeed in brighter Quito. And lastly, the 
marshy nature of the site is pestilent with 
malignant fevers. As a set-off to all this, we 
should mention that the women of Guayaquil 
are famous for their beauty, and their enga- 
ging gayety and propriety of conduct. 

Ecuador was discovered by Pizarro in 
1526, and came into the hands of the Span- 
iards at the downfall of the Peruvian empire. 
It constituted the audencia of Quito, depend- 
ent upon the vice-royalty of New Grenada, 
until in 1812 the inhabitants revolted from 
the Spanish yoke. The fierce contest ended 
in 1823. The republic of Colombia was then 



19 



formed. In 1831, it fell to pieces, and Ecua- 
dor, Venezuela, and New Grenada, the states 
composing it, have since been independent 
republics. The Roman Catholic is the estab- 
lished religion. The people of Ecuador are 
composed of the descendants of Spaniards, 
and aborigines, the latter being about three- 
quarters of the whole number. 

EDGAR, the Peaceable, a Saxon king of 
England, son of Edred, and brother of Edwy, 
his immediate successor. He ascended the 
throne at the age of sixteen in 959. He 
governed with vigor and success, and secured 
the proper administration of justice by giv- 
ing it his personal attention. He died in 
974. 

EDGE HILL, Battle of, between the 
royalists and the army of parliament, Oct. 
23d, 1642, was the first engagement of im- 
portance in the civil war. Charles I. was 
present. Prince Rupert commanded the 
royalists, and the Earl of Essex the parlia- 
mentarians. The Earl of Lindsay, one of 
the king's generals, who headed the foot, 
was mortally wounded, and taken prisoner. 
The royal army lost 5,000 dead on the field, 
with vast numbers of wounded and prison- 
ers ; but owing to the great loss on the other 
side also, the action gave no decisive advan- 
tage to either party, and neither could fairly 
claim a victory. 

EDGEWORTH, Maria, a pleasing author- 
ess, born in England, Jan. 1st, 1767, died 
at Edgeworth's-town, Ireland, in May, 1849. 

EDMUND II., surnamed Ironsides, King 
of England, succeeded Ethelred his father, 
in 1016, and reigned seven months. He was 
defeated by Canute, who became sole mon- 
arch of England on his death, which is sup- 
posed to have been caused by poison. 

EDRED, son of Edward the Elder, suc- 
ceeded to the throne of England on the niur- 
der of his brother, Edmund I., in 947. He 
quelled the Danes and Northumbrians, and 
compelled Malcolm to do homage for the 
crown of Scotland. Yet he was priest-ridden, 
and a slave to Dunstan, Abbot of Glaston- 
bury. He died after a reign of eight years. 

EDWARD, the Elder, King of England, 
succeeded his father, Alfred the Great, in 
901. He was successful against the Danes 
and Welsh, and died in 925. 

EDWARD, the Martyr, King of England, 



EDW 



290 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



son of Edgar, whom he succeeded in 974, at 
the age of fifteen. He was stabbed at Corfe 
Castle, March 18th, 979, while hunting, by a 
servant of Elfrida, his step-mother, who 
wished to raise her own son, Ethelred, to the 
throne. 

EDWARD I., II., III., IV., and V., of 
England. [See Plantagenet.] 

EDWARD VI., of England. [See Tudor.] 

EDWARDS, Jonathan, an American di- 
vine, and distinguished metaphysician, was 
born in East Windsor, Conn., Oct. 5th, 1703, 
and was educated at Yale College. In 1758 
he was chosen president of the college at 
Princeton, New Jersey, where he died March 
22d, 1758. He had previously preached at 
New York and Northampton, and filled 
the office of missionary among the Indians 
at Stockbridge, Massachusetts. His "Trea- 
tise on Religious Affections," and his works 
"on Free Will" and "Original Sin," have 
gained him a permanent reputation. 

EGBERT, the last king of the Saxon hep- 
tarchy, and the first monarch of united Eng- 
land, was the eighteenth king of the West 
Saxons. He was harassed by repeated inva- 
sions of the Danes, and died in 838. 

EGEDE, Hans, a celebrated missionary, 
born in Denmark in 1686, and died in 1758, 
having devoted himself to the sacred task of 
spreading the light of revealed religion among 
the Greenlanders. The dictates of duty fi-e- 
quently led him to peril his life, but the con- 
sciousness of rectitude, and the triumphs of 
success, sweetened his toil, and shed joy 
upon his earthly pilgrimage. 

EGYPT was the most celebrated kingdom 
of Africa, and one of the oldest nations of 
the world. The Egyptians were early profi- 
cients in the sciences and the liberal arts, and 
to them men came from all civilized countries 
for the purpose of acquiring information. 
Some of the most celebrated of the Greeks 
acquired a great portion of their learning in 
Egypt. Ancient Egypt was divided into 
Upper Egypt, or Thebais, Middle Egypt, or 
Heptanomis, and Lower Egypt, the most val- 
uable portion of which was the Delta. The 
most accurate general description of Egypt 
that we have, has been given by Volney, in a 
single sentence. "To describe Egj^pt in two 
words, let the reader imagine, on one side, a 
narrow sea and rocks ; on the other, immense 



plains of sand ; and in the middle, a river 
flowing through a valley of a hundi-ed and 
fifty leagues in length, and from three to 
seven wide, which, at the distance of eighty 
leagues from the sea, separates into two 
arms, the branches of which wander over a 
country where they meet with no obstacles, 
and which is almost without declivity." 

The ancient Egyptians paid great attention 
to agriculture, and availed themselves of their 
arts to redeem vast tracts of land from the 
waters, rendering them fertile, and adapting 
them to tillage. In former times the region 
which eventually received the name of Lower 
Egypt and the Delta, was covered with water, 
and consequently Eg3fpt was but a limited 
tract of land. The ancient Egyptians, not- 
withstanding their character for wisdom and 
learning, were grossly idolatrous, worshiping 
animals, and regarding oxen, cats, crocodiles, 
sheep, &c., as sacred. The advantage taken 
of this superstitious character by Cambyses 
is well known. Placing in front of his army 
the animals worshiped by the Egyptians, he 
advanced against them boldly, well aware 
that they would not strike a blow for fear of 
injuring the creatures they adored. 

The ancient government of Egypt was the 
subject of eulogy among all nations, and 
legislators from various countries came to 
Egypt to examine its institutions, in order 
thence to gather hints for the improvement 
of their own. The accounts which writers 
of antiquity give of the early history of 
Egypt are so contradictory and improbable 
that it is needless to allude to them in pages 
which deal with matters of fact. Menes, the 
first king of Egypt, is said to have conferred 
great benefits upon his subjects. He re- 
deemed a vast extent of land from the waters, 
was the spiritual instructor of the Egyptians, 
introduced splendor, and founded solemn and 
magnificent feasts. After many years of un- 
interrupted prosperity, Egypt fell under the 
sway of some rude adventurers who founded 
the dynasty of the Hycsos or shepherd kings, 
which commenced about 2048 years B.C., and 
lasted until the year 1825 B.C., when the 
shepherd kings were expelled. 

Jacob settled in the land of Goshen, 1706 
B.C. The children of Israel were held in 
bondage from the death of Joseph, 1635 B.C., 
to 1491 B.C. Their departure happened, ac- 



EGY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



291 




m 



COLOSSI NEAR TiiEiiKri. 



cording to some writers, during the reign of pelled the Egyptians to submit to his arms. 
Amenophis II., the Pharaoh who pursued On the death of this great conqueror, Ptol- 
them into the Red Sea, and was overwhelmed emy, one of his generals, took possession of 
by its returning waters. It must be remem- the kingdom, 323 B.C., and founded the dy- 
bered that Pharaoh was a title borne by all nasty of the Ptolemies, which lasted until 
the kings of Egypt in common. In 1445, the death of Cleopatra, when Egypt became 
Lower Egypt was conquered by the Canaan- a Roman province, in the j^ear b.c. 30, and 
ites, who fled before Joshua, when he dispos- the second of the reign of Augustus. In the 
sessed them of their own country. Upper year 640, Egypt was conquered by Am- 
Egypt was divided at this time into a great ron, general of Omar, caliph of the Saracens. 
number of kingdoms, which were united The library of Alexandria, which had been 
about 1157. About 1350, Remeses or Scsos- collected with care, and contained manu- 
tris, king of Egypt, made rapid and exten- sci'ipts of immense value, was consumed by 
sive conquests. The Ethiopians conquered the order of Omar. The Fatimites gave 
Egypt, and retained possession of it for forty place to the Mamelukes in 1250. These last 
years. The Assyrians also conquered it, but were foreign soldiers, employed by the Fati- 
the whole of it was regained hj Psammeti- mite princes, and they held the kingdom un- 
chus, about 660 b.c. After a prosperous til conquered by Selim I., Sultan of the 
reign he was succeeded by Pharaoh Necho, Turks, in 1517, and made his nominal vas- 
his son, 616 B.C. This monarch was con- sals. 

quered by the famous Nebuchadnezzar, king In 1798, the French having resolved to at- 
of Babjdon. ■ Egypt was made tributary to tack the British possessions in India, it was 
Persia by Cambyses, the son of Cyrus, 525 determined to seize upon Egypt, so that, by 
B.C. The Egyptians revolted, but were carrying on the commerce of the East through 
again subjugated. Another revolt was sue- 1 the Red Sea, the new French colony should 
cessful, and for a short time the Egyptians become the grand mart where all Europe 

might be supplied with Indian articles, 



enjoyed their independence, but 350 b.c, 
Artaxerxes Ochus restored the Persian do 
minion. Alexander the Great, 331 



cheaper than they could be rendered by the 
com- British, while, as a military post, it could, at 
EGY 



292 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



all times, tj^sport auxiliaries to the coast 
of Coromandel. On the 20th of May, 1798, 
Bonaparte put to sea on board the L'Orient 
of 120 guns, bearing the flag of Admiral 
Brueys, who was to take command of the 
fleet then assembling from the different ports 
of France, which was to consist of an arma- 
ment containing 40,000 soldiers and 10,000 
sailors. On the evening of the 1st of July, 
Bonaparte made arrangements for landing at 
Marabout. They were at a distance of about 
three leagues from the shore ; the wind was 
northerly, and blew with violence, and the 
debarkation perilous and difficult; the sea 
was covered with boats. Early in the next 
morning, the general-in-chief landed at the 
head of the foremost troops, who formed with 
the greatest promptitude in the desert, about 
three leagues from Alexandria. After some 
slight skirmishes, he advanced and invested 
Alexandria, where he established himself on 
the 5th, by a capitulation of the city and for- 
tress. Having garrisoned Alexandria, which 
was left in the command of Kleber, the army 
marched to Gizeh, Rosetta and other places 
having been garrisoned by the French. Near 
the pyramids Bonaparte found that Murad 
Bey had assembled all his forces to oppose 
the further progress of the French. The 
Mamelukes, amounting to 10,000, fought 
with desperate but unavailing courage. Part 
of them were put to the sword or drowned 
in the Nile, while the remnant, under the 
conduct of JMurad Bey, retreated to Upper 
Egypt. The battle of the Pyramids was a 
hard-fought conflict. Bonaparte entered 
Cairo in triumph. The French troops were 
formed into three divisions, one of which, 
imder General Dessaix, was sent to pursue 
the fugitive Mamelukes ; the second was left 
at Cairo; and the third followed Ibrahim 
Bey, who had fled, and so precipitately, that 
he could not be overtaken. Returning to 
Cairo, Bonaparte employed himself in ar- 
ranging the details of the government of 
Lower Egypt, sending garrisons, establishing 
lazarettos, &c. 

Soon after the battle of the Nile, an insur- 
rection broke out in Cairo which Bonaparte 
hastened to quell. When the French gained 
their victorj- at Aboukir, and took the fort 
from the enemy, their power in Egypt ap- 
peared to T)e firmly established. Soon after 



this, the losses of the French in Italy, and the 
dangers which appeared to threaten France, 
induced Bonaparte to return home, a privilege 
granted him in the commencement, and the 
chief command was committed to Kleber in 
a general order dated Aug. 22d, 1799. One 
day, Massena having asked what sort of a man 
Kleber, of whom such various accounts had 
been given, in reality was. Napoleon replied : 
" Picture to yourself a man of lofty stature, of 
an imposing figure, the finest military man 
you ever saw ; talented, well instructed, and 
capable of forming a con-cct judgment of any 
thing at a glance ; a man who, like jou, has 
commenced his career in a good school, the 
infantry, and who is a good maneuverer, al- 
though educated in Austria; but indolent, 
excessively proud, and sarcastic. He is a 
man, who, in time of war, by trifling and jok- 
ing, and heaping ridicule on all with whom he 
deals, suffers himself to go to the very edge of 
the ditch ; Avhen, generally, his self-love comes 
to the rescue, his talent rallies, and he some- 
times does very fine things, as you have been 
told." 

The condition of the French troops becom- 
ing every moment more critical, after various 
conferences with Sir Sidney Smith, it was 
agreed that after a truce of three months, the 
French should evacuate Egypt, and accord- 
ingly the treaty was signed at El Arish, Jan. 
24th, 1800. Kleber wrote a letter to the 
French directory, stating the miserable con- 
dition of the French army, and urging the 
ratification of the treaty of El Arish. This 
letter, however, fell into the hands of Admiral 
Keith, and having been transmitted to the 
British government, they refused to allow the 
French any means of saving themselves, ex- 
cept by surrendering as prisoners of war. Sir 
Sidney Smith hastened to inform the French 
of the views of his government. A few days 
after, the lieutenant of the Tiger (an English 
vessel) sent General Kleber a letter, written 
by Admiral Keith, under date of Minorca, Jan. 
8th, notifying to him the onl}^ conditions on 
which the British government would recog- 
nize the capitulation. 

General Kleber, shortly before this, enslaved 
by a secret spirit of jealousy, which perhaps 
he dared not confess to himself, had been fol- 
lowing blindly a fatal path in which his fame 
was threatened. A better -day arose when 



EGY 



HISTOKY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



293 



the honor of his nation was menaced, and the 
French troops were perfidiously commanded 
to lay down their arms. The discontented 
Kleber, Klebcr the humorist, instantlj'became 
another man. The patriotic Frenchman, the 
able and heroic leader, once more appeared. 
The order of the day was conveyed by the 
letter of Admiral Keith, and Kleber contented 
himself with adding these words : " Soldiers ! 
the only reply to insolence like this is victory ! 
Prepare to fight." Never were soldiers better 
prepared. Indignation ran through every 
rank. The Turks should pay dearly for the 
bad fiiith of their allies. Kleber declared that 
he should regard the least advance on the part 
of the Turks as a hostile movement. Disre- 
garding this warning, Youssef Pacha, the 
grand vizier, repaired to El IJancka with his 
whole army. His vanguard was within two 
leagues of Cairo. Firmans circulated in the 
provinces, and even in Cairo itself, excited 
the people to insurrection. Civil and rel i gious 
influences increased the danger of the I'rench. 
Time pressed ; the troops summoned by Kle- 
])er appeared in small detachments ; but still 
they were animated by one spirit. Ten thou- 
sand men did not hesitate to attack an army 
which the Turks and English themselves have 
estimated at from forty to sixty thousand. 
At the ancient Heliopolis, Kleber prepared for 
combat. With a trifling loss on their part, 
the French routed the enemy, whose killed 
and wounded numbered 6,000. The French 
were again in firm possession of a reconquered 
country, and Murad Bey became their ally. 

Writei's who think to honor Kleber, by rep- 
resenting him as the enemy of Bonaparte, af- 
fect to say, that he conceived the resolution 
of keeping Egypt, "out of hatred to the man 
who had usurped the sovereignty in France." 
To obscure the glory of him whom they ac- 
cuse, they darken the character of the man 
they would eulogize. They say also, with 
verj- little truth, that "the talents of Kleber 
had excited the jealousy of Bonaparte." But 
what pointe of comparison could be established 
between them ? What victories had Kleber 
gained to rank them with the two campaigns 
of Italy, or the smgle one of Egypt ? Kleber 
had never commanded in chief. Often had 
the chief command been offered him, and as 
often had he refused ; a singular trait of that 
[)ride which disdains to command, and yet 



will not bend to obedience. Employed in a 
secondary rank by preference, he revenged 
himself for this voluntary inferiority by epi- 
grams upon the officer above him, whether 
Beurnonville, Jourdon, or Moreau himself. 
In Egypt his powers of sarcasm were em- 
ployed in vain against a man who feared them 
not. If, at a later period, he denounced Bo- 
naparte to the directory, he had before, in a 
frank and bold letter, denounced, if we may 
use the expression, the directory to General 
Bonaparte ; and this was the political confi- 
dence of a clear-sighted man, who, beholding 
in that general the future fortunate leader of 
a party, predicted the fate which awaited him. 
On his part. Napoleon, appreciating Kleber, 
made use of him without fear, and pardoned 
his faults in consideration of his good qualities. 
He feared not to debase himself in making ad- 
vances. Some reproaches addi'essed to Kleber 
on the subject of his administration in Egypt 
having wounded his feelings to such a degree 
that he was about to leave the army, Bona- 
parte wrote, "On the soil of Egypt, the clouds 
pass away in six hours : were they on my side, 
they should dissipate in three." This was 
the conduct of Bonaparte toward the man 
whose rivalry he was accused of fearing. 

Kleber made many wise regulations to 
strengthen his administration. Meanwhile 
Europe had heard the news of the battle of 
Heliopolis and its results. The violation of 
national rights had yielded to the British 
government but unsavory and bloody fruits, 
and they covild not but regard with regret the 
destruction of a fine Ottoman army 40,000 
strong. General Kleber, having gained, by 
chance, minute information of the views of 
the English, was taking a course which gave 
general satisfaction, when the dagger of a 
Mussulman assassin deprived the army of a 
leader, and France of the possession of Egypt. 
The fatal news circulated with rapidity ; grief 
and indignation were general, and at the end 
of some hours the criminal was seized. It 
was proved that the murderer, Suliman El 
Alepi, who was sent from Gazah to Cairo, 
was only a fanatic subaltern, who, intoxicated 
with temporal and spiritual promises, and 
maddened by the incendiary firmans of the 
Turkish government, pretended to punish, in 
the person of Kleber, the enemy of theprophet, 
and the conqueror of the grand vizier. 



EGY 



294 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



After the revolt of Cairo in 1798, the sheikhs 
having come to implore the pardon of Bona- 
parte, the latter treated with peculiar respect 
an old man of the party, the Sheikh Sada. 
He raised him, kissed, and embraced him. 
AVhen they had retired, he said to Kleber, 
" Do you know that old fellow whom I hon- 
ored so '?" "Xo," answered Kle1)cr. " lie is 
the ringleader of the insurrection." "The 
deuce ! I would have shot him." When, in 
1800, Kleber, having retaken Cairo with an 
armed force, exacted as a punishment an ex- 
traordinary contribution of 4,000,000 francs, 
this same sheikh refused to pay the sum which 
was assessed upon him. In the first move- 
ment of anger, Kleber gave orders to have him 
bastinadoed, but, soon after, recollecting the 
conduct of Bonaparte, recalled them too late. 
When Bonaparte heard of Kleber's death, his 
first words were, " This comes of the bastinado 
administered to the Sheikh Sada." And in 
reality the assassin had been concealed in the 
mosque forty days. Similar fanatics had been 
previously sent to stab Bonaparte, but the 
sheikhs had prevented them. 

The conmiand of the French army devolved 
on General Menon. In 1801 the English, de- 
termined to drive the French from Egypt, fit- 
ted out an expedition, of which the army was 
commanded by Sir Ralph Abercrombie, and 
the fleet by Lord Keith. On the 23d of Feb- 
ruary, 1801, the fleet weighed anchor, and on 
March 1 st was anchored in Aboukir Bay. On 
the 8th they landed, and on the 18th gained 
possession of the fort. On the 21st, General 
Menon attacked the English, but was com- 
pletely defeated by them after a well contested 
engagement. During the charge of cavalry, 
Sir Ralph Abercrombie was mortally wound- 
ed ; after having dispatched his aides-de-camp 
he was alone, and some French dragoons at- 
tacked him, threw him from his horse, and 
attempted to cut him down. The gallant 
general, however, sprang up and wrested the 
sword from his antagonist, who was bayoneted 
by a soldier of the forty -second. He died on 
the 28th, on board Lord Keith's ship. Gen- 
eral Hutchinson succeeded to the command 
and resolved to reduce Lower Egypt. By the 
19th of April, Fort Sulien and Rosetta were 
captured, and the British proceeded to Rha- 
manich, where the French made a stand, but 
were vanquished, and retreated toward Cairo. 



On the 11th of May the army continued its 
march, and, on the 15th, intelligence being 
received that Belliard was in full march from 
Cairo, Hutchinson resolved to anticipate the 
attack. On the 16th, the Turks commenced 
the onset. The French took post in a wood 
of date-trees near Elmenayer, but were com- 
pelled to retreat. The British were now 
joined by gi-eat numbers of Arabs. The camp 
was placed at Gizeh, and dispositions were 
made for invading Cairo ; but the French gar- 
rison offered to capitulate. A convention was 
accordingly concluded on the 28th of June, 
with certain stipulations, but Menon not ac- 
ceding to the surrender of Alexandria, Hut- 
chinson invested that city, with the co-opera- 
tion of Lord Keith and Coote, which enabled 
him to surround it, and Menon capitulated. 
Four weeks after the evacuation of Egypt by 
the French, the preliminaries of a treaty of 
peace were signed at London. The Egyptians 
were much attached to the French, and re- 
gretted them extremely, for both Bonaparte 
and Kleber did all in theii' power, during their 
brief term of possession, to ameliorate the con- 
dition of the country. 

The Mamelukes and the Turkish pacha 
could not agree ; scenes of blood and treach- 
ery occurred, till at last Mehemet Ali, the pa- 
cha, got most of the beys and their principal 
officers into the citadel of Cairo, under pre- 
tense of an entertainment, and massacred the 
whole of them, March, 1811. Thus ended the 
Mameluke power, which had ruled Egypt 
more than four centuries. The sway of Me- 
hemet Ali Mas more rational, orderly, and 
humane than Egypt yet had had, and he did 
much for civilization. Though nominally sub- 
ject to the Porte, he made wide conquests 
and rendered himself virtually independent. 
The sultan watched his growing power with 
increasing jealousy, and in 1832 sent a power- 
ful army against him. The Turks were un- 
successful, and Ibrahim Pacha, Mehemet's son 
and victorious general, was on the march for 
Constantinople, when the European powers 
interfered, and forced a peace. In 1840 the 
sultan thinking himself strong enough, re- 
sumed hostilities. Again the Egyptians an- 
nihilated his armies, and again the powers of 
Europe came to his rescue. B}" a treaty 
signed July ISth, 1841, Mehemet Ali was 
stripped of all his conquests in Asia, but the 



EGY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



295 



government of Egypt was insured to him as a 
tributary to Turkey, and made hereditary in 
his descendants. Ibrahim Pacha died Sept. 
1st, 1848, and his father httle less than a year 
after. Abbas Pacha, a nephew of Ibrahim, 
was made viceroy, and upon his decease in 
1854, Said Pacha was appointed. 

Egypt is called by the Arabs Masi% by the 
Turks El Kabit, and by the Copts Kliemi. 
Its Hebrew name was Mizr or Mizraim. It 
comprises 200,000 square miles, which are 
peopled by about 2,000,000 of inhabitants. 
It is divided into three parts, Upper Egypt 
(Said), Middle Egypt ( Vostani), and Lower 
Egypt (BaJiari) including the Delta. The 
only valuable portion of the land is that which 
is watered by the Nile and its branches. The 
cultivated part of Upper Egypt is a narrow 
strip inclosed by ridges of mountains. The 
Nile annually overflows its banks, leaving a 
fertilizing mud or slime. The inundation 
commences about the middle of June, and in- 
creases until the latter part of August. The 
productions of the country are maize, rice, 
wheat, barley, sugar-cane, indigo, cotton, flax, 
dates, &c. The inhabitants are Copts, de- 
scendants of the original race, Arabs, Turks, 
and Jews. 

The fertihty of the land, the variety of the 
fruits, and the thousand natural advantages 
which it possesses, might, by judicious man- 
agement, make Egypt one of the most-wealthy 
and flourishing countries in the world. A 
liberal government and enterprising public 
officers would soon restore it to the rank 
which it once held. As a commercial coun- 
try, it possesses inestimable facilities. Bees 
are now carefully reared, honey forming an 
important article of trade. The verdure of 
Upper Egypt generally withers at the end of 
four or five months, and commences earlier 
than in Lower Egypt. In consequence of 
this, the Lower Egyptians collect the bees of 
several villages, in large boats; each hive 
having a mark by which the owner can rec- 
ognize it. The men having charge of them 
then commence the gradual ascent of the Nile, 
stopping whenever they come to a region of 
herbage and flowers. At break of day the 
bees issue from their cells in thousands, and 
busily collect the sweets of the flowers which 
are spread in luxuriant profusion around them, 
returning to their hives laden with honey, 



and issuing forth again m quest of more, sev- 
eral times in the course of the day. Thus for 
three or four months, they travel in a land of 
flowers, and are brought back to the place 
whence they started, with the delicious prod- 
uct of the sweet orange-flowers which perfume 
the Said, the roses of Faioum, and the jessa- 
mines of Arabia. The sugar-cane is an Egyp- 
tian production, and one of great value ; olive 
and fig-trees, producing the most delicious 
fruit, are also found in abundance. The palm 
is one of the most useful of the Egyptian trees. 
The fruit is agreeable, and the bark, as well 
as the leaves and rind of the fruit, yields ma- 
terials for cordage and the sails of the boats. 
The Mameluke javelins were made of the ribs 
of the palm branches. 

The condition of the poor people of Egypt 
is deplorable. The tyranny of their rulers 
wrests from them the fruit of their hard la- 
bors, and leaves them but a miserable suste- 
nance which they can hardly be supposed to 
enjoy. Rice and corn they can not eat, for 
all that they raise must be carried to their 
masters, who leave them for food dourra, or 
Indian millet, of which they form a very un- 
palatable and coarse kind of bread without 
any leaven. With the addition of water and 
raw onions, this is their food throughout the 
year. They know no luxury beyond a meal 
of the above articles improved by a little hon- 
ey, cheese, sour milk, and dates. A shirt of 
coarse linen dyed blue, and a black cloak, a 
cloth bonnet, with a long red woollen hand- 
kerchief rolled around it, form their costume. 
Cairo (Kahira), the capital, has about 
250,000 inhabitants. It was built a.d. 970, 
and under Saladin and his successors, became 
one of the most commercial cities of the world, 
standing as it did midway between Europe 
and the Indies. The discovery of the path 
around the Cape of Good Hope, ended its 
prosperity. Alexandria is now the commer- 
cial city of Egypt. [See Alexandria.] Da- 
mietta, a town some six miles from the Medi- 
terranean, is near the site of the ancient Th^,- 
miatis. It has 28,000 inhabitants. Rosetta, 
formerly an important port, has lost its traffic. 
To the traveler Egypt is replete with wonder 
and interest. He lingers among the gigantic 
remains of ancient art and splendor, with a 
feeling of veneration ; recalling, as he dwells 
upon the spot, the busy scenes of the past, 



EGY 



296 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the actors of which sleep beneath the dust of 
centuries, their perishable remains contrasting 
with the vast monuments of their enterprise 
and wealth, which, not the less surely because 
at a later period, will yet be crumbled into 
atoms by the stern hand of time. Then, too, 
the presence of these antique relics raises 
visions of the troubled times of Israel, when the 
yoke of the Pharaoh pressed heavily upon her 
children, till they were rescued from the land 
of bondage by the power of the Omnipotent, 
who rolled back the sti'ong tides of the sea to 
let them pass. The contemplation of these 
early scenes awakens in the well-trained mind 
a thought of Him, of whom we know that 
whatever be the chance or change of time, 
though kingdoms may pass away, and cities 
be crumbled into dust, " His word endureth 
forever." [For an account of the pyramids, 
see Wonders of the Wokld.] 

ELBA (the ancient Ilva), a small moun- 
tainous island in the Mediterranean, near the 
coast of Tuscany, to which it now belongs. 
It has an area of ninety-seven square miles, 
a population of 20,000, and contains iron, 
silver, loadstone, and marble. The climate 
is mild. This island was allotted to Napo- 
leon in 1814, on his abdication of the crown 
of France. He quitted it February 26th, 
1815. 

ELDON, John Scott, Earl of, born at 
Newcastle in 1751. He was a distinguished 
common-law judge, and sat on the woolsack 
from 1801 till 1827. He was bigotedly op- 
posed to law reform, and is said to have shed 
tears on the abolition of the punishment of 
death for stealing five shillings from a dwell- 
ing-house. He died January 13th, 1838. 

EL DORADO. When the zeal for travels, 
conquests, and discoveries in America, first 
began to develope itself among the Spaniards 
and other nations of Europe, those who 
thirsted for adventure and aggrandizement 
were not content with the actual wonders of 
the New World, but they taxed their imag- 
inations for the creation of realms in which 
the splendors of fairy-land were surpassed. 
Various circumstances contributed to add au- 
thority and influence to these fables. The 
tale that is oftentimes repeated generally 
comes to be regarded as true, particularly 
when the narrators are skillful and have 
weighty reasons for disguising the truth. 



These were not wanting with regard to the 
fable of El Dorado, or 'the golden region.' 
It was currently' believed that somewhere in 
Guiana, there existed a kingdom, the wealth 
of which surpassed that of any known region 
on the face of the globe. Along the whole 
coast of the Spanish Main, it was believed 
that, in the interior of the country, there ex- 
isted a land whose importance and riches it 
was impossible to exaggerate. These rumors 
are said to have had reference to the kingdom 
of Bogota and Tunja, now New Grenada. 
What was rather singular with regard to EI 
Dorado, was, that the nearer adventurers ap- 
proached to it, the farther off it appeared to 
be. Tlie Peruvians had accounts of its ex- 
istence in the Nuevo Beyno ; the adventurers 
of that country believed that it existed in 
Peru. In fact it appeared like the blessed 
isle of Indian song, which fled the footsteps 
of pursuers. 

Imagination, however, soon supplied the 
proper data. Tired of profitless wanderings, 
the gold-hunters fixed upon a certain region 
(in Guiana), as the locality of the kingdom 
of El Dorado. Nor was it a very difiicult 
matter to make maps of the country, to 
crowd it with lakes and rivers, to refine its 
inhabitants, to perfect its arts, and to heighten 
its splendor. The story ran thus. After the 
fall of the Incas, a younger brother of Ata- 
balipa, collecting what treasures he could lay 
hands upon, fled to an inland country, and 
founded a magnificent empire. This poten- 
tate was indifferently styled the Great Pay- 
titi, the Great Moxo, the Enim or Great Paru. 
From interested motives, men of intelligence 
and reputation scrupled not to confirm the 
tales of this empire, and lend the sanction of 
their names to the most absurd and puerile 
fictions. Thus Sir Walter Pialeigh, aware of 
the important results of colonizing Guiana, 
lured adventurers onward by displaying bo- 
fore them the most enticing pictures of the 
gilded monarch and his realm. He even did 
not hesitate to attempt to pass upon Queen 
Elizabeth, as facts, the monstrous fables which 
his heated mind was alone capable of receiv- 
ing- 
One unblushing impostor asserted that he 
had himself been in Manoa, the capital of the 
imaginary kingdom, and that in the street of 
silversmiths, no fewer than three thousand 



ELD 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



297 



workmen were employed. This traveler was 
very minute in his details, and produced a 
map which he had projected, and which was 
marked with the situation of a hill of gold, 
one of silver, and one of salt. The gorgeous 
palace of the emperor was held on high by 
magnificent and symmetrical pillars of por- 
phyry and alabaster, and encircled by galle- 
ries which were formed of ebony and cedar, 
curiously wrought. About the period of Ra- 
leigh's first expedition, it was believed at 
Paraguay that the court of the Great Moxo 
had been actually discovered and visited. 
At this time the description of the interior 
varied a little from that which we have just 
given. A vast lake of exquisite transpar- 
ency and softness reflected the palace, which 
was built upon an island in its centre. The 
material of the edifice was snow-white marble 
of a peculiar brilliancy. Two towers guarded 
the entrance, standing on each side of a su- 
perb colunm, which shot up to the height of 
twenty-five feet, and bore upon its capital an 
immense silver moon, while two living lions 
were attached by massy chains of solid gold 
to its pedestal. These animals, like the 
dragons of a fairy tale, defended the entrance 
to a place which outshone the realms of fairy- 
land. AVe know not whether an acquaint- 
ance with magic was necessary to quiet the 
vigilance of these wild guards, or whether 
they were well-bred creatures, disposed to 
make allowances for the curiosity of visitors, 
and permit them an easy entrance into the 
palace of El Dorado. Be that as it may, 
having passed those guards, you entered a 
quadrangle, where you could not fail to be 
deUghted with the freshness and shade of the 
green trees, and the fragrant coolness and 
musical murmur of a silver fountain, which 
gushed and gleamed through four golden 
pipes. A small copper gate, the bolt of 
which shot into a massy rock, hid the inte- 
rior of the palace. This passed, the splendor 
of the internal arrangements dazzled and de- 
lighted. A vast altar, formed of solid silver, 
supported an immense golden sun, before 
which four lamps were kept perpetually burn- 
ing. 

The lord of this magnificence was called 
El Dorado, literally 'the gilded,' from the 
savage splendor of his costume, his naked 
body being daily anointed with costly gum. 



and then heaped with gold dust, until he 
presented the appearance of a golden statue. 
"But," Oviedo sagely remarks, "as this kind 
of garment would be uneasy to him while he 
slept, the prince washes himself every eve- 
ning, and he is gilded anew in the morning, 
which proves that the empire of El Dorado 
is infinitely rich in mines." This fable had 
its origin in the peculiar rites introduced by 
the worship of Bochica, as the high priest of 
this sect was accustomed, every morning, to 
anoint his hands and face with grease, and 
then heap them with gold dust. Another 
custom, spoken of by Humboldt, may have 
given rise to the romance. This eminent 
traveler says that in the vrilder parts of Gui- 
ana, where painting the body is used instead 
of the practice of tattooing, the Indians smear 
their bodies with the fat of turtles, and then 
cover them with pieces of mica of a metallic 
lustre, brilliantly white as silver, and red as 
copper, so that they appear robed in a gar- 
ment covered with gold and silver embroid- 
ery, when seen from a little distance. 

Although productive of much mischief, the' 
expeditions undertaken in the hope of discov- 
ering El Dorado did considerable service to the 
cause of science ; and thus, by the agency of 
fiction, many important truths were brought 
to light. Of the different expeditions fitted 
out in search of El Dorado, the last, incredi- 
ble as it may seem, was set on foot as lately as 
the year 1775. From this we may judge how 
firm was the belief in the existence of this 
fairyland. The earliest enterprises of this 
nature attempted to reach the realm of the 
Great Moxo somewhere in the direction of 
the eastern back of the Andes of New Gre- 
nada. The captains Anasco and Ampudia 
were dispatched by Sebastian de Belalcazar, 
in 1535, to discover the valley of Dorado, in 
consequence of the flaming descriptions which 
an Indian of Tacumga had given of the riches 
and splendor of the Zaque, or the king of 
Cundinamarca. Diaz de Pineda (in 1536) 
gave rise to the idea that there were, to the 
eastward of the Nevados of Tunguragua, Cay- 
ambe, and Popayan, immense plains where 
the precious metals were found in abund- 
ance, and where gold, in particular, was so 
plentiful, that the inhabitants converted massy 
plates of it into armor. 

In 1539, Gonzalo Pizarro, inflamed by the 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



account of these treasures, set forth in search 
of them, and by chance made discovery of 
the American cinnamon trees. Francisco de 
Orellana set forth to reach the river of Ama- 
zons by the Napo. Expeditions were fitted 
out simultaneously from Venezuela, New 
Grenada, Quito, Peru, Brazil, and the Rio 
de la Plata, having for their sole object the 
conquest of Dorado. The incursions to the 
south of Guaviare, the Rio Fragua, and the 
Caqueta, were declared to have procured 
proof not only of the existence of the city 
of El Dorado, but of the immense riches of 
the Manoas, the Omaguas, and the Guaypos. 
We discover proofs of accurate knowledge 
and careful research in the narratives of the 
voyages of Orellana, George von Specier, 
Hernan Perez de Quesada, and Philip von 
Huten, undertaken in 1536, 1542, and 1545, 
although there is no lack of exaggeration and 
fable likewise. Those who sought the town 
of the Gilded Monarch directed their steps 
to two points situated on the north-east and 
south-west of the Rio Negro ; viz. to Parima, 
the early abode of the Manoas, who dwelt 
upon the banks of the Jurubesh. Thei-e ex- 
ists now very little doubt that the whole of 
the country lying between the Amazon and 
Orinoco, was comprehended under the gen- 
eral name of the provinces of the gilded king. 
The first voyage of Sir Walter Raleigh was 
undertaken in 1595. That enterprising and 
romantic man, who was then in high favor 
with Queen Elizabeth, was tired of the dull 
realities of the old world, and thirsted for 
adventure. He embraced the idea of El Do- 
rado with ardor, as holding out something 
worthy of his attention. It is true that he 
had no definite ideas about the situation of 
the fabled kingdom, but he rushed into the 
adventure with the enthusiasm and ardor 
which distinguished him. He was, of course, 
disappointed, and probably found the affair, 
gilded king, lake, city, palace, lions, gold 
mountains, and all, what we, in these com- 
monplace and degenerate days, should term 
a bubble or a hoax. Sir Walter Raleigh was 
a courtier, well versed in the ways of the 
world, and he cared not to endure the morti- 
fication, on his return, of ridicule or pity for 
the failure of the expedition. He was deter- 
mined tc sacrifice truth to what he considered 
expediency. Besides, he had formed the pro- 



ject of colonizing Guiana, which he saw 
would produce the happiest results, and he 
thought that, by holding out the golden prize 
of El Dorado, he should induce many to 
patronize his scheme. 

We shall briefly trace the course of Sir 
Walter Raleigh, when, after having collected 
from Antonio de Berrio, whom he took pris- 
oner in his incursion on the island of Trinidad 
in 1595, and others, the sum of the knowledge 
possessed at that time upon the subject of 
Guiana and the adjacent countries, he set 
forth upon his celebrated expedition. He 
then entertained no doubts of the existence 
of the two great lakes, and the kingdom of 
the famous Inca, which was supposed to have 
been founded near the sources of the river 
Essequibo. Passing the river Guavapo, and 
the plains of Chaymas, Raleigh stopped at 
Morequito, where he was informed by an old 
man that there was no doubt that foreign 
nations had entered Guiana. The cataracts 
of Carony, a river which was supposed to be 
the shortest way to Macureguari and Manoa, 
towns situated on the banks of Lakes Cassipa 
and Rupunuwini, or Dorado, terminated this 
expedition. 

We must be permitted to doubt almost 
every assertion made by Raleigh with regard 
to the results of this voyage. He was deter- 
mined that his cause should lose nothing from 
excessive modesty, and consequently the style 
in which he speaks of Manoa is highly in- 
flated. He heard of inland sea^ which he 
compares to the Caspian, and of "the impe- 
rial and golden city of Manoa." He styles 
the ruler of the magnificent country, " the 
emperor Inga of Guyana," and says that he 
had erected palaces of the most dazzling mag-, 
nificence, said to surpass by far the superb 
palaces of his Peruvian ancestors. Raleigh, 
in his endeavors to influence the queen, neg- 
lected neither the arts of flattery nor the 
embellishments of fiction. He says that to 
the barbarous nations he encountered, he 
showed the picture of the queen, at which 
they exhibited "transports of joy." He as- 
serts that he was informed that at the time of 
the conquest of Peru, there were prophecies 
" in their chiefest temples," which foretold 
the loss of the empire and the restoration of 
the Ingas (Incas) by Englishmen. He tells 
her majesty that the Inca would probably pay 



ELD 






HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



299 



yearly to England the sum of three hundred 
thousand pounds sterhng, if she would place 
in his towns garrisons of three or four tliou- 
sand English, under pretense of defending 
him against all enemies. "It seemeth to 
me," he adds, "that this empire of Guiana 
is reserved for the English nation." From 
1595 to 1617, Raleigh made four successive 
voyages to the lower Orinoco. These at- 
tempts, which, however they were represented 
in England, were well understood in South 
America to have been fruitless, damped the 
ardor of adventurers who had formed projects 
for entering and conquering El Dorado. From 
this time there appeared none of those 
great combinations and important expedi- 
tions which at first owed their origin to 
warm chimerical ideas; but, at the same 
time, the golden hopes which had been awak- 
ened did not entirely disappear, and solitary 
enterprises were occasionally undertaken, 
under the sanction of various provincial gov- 
ernors. 

In 1637 and 1638, Acana and Fritz, two 
monks, severally undertook journeys to the 
lands of the Manoas, which were thought to be 
rife with gold, and by the magnificent accounts 
which they put in circulation, contrived to 
inflame anew the imaginations of adventurers. 
Very recently it was believed that the plains 
of Macas, to the east of the Cordilleras, con- 
tained the ruins of Logrono, a town situated 
in a gold region of prodigious value. In 
1740, an idea was current that by going up 
the river Essequibo, Dorado might be readied 
from Dutch Guiana. The imagination of Don 
Manuel Centurion, governor of San Thome 
del Angostura, having been warmed by the 
current fables of the splendid lake of Manoa, 
the very existence of which was apocryphal, he 
determined to set on foot some serious inves- 
tigations. He used all his powers to awaken 
in the minds of the colonists an ardor equal 
to his own. An Ipurucoto Indian, by name 
Arimuicaipi, descended the Rio Carony, and, 
for reasons of his own, by the most bare- 
faced impositions, induced the Spaniards to 
believe that the tales of El Dorado hardly did 
justice to the splendor of the country of the 
Great Moxo. He declared that the whitish 
light in the clouds of Magellan, in the south- 
ern sky, was the reflection of the silvery 
rocks around which the waves of Lake Pa- 



rima swept. " This was describing in a very 
poetical manner," says Humboldt, " the splen- 
dor of the micaceous and talcky slates of his 
country." 

A well-meaning Indian chief, popularly 
termed Captain Jurado, endeavored to check 
the progress of the delusion, and tried to 
undeceive Centurion. The adventurers em- 
barked upon the Caura and Rio Paragua, but 
not only were disappointed in their expecta- 
tions, but encountered the most dreadful 
sufferings, which occasioned the death of sev- 
eral hundred persons. Notwithstanding the 
disadvantageous effects of these expeditions, 
they brought to light many important geo- 
graphical facts. Between 1775 and 1780, 
Nicholas Rodriguez and Antonio Santos, two 
men noted for their enterprise, were employed 
by the Spanish governors, and reached the 
Uraricueraand Rio Branco, after encountering 
many perils ; but, of course, did not attain 
their objects. 

The frequent occurrence of mica in Guiana 
contributed to confirm the opinions of those 
who believed it to be a region rich with gold, 
and thus, as in many other cases, want of 
scientific knowledge led to the most absurd 
ideas, and the most deplorable results. The 
peak of Mount Calitamini at sunset gleams as 
if it were incrusted with precious metal, or 
ornamented with a coronet of diamonds. The 
islets of mica-slate in the Lake Amucu are 
fabled by the natives to increase the silver 
beams of the clouds in the southern sky by 
their powerful reflection. Raleigh says that 
every mountain and every stone in the for- 
ests of Orinoco had all the sparkling brill- 
iancy of the precious metals. Those travelers 
who gave the most glowing descriptions of 
the riches of Guiana and El Dorado, were 
those who, on other subjects, made no scruple 
of violating truth for the sake of enhancing 
the effects of their narrations. Diego de Or- 
daz, the famous conquistador of Mexico, in 
1531, undertook a voyage of discovery along 
the banks of the Orinoco. This gentleman 
boastingly declared that he had taken sulphur 
out of the peak of Popocatepetl, and was 
allowed by the emperor, Charles V., to carry 
a flaming volcano in his coat of arms. He 
obtained a commission to rule over all the 
country which he could subdue by his arms 
between Brazil and the coast of Venezuela, 



ELD 



SCO 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and began liis voj'age by the mouth of the 
river Maranon. Here the natives displayed 
to his admiring eyes " emeralds as big as a 
man's fist." These were doubtless no other 
than pieces of compact feldspar, a mineral 
found in great profusion at the mouth of the 
river Topayas. The Indians informed Ordaz 
that in traveling to the westward he would 
find a mountain of emerald, but a shipwreck 
destroyed the hopes of the party. 

rhe Spanish adventurers firmly believed in 
the existence of mountains composed, prin- 
cipally if not wholly, of gold, silver, emeralds, 
&c. Sometimes, natural appearances, easily 
explained, gave rise to these illusions, but 
frequently there was no foundation whatever 
for the belief. Acunha says that north of 
the junction of the Curuputuba and Amazon, 
the inmiense mountain of Paraguaxo, when 
the ra3-s of the sun fell upon it, displayed the 
most beautiful colors, emitting from time to 
time tremendous bellowings. The Indians, 
who were accustomed to fasten upon their 
skins gold spangles and powdei-, informed the 
Spaniards that they obtained it by tearing 
up the grass and earth in a certain plain, and 
washing it. But it is possible that what was 
imagined to be gold, was no other than mica, 
which the natives of Rio Caura are said still 
to use by way of ornamenting their bodies, 
and heightening the effect of their painting. 

In tracing the progress of the famous delu- 
sion of El Dorado, we can not foil to be sur- 
prised at the credulity of some adventurers, 
and the audacity of others. The expedition 
of Sir Walter Raleigh was without doubt the 
most important undertaken, and the influence 
which it excised was beneficial in deterring 
men from making those combined efforts 
which could not have failed in terminating 
ruinously. We can not doubt that Raleigh 
was himself grossly deceived, nor that he 
endeavored to practice upon others the impo- 
sition from which he had himself suffered. 
It is poor excuse to say that he misrepre- 
sented things for a good end. The following 
is briefly his own description of Guiana. 
" The empire of Guiana is directly east from 
Peru toward the sea, and lieth under the 
equinoctial line, and it hath more abundance 



same laws, and the emperor and people ob- 
serve the same religion, and the same form 
and policies in government, as was used in 
Peru, not differing in any part ; and as I have 
been assured by such of the Spaniards as 
have seen Manoa, the imperial city of Guiana, 
which the Spaniards call El Dorado, that for 
the greatness, the riches, and for the excel- 
lent seat, it far exccedeth any of the world, 
at least of so much of the world as is known 
to the Spanish nation. It is founded upon a 
lake of salt water of two hundred leagues 
long, like unto Mare Caspium (the Caspian 
Sea) ; and if we compare it to that of Peru, 
and but read the report of Francisco Lopez, 
and others, it will seem more than credible." 
Raleigh repeats the wonderful stories told of 
Manoa by Martinez, a Spaniard who informed 
him that he had spent seven months in the 
empire, and who first gave it the name of 
El Dorado. Martinez gave by no means a 
flattering character to the inhabitants of Gui- 
ana, who, he said, were a set of inveterate 
drunkards. According to him, at times of 
solemn festival, the higher officers of the 
empire caroused with the king. All who 
pledged him were stripped, and having their 
bodies anointed with a costly balsam, the 
servants of the emperor blew gold dust upon 
them, making use for this purpose of certain 
hollow canes or reeds. Then glittering from 
head to foot, they sat down by twenties and 
hundreds, and drank sometimes for six or 
seven cla^'s. Martinez says that he named 
the empire El Dorado on account of the quan- 
tity of gold which he found in the temples, 
and throughout the city ; plates, armor, and 
shields being formed of the precious metal. 

Raleigh speaks of a race whose heads did 
not appear above their shoulders, and adds, 
" Though it may be thought a mere fable, yet 
for mine own part I am resolved it is true." 
"They are called Ewaipanoma. They are 
reported to have ej^es in their shoulders, and 
their mouths in the middle of their breasts, and 
that a long train of hair groweth backward 
between their shoulders." These people, 
however, were not pretended to be the in- 
habitants of the empire of the gilded king. 

Though we can not fail to regret the waste 



of gold than any part of Peru, and as many i of labor and life which the fable of El Dora- 
or more great cities than ever Peru had when i do caused, yet it must be confessed that it 
it flourished most. It is governed by the i led to many scientific discoveries. But while 

ELD 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



301 



many facts were brought forward, they were 
so mixed up with fables, defying ahnost all 
attempts to separate the evil from the good, 
that we can not be much surprised at the 
erroneous ideas which prevailed up to a very 
late period. The penetration and knowledge 
of the nineteenth century have dissipated 
the golden clouds which overhung the haunt- 
ed region of Guiana, and the great Moxo, by 
common consent, is for ever banished to the 
dreamed realms of fiction. 

ELEUSIS was anciently, next to Athens, 
the principal city of Attica. It was here 
that the festivals of Ceres, the goddess of na- 
ture, termed the Eleusinian Mysteries, were 
secretly celebrated once a year, in her tem- 
ple, which was surrounded by high wails. 
The manner of their celebration is unknown. 
They were esteemed the holiest and most 
venerable of the religious ceremonies of 
Greece, and were abolished by Theodosius 
the Great, a.d., 389. 

ELGIN, Tiio:jas Bruce, Earl of Elgin and 
Kincardine, was British ambassador to Tur- 
key. He is celebrated by the collection of 
marbles bearing his name, consisting chiefly 
of the frieze and pediment of the Parthenon. 
They were purchased of him by the govern- 
ment for £36,000, and placed in the British 
Museum, 1816. He died in 18-10. 

ELIO, Francisco Xavier, a Spaniard who 
opposed Napoleon in Spain, and the revolu- 
tionists in South America. On the restora- 
tion of Ferdinand VII., of Spain, he declared 
himself in favor of absolute monarchy, and 
committed many atrocities in putting down 
liberal principles. The revival of the consti- 
tution of Cadiz put an end to his career. He 
was tried for exciting a movement in favor 
of absolute monarchy, and put to death, 
Sept. 3d, 1822. 

ELIOT, John, a native of England, was 
born in 1604, and was educated at Cam- 
bridge. He came to America in 1631, and 
acted as minister of the church in Roxbury, 
Massachusetts. He mastered the Indian 
language, and published an Indian Bible and 
grammar, and was indefatigable in preaching 
the gospel to the savages. The great apostle 
and friend of the Indians died May 20th, 
1690. His works were voluminous. 

ELIOT, George Augustus, Lord Heath- 
field, was born at Stubbs, in Scotland, in 



1718, and educated at Ley den, after which 
he entered into the Prussian service. Hav- 
ing returned to Scotland, he joined, in 1733, 
the corps of engineers, and afterward be- 
came adjutant to a corps of horse-grena- 
diers, in which capacity he distinguished 
himself at Dettingen, where he was wound- 
ed. In this regiment he rose to the rank of 
lieutenapt-colonel ; and, in 1757, was ap- 
pointed to the command of a regiment of 
light-horse, which he had himself raised. 
On his return from Germany, he was sent to 
Havana, and, at the peace, the king conferred 
on his regiment the title of "royal." In 
1775, he was appointed commander-in-chief 
in Ireland, and was soon after made governor 
of Gibraltar, which fortress he bravely de- 
fended against the great siege of the com- 
bined forces of France and Spain. He died 
at Aix-la-Chapelle, July 6th, 1790. He never 
indulged in the pleasures of the table, his 
food consisting of vegetables and water. 
Ever vigilant and active, he never slept more 
than four hours at a time. 

ELIZABETH, Queen. [See Tudor.] 

ELIZABETH PETROWNA, Empress of 
Russia. [See Romanoff.] 

ELLENBOROUGH, Edward Law, Baron, 
was born in 17-48, at Great Salkeld, in Cum- 
berland. His father was Bishop of Carlisle. 
He was educated at Cambridge, and early ad- 
mitted to the bar. He was counsel for War- 
ren Hastings in 1785, assisted by Plomer and 
Dalkas, and his client was acquitted. His 
fortune was now fixed. In 1801 he was 
made attorney general, and the following 
year succeeded Lord Kenyon, as lord-chief- 
justice of the king's bench, and was created 
baron. He died Dec. 13th, 1818. His son 
has been a prominent statesman, was gover- 
nor-general of India from 1842 to 1844, and 
raised to the rank and title of Earl of Ellen- 
borough. 

ELLERY, William, one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, was born 
at Newport, R. L, Dec. 22d, 1727, and edu- 
cated at Harvard College. He became a suc- 
cessful lawyer in Newport, won tlie esteem 
of his fellow-citizens, and was elected to 
congress in 1776. He served in that body until 
1785, when he was appointed commissioner 
of loans and chief-justice of the superior 
court of Rhode Island. He was appointed 



ELL 



302 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



by Washington the first collector of customs 
for Newport, held the office thirty years, 
and died February 15th, 1820, aged ninety- 
two. 

ELLIOT, Stephen, an American botanist, 
and man of letters, was born at Beaufort, 
S. C, in 1771, and educated at Yale College. 
He early devoted his attention to natural 
liistory. As a member of the state legisla- 
ture, he was distinguished for patriotism, 
learning, and ability. He was president of 
the state bank, member of several literary 
and scientific societies, and editor of the 
/Southern Hevieic, and he received the degree 
of LL.D. from Yale College. He died in 
the early part of 1830. 

ELLIOTT, Ebenezer, the 'Corn Law Rhym- 
er,' was born of humble parentage near 
Sheffield, England, March 2oth, 1781. His 
youth was passed in toil, but in manhood he 
acquired a competency in the iron trade. 
The laws taxing breadstuff's he indignantly 
assailed, and his " Corn Law Rhymes " did 
good service in raising the tempest which 
swept them awa}'. He was more, however, 
than a political song-writer, and the milder 
outpourings of his muse occupy a high place 
in the popular poetry of England. He died 
December 1st, 1849. 

ELLSWORTH, Oliver, was born at Wind- 
sor, Connecticut, April 29th, 1745. He was 
the son of a farmer, and devoted his early 
years alternately to literature and agricul- 
ture. He was educated at Yale and Prince- 
ton, the former of which Colleges he entered at 
the age of seventeen, and was admitted to the 
bar, after the usual preparatory study, in 
1771, in the county of Hartford, Connecticut, 
and was appointed state attorney. An ar- 
dent friend of freedom, he served in the revo- 
lutionary army, was a member of the general 
assembly of Connecticut, and a delegate to 
the congress of the United States. He was 
made member of the council and judge of the 
superior court of his native state, assisted in 
framing the federal convention, was chosen 
senator in the first congress, and held his 
seat throughout Washington's administra- 
tion. He was appointed chief-justice of the 
United States on the resignation of Mr. Jay, 
and was one of the envoys sent to France in 
1790, to procure the adjustment of the differ- 
ences which threatened a very serious ter- 



mination. Having returned to his native 
state, he died Nov. 26th, 18U7. 

ELLWOOD, Thomas, an eminent member 
of the society of Friends ; he joined the so- 
ciety at twenty-one, and became as a preacher 
and writer, one of their most cfficent members, 
to his death, 1713, in his seventy-fourth year. 
He was the pupil and friend of Milton, and one 
of those who read to the poet when blind. 

EMANUEL, the Great, King of Portugal, 
ascended the throne in 1495. During his 
reign the discoveries and exploits of Portu- 
guese navigators and commanders opened 
the wealth of America and the East Indies 
to Portugal. Everything seemed to flourish, 
and the period merited the title which was 
given it, the golden age of Portugal. Eman- 
uel died Dec. 13th, 1521. He acquired one 
renown by his expulsion of the Moors, and 
another by his patronage of men of letters. 

EMMET, Robert, the son of a physician 
at Cork, was born in 1782. Ireland was in 
a fevered state, and young Emmet became a 
leading spirit among those who dreamed of 
Erin's freedom and independence. The ris- 
ing he planned was abortive. He was con- 
victed of treason, and executed September 
20th, 1803. 

EMMET, Thomas Addis, brother of Rob- 
ert, born in Cork, Ireland, 1765. He was 
designed for the medical profession, but the 
death of his elder brother, a member of the 
bar, induced him to turn his attention to the 
study of the law. He pursued it with suc- 
cess and commenced practice in Dublin. In 
1795, Emmet joined the association of United 
Irishmen, and was arrested March 12th, 1798. 
He was imprisoned for a long time in Fort 
George, in the county of Nairn, Scotland, 
but with his wife, who had shared his con- 
finement, having been finally liberated, he 
came to New York in November, 1804. Em- 
met here successfully practiced law, and in 
1812 was appointed attorney-general of the 
state of New York. He died in the sixty- 
third year of his age, Nov. 14th, 1827, dur- 
ing the trial of an important case. In pri- 
vate life he was beloved, and in public es- 
teemed and respected. 

ENGHIEN, Battle of. Fought by the 
British under William TIL, and the French 
under Marshal Luxembourg, who ■were victo- 
rious, Aug. 3d, 1692. AVilliam had put him- 



ENG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



803 



self at the head Oi the confederated army in 
the Netherlands, and leagued himself with 
the Protestant powers upon the continent 
against the ambition of Louis XIV.; and in 
the end he triumphed. Enghien is a small 
town in the Flemish province of Hainault. 
A victory gained here by the great Conde, 
first gave the ducal title to a prince of the 
house of Bourbon-Conde. 

ENGHIEN, Louis Antoine Henri de Bour- 
bon, Duke of, born at Chantilly, Aug. 2d, 
1772, was the son of Louis Henry Joseph 
Conde, Duke of Bourbon, a descendant of 
the great Conde. He served in various cam- 
paigns, and particularly distinguished him- 
self under his grandfather. In 1804 he went 
to Ettenheim, incog, and married the Prin- 
cess Charlotte de Rohan Rochefort. At this 
time the life of Bonaparte was threatened, 
and the English, in particular, hinted at his 
probable assassination. The Due d'Enghien, 
having fallen under suspicion, was arrested 
at Ettenheim, in the neutral territory of 
Baden, brQught to Vincennes at midnight, 
tried with much informality by a military 
court, condemned to death, and shot by 
torchlight the next morning, March 20th, 
1304; the whole affiiir having been conduct- 
ed, to say the least, with ungenerous haste. 
No other action of Napoleon's has excited 
so much discussion as this. Some writers 
have laid the whole blame of the transaction 
upon the emperor, and others endeavor tu 
free him altogether from the charge. An ac- 
tual conspiracy, supported by English money, 
had been discovered at Paris, that of Georges. 
The same spirit which had sent Georges 
from London to France, was to be found in 
the cabinet of all the British embassies in 
Germany. Peculiar circumstances induced 
M. Real, then chief of the police, to send a 
trusty agent to find out whether the Due d' 
Enghien was always at Ettenheim, and what 
were his relations and his habits. An olficer 
of the gendarmery was intrusted with this 
mission, and this was the foundation of all the 
evil. On his way to Strasburg, this officer 
heard it mentioned as a notorious fact, that 
the Due d'Enghien was in the habit of at- 
tending the theatre in that city. The spy 
sent to Ettenheim reached it with prejudices 
which the least indications would increase. 
He learned that there were emigrants in the 



neighborhood of the Due d'Enghien, that he 
invariably gave them the warmest reception 
when they visited him, and that the duke 
was frequently absent for days at a time. It 
appeared afterward that from time to time, a 
passion for hunting kept the duke for several 
successive days in the mountains of the Black 
Forest. This was not all. The imperfect 
pronunciation of the Germans led the officer 
to suppose that an obscure person in the 
suite of the duke, a M. de Thumery, was no 
other than General Dumouriez. The union 
of these particulars alarmed the officer, who, 
with more zeal than truth, created fearful 
phantoms out of innocent appearances. The 
judgment of the first consul was obscured 
by the rapidity with which his imagination 
moved, causing him to take for incontestable 
facts, stories which had but vague conjecture 
for their foundation. Thus he soon arrived 
at his conclusions. "In sixty hours one can 
come from Strasburg to Paris. It requires 
but five days to go and return. The un- 
known personage [afterward proved to be 
Pichegru], who was received with so much 
respect by Georges, is the Due d'Enghien. 
The duke is the prime mover of the conspir- 
acy, the soul of it, at least one of the first 
accomplices." These were the ideas which 
presented themselves to the first consul, and 
it must be confessed that the supposed pres- 
ence of Dumouriez at Ettenheim was a cir- 
cumstance of weight. The fact, if it had 
been true, and Bonaparte believed it to be 
so, would have added to the suspicions of 
which the Due d'Enghien was the subject. 

But here it maj^ be objected that these sus- 
picions were without foundation, and that the 
first consul ought to have known it, because 
the charge de affaires at Carlsruhe wrote 
that the duke was leading the most quiet 
and retired life at Ettenheim. It will be con- 
ceded that his objection has little force ; for 
might not the Due d'Enghien be concerned 
in the conspiracies against Bonaparte, have 
an understanding with the emigrants in his 
neighborhood, entertain Dumouriez in his 
train, either under his own or another name, 
and yet find no occasion to change the exter- 
nal and regular order of his life ? 

There was another cause which acted upon 
the determination of the first consul. The 
conspiracy against the first consul was ma- 



ENG 



304 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



tured in England, but its branches spread in 
every direction. In England, conspirators 
were pensioned ; in Austria, battalions were 
raised On one side, were plots; on the 
other, conspiracies : danger was everywhere, 
and perils were daily augmenting. How 
could the first consul imagine that the Due 
d'Enghien, a prince of the house of France, 
an officer of the English army, was ignorant 
of the preparations which were on foot ? In 
the eyes of Bonaparte the cabinets of London 
and Vienna acted in concert. How could he 
persuade himself that a Bourbon, placed at 
Ettenheim, should refuse to participate in the 
association ? Sir Walter Scott himself believed 
that the duke was established at Ettenheim 
for the purpose of putting himself at the 
head of the royalists in that quarter, or of 
presenting him.self, if afiiiirs required it, to 
those of Paris. The discussion between Aus- 
tria and France had come almost to menaces. 
On the 9th of March Bonaparte addressed to 
the Emperor of Germany a summons to ex- 
plain himself. On the 10th was given the 
fatal order relative to the Due d'Enghien. 
Who can say that these two ideas were stran- 
gers to each other ? That the greatness of the 
perils which surrounded Bonaparte did not 
contribute to the violence of the means which 
he employed to oppose them, and make his 
enemies tremble? Who would venture to 
assert that Austria, always so intimately con- 
nected with England, had no knowledge, not 
assuredly of the plots of assassination, but of 
the various hostile plans employed against 
the first consul, and did not hold herself in 
readiness to jield to the current of events ? 
In the midst of these circumstances, the re- 
ports of the agent sent to Ettenheim were 
submitted to the first consul. Instantly a 
fearful resolution was taken, and the order 
given for the seizure of the duke. 

How was this resolution taken ? Was it the 
result of a sudden movement on the part of 
Bonaparte, or was it determined by the delib- 
erations of a council? The orders for the 
minister of war were dictated at ten in the 
evening, by the first consul, on issuing from 
a cabinet conference at which were present 
the two consuls, Talleyrand, the chief-justice, 
and Foucho, who was then only a senator. 
Had they been assembled by special convoca- 
tion, or by chance ! This is of little conse- 



quence. But what passed at this conference V 
It is here the interpretations of jealousy and 
hate begin. Is it true, as some memoirs have 
asserted, that the minister of foreign affairs, 
after a report upon the general state of Eu- 
rope, concluded by counseling the violation 
of a neutral territory ? Is it true, as some 
have asserted, that Fouche, in order to create 
embarrassment, and make himself necessary 
in that post which he had formerly occupied, 
warmly advocated a measure which he would 
soon be the first to denounce ? Is it true that 
the opposition of Cambaceres to the seizure 
of the duke upon a neutral territorj'-, di'ew 
down upon him the famous apostrophe of 
Bonaparte, "You have become very avari- 
cious of the blood of the Bourbons ?" 

Bonaparte might have said: "The Bour- 
bons have sworn to destroy me, they have 
devoted my heart to the steel of their satel- 
lites, they have willed my assassination. 
Well : let them tremble in turn ! I can also 
assassinate. I have only to stretch forth my 
hand to seize one of them. I will- seize him, 
I will destroy him, and they shall feel that 
they can no longer attempt my life with im- 
punity." Perhaps, "in the very whirlwind 
of his passion," an infernal spirit, in order to 
strengthen him, may have whispered cool 
reflections: "The divorce between France 
and the eldest branch of the Bourbons seems 
definitive. The state of inaction to which the 
princes of this branch have been condemned 
has destroyed all S3'mpathy between them and 
heroic France. The name of Conde, on the con- 
trary, recalls more vividly the glory of arms. 
It recalls even the last wars. The grandfather 
and the grandson have fought among the 
brave against the brave. There is here a pos- 
sibility of reconciliation, a germ of sympathy. 
It is this branch which I must destroy, even 
to the last shoot. It will be a crime, a great 
crime, but a state crime, a political crime. 
It will spread consternation in France even 
among my most devoted friends ; it will stu- 
pefy all Europe ; but only for a moment ; for 
to-morrow, other occurrences will concentrate 
the attention of all Europe; to-morrow it 
will be apprised of the new crimes of Eng- 
land, and the death of the Due d'Enghien 
will be lost in the various events which 
fortune seems to prepare expressly for the 
purposes of concealment and obhvion." 



ENG 



H I S T li Y AND BIOGRAPHY. 



305 



On the 15th of March the Due d'Enghien 
was seized at Ettenheim and brought to Stras- 
burg. From Strasburg he was, on the 18th, 
transferred to Paris, where he arrived the 
20th, and thence was sent to the castle of 
Vinccnnes. The governor of Paris appointed 
a council of war, which assembled in the 
night. The prince was condemned to death, 
and the sentence was immediately executed. 
In a pi'oceeding dictated by policy, legal for- 
malities are rarely observed. They were not 
in the present case. The prisoner of St. 
Helena continually justified himself by say- 
ing that the prince was tried "by a compe- 
tent tribunal." The competence of the tri- 
bunal is a very doubtful matter ; but could 
it be settled according to the wishes of Na- 
poleon, there would still remain in this affair 
the infraction of the laws which protect the 
accused. The duke had no defender. Napo- 
leon, it is true, has said, "If guilty, the 
commission did right in condemning him to 
death. If innocent, it should have acquitted 
him, for no order can justify the conscience 
of a judge." What a lesson for magistrates, 
for commissions or counsels of war, which 
should be tempted to make the scales of jus- 
tice move in accordance with the interests or 
the passions of governments. 

ENGLAND is thus described by her great- 
est poet : 

" This other Eden ; dcrai-paradise ; 
This fortress built by Nature lor herself, 
Against infection and the hand of war ; 
This happy breed of men, this little world ; 
This precious stone set in the silver sea, 
"Which serves it in the office of a wall. 
Or as a moat defensive to a house, 
Asfainst the envy of less happier lands ; 
This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this Eng- 
land ; 
This land of such dear souls, this dear dear land. 
Dear for her reputation throughout the world." 

England, which with "Wales is no larger 
than the state of Georgia, stretches by an 
illusion to the dimensions of an empire. The 
innumerable details, the crowded succession 
of towns, cities, cathedrals, castles, and great 
and decorated estates, the number and power 
of the trades and guilds, the military strength 
and splendor, the multitudes of rich and of 
remarkable people, the servants and equipa- 
ges, — all these, catching the eye, and never 
allowino; it to pause, hide all boundaries by 



20 



the impression of magnificence and endless 
wealth. To see England well needs a hund- 
red years : it is stuifed full with towns, 
towers, churches, villas, palaces, hospitals, 
and charity houses. In the history of art, 
it is a long way from a cromlech to York 
Minster ; yet all the intermediate steps may 
still be traced in this all-preserving island. 
The climate is warmer by many degrees 
than that to which it is entitled by latitude. 
Neither hot nor cold, Charles II. said "it in- 
vited men abroad more days in the year and 
more hours in the day than another countrj^" 
The frequent rain keeps the many rivers 
full, and brings agricultural productions up 
to the highest point. England has plenty of 
water, of stone, of potter's clay, of coal, of salt, 
and of iron. The land naturally abounds 
with game ; immense heaths and downs are 
paved with quails, grouse, and woodcock, and 
the shores are animated by water-fowl. The 
rivers and the surrounding sea spawn with 
fish. There is the drawback of the darkness 
of the sky : the London fog sometimes jus- 
tifies the epigram on the climate, "In a fine 
day, looking up a chimney; in a foul day, 
looking down one." England is anchored at 
the side of Europe, and right in the heart of 
the modern world. The sea, which accord- 
ing to Virgil divided the poor Britons utterly 
from the world, proves to be the ring of mar- 
riage with all nations. As America, Europe, 
and Asia lie, these Britons have precisely 
the best commercial position in the world. — 
Emerson. 

Britain is a miniature of Europe. She has 
her mountains, Snowdon in "Wales, Helvellyn 
and Skiddaw in Cumberland, the Highlands 
in Scotland. She has her lakes, the smiling 
meres of England, the crystal lochs that mir- 
ror Ben Nevis and Ben Lomond and their 
brethren. She has the picturesque dales and 
caves of Derbyshire, the fair plains of War- 
wickshire, and Surrey, and Bucks, and indeed 
throughout the realm. In "Westmoreland 
and Cumberland, she has a pocket Switzer- 
land. Her mines in Cornwall, and Stafford- 
shire, and Northumberland, and so on, furnish 
all the great ores, iron, coal, lead, tin, copper. 
Her quarries are not exhausted by far. Her 
soil yields bounteous harvests. Her manu- 
factures bring all nations in her debt. Her 
commerce exceeds that of any other people, 



ENG 



306 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



and she is the grand mart for the globe. The 
keels of her merchantmen furrovy all the seas, 
and the smoke of her steamers darkens almost 
every maritime sky ; steamers and merchant- 
men pljnng between her and her colonial 
possessions that invest the world. 

England, Scotland, and Wales form the 
United Kingdom of Great Britain. The sur- 
face of the whole island is about 89,644 
square miles : of which England contains 
30,922, Scotland 31,324, and Wales 7,398. 
The population in 1861 was 23,570,245: 
of which England and Wales had 20,061,725, 
and Scotland 3,061,329, [See Scotland^ 
Wales.] England is divided into for- 
ty-one counties : Northumberland, Cumber- 
land, Durham, Yorkshire, Westmoreland, 
Lancashire, Cheshire, Shropshire or Salop, 
Herefordshire, Monmouthshire, Nottingham- 
shire, Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Leicester- 
shire, Rutlandshire, Northamptonshire, War- 
wickshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, 
Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, 
Lincolnshire, Huntingdonshire, Cambridge- 
shire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Essex, Hertfordshire, 
Middlesex, Surry, Kent, Sussex, Berkshire, 
Wiltshire, Hampshire or Hants, Dorsetshire, 
Somersetshire, Devonshire, and Cornwall. 
There, are several islands which pertain to 
England, those of Man, Jersey, Guernsey, 
and the smaller ones adjacent. 

London has separate mention in pages be- 
yond. The second cit}^ in England is Man- 
chester in Lancashire; population in 1861, 
338,346. ■ It is surrounded by some of the 
best coal strata in England, a circumstance to 
which it owes in no small degree its prosper- 
ity. It has also reaped ample reward from 
the system of canals, - which here had their 
origin with Brindley and his patron, the Duke 
of Bridgewater. [See Brindley, Canals.] 
In the time of Henrj^ VIII. and Edward VI., 
the town was busy with manufoctures. The 
enormities of Alva in the Netherlands, and 
afterward the revocation of the edict of Nantes, 
brought many enterprising and skillful 
foreigners hither. At first the w^oolen was 
the only branch of trade, but since the middle 
of the last century, the cotton has nearly su- 
perseded it. The series of brilliant inventions 
and discoveries applied, improved, op origin- 
ated in or about Manchester, comprising the 



&c., have greatly helped the aevclopment of 
industrial power. At Manchester was one of 
the principal altars of the Druids, and as its 
name betokens, it was a station of the Romans. 
Liverpool, on the river Mersey in Lancashire, 
next to London, is the greatest port of Great 
Britain; population in 1861, 443,874. It was 
but a smafl fishing village, until in 1172, its 
favorable situation and its convenient harbor 
caused Henry II. to make it the place of ren- 
dezvous and embarkation of his troops for the 
conquest of Ireland. In 1700 it had only 
5,000 inhabitants. Soon it began to send 
hardwares, cutlery, and woolens to the coast 
of Africa ; there these were bartered for ne- 
groes, which were borne to the AVest Indies 
and exchanged for sugar and rum, laden with 
which the ships came back ; and thus Liver- 
pool grew to its wealth and the grandeur of 
commerce. It is the great emporium of 
American trade. The first great railway in 
England was that connecting Liverpool with 
Manchester. At its opening, July 30th, 1829, 
Mr. Huskisson was knocked down by one of 
the engines, which went over his thigh and 
mortally injured him. Bristol (between the 
shires of Gloucester and Somerset, and a 
county in itself) had a population of 154,093 
in 1861. Sebastian Cabot was a native of the 
town, and its merchants entered with spirit 
into American explorations and colonizing. 
From the twelfth to the eighteenth century, 
Bristol ranked next to London, as the most 
populous, commercial, and flourishing town 
in the kingdom ; but of late it has declined, 
and been exceeded in these respects bj^ Liver- 
pool, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, and 
Glasgow. Bath, the chief town of Somer- 
setshire, lies about one hundred and seven 
miles west of London, and is situated on 
the river Avon, in a narrow valley. Its 
hilly environs are pleasant, and open on the 
north-west into beautiful and wide meadow- 
lands. The population, in 1851, was 54,240. 
Its hot springs were highly esteemed by the 
Romans, who built extensive baths here. It 
was the most fashionable watering-place of 
England in the last century. Bathing, how- 
ever, is far from being a practice of the inhab- 
itants. One of the greatest manufacturing 
towns in the kingdom is Birmingham in War- 
wickshire ; population in 1861, 295.955. It 



steam-engine, the spinning-jenny, the mule, 1 was early the seat of mechanical industry, 

ENG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



307 



and when the Stuarts and their adherents [ administration is intrusted by the sovereign 
came back with a fondness for metal orna- to certain great officers of state, usually from 
ments, acquired during their long residence twelve to fourteen, who form the cabinet. 



in France, Birmingham took the lead in mak- 
ing the glittering trinkets which the exotic 
taste demanded. Burke called it the toy-shop 
of Europe, but its chief wares are now of a 
more useful order. Plated ware, hardware, 
fire-arms, buttons, japanned ware, glass, steel 
pens, nails, pins, &c., are largely made. 
Leeds, in the West Riding of Yorkshire (pop- 
ulation in 1861, 207,153), is the centre and 
mart of a great woolen and linen district, in 
which it is rivaled by the neighboring town 
of Bradford, population, 106,218. Sheffield, 
also in the West Riding (population in 1861, 
185,157), is known the world over for its cut- 
lery. Here also the process of silver-plating, 
and the composition called Britannia metal, 
were invented, and they are still a great 
branch of industry.. Hull, or Kingston-upon- 
HuU, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, is a 
seaport of 99,000 inhabitants, once largely in- 
terested in whaling, and now engaged in ex- 
tei«ive commerce with the Baltic. Newcastle- 
upon-Tyne, the chief town of Northumberland, 
is the seat of extensive chemical, glass, iron, 
and lead manufactures, but its chief business 
is the shipment of coals, the produce of the 
surrounding collieries. Southampton, in 
Hampshire (population 36,000), is now the 
largest packet port in the kingdom. It was 
founded by the Anglo-Saxons. It was an- 
cientl}^ a place of great trade, largely exporting 
wool and tin, but it declined very much when 
the export of wool was prohibited. During 
the last century its prosperity began to re- 
vive, and it is still in the ascendant. 

The government of England is a limited or 
constitutional monarchy, the sovereign power 
residing in three estates, king, lords, and 
commons. These three estates constitute the 
parliament, and their concurrence is necessary 
for enacting, annulling, or altering any law. 
The house of lords consists of the temporal 
peers of England, the elective peers of Scot- 
land and Ireland, the bishops of England, and 
four Irish prelates who sit by rotation of ses- 
sions. This house is the supreme court of 
appeal for Great Britain and Ireland. The 
house of commons now consists of 656 mem- 
bers : 469 from England, 29 from Wales, 53 
from Scotland, and 105 from Ireland. The 



The first lord of the treasury is generally con- 
sidered the prime minister. The superior 
courts for the administration of justice are the 
high court of chancery, the court of exchequer, 
the court of queen's (or king's) bench (the 
highest common-law and criminal court in the 
kingdom), and the court of common pleas. 
Assizes are held by the judges in every county 
of England and Wales, for which purpose the 
country is divided into eight circuits. The 
judges of these superior courts are appointed 
by the crown for life, and are removable only 
upon an address from parliament to the crown. 
England and Wales are divided ecclesiasticallj^ 
into the archiepiscopal provinces of Canter- 
bury and York, containing twenty-five bish- 
oprics or dioceses. Episcopacj'' is the estab- 
lished religion, but there are large numbers of 
dissenting and independent sects. 

The Romans called the island Britannia, 
because the inhabitants adorned their bodies 
with Irit^ ' paint.' It was little known until 
the invasion of Julius Csesar, who conducted 
his army into this country, on the pretext of 
punishing the Britons for the aid which they 
had given to the Gauls, in 55 B.C. The in- 
habitants were then ferocious and warlike, 
clad in skins, and armed with clubs, and even 
the iron-breasted Roman legions quailed at 
first before the horrid front which the infuri- 
ated natives presented to their invaders. The 
Romans kept possession of Britain about five 
hundred years, during which many improve- 
ments were introduced, and the manners of 
the people became assimilated to those of their 
conquerors. This, however, was not effected 
without much bloodshed. The Romans hav- 
ing, in the fifth century, quitted Britain, to 
defend their other territories, invaded by the 
Goths and Vandals, the Britons were attacked 
by the Picts and Scots, and sought the assist- 
ance of the Saxons and Angles. These de- 
feated the Scots, but finally made themselves 
masters also of the kingdom, and gave it the 
name of Anglia, or England. It is in those 
times of conflict between the natives and their 
too powerful allies that the romances place 
the reign of the renowned Kjng Arthur. The 
ancient Britons were driven into Wales. Eng- 
land was divided, by the Saxons, into seven 



ENG 



308 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



distinct kingdoms, called the Saxon Heptar- 
chy, some of which were established in the 
fifth, and others in the sixth century. These 
kingdoms were for the most part subject to 
one king alone, those which were stronger 
than the others giving the law to them in 
their several turns, till in the end they were 
all united in the monarchy of the West Saxons 
under Egbert. In the following list of these 
kingdoms with their kings, a star is affixed to 
the names of those monarchs who obtained 
this ascendency over the heptarchy. 

Kent contained only the present county of 
Kent ; its kings were : 

455. *Hengist. 

488. Eske. 

512. Oeta. 

542. Hermenric. 

560. *Etliell)ert, first Christian king. 

616. Eadbald. 

640. Erconibort. 

664. Egbert. 

6Y3. Lothaire. 

685. Edrick, slain in 687. The kingdom was now 

subject for a time to A'arious leaders. 
694. Wihtred. 

?48: EttlStlL, l'^-^ of Wihtred, succeeding 
760. Ah-ic, j '■''''^ '''^^''■ 

794. Edbert, or Ethelbert Pryn; deposed. 
796. Cuthred. 

805. Baldred, who in 823 lost his life and kingdom 
to Egbert, King of Wessex. 

South Saxony contained the counties of 
Sussex and Surrey. 

490. *Ella, a warlike prince. 

514. Cissa, his son, whose peaceful reign exceed- 
ed seventy years. Then the South Saxons 
fell into an almost total dependence on 
Wessex, and we scarcely know the names 
of the princes who were possessed of this 
titular sovereignty. 

648. Edilwald, Edilwach, or Adelwach. 

688. Authun and Berthun, brothers who reigned 
jointly. Both were vanquished by Ina, 
King of Wessex, and the kingdom was 
finally conquered in 725. 

Wessex, or West Saxony, contained the 
counties of Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Wilts, 
Hants, Berks, and a part of Cornwall. 

519. *Cerdic. 
534. *Kenric, or Cynric. 
559. *Ceawlin. 
591. Ceolric. 
597. Ceohvulf. 

611. Gynegils, and his son Cwichelm. 
643. Cenwal, or Cenwald. 

672. Sexburga, his queen, sister to Penda, King 
of Mercia ; of great qualities ; ptobably 
3ed. 



674. Escwiiie and Centwine. 

676. Centwine alone. 

685. Ceadwal, who went in lowly state to Rome, 
to expiate his deeds of blood, and died 
there. 

688. Ina, a brave and wise ruler, who also jour- 
neyed to Rome, where he passed his time 
in obscurity, leaving behind him an excel- 
lent code of laws. 

728. Ethelheard, or Ethelard. 

770. Cuthred, his brother. 

754. Sigebryht, or Sigebert. He treacherously 

murdered his friend, Duke Cumbran, gov- 
ernor of Hampshire, who had given him 
an asylum once when expelled from his 
throne. For this infamous deed he was 
forsaken by the world, and wandered 
about in the wilds and forests, where he 
was at length discovered by one of Cum- 
bran's servants, who slew him. 

755. Cynewulf, murdered by Sigebryth's brother. 
784. Bertric, orBeorhtric; poisoned by drinking 

a cup his queen had prepared for another. 
800. * Egbert, afterward sole monarch of Eng- 
land. 

East Saxony contained the counties of 
Essex and Middlesex and the southern part 
of Herts. 



527. 


Erchenwin. 


587. 


Sledda. ♦ 


598. 


Sebert, first Christian long. 




( Sexred 


614. 


< Seward 




( Sigebert 


623. 


Sigebert the Little. 


655. 


Sigebert the Good. 


661. 


Swithelme. 


663. 


Sighere and Sebbi. 


694. 


Sigherd and Suenfrid. 


700. 


Offa ; left his queen and kingdom, and be- 




came a niouk at Rome. 


709. 


Suebricht, or Selred. 


746. 


Suithred. 


792. 


Sigeric ; died in a pilgrimage to Rome. 



799. Sigered; Egbert seized the kingdom in 823. 
NoRTHUMBRiA consistod of the sometimes 
separate but commonly imited states of Ber- 
nicia and Deira; the former including the 
county of Northumberland, and the south- 
eastern counties of Scotland as far as the 
Forth ; the latter contained Yorkshire, Dur- 
ham, Lancashire, Westmoreland, md Cum- 
berland. Its kings were — 

547. Ella", or Ida. 

560. Adda. 

567. Clappea, 

572. Theodwald. 

573. Fridulph. 
580. Theodric. 
588. Athelrick. 
593. Athelfrid. 

617. * Edwin, the greatest prince of the hep- 
tarchy in that age. 



ENG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



309 



633. Osric. 

634. * Oswald. 
(344. * Oswy. 

653. Ethelward. 
670. EgfVid. 
685. Alkfrid. 
705. Osred I. 
716. Ceiired. 
718. Osrick. 
729. Ceolwulf. 
738. Egbert. 

757. Oswulph. 
759. Edilwald. 
765. Aliired. 
774. Etheh-ed. 
778. Alswaldl. 

789. Osred II. 

790. Etholred restored. 

796. Osbald. 

797. Ardulph. • 
807. Alfwald II, 

810. Andred. The Northumbrians submitted to 
Egbert of Wessex in 829. 

East xInglia contained the counties of 
Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge, and part of 
Bedfordshire : its kinjgs were — 
575. Uffa. 
582. Titillus. 
599. * Redwald, the greatest prince of the East 

Angles. 
624. Erpenwald. 
636. Sigeberi. 
632. Egric. 

635. Annas. ■ 

654. Ethelhere. 

655. Ethelvvald. 
664. Aldu'ulf. 

713. Selred, or Ethelred. 

746. Alphwuld. 

749. Beorn and Ethelbert. 

758. Beorn, alone. 
701. Ethelred. 

790. Ethelbert, treaeherously slain in Mercia 
792, when Orta of Mercia overran the 
country, which was finally subdued by 
Egbert. 

Mercia contained the counties of Hunt- 
ingdon, Rutland, Lincoln, Northampton, 
Leicester, Derby, Nottingham, Oxford, Ches- 
ter, Salop, Gloucester, Worcester, Stafford, 
Warwick, Buckingham, Hereford, and parts 
of Bedford and Herts. 
586. Crida. 
597. Wibba. 
615. Cheorlas. 
626. Penda. 

655. Peada. 

656. *Wulfhere. 
675. * Ethelred, 
7C4. * Kenred. 
709. *Ceolred. 
716. *Ethelbald, 
755. Beornred. 
75.5. *Offa. 



794. *Egfryd. 

795. *Cenulf. 
819. Kenehu. 
819. Ceolwulf. 
821. Burnwulf. 
823. Ludecan. 
825. Wiglafe. 
838. Berthulf. 

852, Burhred. This kingdom like the others, 

finally merged into that of England. 

England, from 783, suffered many invasions 

and ravages from the Danes, who several 

times made themselves masters of it. They 

were finally expelled (1041), and the Saxon 

government restored in the person of Edward 

the Confessor, During this time flourished 

Canute, Harold, and Hardicanute. During 

this time, too, the country was blessed under 

the rule of the wise Alfred, an account of . 

whose reign will be found in our sketch of 

him. The following were the monarchs of 

England to the time of the conquest. 

827. Egbert, first sole monarch; succeeded by 

his son. 
837. Ethelwolf; he first granted tithes to the 

clergy ; succeeded by his son. 
867. Ethelbald, succeeded by his next brother. 
860. Ethelbert, succeeded by his next brother. 
866. Ethelred, succeeded by his brother, 
872. Alfred, the Great, succeeded by his son. 
901. Edward, the Elder; in whose reign Eng- 
land was more firmly consolidated into 
one kingdom. 
924. Athelstan, eldest son of Edward ; he caused 
the Bible to be translated into the Saxon, 
and presented a copy to every church 
throughout the kingdom ; he also encour- 
aged commerce by a decree that every 
merchant who had taken three voyages 
should be entitled to the rank of a thane. 
940, Edmund I., fifth son of Edward the Elder; 
bled to death from a wound received in 
an affray, and was succeeded by his next 
brother. 
947. Edred ; Dunstan, the ambitious Abbot of 

Glastonbury, is virtually king. 
955, Edwy, eldest son of Edmund. He married 
the beautiful Elgiva, his kinswoman. 
Dunstan united the priesthood against 
the marriage, and Edwy was forced to 
divorce Elgiva. She was cruelly mur- 
dered, and Edwy died of grief. 
959. Edgar, the Peaceable, his brother. 
974. Edward, the Martyr ; stabbed by order of 
his step-mother, Elfrida, while drinking 
a cup of wine at the gate of Corfe Castle. 
979, Ethelred II., son of Elfrida, dethroned by 
the Danes. 

1013. Sweyne, succeeded by his son. 

1014. Canute the Great ; while he was absent in 

Denmark, Ethelred returned. 

1015. Ethelred, restored ; succeeded by his son. 

1016. Edmund Ironside. The English and Dan- 

ish armies met at Alney, and a single 



ENG 



310 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



combat ensued between the rival mon- 
archs, in sight of their troops. Canute, 
being wounded, proposed a division of 
the kingdom. To this Edmund acceded, 
and the southern half feU to his share ; 
but he being killed at Oxford shortly 
after, Canute was left in peaceable pos- 
session of all the land. 

1016. Canute; married Emma, widow of Ethelred. 

1036. Harold, surnamed Harefoot, the natural 
son of Canute and a cruel prince. 

1039. Hardicanute, son of Canute and Emma; 
died of gluttony and drunkenness at a 
marriage feast. 

1041. Edward, the Confessor, son of Ethelred ; 
he had been bred in Normandy, and 
named William his successor; although 
Edgar was the rightful heir. 

1066. Harold II., son of Earl Godwin ; reigned 
nine mouths ; killed at Hastings. 

Thus in 1066, the Normans, under William 
the Conqueror, obtained possession of the 
kingdom, having defeated the English under 
Harold, in the battle of Hastings. By this 
circumstance, the whole moral and political 
constitution of England underwent an impor- 
tant change. Severe forest laws were de- 
creed, making it forfeiture of property to 
disable a wild beast, and loss of eyes for a 
stag, buck, or boar : one might better slay a 
man than a deer. Justices of peace were 
appointed. Norman French . was made the 
legal language of the realm. A survey of 
all the kingdom except Northumberland and 
Durham, was made, to determine the right in 
the tenure of estates, and furnish a basis for 
levying taxes. The book in which it was 
embodied was called the Domc's-day Book. 
The Norman principle of lordship and vas- 
salage was introduced and enforced, and it 
was not until after some generations, that the 
barons themselves, feeling the chain of pas- 
sive submission too galhng, gave the first 
impulse to that spirit which burst the fetters 
of feudalism. To the time of John, the his- 
tory of England is little else than an account 
of the acts of the kings, done with a direct 
view to acquire and sustain this unnatural 
authority. The first William did almost 
nothing else. His son William Rufus per- 
ished while hunting in the New Forests, a 
vast tract which his father had depopulated 
for that amusement. 

Henry I., the youngest son of the Con- 
queror, seized the throne. By the military 
ardor of Robert, Duke of Normandy, the' 
crown at the death of their father had been 



given up to the second brother, in considera- 
tion of money advanced on his expedition to 
Palestine. On Robert's attempt to recover it 
now, he, was taken and confined for the re- 
mainder of his life, eight and twenty years, 
in CardiiF Castle. Hemy, to strengthen him- 
self, married Matilda, a descendant of the 
ancient Saxon line, and removed a few of the 
unpalatable restrictions which his father had 
imposed. During this reign the Templars 
established themselves in England ; the first 
Enghsh park was laid out at Woodstock; 
rents were made payable in money, having 
been previously payable in corn, cattle, &c.; 
the coinage was corrected, a standard fixed 
for the regulation of weights and measures, 
and the length of the English yard taken 
from the measurement of the king's arm. 
Woolen stuffs were introduced from the 
Netherlands, and a colony of Flemish weav- 
ers settled at Worstead in Norfolk. It is 
from this town that •worsted fabrics have 
derived their name. After the death of 
Henry in 1135, the crown was in dispute 
between his daughter Maud or Matilda, who 
had wedded the German emperor, and his 
nephew Stephen, Earl of Blois. Stephen 
died in 1154, and Henry II., the son of 
Maud, came to the throne. He was the first 
of the Plantagenet line. He waged a war 
with the Scots, in which William thefr king 
was taken prisoner, and only re-obtained his 
crown by doing homage • for it as a vassal. 
This reign was also distinguished by two 
great acquisitions of territory ; Ireland by 
arbitrary conquest, and Guienne and Poitou 
by marriage. It was also marked by a con- 
test between the king and the ecclesiastics. 
The power of the church of Rome had so in- 
creased as to overshadow the crown ; Thomas 
a Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury, evinc- 
ing its arrogance and determination to dictate 
in matters temporal as well as spiritual. To 
check these usurpations the celebrated stat- 
utes of Clarendon were enacted by a parlia- 
ment held at that place, in 1164. Becket 
fulminated anathemas and excommunications 
at those who sided with the king, and yielded 
not a whit in his assumptions, till at last the 
harassed monarch, one day in Normandy, 
wished aloud that the insolent prelate was 
dead. Four rash knights hasted across the 
channel to Canterbury, and slew the arch- 



ENG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



311 



bishop upon the very steps erf the altar. The 
murdered man was canonized, and the mon- 
arch did hard penance at his shrine. It was 
in this reign tliat England was first divided 
into circuits for the administration of justice; 
the English laws were digested; charters 
were granted to many towns ; and the win- 
dows of private dwellings were made of 
glass. 

Richard I., the second son of Henry, suc- 
ceeded his fother in 1189. He can scarcely 
be called an English king, since during his 
ten years' reign he spent only eight months 
in England, being engaged in war upon the 
continent or in the crusades. The land suf- 
fered sadly .from lawlessness and misrule. 
At the battle of Gisors in France, 1198, 
Richard gave to his soldiers as the watch- 
word of the day, Dleu et mon droit. In 
remembrance of the signal victory that his 
arms obtained, he made Dieu et mon droit 
the motto of the royal arms of England, and 
. it has ever since been retained. His death 
without issue admitted his weak and wicked 
brother John to the throne. King John, 
after many feeble attempts at continued des- 
potism, was compelled, by the exasperated 
barolis, to sign what was afterward called the 
Magna Charta ('great charter'), which re- 
nounced some of the most odious prerogatives 
of royalty, and extended a moderate share 
of liberty to the barons of the realm. John, 
however, involved the nation, with himself, 
in odious submissions to the pope, the influ- 
ence of which it cost England and her suc- 
ceeding kings many struggles to counteract. 
By the treachery of John, Normandy was 
lost to the English crown, the pope was con- 
stituted the virtual lord of his dominions, 
and Lewis, prince of France, was actually 
encouraged to assume the title. In this time, 
a standing army was first levied, and an an- 
nual election for the lord mayor and sheriffs 
of the city of London instituted. 

In 1216, Henry III. became king. He 
was hut a boy, and for many years a regency 
held sway. When he did assume power he 
showed the hereditary taint. Many times 
did he swear to observe Magna Charta, and 
as often did he violate it. This reign was 
occupied in such disputes with his barons, 
and extortions from the Jews. Yet civil lib- 
erty increased. The commons were first 



sunmaoned to a parliament ; gold began to be 
coined ; coal began to be used for fuel ; and 
the art of distillation was introduced from the 
Moors. The first elephant seen in the land 
was one of enormous size, presented to Henry 
by the French king in 1238. Henry's son, 
Edward L, grasped the sceptre with a firmer 
hand. He added to Magna Charta the im- 
portant clause securing the people from the 
imposition of any tax without the consent of 
parliament ; and ever since this reign there 
has been a regular succession of parliaments. 
Wales was subdued and added to England. 
The dependency of Scotland was confirmed by 
the violent imposition of Baliol upon the 
throne, his subsequent confinement, and the 
decided overthrow of the Scotch forces that 
opposed the English. All, however, was recov- 
ered in the succeeding reign by the gallantry 
of Robert Bruce, and the field of Bannockburn. 
Edward II. was more like his grandfather 
than like his father. The barons rose in arms, 
and were abetted by the queen. Edward 
was murdered in Berkeley Castle. During 
this reign the Jews exacted two shillings a 
week for the loan of twenty : nowadays the 
Gentiles no longer suffer them to have monop- 
oly in such usury. The long reign of Edward 
IIL, from 1327 to 1377, outdid the martial 
renown of his grandsire. By his successes 
against France at Cressy and Poictiers, and 
that against Scotland at Durham, he obtained 
for England much glory at much expense, 
and two royal captives, but little solid advan- 
tage, while the campaign in Spain occasioned 
the death of the Black Prince in 1376, and 
the next year that of his father. In this 
reign, and in one private individual, we find 
the early dawn of the reformation. Wickliffe, 
under the protection of John of Gaunt, the 
king's brother, began those denunciations cf 
the papal abuses, which, in the end, over- 
threw that corrupt and foreign dominion in 
England. Two weavers from Brabant settled 
at York in 1331, where they manufactured 
woolens, which, said King Edward, "ma}' 
prove of great benefit to us and our subjects." 
In this reign the lords and commons for the 
first time sat in separate chambers in parlia- 
ment. Law pleadings had heretofore been 
had in French ; they were now authorized 
in English. The order of the Garter was 
founded by Edward IIL 



ENG 



312 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



The opening of the next reign saw the 
popular outbreak headed by "Wat Tyler. 
The malcontents were met and soothed with 
much discretion by the young monarch, but 
his wisdom soon forsook him. It was dur- 
ing the absence of Richard in quelling a 
disturbance in Ireland, that the people, vexed 
with continual exaction, and offended at the 
injustice of the king to his cousin, the Duke 
of Lancaster, invited the latter from banish- 
ment, to control the operations of the king 
and his advisers. He landed, usurped the 
crown, murdered the king, quelled the in- 
surrections consequent, and captured the 
heir to the Scottish throne. Henry IV. 
founded the order of the Bath. He perse- 
cuted the adherents to the doctrines of Wick- 
lifie, and there is the stain upon his reign 
that in its time England first witnessed the 
death of a martyr for religious belief. His 
son, the fifth Henry, continued these perse- 
cutions, and there were more burnings at the 
stake. From the time of Henry V. may be 
dated the custom of lighting the streets of 
London at night, since it was his command 
that eveiy citizen should hang a lantern on 
his door during the winter nights. His 
youthful excesses had taught him that crime 
and mischief lurk under the cover of darkness. 
From the same period also, may be dated the 
beginnings of the English navy ; and one ship 
built at Bayonne expressly for the king, was 
thought quite a marvel of size and strength 
because it measured a hundred and eighty- 
six feet in length. Linen for shirts and under 
clothing was at this time esteemed great lux- 
ury, and a flock bed with a chaff bolster was 
a refinement of comfort known only to the 
opulent. Henry's great feat was the con- 
quest of France, through the victories of 
Harfleur and Agincourt. He married Catha- 
rine of France, was chosen regent of the 
kingdom, and adopted as the heir of Charles 
VI. In the midst of his brilliant career, 
death snatched him away, 1422. 

His infant son was crowned at Paris. The 
Maid of Orleans aroused the French, and her 
burning at the stake was soon avenged upon 
the English by the loss of every possession 
in France but the fortress of Calais. The 
reign of the sixth Henry continued as unfor- 
tunately as it had commenced. The wars of 
the roses drenched England with blood, till 



after many ups and downs the York faction 
triumphed; Henry, now an old man, was 
imprisoned in the Tower; and Edward IV. 
ascended the throne in 1461. In this reign 
the right of voting at elections for knights of 
the shire was limited to freeholders having 
estates of the annual value of forty shillings. 
Seats in the commons Avcre not, however, 
much sought by the middle classes of the 
fifteenth century. The functions of the 
commons consisted chiefly in the imposition 
of taxes, and even the peers evinced little in- 
terest or assiduity in the discharge of their 
parliamentary duties. Both houses enjoyed 
entire liberty of speech. In 1450, the first 
lord mayor's show took place in London. 
The same year saw the insurrection in Kent 
headed by Jack Cade, who, under the assumed 
name of Mortimer, asserted a fictitious claim 
to the throne. The stout Earl of "Warwick, 
who had raised Edward to the tlirone, was 
sent to negotiate his marriage with a French 
princess ; in his absence the fickle fellow 
wedded Lady Elizabeth Grey ; "Warwick took 
great offense, rebelled, deposed Edward, re- 
leased Henry, and set him up again in the 
business of royalty. "Bui on the field of 
Barnet, 1471, the great earl was slain; Ed- 
ward resumed the crown, and soon after 
poor old Henry was murdered in the Tower. 
In this same year William Caxton, in the 
shadow of "Westminster Abbey, set up the 
first printing-press in England. Richard III., 
who followed his brother Edward IV., and 
his young nephew Edward V., of the house 
of York, was himself defeated and succeeded 
by Henry VII., of the other line, who by 
marrying the daughter of Edward IV. united 
the two houses, and thus ended the conten- 
tions of York and Lancaster, in the j'ear 1485. 
Henry's reign was disturbed by the insur- 
rections in support of Lambert Simnel and 
Perkin "Warbeck, pretenders to the throne. 
It was the great era of maritime discovery, 
and the English monarch, not to be behind- 
hand, magnanimously authorized the Cabots 
to undertake an expedition at their own 
expense, with the privilege of raising his 
banner as his vassals and deputies on what- 
ever soil they might find. They discovered 
Newfoundland, and a portion of North Amer- 
ica, and this was the basis of the English 
claim to the new continent. Shillings were 



ENG 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



31^ 



first coined in this reign, and the court of the 
star chamber, afterward so odious, was estab- 
lished. Gardening was introduced in Eng- 
land generally, from the Netherlands. Henry 
VII. died in 1509. Henry VIII., though per- 
haps the greatest tyrant that ever filled the 
English throne, made a new era in the history 
of the country, in its total emancipation from 
papal authority. The power of which he had 
deprived the pope, he seized for himself, 
however, and was, at least, as vigorous in its 
exercise. The next reign ratified and enlarged 
his acts in favor of the protestant religion ; 
and although the bigot Mary for a time re- 
bound the chains, and rekindled the fires of 
persecution, the reformation was too firmly 
established to be overthrown, and her suc- 
cessor, Elizabeth, settled it upon a foundation 
which will endure as long as the conviction 
of its necessity exists. 

The marital experiments of bluif and cruel 
King Hal we shall mention under our sketch 
of the house of Tudor. England was steadily 
advancing. The whole Bible was now ren- 
dered into English, and the first authorized 
edition printed ; the book of common prayer 
for the new Anglican church was arranged 
by Cranmer ; Wales began to be represented 
in parliament; ship-building was improved, 
and the navy extended ; the first geographi- 
cal map of England was drawn ; cherries, 
hops, apricots, pippins, and various other 
fruits and vegetables, were introduced into 
the land ; leaden pipes were substituted for 
the clumsy wooden conduits in which water 
had previously been conveyed ; cotton thread 
came into use. Pins were inti-oduccd from 
France by Queen Catharine Howard. Here- 
tofore, ribbons, loopholes, laces with tags, 
hooks and eyes, and skewei's of brass, silver, 
and gold, had been used alike by men and 
women. The pins were a costly luxury at 
first, and the term ' pin-money,' as applied to 
a husband's allowance to his wife, had its 
origin thereby. A pound sterling was first 
called a sovereign in this reign. Provisions 
were so cheap that beef and mutton were 
had for a half-penny a pound. Money how- 
ever, was a twelfth cheaper than in our time. 
Henry VIII. was the first English monarch 
to whom the title of King of Ireland was 
confirmed. Henry VIII., in league with 
the pope and the Emperor Charles V., made 



some conquests in France, and his generals 
defeated and slew James IV. of Scotland, at 
Flodden Field ; and, in his successor's reign, 
an expedition into that country was executed 
at the desire of the late king, on a fruitless 
expedition to induce the Scots to marry their 
Princess Mary to Edward VI. 

The boy-king Edward did much in his 
short time to promote the reformation, and 
the realm had a respite from the noxious 
smoke of fires of persecution. A law was 
enacted that permitted clergymen to marry. 
But a Httle before his death the young mon- 
arch founded Christ Hospital in London, the 
school to which so many great scholars and 
authors have been indebted for their educa- 
tion. Grapes were brought over from France 
and cultivated ; crowns, half-crowns, and six- 
pences were introduced into the currency ; 
the sweating sickness, a dreadful plague 
which had prevailed from time to time, be- 
came totally extinct. The book of common 
prayer and the church service were establish- 
ed. Trade with Russia was initiated. The 
ten days' reign of Lady Jane Grey over, Mary, 
whom history has cursed with the epithet of 
bloody, became queen in L553. Lady Jane, 
and hei- husband, father, and friends, were 
beheaded ; papacy was restored, and ftital 
faggots flamed again. Smoke from human 
immolations upon the altar of bigotry went 
up continually. Calafs, which had been 
taken by Edward III. in 1347, after a year's 
siege, which had been held by the English 
two hundred and ten years, and which was 
deeply prized as the last relic of the broad 
possessions and conquests of the Plantagenets, 
was by treachery yielded to the French. Its 
loss sorely smote the pride of the queen. 
"When I'm dead," she said, "Calais will be 
found written on my heart." She died to- 
ward the close of the same year. Coaches 
came into use in her time, before which 
ladies had been borne in litters, or had ridden 
on pillions behind their mounted squires. 
Flax and hemp were first cultivated ; the use 
of starch was discovered ; and the manufac- 
ture of drinking glasses began to be encour- 
aged. 

The reign of Ehzabeth, from 1558 to IGO-S, 
was one of great renown. She restored the 
Anglican church, making herself, like her 
father, the head of the spiritual as well as 



ENG 



314 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



teuiporal power. All clergymen and all offi- 
cers under the crown were compelled to take 
an oath acknowledging this supremacy. All 
persons were forbidden to attend upon any 
ministrations but those of the established 
church, and thus, sad to say, persecution did 
not end although protestantism had been 
restored. Elizabeth intrigued with Scotland, 
but fought with Spain. The defense of the 
kingdom against the celebrated Armada, in 
1588, would of itself stamp her reign with 
glory. The attack on Cadiz by the Earl of 
Essex was eminently successful, and the 
other enterprises of her admirals were very 
considerable. She also supported the prot- 
estants of Germany against Austria, and the 
Dutch against the Spaniards. During the 
Elizabethan era, English literature, which 
had dawned under Chaucer in the days 
of Edward III., came to the meridian, and 
Shakspeare, Spenser, Bacon. Raleigh, Sidney, 
added more to the glories of England, than 
all the eminent wisdom and policy of the 
queen and her statesmen, or the prowess of 
her commanders. The naval power was much 
advanced ; Drake circumnavigated the globe, 
coming home with great affluence of Spanish 
treasure, and what was better, an esculent 
root that he planted in Lancashire, the po- 
tato ; a colony was planted in North America, 
and gallantly christened Virginia in honor of 
the maiden queen. Tobacco was brought 
from the West, and was soon very fashiona- 
ble, after the stomachs of the courtiers were 
used to it. Tea was brought from the East 
by the Dutch. Pocket watches from Nu- 
remburg began to be carried. Silk stockings 
were worn by Elizabeth ; before, cloth hose 
had been the wear. Commerce widened; 
the East India company was organized ; ihe 
whale and cod fisheries were entered upon. 
Paper-making from linen rags was began at 
Dartford by Sir John Spielman, a German ; 
Birmingham and Sheffield became the centre 
of hardware manufactures, and Manchester of 
woolen and stocking weaving. Theatrical 
representations ran a race awhile with the 
older and coarser amusement of Ijull-baiting, 
and then became the popular pastime. 

On Elizabeth's death, the English and Scot- 
tish crowns became united in the person of 
James I., a vain and pedantic prince, son of 
the unfortunate queen whom Elizabeth had 



long held a captive, and at last murdered. A 
similar crime, the tedious bondage and final 
murder of Raleigh, blots the reign of James. 
The Gunpowder plot we describe elsewhere. 
The Stuarts had all the Tudors' love of des- 
potism, but not their strength of will. In this 
weakness civil liberty found its chance for 
growth. With James commenced those strug- 
gles between the crown and the commons, 
that brought his son to the scaffold, and 
worked out the expulsion of his race from the 
land. Parliament withheld supplies when 
grievances became too heavy; and in the 
king's want of money the rank of baronet 
originated. There was a rebellion in Ireland, 
and each baronet upon his creation was re- 
quired to pay into the exchequer as much as 
would maintain " thirty soldiers three years 
at eightpence a day." Sir Nicholas Bacon, 
the father of the great Lord Bacon, was the 
first of the baronets. The discovery of the 
blood's circulation was made by Harvey in 
this time. The broad silk manufacture was 
introduced ; copper half-pence and farthings 
were first coined ; Napier calculated loga- 
rithms; brick came into use for building. The 
English Bible as we now have it, was trans- 
lated by divines appointed by the king. The 
settlement of Virginia was firmly established, 
and the Puritans fled away to the wilderness 
of New England. 

Charles I. succeeded to an empty treasury. 
After endeavoring to fill it by illegal taxes, he 
compromised with the people. Parliament 
granted an ample subsidy, and the king rati- 
fied, in the most solemn manner, the celebra- 
ted Petition of Right, the second great charter 
of the liberties of England. By this compact 
Charles bound himself never again to raise 
money without the consent of the houses, 
never again to imprison any person except in 
due course of law, and never again to subject 
his people to the jurisdiction of courts martial. 
Had he observed these stipulations, the im- 
pending calamity might have been averted. 
But no sooner was the supply collected than 
the promise by which it had been got was 
broken. The king resolved to do without a 
parliament, and from 1629 to 1640 none was 
convoked. In olden times of war, the English 
monarchs had called on the maritime counties 
to furnish ships for the defense of the coast. 
In the room of ships, money had sometimes 



ENG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



115 



been accepted. This ancient impost it was 
now determined to revive, in a time of pro- 
found peace, and to exact it not only from the 
coast but from the inland shires. The whole 
nation was alarmed and incensed. John 
Hampden, a gentleman of Buckinghamshire, 
disputed the illegal levy ; the case was argued 
before the judges of exchequer, and an obse- 
quious decision sustained the crown. The 
civil grievances were rivaled by the ecclesias- 
tical rigors of Archbishop Laud. An insane 
attempt to foist the Anglican liturgy upon the 
Presbyterians of Scotland roused them to open 
rebellion. In this dilemma a pai'liament was 
convened, but soon dissolved. In the fell of 
the same year, assembled the celebrated body 
since known as the Long Parliament. Many 
important reforms were enacted; Strafford 
and Laud were impeached ; the king promised 
to show respect for the laws and good faith 
toward his subjects. His faithlessness was 
incurable. Only a few days after he sent his 
attorney -general to impeach Pym, Hollis, 
Hampden, and other leaders of the opposition, 
of high treason at the bar of the House of 
Lords ; and with armed men he entered the 
other chamber to seize their persons. The 
attempt failed, for the threatened members 
had just left the house. At this unpreceden- 
ted usurpation, the friends of the king were 
speechless ; his opponents were furious. He 
fled to the north, and in August, 1642, the 
sword was drawn. 

At first the royalists were successful. But 
Fairfax defeated Prince Rupert on Marston 
Moor in 1644, and Cromwell annihilated the 
cavaliers at Naseby in 1645. The king fled 
into Scotland, whence he was delivered into 
the hands of parliament for £400,000. A 
dark thought grew into a darker decision, and 
on the 30th of January, 1649, Charles Stuar. 
was beheaded in front of the palace of White- 
hall. 

The era of the Commonwealth succeeded. 
Cromwell subdued Ireland and Scotland, and 
defeated a royalist army at Worcester; the 
young Charles escaped to the continent ; the 
Long Parliament was dissolved by Cromwell 
with his soldiery, and the great general be- 
came lord high protector. Of his rule we have 
spoken in our sketch of his life. England 
maintained a high rank in the scale of nations, 
and Cromwell showed himself as well qualified 



to govern as to gain. The usurpation was 
perhaps a harsh medicine to the constitution, 
but its operation was short, and its effects 
very salutary. Charles II. was restored in 
1660. He came in upon a tremendous billow 
of loyalty, but the lazy, good-natured mon- 
arch was nothing but a Stuart, and the temper 
of the nation gradually cooled toward him. 
Nonconformists were rigorously dealt with. 
For a while he maintained a war with the 
Dutch. De Ruyter sailed up the Thames 
and burned the vessels that lay at Chatham ; 
the roar of foreign guns was heard for the first 
and last time by the citizens of London ; a 
treaty was shortly concluded, very different 
from those which Cromwell had been in the 
habit of signing. While this .ignominious 
war was raging, London suffered two great 
disasters, such as never, in so short a time, 
befell another city. A pestilence, surpassing 
in horror any that during three centuries had 
visited the island, swept away, in six months, 
more than a hundred thousand human beings ; 
and scarcely had the dead cart ceased to go 
its rounds, when a fire, such as had not been 
known in Europe since the conflagration of 
Rome under Nero, laid in ruins the whole city 
from the Tower to the Temple, and from the 
river to the purlieusof Smithfield. — Macaulay. 
England sunk from the rank that Cromwell 
had given her, and Charles became a pensioner 
upon the bounty of Louis XIV. The strict- 
ness of the Pm-itans had been followed by a 
natural reaction, and a flood of debaucherj' 
and ribald life. Yet to this reign we date that 
famous writ of right, known as the haleas 
corpm act, by which no person can be detained 
in durance except in cases where the detention 
can be justified by law. 

The Duke of Monmouth, one of the manj^ 
natural sons of Charles, strove unsuccessfully 
in the west of England, to wrest the crown 
fi-om James II. John Ketch, his executioner, 
who had butchered many brave and noble 
victims, has furnished our language a name 
for the headsman and hangman. The infa- 
mous Jeffreys went the circuit of what were 
called the bloody assizes; the jails were 
crowded with men, and women too, accused 
of participation in the rebellion ; some were 
pitilessly scourged, hundreds were hanged, 
and almost a thousand were sent as slaves be- 
yond the seas. The ermined murderer rc- 



ENG 



316 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



turned to court from the west, leaving death, 
and wailing, and terror behind, to receive the 
encomiunxs of his master. The people of Eng- 
land by this time understood the rights of the 
subject, as well as the duties of the monarch, 
and when James II. attempted to rule abso- 
lutel}', and to overthrow the religion of the 
country, a bloodless revolution forced him to 
abdicate the throne, and set upon it his 
daughter Mary, and her husband, William of 
Orange, an avowed Protestant The liberties 
of the people took deeper root by his confirm- 
ation of their bill of rights. In this reign an 
expedition, headed by the king, was sent out 
to reduce Ireland, and a war waged with 
France, not generally successful, but there 
appeared some brilliant sparks of enterprise, 
and one or two fair incidents of good fortune. 
During this reign the Bank of England was 
incorporated. It was in the reign of Anne 
that the age of English chivalry seemed to re- 
vive, and the military mania of the two rival 
nations to be renewed. The valor and skill 
of Marlborough triumphed over the most 
splendid arrays of military might under Louis 
XIV. Germany was saved, Gibraltar taken, 
and Dunkirk demolished, by a course of vic- 
tories as brilliant as any which the pen of the 
historian records. It was also in this memo- 
rable reign that the legislative luiion of Scot- 
land with England took place. The era of 
Aime is styled an Augustan age of English 
literature. Addison, Steele, Pope, Boling- 
broke. Gay, Swift, Prior, and other great wits 
and authors, lived and wrote. The queen died 
in 1714. 

The succession of the house of Hanover now 
took place. The short reign of George I. was 
principally noted for its domestic and foreign 
inquietude. The year after his accession a 
rebellion arose in Scotland, headed by the 
Pretender, as the son of James II. was called. 
It was promptly put down, and severely pun- 
ished. A destructive speculation known as 
the South Sea bubble ran to a great pitch and 
then burst, entailing great financial disaster, 
and ruinmg thousands of families. The reign 
of George II. was distinguished by the battle 
of Dettingen, where the king fought in per- 
son ; the military contests with France ; the 



It was in 1745 that the Stuarts made their last 
attempt for the crown. The Chevalier Charles 
Edward, son of the Pretender, landed in Scot- 
land with a few adherents ; the Highlanders 
rallied to his standard ; his forces were trium- 
phant at Preston Pans ; he gained Edinburgh, 
reduced Carlisle, and advanced into England. 
The English Jacobites were not so ready ns 
the Scotch; the chevalier turned back, pur- 
sued by the Duke of Cumberland, and on the 
bloody plain of CuUoden the hopes of his 
house were forever extinguished. In the time 
of George II. the change from old to new style 
in the calendar was made. [See Time.] 

In the early years of the next reign, England 
waged another great and successful war with 
France and Spain. But the most important 
feature of the reign of George III. was the 
loss of America, produced by the odious tyr- 
anny of England. After a struggle of eight 
years, in which she saw her vast armies and 
fleets defeated by the braverj^ of a nation of 
patriots, Great Britain was compelled to re- 
linquish her colonies, and acknowledge their 
independence. The peace of Europe was 
broken by the different powers siding with 
the combatants, and thus England was at once 
involved in war by sea and land with America, 
France, Spain, and Holland, while the dissen- 
sions of party at home increased to an alarm- 
ing height The war was concluded by a 
treaty with those powers in 1783. The war 
of the French revolution forms a second period 
of this reign. The first direct interference on 
the part of the British was in two unsuccess- 
ful expeditions to the continent under the 
Duke of York and Sir S. Hood, and in the 
capture of some French West India islands, 
and of Pondicherry in India, In the latter 
country very great advantages were acquired 
over the natives ; Tippoo Sultan was entirely 
defeated and killed, and Seringapatam cap- 
tured. 

France, having disposed of her continental 
enemies, began to act on the offensive, and 
undertook an invasion of Ireland, seven ships 
of the line having, with that intent, anchored 
in Bantry Bay. The war in the mean time had 
divided the sentiments of the English people, 
and strong dissatisfaction was manifested by 



naval triumphs over that kingdom and Spain ; the revolutionary party. The ministers were 
the conquest of French America, and the firm in their measures, and the king's life 
splendid successes of Clive in the East Indies. 1 was put in danger on his going to parliament 

ENG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



817 



Two attempts at negotiation failed, and the 
internal difficulties were increased by the 
stoppage of the bank, the mutiny of the fleet 
at Spithead and the Nore, and the menace of 
rebellion in Ireland. The first evil was palli- 
ated, but the two last were not suppressed 
without much bloodshed. The intentions of 
the French were, however, defeated; 1,800 
men who had landed in Ireland, surrendered, 
and the English fleet recovered its reputation 
by a victory over the Spaniards, and by the 
celebrated battle of the Nile, in 1798. These 
events having raised the spirits of the conti- 
nental powers, Germany, Russia, and Turkey 
joined England against France, while Ireland 
was pacified by a show of much promise 
which was to be effected by an union. The 
Austrians were annihilated at Marengo ; the 
English, at 'the request of the sultan, agreed 
to evacuate Egypt ; and thej^ made an un- 
successful attempt upon the Boulogne flotilla 
with which the French threatened an inva- 
sion of Britain. Such was the state of 
things, when, in 1802, the combatants found 
it convenient to conclude peace. 

The war recommenced in 1803, by the loss 
on the English side of Hanover, and the 
seizure of the British in France, which was 
retaliated by the seizure of French ves- 
sels and seamen. To oppose the increasing 
power of Napoleon, Mr. Pitt was once more 
made premier. In the mean time the most 
advantageous treaties had been concluded 
with the native states of India, and the 
French defeated by the dying Nelson in the 
great and decisive naval engagement of Tra- 
falgar, in 1805. This was the last trophy of 
those great preparations which Mr. Pitt had 
made, to support his system by the overthrow 
of that of the French, an object which in the 
sequel, they certainly accomplished. Pitt 
died in 1806, and Mr. Fox, his great political 
opponent and successor, in the same year. 
During this period, the successes in other 
parts had been partial ; but, at home, a tri- 
umph over injustice and inhumanity was ob- 
tained in the abolition of the slave-trade. 
The new ministry, persisting in pressing the 
Catholic claims, received his majesty's intima- 
tion to resign. It was at this juncture, in 
1808, that Britain made herself a party to 
reinstate the imbecile Bourbon of Spain. 



The campaign wi.s commenced by Sir Arthur 
Wellesley (al'terwurd thu Duke of Welling- 
ton), with ftie repulse of Junot at Vhneira ; 
but the defeat and death of Sir John Moore, 
at Corunna, followed. Though the English 
under Sir Arthur ^Vellesley were still in force 
in Portugal, and had obtained some advan- 
tages, as at Talavera, they had to contend 
equally with the weakness of the Spaniards 
and the power of the French. They therefore 
entrenched themselves behind their lines at 
Torres Vedras. 

Two expeditions of different fortune took 
place at this time ; one to the south of Italy, 
and the other to the island of Walcheren. 
Several valuable captures in other parts were 
made. At this period (1810), the insanity 
of the king incapacitated him from governing, 
and his son, the dissipated Prince of Wales, 
was appointed regent. The war in Spain 
was carried on with determination, but with 
partial success. The reorganization of the 
Spanish and Portuguese armies, and the 
reviving spirit of the cortes, changed the 
aspect of affairs. Meanwhile, Russia, Prussia, 
and Sweden had entered into alliance with 
England, who supplied them with vast sub- 
sidies to support their armies against France. 
Holland, also, by the assistance of England, 
had risen on its masters, and Napoleon, 
pressed by the allies, and having suffered 
immense losses in Russia, was obliged to give 
way, and armies entered FraVice on two sides. 
Lord Wellington, proceeding through Spain, 
passed the Pyrenees through almost unre- 
mitted conflict, invested Bayonne, occupied 
Bourdeaux, defeated Soult before Toulouse, 
and there received the news of the capture 
of Paris, and the cessation of hostilities. 
Meanwhile England had been also engaged in 
a war with America, which was prosecuted 
on the plea of her assumed right to search 
our vessels for deserters. The treaty of 
peace was signed at Ghent in 1814. 

The next year Great Britain was again 
called into active co-operation with the other 
confederates, to depose Napoleon, who had 
returned in triumph fi'om Elba, and resumed 
the throne of France without opposition. 
After the victory at Waterloo, the allies en- 
tered Paris, and reinstated Louis XVIIL, qh 
the throne, while Napoleon surrendered huu- 



ENG 



318 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



self to an English ship, and was sent to St. 
Helena, where he was detained until his 
death, in 1820. -> 

George III., died in 1820, in the eighty- 
second year of his age, and the sixtieth of 
his reign, which is the longest and most 
memorable in the annals of England. For 
tlie last ten years the profligate George IV., 
had ruled as prince regent. The trial of his 
ill-used queen, her death, the alarming riots 
that accompanied her funeral, the scarcity 
and distress in Ireland, and the removal of 
civil disabilities from the Catholics, marked 
his ten years' reign. He died in 1830, and 
was succeeded by his brother William, who 
as Duke of Clarence had served for a long 
time in the navy. 

The year 1832 is famous for the passage of 
the bill for parliamentary reform, which was 
carried by the commons against the will of a 
majority of the peers. Two years after, 
slavery was abolished throughout the British 
dominions; by this act 770,280 slaves became 
freemen, on the 1st of August, 1834, and 
£20,000,000 were granted by parliament for 
compensation to the masters. 

William was succeeded hj his niece Victo- 
ria, in 1837. By virtue of the Salique law, 
which excludes women from sovereignty, 
Hanover was now severed from England, and 
the Duke of Cumberland, a younger son of 
George III., became its monarch. During 
Victoria's reign England has waged several 
wars in the East ; with the Chinese, with the 
Afghans, and with the Sikhs, [See China, 
Afghanistan, India.] The great contest be- 
tween Russia, and the allied powers of Eng- 
land, France, and Turkey, is also described 
in another page. [See Russo-Tukkish Wak.] 

The following have been the rulers of 
England since the conquest. 
1066. William the Conqueror; died at Rouen, 

Sept. 9th, 1087. 
1087. William Rufus ; killed bv an arrow, Aug. 2d, 

1100. 
1100. Henry I., youngest son of the Conqueror ; 

died of a surfeit, Dec. 1st, 1185. 
1135. Stephen, Earlof Blois, nephew of Henry I. 

The Empress Maud, daughter of Henry, 

contended with him for the crown. 

Stephen died Oct. 25th, 1154. 

THB PLANTAQENETS. 

1154. Henry II., son of the Empress Maud by 
her second husband, Geoffrey Planta- 
genet. Earl of Anjou; died July 6th, 



1189. 
1199. 

1216. 
1272. 
1307. 

1327. 
1377. 



1413. 
1422. 



1461. 



14S3. 



1509. 
1547. 



1553. 



1603. 



1660. 



ENG 



Richard I.; died Apr. 6th, 1199. 

John, brother of Richard; died Oct. 18th, 

1216. 
Henry III.; died Nov. 16th, 1272. 
Edward I.; died July 7th, 1307. 
Edward II. ; murdered at Berlcley Castle, 

Sept. 21st, 1327. 
Edward III.; died June 21st, 1377. 
Richard II., son of Edward the Blaclc 

Prince, and grandson of Edward 111.; 

dethroned Sept. 28th, 1399; murdered 

at Pomfret Castle, Feb. 10th, 1400. 

BRANCH OF LANCASTER. 

Henry IV., son of John of Gaunt, Puke 
of Lancaster, and grandson of Ed- 
ward III.; died March 2nth, 1413. 

Henry V. ; died Aug. 31st, 142.2. 

Henry VI. ; deposed March 4th, 1461 ; 
murdered in the Tower, June 20th, 
1471. 

BRANCH OP YORK. 

Edward IV., a descendant from two sons 
of Edward III., Lionel, Dulce of Chir- 
ence, and Edmond, Duke of York ; died 
April 9th, 1483. 

Edward V. ; deposed June 22d, 1483, and 
murdered in the Tower. 

Richard IIL, brother of Edward IV. ; slain 
at Bosworth, Aug. 22d, 1405. 

HOUSE OF TUDOR. 

Henry VII., Earl of Richmond, a descend- 
ant by his mother's side from John of 
Gaunt ; married Elizabeth, the heiress 
of York; died Apr. 22d, 1509. 

Henry VIII.; died Jan. 28th, 1647. 

Edward VI., son of Henry VIIL, by Jane 
Seymour; died July 6th, 1553. 

Mary, daughter of Henry VIIL, by Cathe- 
rine of Arragon; died Nov. 17th, 1558. 

Elizabeth, daughter of Henry VIIL, by 
AnuaBoleyn; died Mar. 24th, 1603. " 

HOUSE OP STUART. 

James I., of England, and VI., of Scotland, 
great-grandson of Margaret, daughter 
of Henry VIIL, who married James IV., 
of Scotland; died Mar. 27th, 1625. 

Charles I. ; beheaded at Whitehall, Jan. 
30th, 1649. 

THE COMMONWEALTH. 

Oliver Cromwell, made protector Dec. 12t]i, 

1053; died Sept. 3d, 1658. 
Richard Cromwell, made protector Sept. 

4th, 1658 ; resigned April 22d, 1669. 

THE STUARTS RESTORED. 

Charles IL, son of Charles I.; died Feb. 
(Uh, 1685. 

James IL, brother of Charles II. ; abdi- 
cated by flight, Dec. 12th, 1688; died 
in exile, Aug. 6th, 1701. 

William (Prince of Orange, the son of 
Mary, daughter of Charles I.) and 
Mary (daughter of James IL) Mary 
died Dee. 28th, 1694; and William, of 
a fall from his horse, Mar. 8th, 17o2. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



819 



1702. Anne, second daughter of James II. ; died 
Aug. 1st, 1714. 

HOUSE OP HANOVER. 

1714. George I., Elector of Hanover and Duke 
of Brunswick Lunenburg, son of Sophia, 
who was daughter of Ehzabeth, the 
daughter of James I.; died June 11th, 
1727. 

1727. George II.; died Oct. 25th, 1760. 

1700. George III., grandson of George II.; died 
Jan. 29th, 1820. 

1820, George IV.; died June 26th, 1830. 

1831). William IV., brother of George IV. ; died 
June 20th, 1837. 

1837. Victoria, only child of Edward, Duke of 
Kent, the fourth son of George III. 

EPAMINONDAS, a famous Theban, de- 
scended from the ancient kings of Boeotia, 
but born and reared in poverty. He was 
celebrated for his private virtues and military 
accomplishments. His love of truth was so 
great that he was never known to give utter- 
ance to a folsehood. He formed an inviola- 
ble friendship with Pelopidas, whose life he 
saved in battle. By his advice Pelopidas 
delivered Thebes from the power of Laceda3- 
mon. This was the signal of war. Epam- 
inondas was placed at the head of the Theban 
armies, and defeated the Spartans in the cel- 
ebrated battle of Leuctra, 371 b.c. Epami- 
nondas entered the territoi ies of Lacedaemon 
with 50,000 men. Here he gained many 
friends and partisans, but, at his return from 
Thebes, he was seized as a traitor for violating 
the laws of his country. While he was mak- 
ing the Theban army victorious on every side, 
he neglected the law which forbade any cit- 
izen to retain in his hands the supreme power 
for more than one month, and all his eminent 
services seemed unable to redeem him from 
death. He paid implicit obedience to the 
laws of his country, and only begged of his 
judges that it might be inscribed on his tomb, 
that he had suffered death for saving his 
country from ruin. This animated reproach 
was felt ; he was pardoned, and invested again 
with sovereign power. He was successful in 
a war with Thessaly, and again engaged 
against the Lacedasmonians. The hostile 
armies met near Mantinea 363 b.c, and while 
Epaminondas was fighting bravely in the 
thickest of the enemy, he received a fatal 
wound in the breast, and expired with joy 
on hearing that the Basotians had obtained the 
victory. On hearing his friends regret that 



he had left no children, he said, " I leave 
behind me two immortal daughters, the victo- 
ries of Leuctra and Mantinea." 

EPEE, Charles Michael de l', was born 
at Versailles in 1712. None of the teachers 
who had been successful with deaf and dumb 
pupils, had published accounts of their meth- 
ods, so that De I'Epee was not indebted to 
them for the mode of instruction which he 
first employed upon two sisters. His zeal in 
the cause of those who were destitute of 
speech and hearing led l^m into pecuniary 
embarrassment. One incident in his life is 
peculiarly interesting. He met, one day, in 
the streets of Paris a deaf and dumb youth 
in the garb of a beggar, whom he was con- 
vinced was the heir of the rich family of 
the Count of Solar. A law-suit followed, 
which was at first successful, but when the 
friends of Solar were dead, his property was 
again wrested from him, and he was com- 
pelled to enlist in the army as a cuirassier. 
The Abbe De I'Epee died in 1789. 

EPICTETUS, a Stoic philosopher, born at 
Hieropolis, in Phrygia, a.d. 90. He was the 
slave of Epaphroditus, a freedman of Nero. 
His master once struck him a severe blow 
upon the leg. "You will break it," was the 
calm reply of the Stoic. The brute repeated 
the blow and broke it. "Did I not tell you 
so ? " was the quiet exclamation of the phi- 
losopher. He was afterward freed, and made 
governor of Cappadocia, a.d. 134. 

EPICURUS was born at Gargettus, near 
Athens, 342 b.c. In the thirty-sixth year of 
his age he opened his school in an Athenian 
garden, a spot pleasantly typical of his doctrine. 
The Platonists had their academic grove ; the 
Aristotelians walked along the Lyceum ; the 
Cynics growled in the Cynosarges ; the Sto- 
ics occupied the Porch ; and the Epicureans 
had their Garden. There, in the tranquil 
garden, in the societj'' of his friends, he passed 
a peaceful life of speculation and enjoyment. 
The friendship that existed among them is 
well known. In a time of general scarcity 
and famine, they contributed to each other's 
support, showing that the Pythagorean no- 
tion of community of goods was unnecessary 
amongst friends who could confide in each 
other. At the entrance of the garden they 
placed this inscription : " The hospitable 
keeper of this mansion, where you will find 



EPI 



320 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



pleasure the highest good, will present you 
liberally with barley cakes and water fresh 
from the spring. The gardens will not pro- 
voke your appetite by artificial dainties, but 
satisfy it with natural supplies. "Will you 
not be well entertained?" He taught his 
scholars that the svmmum tonum consisted 
in happiness; and that happiness did not 
spring from sensual enjoyments, but from 
a practice of the virtues. He commended 
wisdom, was temperate, moderate, gentle, 
firm, and fearle* of death. He died 270 
B.C., and had many followers. 

EPIRUS, a province on the borders of 
Greece, the most southerly portion of the 
modern Albania. This country was inhab- 
ited by the Chaones and the Molossians. 
The best known of the kings of Epirus is 
Pj-rrhus, who reigned about 280 B.C., and 
distinguished himself greatly by his wars 
with the Romans, in favor of the Tarentines. 
Upon the death of Deodamia, the last of 
this race, about the year 240 b.c, the Epirots 
formed themselves into a republic, which 
was reduced 1G7 B.C. by Paulus ^Emilius, the 
Roman general, all the towns destroyed, and 
the inhabitants enslaved in one day. Upon 
the taking of Constantinople, in 1204, Michael 
Angelus seized this country, and his poster- 
ity held it till it was taken by the Turks under 
Amurath H., in 1432. In 1447, Castriot 
(Scanderbeg) revolted from the Turks, but 
the country was finally reduced by Moham- 
med II., in 1466. 

ERASMUS, Desiderius, a man celebrated 
for his learning, was born at Rotterdam in 
1467. At the age of seventeen he assumed 
the monastic habit, but subsequently obtained 
a dispensation from his vows. He traveled 
through many countries, but was received 
with the gi-eatest kindness by Henry YIII. 
of England, and was for a short time professor 
of Greek at Oxford. Erasmus died in 1536. 
Besides his theological works, and his edi- 
tions of the classics, he published an " En- 
comium on Folly," which has been often 
reprinted. His letters are of historical value. 
His writings contributed largely to bring 
about the Reformation, though he himself had 
not the faith and courage to be a reformer. 

ERATOSTHENES, one of the greatest 
mathematicians of antiquity; the first who 
measured a degree of the meridian, and the 



first who accurately determined the inclina- 
tion of the earth's axis to the plane of the 
ecliptic. He flourished at Alexandria, and 
died B.C. 195, aged eighty. 

ERFURT, in Thuringia, belonging to Prus- 
sia, contains at present 25,000 inhabitants. 
It was founded in the fifth century. It main- 
tained a kind of independence until the 
seventeenth century, when the Elector of 
Mentz gained possession of it. In 1814 it 
was granted to Prussia by the congress of 
Vienna. Erfurt was famous for the meeting 
between Napoleon and the Emperor Alexan- 
der with many other kings and princes, Sep- 
tember 27th, 1808. Napoleon's object was 
the pacification of all Europe. He was now 
at the summit of power and glorj", and he 
stood upon the very pinnacle of grandeur, 
with a feeling of intense enjoyment. " Come 
to Erfurt," he wrote exvdtingly to Talma, "and 
you shall play to a whole pit full of kings." 

ERIE, Lake, one of the great fresh seas 
that sunder the United States from the Brit- 
ish dominions in America, is 270 miles in 
length by from 25 to 50 in breadth. On its 
waters, Sept. 10th, 1813, a severe action was 
fought between the British squadron and an 
inferior force under Commodore Perry. " We 
have met the enemy and they are ours," was 
Perry's announcement of the victory lo Gen. 
Harrison. 

ERSKINE, Thomas, Lord Erskine, a cele- 
brated lawyer, was the son of David Henry 
Erskine, tenth Earl of Buchan, and was born 
in the year 1750. It was not until after 
he served some years in the army and navy 
that he embraced the legal profession, at the 
age of twenty -six. In 1778, he was admitted 
to the bar, and his success was both speedy 
and triumphant. During twenty-five years 
he enjoyed an extensive practice. He was 
appointed attorney-general to the Prince of 
Wales, and, in 1802, keeper of his seals for 
the duchy of Cornwall. He was lord-chan- 
cellor during the short ministry of Fox and 
Grenviile in 1806. He died in 1823. His 
popularity may be inferred from the fact that 
his pamphlet, entitled " A View of the Causes 
and Consequences of the War with France," 
went through forty-eight editions. Though 
celebrated as a forensic orator, he failed in 
the House of Commons. 

ESCURIAL, a magnificent palace, situated 



ESC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



321 



on the ascent to the chain of mountains bound- 
ing Old Castile, twenty-two miles from Mad- 
rid. It was erected by Philip II., in com- 
memoration of the victory of St Quentin, 
gained over the French in 1557. The battle 
was fought on the day of the festival of St 
Lawrence, and the palace was dedicated to 
this saint, whose instrument of martyrdom, 
a gridiron, is immortalized in the disposition 
of the buildings composing the Escurial. It 
is said to have cost $50,000,000, and contains 
many noble works of art Through all its 
apartments would be a journey of one hund- 
red and twentj'^ milas. 

ESQUIMAUX, dwarfish tribes of North 
America, occupying the northern coasts of 
America. They live by hunting and fishing, 
and are alike destitute of laws and religion. 
They formerly put to death widows and 
orphans, and those who, from age or misfor- 
tune, were incapable of gaining a subsist- 
ence. 

ESSEX, Robert Devereux, Earl of, born 
in 1567, was educated at Cambridge, and in- 
troduced at court at an early age. He soon 
won the regard of Queen Elizabeth, and on 
his return from a campaign in the Low Coun- 
tries, he was made master of horse. The 
last of his two expeditions against Cadiz 
failed from a misunderstanding between him 
and Raleigh. Returning, Essex was made 
earl -marshal of England, and master-general 
of the ordnance. Essex was impetuous and 
indiscreet. At the zenith of royal favor, he 
took no care of his actions. At the council- 
board, he contradicted the queen, who gave 
him * smart box on the ear ; when he rose 
in extreme wrath, clapped his hand upon his 
sword, and swore that he would not have 
taken such an affront even from Henry VIII. 
In Ireland, he made a composition with the 
rebels, and quitted his government, without 
leave for either proceeding. On his return 
to London he was taken, tried, and beheaded, 
February 25th, 1601. While in prison he is 
said to have intrusted to the Countess of Not- 
tingham a ring which he had received from 
the queen, when high in favor, with the pro- 
mise to pardon any offense on its presenta- 
tion. Contrary to her pledge, the countess 
retained the ring. She confessed her guilt 
upon her death-bed, and Elizabeth is said to 



have exclaimed, " God may forgive you, but 
I never will! " 

The son of Essex, after having served 
Charles I., became a general of the parliamen- 
tary party, but did not enjoy a high degree 
of favor, and died suddenly in 1646. 

ESSLING, a small village about seven 
miles from Vienna. Here a dreadful conflict 
was fought May 21st and 22d, 1809, between 
the armies of France and Austria, commanded 
by Napoleon and the Archduke Charles. 
Napoleon was defeated with the loss of 30,000 
men ; but the loss of the Austrians, also most 
severe, exceeded 20,000. Marshal Massena 
was created Duke of Essling by Bonaparte. 

ESTAING, Charles Henry, Count d', a 
French admiral, and lieutenant-general of the 
French armies, was the descendant of a noble 
family, and commenced his career in the West 
Indies. He was sent with a fleet to aid the 
Americans during the Revolution. He was 
guillotined in 1793. 

ETRURIA, the country of the Etruscans, 
now Tuscany. The Etruscans at a very early 
age had received the arts from Greece, and 
produced some most beautiful specimens. 
They gave to the Romans their early relig- 
ious usages and architecture, and finally 
became the victims of Roman ambition. 

In 1801 the name of Etruria was restored, 
and the country was made a kingdom, and 
remained so until amalgamated with the 
French empire, by a senatorial decree of May 
30th, 1808. The next year Eliza, the sister 
of Napoleon, received this territory, with the 
title of Grand Duchess of Tuscany. In 1814 
its ancient rulers regained it 

EUCLID, the great mathematician, flour- 
ished at Alexandria about 300 b.c. 

EUGENE, Francis, of Savoy, commonly 
called Prince Eugene, fifth son of Eugene 
Maurice, Duke of Savoy-Carignan, was born 
at Paris in 1663. His mother was Olympia 
Mancini, niece to Cardinal Mazarin. He was 
educated for the church, but after the death 
of his father, and the exile of his mother, he 
and his brother Philip went to Vienna, where 
they met with a gracious reception. In the 
war which broke out with Turkey, Prince 
Philip fell in battle, and left his command to 
Eugene, who signalized himself at the siege 
of Vienna in 1683, as he did afterward; at 



21 



EUG 



322 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Buda. He next served against the French 
in Italy ; and in 1697 commanded the army 
in Hungary, where he gained a splendid vic- 
tory at Zeuta, in which the Turks lost above 
30,000 men, with their commander the grand 
vizier. On the breaking out of the war oc- 
casioned by the disputes about the Spanish 
succession, Eugene commanded the imperial- 
ists in Italy, where he was opposed to Ville- 
roi, whom he made prisoner. After this he 
acted in conjunction with Marlborough. In 
1712 the prince came to England to prevail 
upon the court to continue the war, but 
could not succeed. Compelled to act on the 
defensive, he exerted himself to the utmost ; 
and, in 1714, settled preliminary articles with 
Marshal Villars at Rastadt, which ended soon 
after in a general peace. 

In 171G the war with the Turks was re- 
newed, and the prince again took the field 
in Hungary, where he attacked the enemy in 
their camp, and obtained a complete victory, 
which was followed by the capture of Temes- 
war and Belgrade. From this time to 1733 
Eugene remained at Vienna, employed in the 
cabinet ; but in that year he assumed the 
command in Italy, where he experienced 
various success in the contest with the com- 
bined powers of France, Spain, and Sardinia. 
He was found dead in his bed, April 10th, 
173G. 

EULER, Leonakd, a mathematician of 
Basle, born in 1707. He was educated at 
the university of his native place. In his 
nineteenth year he gained a prize from the 
academy of Paris for the best treatise on the 
masting of vessels. He took the department 
of mathematics in the academy of St. Peters- 
burg, and published a vast number of trea- 
tises. In the French academy of sciences he 
gained ten prizes. In 1741 he became pro- 
fessor in the Berlin academy, but returned to 
St. Petersburg, where he died in 1783, in the 
oflSce of director of the mathematical depart- 
ment. Throughout his life, he received hon- 
ors from all quarters. He was cheerful and 
amiable in private life, although the last 
seventeen years of his existence were passed 
in total blindness. 

EUPATORIA, a seaport on the west coast 
of the Crimea. After the allied English, 
French, and Turkish armies landed here, 
Sept. 14th, 1854, a detachment of Turks 



occupied the place. It was attacked Feb, 
17th, 1855, by a large force of Russians un- 
der Liprandi, who were repulsed. 

EURIPIDES, a celebrated tragic poet, in 
great favor with Archelaus of Macedonia, 
was born at Salamis on the day that the army 
of Xerxes was routed by the Athenians. He 
wrote seventy-five tivagedies, only nineteen 
of which are extant. Eurfpides was called 
Misogynes for his hatred of women, and par- 
ticularly of his own wife. In the seventy- 
fifth year of his age, b.c. 405, he was torn 
to pieces by dogs. 

EUROPE, the least extensive, but the 
most improved of the great divisions of the 
globe, is situated between 36° and 71" N. lati- 
tude. It contains about 3,900,000 square 
miles, with a population of 265,000,000, and 
is bounded by the sea in all directions except 
the east, where it joins Asia. 

The following is a list of the states of Eu- 
rope, classified according to their forms of 
government. MejniMics: Andorra (among 
the Pyrenees), Ionian Islands, San Marino, 
Switzerland, and the free cities of Bremen, 
Frankfort, Hamburg, and Lubeck. Limited 
Sovereignties: the duchies of Brunswick, 
Nassau, Saxe Altenburg, Saxe Coburg and 
Gotha, Saxe Meiningen Hildburghausen, and 
Saxe Weimar Eisenach; the grand-duchies 
of Baden, Hesse Darmstadt, Mecklenburg 
Schwerin, Mecklenburg Strelitz, and Olden- 
burg; the kingdoms of Bavaria, Belgium, 
Denmark, Great Britain, Greece, Hanover, 
Holland (with the duchy of Luxemburg), 
Portugal, Prussia, Sardinia, Saxony, Spain, 
Sweden and Norway, and Wurtembnrg; 
the empire of France; the electorate of 
Hesse Cassel ; and the principalities of Lich- 
tenstein, Lippe Detmold, Schauenburg Lippe, 
Reuss, Schwarzburg Rudolstadt, Schwarz- 
burg Sondershausen, and Waldeck. Absolute 
Sovereignties: the duchies of Anhalt Bern- 
burg, Anhalt Dessau Cothcn, Modena and 
Massa, and Parma ; the empires of Austria, 
Russia, and Turkey ; the popedom of the 
States of the Church ; the landgraviate of 
Hesse Homburg ; the principalities of Monaco 
and Montenegro ; the kingdom of the Two 
Sicilies ; and the grand-duchy of Tuscany. 

EUSEBIUS. There were several bishops 
of this name in the same epoch, who are 
often confounded. The first is the most 



EUS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



323 



famous. Eusebius Pamphylus, Bishop of 
Csesarea, flourished a. d. 270-340. Eusebius, 
Bishop of Nicomedia, an Arian, died 341. 
Eusebius, Bishop of Emessa, a theological 
writer, flourished 340-60. Eusebius, Bishop 
of Vercelli, an Athanasian theological writer, 
flourished 354-70. 

EUTAW SPRINGS, S. C, Battle of, one 
of the most severely contested battles of the 
Revolution, fought Sept. 8th, 1781. Both 
sides claimed the victory: it belonged to 
neither, but the advantage was with the 
Americans. Gen. Greenes forcen umbered 
2,300, a third of whom were militia ; out of 
which 152 were killed, 424 wounded, and 40 
missing. The loss of the British was 693, of 
whom 85 were killed on the field. Greene 
took 500 prisoners. This was virtually the 
close of the campaign in South Carolina. 

EUTROPIUS, Flavius, a Latin author 
who flourished about a. d. 360. 

EVELYN, John (1620-1706,) an English 
gentleman of easy fortune, who wrote several 
scientific works in a popular style. He was 
one of the first in England to treat gardening 
and planting scientifically, 

EVERETT, Edward, the orator, scholar 
and diplomatist, was born in Dedham, Mass., 
April 11, 1794. He was graduated at Har- 
vard College at the age of 17, with the high- 
est honors of his class, gave the Phi Beta 
Kappa poem at 18, succeeded the gifted Buck- 
minster in Brattle Street Church at 19. 
Elected to a Greek Professorship in Harvard 
College, with permission to visit Europe, he 
spent four years in study in Germany and in 
travel. In 1824 he gained great celebrity as 
an orator and thinker by his Phi Beta Kappa 
oration. His occasional orations and ad- 
dresses from that time till his death, pro- 
nounced at Plymouth, Concord, Charles- 
town, Lexington, and other places, linked 
with revolutionary traditions and glory — eu- 
logies on Washington, Jefferson, the elder 
and younger Adams, and anniversary and 
philanthropic discourses secured for him the 
preeminent position among the accomplished 
orators of America. In 1825-35 he was a 
Member of Congress — then four years Gov- 
ernor of Massachusetts. In 1841 he became 
Minister to England, and in the negotiation 
of the Northeastern Boundary question, the 
McLeod and Creole affairs he displayed great 



ability and statesmanship. He became Pres- 
ident of Harvard Coll. in 1849, Secretary of 
State under President Fillmore in 1852, U. 
S. Senator in 1853, (but resigned on account 
of ill health,) and 'candidate for the Vice 
Presidency in 1860 with John Bell of Tenn. 
Emerging from private life at the opening 
of the rebellion he gave himself with patriotic 
ardor to the defense of nis country. He was 
chosen to give the oration at the consecration 
of the cemetery at Gettysburg. His death 
was followed by an official order by President 
Lincoln, setting forth "the learning, elo- 
quence, unsurpassed and disinterested labors 
of patriotism in a time of political disorder" 
of the deceased, and ordering appropriate 
honors to be rendered to his memory wher- 
ever the national name and authority are 
recognized. 

His published works are " Life of Wash- 
ington," and three volumes of Orations and 
Addresses. 

EWING, JoDN, a celebrated American di- 
vine and mathematician, was born in Cecil 
Co., Md., June 22d, 1732, and was gradua- 
ted at Princeton Coll. in 1755.* He became, 
in 1759, pastor of the First Presbyterian con- 
gregation in Philadelphia, and instructed the 
philosophical classes in the College there. 
He was provost of the University of Phila- 
delphia from 1775 till his death, Sept. 8, 1802. 
EXMOUTH, Lord. Edward Pellew was 
born at Dover, April 19th, 1757. Entering 
the navy, he was raised step by step till he 
reached the rank of admiral. In 1816 he 
bombarded Algiers, and rescued more than 
1000 Christians who had been groaning in 
Algerine captivity. For this noble exploit 
he was raised to the peerage. On his coat of 
arms was emblazoned a figure new to herald- 
ry, a Christian slave holding aloft the cross 
and dropping his broken fetter. He died 
January 23d, 1832. 

EYCK, John and Hubert van, artists who 
flourished at Ghent and Bruges in the begin- 
ning of the fifteenth century, are said to have 
discovered the method of mixing paints in 
oil or varnish. 

EYLAU, a small tov.m in Prussia, where 
Napoleon won a great victory over the Rus- 
sians on the 7th and 8th of Feb., 1807. The 
French lost 15,000 men, the Russians in skin 
alone, 20,000. 



EYL 



)24 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



FABIUS MAXTMUS, a celebrated Roman 
who, from a dull and unpromising childhood, 
sprang into a maturity of valor and heroism, 
and was gradually raised by his merit to the 
highest offices in the state. In his fiirst con- 
sulship he gained a victory over Liguria, and 
the fatal battle of Thrasymene occasioned his 
election to the dictatorship. In this impor- 
tant office he began to oppose Hannibal, not 
by fighting him in the open field like his 
predecessors, but by continually harassing his 
army by countermarches and ambuscades, 
for which he received the surname of Cunc- 
tator, or 'delayer.' "When he had laid down 
his office of dictator, his successors, for a 
while, followed his plan; but the rashness 
of Varro, and his contempt for the operations 
of Fabius, occasioned the fatal battle of 
Cannge; and, on that occasion, the Cartha- 
ginian general observed that Fabius was the 
Hannibal of Rome. When he had made an 
agreement with JIannibal, for the ransom of 
the captives, which was totally disapproved 
by the Roman senate, he sold all his estates 
to pay the money, rather than forfeit his 
word. The bold proposal of young Scipio 
to carry the war from Italy into Africa, was 
regarded as chimerical by Fabius, and re- 
jected by him as too hazardous an experi- 
ment. He did not live to see the success 
of the Roman arms under Scipio, and the 
conquest of Carthage by measures which he 
treated with contempt, and heard proposed 
with indignation. He died in his one hun- 
dredth year, 202 B.C., after he had been five 
times consul. 

FABRICIUS, Caius, surnamed Luscinus, 
a truly heroic and virtuous Roman, incor- 
ruptible at a time when wealth was almost 
onniipotent, and preserving a fearless bearing 
in the presence of the mightiest. He lived 
at a time of danger to the commonwealth, 
when Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, had come to 
Italy, less for the purpose of affording aid to 
the Tarentines, than of acquiring a military 
I'cputation by conquering the masters of the 
world. When he was sent on an embassy 
to Pyrrhus for the purpose of redeeming 
some prisoners, that king attempted to cor- 



rupt his fidelity by a bribe, which was indig- 
nantly refused. The king on the next day 
ordered a curtain to be suddenly drawn, dis- 
playing to view an elephant of enormous 
size, a creature hitherto unknown in Italy. 
The brave Fabricius calmly said, "Your 
beast of to-day moves me no more than j^our 
gold of yesterday." He died 275 b.c. 

FAHRENHEIT, Gabriel Daniel, inventor 
of the thermometer which bears his name, 
about 1726, was a ph3'sician and philosopher 
of Dantzic. 

FAIRFAX, Lord Thomas, was born at 
Denton, in Yorkshire, in 1611. He entered 
into military service under Lord Vere, in 
Holland, and on the breaking out of the civil 
wars took part against the king. Afterward, 
however, the jealousy of Cromwell disgusted 
hun with the Puritans, although he continued 
in the employ of the government. He as- 
sisted, in the Restoration, vras reconciled to 
Charles IL, and died in 1671. 

FAIRIES. Almost all nations have, in 
ignorant times, possessed a strong belief in 
the supernatural, which has been continued 
to the present day, among the unenlightened. 
Wild and terrific scenes were peopled by the 
imagination with fierce and fearful beings, 
while flowery dells, sequestered glades, green 
and smiling forests, and pleasant water-fills 
were selected as the haunts of a gentler and 
more graceful race of beings than belong to 
humanity. Pastoral nations delighted to pic- 
ture forms of miniature elegance, whose 
habitations were delicate and fragrant flow- 
ers. The fairy queen Titania hung like a 
bee or butterfly within a harebell, or led the 
gay dance by moonlight over roses, without 
bending the most fragile floweret or leaf be- 
neath her footstep. The beings called fairies 
were at first termed elves, the word 'elf 
originating with the Saxons, who from re- 
mote antiquity believed in them. ■• 

The Laplanders, Icelanders, and inhabit- 
ants of Finland believed in the existence of 
fairies. Many affirmed that they had had 
intercourse with them, and had been invited 
to their subterranean retreats, where they 
were hospitably entertained. The little men 



FAI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



325 



and women handed round wine and tobacco, 
with which the mortal visitors were supphed 
in abundance, and afterward sent them on 
tlieir way, with good advice, and an honorable 
escort. Up to this time, these people boast 
of 'mingling in the magical ceremonies and 
dances of the fairies. 

The word fairy is thought, by most writers, 
to be derived from the Persian, and the char- 
acter of the English fairies and the Persian 
Feris is similar. The Peris of the orientals 
are represented as females of exquisite beauty 
and great gentleness, who are not permi#ted 
to reside in heaven. They are not of earth, 
howbeit. They live in the colors of the 
rainbow, among the gorgeously tinted clouds, 
and are nourished by the fragrance of sweet 
flowers. The Dives of the Persians were 
spirits of the male sex, with habits and dis- 
positions directly contrary to those of the 
Peris. They were malevolent, cruel, and 
fierce, and hideous in their appearance. 
Huge spiral horns sprang from their heads ; 
their eyes were large and staring, their 
claws sharp and their fangs terrifio. Covered 
with shaggy hair, and having long rough 
tails, it seemed as if they possessed every 
deibrraity. The Dives warred with mankind, 
and pursued the Peris with unrelenting 
hatred. Their lives, however, were limited, 
a,nd they were not incapable of feeling 
personal violence. The fancies of the in- 
habitants of the East teem with supernatural 
beings. The Genii, spirits of vast size, were 
said to have been imprisoned by Solomon, 
who shut them up in caskets upon which he 
placed his seal Some were thrown into 
rivers. A fisherman once drew one up from 
the bottom of a stream in his net, and the 
vessel being opened, a dense smoke arose 
from the interior. The smoke gradually 
assumed the vast figure of a Genius. The 
whole story is related in the " Arabian Nights' 
Entertainments." 

Fairies of a certain class, such as the war- 
like elves or fays, were believed to exist by 
all European nations. During times of mili- 
tary enthusiasm, the fancy of warriors saw 
processions of fairies, well armed and 
mounted, bearing gorgeous banners; their 
weapons glittering in the moonlight, or 
gleaming like lightning on the darkness of 
the night. A Bohemian legend says that a 



certain knight, traveling with a friend, met 
one of these nocturnal processions, and, dis- 
regarding the,, caution of his companion, 
spurred his horse forward to attack them. 
Horse and rider were found dead upon the 
spot in the morning. The Swedes asserted 
that there was a certain class of supernatural 
beings, pretty much the same as the Brownies 
of Scotland, who assisted the miners, labored 
in the shafts, and were far more ingenious 
than mortal workmen. 

The fairies of England were generally of a 
harmless disposition. Oberon and Titania, 
the fairy king and queen, were pleasant little 
people, with a spice of humanity in their 
dispositions. Robin Goodfellow was a mis- 
chievous little creature, but not very spiteful. 
He was represented hke a rustic, "in a suit 
of leather, close to his body, his hands and 
face russet color, with a flail." The Scottish 
fairies were certainly guilty of great devia- 
tions from the path of honesty. One of their 
greatest sins was that of stealing fine children 
from their cradles, and leaving in the place 
of a healthy infant a rickety and deformed 
being. The elves often stole away wives from 
their husbands, and these women were only 
to be regained by confronting the fairy pro- 
cession on a certain night, within a year and 
a day after the loss, which time was allowed 
the bereaved mortals for restitution. The 
electrical circles which are sometimes found 
upon the turf were believed to be fairy rings, 
within which it was thought dangerous to 
sleep, or to be found after sunset The 
Scotch fairies were of diminutive stature, of 
a doubtful nature, capricious and very resent- 
ful. The Scotch were afraid to speak of them 
disrespectfully, and even called malicious 
spirits, "gude people." 

These fairies lived in green hills, on which 
they danced by moonlight. The interior 
of their habitations is described as presenting 
a most beautiful appearance, brilliant with 
glittering gold and gems, and containing 
every thing which a splendid fancy could 
contrive. But as " all is not gold that glit- 
ters," these fine appearances are said to be 
a show, put on to conceal a mean or repulsive 
reality. 

These little beings are admirable riders, 
and the best judges of horses in the world. 
They go about in large companies by night, 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



when their presence is disclosed by the shrill, 
bell-like ringing of their bridles. When the 
little men find their steeds jaded, they do not 
scruple to continue their pleasure at the ex- 
pense of mortals. They steal horses, and 
ride them almost to death. The animals are 
found in the morning in their stalls panting 
and flecked with foam, with their manes and 
tails matted and twisted. The shrewd reader 
will guess that the fairies often had to bear 
blame which belonged to careless grooms. 

A sailor on the Isle of Man, , who was 
riding to visit his sister, was invited by a 
party of jolly fairies who were hunting, to 
join them in their excursion. Not being 
aware of the nature of the little men, who 
made a gay appearance, as they swept by in 
green di-esses, riding to the music of a mellow 
horn. Jack followed on, delighted, and only 
learned his danger when he arrived at his 
sister's house. These diminutive huntsmen 
used to seize upon the horses which English 
residents brought over to the Isle of Man, 
and ride them without ceremony. A gentle- 
man of the island attributed the loss of half 
a dozen capital hunters, to the little men in 
green. Sometimes they were more honest, 
and paid good money for horses to which 
they took a fancy. A man who had a fine 
hor^e to sell, was once riding his steed among 
the mountains, when a dapper little gentleman 
stepped up, and examined it. He made the 
animal show his paces, and, after some hag- 
gling about the price, bought him. All this 
was well enough ; but when the seller dis- 
mounted, the purchaser, having fixed him- 
self in the saddle, sank through the earth 
with his bargain. The man who beheld all 
this, was somewhat startled, but as there was 
no mistake about the hard red gold which he 
had received from the fairy horseman, he put 
it in his pocket, and marched off. 

The Brownies were singular beings, mea- 
gre, shaggy, and wild in their appearance. 
The Brownie, in the day-time, lurked in re- 
mote recesses of the old houses which he 
delighted to haunt, and in the night sedu- 
lously employed himself in discharging any 
laborious task which he thought might be 
acceptable to the family to whose service he 
had devoted himself But, unlike a servant, 
he did not labor in the hope of wages : on 
the contrary, an offer of recompense, particu- 



larly of food, drove this delicate gentleman 
away forever. He was fond of stretching 
himself at length before the fire, like a dog, 
and this appeared to give him the highest 
satisfaction. An anmsing anecdote is told 
concerning this habit. A Brownie who had 
attached himself to a certain house, used to 
hover round the kitchen, uneasy if the ser- 
vants sat up late, which prevented him from 
occupying his place upon the hearth. Some- 
times the impatient Brownie appeared at the 
door, and admonished the servants in the 
following terms : " Gang a' to your beds, sirs, 
and dinna put out the wee grieshoch ; " thus 
anglicized, "Go to your beds, all of 3'ou, and 
don't put out the few embers." The Brownie 
left the hearth at the first crow of the cock. 
In this liking for a nap by the fire, the 
Brownie resembled Milton's lubber fiend, 
but the latter toiled for hire : 

" How the drudging goblin sweat, 
To earn his cream-bowl duly set. 
When in one night, ere glimpse of morn. 
His shadowy flail hath threshed the corn, 
That ten day-laborers could not end; 
Then lies him down the lubber fiend, 
And, stretched out all the chimney's length, 
Basks at the iirc his hairy strength; 
And cropl'ul out of door he flings. 
Ere the first cock his matin rings." 

V Allegro. 
The last Brownie known in Ettrick Forest 
resided in Bodsbeck, a wild and solitary spot, 
where he exercised his functions undisturbed, 
till the scrupulous devotion of an old lady 
induced her to hire him away, as it was 
termed, by placing in his haunt a porringer 
of milk and a piece of money. This hint to 
depart he did not require to be repeated : all 
the night he was heard to howl and cry, 
"Farewell to bonny Bodsbeck," which before 
the dawn he had abandoned forever. 

The inhabitants of Germany believe that 
there exists a race called the Stllle Volke; 
'the silent people.' To every family of emi- 
nence a family of the Stille Volke is at- 
tached, containing just as many members 
as the mortal family. AVhen the lady of the 
mortal family becomes a mother, the queen 
of the Stille Volke enjoys the same blessing, 
and the silent people endeavor to ward off 
any injury which threatens those whom they 
protect. 

It would be impossible to enumerate all the 
different sprites with which superstition has 



FAI 



ISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



827 



filled the woods, waters, hills, and valleys of 
Europe. A few of the most agreeable elves 
have been touched upon. It is not worth 
while to present the dark features of a gloomy 
superstition. The Kelpies and the Wild 
Fluntsmen have found no place in this sketch. 

The legends of the Irish are generally gay, 
exhibiting the character of that poor but 
pleasant people. The Irish fairies are spruce 
little gentlemen and merry little ladies, who 
trip it away with blithe hearts and light foot- 
steps upon their favorite and beautiful places 
of resort. Poor people delight to describe 
wealth and splendor which they do not pos- 
sess, and, accordingly, in the tales of the 
Irish, the palaces of the "good people" are 
full of gold and brilliance. 

FALCONER, William, was born at Edin- 
burgh in 1730, and brought up to the sea. 
An occurrence in his own life forms the 
groundwork of his fine poem, "The Ship- 
wreck." He was lost at sea in 1769. 

FALIERI, Making, Doge of Venice, in the 
fourteenth century, having, previously to his 
elevation, gained brilliant victories for the 
republic. Michael Steno, a young patrician, 
who conceived himself injured, revenged him- 
self by some offensive lines directed against 
the honor of the doge's wife. For this he was 
only punished by a temporary confinement, 
and the doge, burning for deeper revenge, 
formed a plan for punishing the aristocracy 
and annihilating the power of the senate. 
This, however, was discovered, and Falieri 
put to death in 1355. Lord Byron and 
Casimir Dtlavigne have made this story the 
subject of powerful dramas. 

FALKIRK, a town of Stirlingshire in 
Scotland, where the army of Scots commanded 
by Cumyn and Sir William Wallace, was de- 
feated by Edward I. of England, July 22d, 
1298. Between 20,000 and 40,000 of the 
Scotch were slain. A battle was fought at 
Falkirk, Jan. 18th, 1746, between the army 
of George II. and the adherents of Prince 
Charles Stuart, in which the latter were suc- 
cessful. 

FALKLAND, Lucius Carey, Viscount, 
was born in 1610. His juvenile irregularities 
were terminated by an early marriage with a 
young lady to whom he was sincerely at- 
tached. In parliament he distinguished him- 
self by an independent course, although he 



ultimately espoused the royal cause, and 
perished at the battle of Newbury, at the 
age of thirty-four. His private character 
endeared him to all. He was fond of study, 
and once observed, " I pity unlearned gentle- 
men on a rainy day." Lord Falkland was a 
high-minded patriot. Lord Clarendon eulo- 
gized him, as " a person of such prodigious 
parts of learning and knowledge, of that 
inimitable sweetness and delight in conversa- 
tion, of so flowing and obliging a humanity 
and goodness to mankind, and of that primi- 
tive simplicity and integrity of life, that if 
there were no other brand upon this odious 
and accursed civil war than that single loss, 
it must be most infamous and execrable to all 
posterity." 

FALKLAND ISLANDS, a group compris- 
ing two large and numerous small islands, 
mountainous and boggy, in the Sputh At- 
lantic Ocean, east of the Straits of Magellan. 
The harbor of Port Louis is a convenient 
place of refit and refreshment for vessels 
rounding Cape Horn. They were discovered 
in 1592, and belong to Great Britain. 

FAMINE in Egypt, which lasted seven 
years, 1708 e.g. At Rome, when many 
persons threw themselves into the Tiber, 
436 B.C. In Britain, so that the inhabitants 
ate the barks of trees, 272 a.d. One in Scot- 
land, where thousands were starved, 306. 
In England and Wales, vs^here 40,000 were 
starved, 310. All over Britain, 325. At 
Constantinople, 446. In Italy, where parents 
ate their children, 450. In Scotland, 576. 
AH over England, Wales, and Scotland, 739. 
Another in Wales, 747. In Wales and Scot- 
land, 792. Again in Scotland, 803. Again 
in Scotland, when thousands were starved, 
823. A severe one in Wales, 836. In Scot- 
land, which lasted four years, 954. Famines 
in England, 864, 974, 976, 1005. Awful one 
throughout Europe, 1016. In Scotland, 
which lasted two years, 1047. In England, 
1050, 1087. In England and France, leading 
to a pestilential fever, from 1193 to 1195. 
In England, 1251, 1315, 1335. During that of 
1315, the people fed on horses, cats, and dogs. 
In England and France, called the dear sum- 
mer, 1353. In England, 1438, so great that 
bread was made of fern root. In 1565 two 
millions were expended on the importation 
of corn. One in 1748. Another in 1795, 



FAM 



828 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



and in 1801. In the diocese of Drontheim, 
in Norway, in consequence of the intercept- 
ing of supplies by Sweden, 5,000 persons 
perished, 1813. 

^ Scarcity of food was severely felt by the 
Irish poor, in 1814, 1816, 1822, and 1S31. 
The failure of the potato crop in Ireland, in 
1846 and the three following years, caused 
great want and suffering. 

FANCOURT, Samdel, a dissenting minis- 
ter of Salisbury, the first who opened a cir- 
culating library in London ; he came to that 
city about 1740, and set up his library ; died 
in poverty, 1768, aged ninety. 

FARINELLO, an eminent Italian opera 
singer, died about 1780. In the time of 
Philip V. and Ferdinand VI. he was virtually 
premier in Spain. 

FARQUHAR, George, an actor and sol- 
dier, but chiefly remarkable for the ability 
of his dramatic works, born in Londonderry, 
Ireland, in 1678, died in 1707. Poor Far- 
quhar early married a woman who deceived 
him by pretending to be possessed of a for- 
tune, and he sank a victim to over exertion. 
A letter written shortly before his death to 
Wilkes the actor, possesses a touching brevity 
of expression: "Dear Bob, I have not any- 
thing to leave thee to perpetuate my memory 
but two helpless girls. Look upon them 
sometimes, and think of him that was to the 
last moment of his life thine — George Far- 

QUHAR." 

FAUST, John, a goldsmith of Mentz, to 
whom the invention of the art of printing 
has been attributed. He died in 1406. 

FAUST, Doctor John, a dealer in the black 
art, who lived in the fifteenth century. He 
was a student of Wittemberg, but abandoned 
theology for magic. This personage is often 
confounded with the preceding. He figures 
in many old romances and tales, English and 
German. The following is a sketch of one 
of these, "The History of the Damnable 
Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John 
Faustus." This romance is a translation from 
the German. It is filled "up to the blue" 
with magic and supernatural horrors, and 
acquires new interest from the fact it em- 
bodies the same old German tradition upon 
which Goethe founded his wild drama of 
Faust. Faustus is first introduced as a stu- 
'^'>nt of the university of Wittemberg, where 

FA 



he is made doctor of divinity, but soon after 
gives himself up entirely to the study of the 
black art. He makes a compact with the 
devil, by which the latter is to serve him in 
all his desires for the space of twenty-four 
years, at the expiration of which he is to 
deliver himself up, body and soul, to the 
destroyer. This compact is written with his 
own blood, and straightway Mephistophiles 
becomes his familiar spirit. Generally speak- 
ing, this spirit is obedient to the wishes of 
Faustus, but when the doctor puts an impro- 
per question, or tries to do a good action, 
Mephistophiles dragoons him into propriety 
by a rabble rout of imps, or frightens him 
with a cock and a bull story about the other 
world, giving him a foretaste of the pleasant 
pastime of being "tossed upon pitchforks 
from one devil to another." On one occa- 
sion, in particular, a great procession of evil 
spirits came to torment him, in which pro- 
cession Lucifer appears "in a manner of a 
man all hairj^, but of a brown color like a 
squirrel, curled, and his tail turning upward 
on his back as the squirrels use. I think he 
could crack nuts too like a squirrel." 

Then a minute account is given of Faus- 
tus's journey to Tartarus, and through the 
air, and among the planets, and afterward 
through the most famous kingdoms of the 
earth, whereby it appears that he, and not 
Columbus, was the discoverer of America. 
Of course the magic doctor was deeply read 
in all mysteries, and he certainly discourses 
wisely upon comets, and falling stars, and 
other marvels. One chapter relates "how 
Faustus was asked a question concerning 
thunder." His answer is certainly very 
luminous for a doctor in divinity and the 
black art. "It hath commonly been seen 
heretofore," says he, "that before a thunder- 
clap fell a shower of rain, or a gale of wind : 
for commonly after wind fixlleth rain, and 
after rain a thunder-clap, such thickness 
comes to pass when the four winds meet 
together in the heavens, the airy clouds are 
by force beaten against the fixed crystal 
firmament, but when the airy clouds meet 
with the firmament, they are congealed, and 
so strike, and rush against the firmament, 
as great pieces of ice when they meet on the 
waters ; then each other sounded in our 
ears ; and that we call thunder." Afterward 
TT 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



329 



comes a series of the doctor's merry con- 
ceits, showing how he practiced necromancy ; 
how he transported three young dukes 
through the air from Wittemberg to Municli ; 
and how one of them fell from the magic 
cloak on which they sailed through the air, 
and was left behind at Munich, being 
"strucken into an exceeding dumps." We 
are also told how he pawned his leg to a 
Jew ; how he ate a load of hay, and how he 
cheated a horse-jockey, and conjured the 
wheels from a clown's wagon, with many 
other wonders of a similar nature. And 
finally, we are informed that, at the end of 
the appointed time, the evil one came for him 
between twelve and one o'clock at night, and 
after dashing his brains out against the wall, 
left his body in the yard, "most monstrously 
torn and fearful to behold." 

FAWKES, Guy, the principal agent in the 
gunpowder plot, in the reign of James I., 
who, being discovered, and having betrayed 
his accomplices to the number of eighty, 
was executed in 160G. [See Gunpowder 
Plot.] 

FENELON, Francois de Salignac de la 
MoTTE, the venerable Archbishop of C!am- 
bray, was born in 1651. He preached at the 
age of fifteen with success, and was appointed 
Archbishop of Cambray in 1G94. He had 
great success in converting the Huguenots, 
but it was by means of mild persuasion and 
not of infuriate threats. He superintended 
the education of the Dukes of Burgundy, 
Anjou, and Berri, the grandsons of Louis 
XIV. Fenelon died in 1715. His literary 
productions are numerous, but his most cele- 
brated work is "Les Aventures de Tele- 
maque," which inculcates a pure system of 
morality in a pleasing and interesting man- 
ner. 

FERDINAND V., surnamed the Catholic, 
son of John II. of Arragon, was born in 
1453. He married Isabella, Queen of Cas- 
tile, and thus arose the united kingdom of 
Spain. In ten years he conquered the Moors 
of Grenada, and expelled them from Spain 
in 1492. He acquired Naples and Navarre, 
and during his reign America was discov- 
ered by Columbus. He died in 1516 of the 
dropsy. His policy was despotic, and his 
character was stained by the introduction 
of the Inquisition. 



FERGUSON, James, a self-taught experi- 
mental philosopher, mechanist, and astrono- 
mer, was born in Keith in 1710. While a 
shepherd, he watched the stars by night, and 
at an early age constructed a celestial globe. 
For some years he supported himself in 
Edinburgh by his talents as a miniature 
painter. In 1763 he was chosen member 
of the Royal Society. He died in 1776. 

FERRARA, a duchy in upper Italy, for a 
long time ruled by the house of Este, now 
forming part of the States of the Church. 

FESCH, Joseph, Cardinal, the maternal 
uncle of Napoleon Bonaparte, and Archbishop 
of Lyons, was born at Ajaccio, in 1763, and 
died in 1839. 

FEUDAL or FEODAL LAWS, the tenure 
of land, by suit and service, to the lord or 
owner of it, introduced into England by the 
Saxons about 600. The slavery of this ten- 
ure was increased under William L, 1068, 
who, dividing the kingdom into baronies, 
gave them to certain persons, and r squired 
these persons to furnish the king with money 
and a stated number of soldiers. The feudal 
system was discountenanced in France by 
Lous XI. about 1470 ; was limited in England 
by Henry VII., in 1495; but abolished by 
statute, 12th Charles II., 1663. Clanshijp 
was introduced into Scotland by Malcolm II. 
in 1008, and finally broken up by statute in 
1746. 

FEZZAN, anciently Phazania, is a country 
of Africa, south of Tripoli. No exact es- 
timate of the population has been made. It 
perhaps amounts to rather more than 26,000. 
Fezzan is the largest oasis in the great des- 
ert. It is now a Turkish pachalic. 

FICHTE, JouANN Gottlieb, an eminent 
German thinker, was born in Upper Lusatia, 
May 19th, 1762, and died Jan. 21st, 1814. 

FIELDING, Henry, one of the earliest 
and greatest English novelists, was born at 
Sharpham Park, Somersetshire, x\pril 22d, 
1707. He was a great-grandson of the Earl 
of Denbigh. The Earls of Denbigh derived 
their origin from the house of Hapsburgh, 
which supplied emperors to Germany and 
kings to Spain. Gibbon used this fact to 
point his eulogy upon the novelist, who had 
won for himself a more durable glory than 
that of noble birth : " The successors of 
Charles V. may disdain their brethren of 



FIE 



330 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



England ; but the romance of ' Tom Jones,' 
that exquisite picture of human manners, 
will outlive the palace of the Escurial and 
the imperial eagle of the house of Austria." 
Henry's father served under Marlborough 
and rose to the rank of lieutenant-general ; 
his mother was a daughter of Mr. Justice 
Gould. The general had a large family and 
was a bad economist ; Henry was educated 
at Eton and Leyden, where he studied dili- 
gently ; and then at twenty-one he was 
thrown upon his own resources. He came 
to London, and, as he said, must "become a 
hackney writer or a hackney coachman." 
He lived precariously by writing poor pieces 
for the stage. In 1736 he married Miss 
Cradock, who had beauty and £1500, and 
inherited from his mother an estate in Dor- 
setshire worth £200 a year. In Dorsetshire 
he lived dashingly and in three years was 
penniless. Then dramatic writing again, 
political pamphleteering, an attempt to sub- 
sist as a barrister, and failures as a journalist ; 
till in 1742 he published "Joseph Andrews," 
which he wrote in ridicule of Richardson's 
"Pamela." The revels and good fellowship 
of which he was so fond brought gout upon 
him, and he suffered severely from that and 
poverty. His wife, who was his model for 
his heroines, died, and he was whelmed in 
gi-ief. Her maid was almost broken-hearted 
at the loss of so good a mistress. The bond 
of sympathy became a stronger one, and 
Fielding made the maid his wife. Povertj^ 
forced him to accept, in December, 1748, 
what was then considered the degrading 
office of Bow-street magistrate, the duties of 
which he honorably discharged. "Tom 
Jones," that master-piece among English 
novels, was published in February, 1749, and 
"Amelia" in 1751. His constitution was 
shattered ; dropsy, jaundice, and asthma had 
seized him ; and his physicians warned him 
to seek a wanner clime. He sailed for Lis- 
bon, and died there October 8th, 1754, in the 
forty-eighth year of his age. 

The dissipation and errors of Fielding's 
life are not to be palliated, but through them 
all shines a noble and kindly nature. "Tom 
Jones" has been pronounced the best novel 
in the language. This, and Fielding's other 
tales, though touched by the grossness of the 
time, display inimitable wit, wisdom, humor, 



and are wonderful for their truth to life and 
yet the raciest originality. 

FIFTH MONARCHY MEN. These were 
fanatical enthusiasts who arose in the time 
of Oliver Cromwell, and believed the day 
was at hand when Jesus should descend from 
heaven, and erect the fifth universal mon- 
archy. Cromwell dispersed them in 1653. 

FINGAL, an ancient chieftain of Morven, 
a province of Caledonia, born in 282. He 
was the determined enemy of the Romans, 
and is celebrated by Ossian, who represents 
him as his father. 

FISHER, John, Bishop of Rochester, was 
born in 1459. He was eminent for his learn- 
ing and virtues, a firm adherent to the 
church of Rome, and, like Sir Thomas More, 
would not sanction Henry's divorce of Queen 
Catherine. The king threw him into the 
Tower. While in prison the pope made him 
a cardinal, which drew from the king the 
brutal remark, "Well, let the pope send him 
a hat when he will : mother of God ! he shall 
wear it on his shoulders then, for I will leave 
him never a head to set it on." After a 
twelvemonth of confinement, Fisher was exe- 
cuted, June 22d, 1535. 

FITCH, John, was born in East Windsor, 
Conn., in 1743. In 1785 he conceived the 
project of propelling a vessel by the force of 
condensed vapor. By unwearied exertion 
he succeeded in raising the means to build 
a rude steamboat in 1787. It was tried at 
Philadelphia, and sailed eight miles an hour. 
Poor and obscure, he had not the money to 
perfect his invention as he wished. There is 
reason to believe that Fulton had access to 
his plans at a later date. In a letter to Mr. 
Rittenhouse in 1792, Fitch said, "This, sir, 
will be the mode of crossing the Atlantic in 
time, whether I shall bring it to perfection or 
not." People thought him craz5^ His life 
had been rife with perplexities and disap- 
pointments ; he sought solace in strong 
drink, and finally plunged into the Alleghany 
River near Pittsburg in 1798. 

FLANDERS, formerly a province of the 
Austrian Netherlands, now forming the Bel- 
gic provinces of East and West Flanders. 
East Flanders contains 781,000 inhabitants; 
West Flanders 627,000. Both parts are ex- 
tremely fertile, and the Flemings are exten- 
sively employed in manufactm-es. The 



FLA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



331 



Franks seized upon Flanders about 412, and 
in 864 it was granted to Baldwin I., with the 
title of Count of Flanders, the sovereignty 
being reserved to France. The country, by 
the marriage of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, 
with Margaret, daughter of Lewis de Malatin, 
Earl of Flanders, in 1369, came to the house 
of Burgundy ; and it passed to the house 
of Austria by the marriage of Mary, daugh- 
ter and heiress of Charles the Bold, to Maxi- 
milian, Emperor of Germany. Still the 
sovereignty was in France till 1525, when 
Charles V., taking Francis I. prisoner at 
Pavia, released it from that servitude. In 
1556, Charles resigned these territories to his 
son Philip, King of Spain. Flanders shook 
off the Spanish yoke in 1572. In 1725, by 
the treaty of Vienna, it was annexed to the 
German empire. The whole of this country 
was conquered by the French in 1794 ; but 
only part of it now remains in their posses- 
sion, forming the French department of Nord. 
[See Belgium.] 

FLEETWOOD, Charles, a parliamentary 
general in the civil wars, the son of Sir 
William Fleetwood, knight, cup-bearer to 
James I. and Charles I., and comptroller of 
Woodstock park. In 1644, the subject of 
this article was made colonel of horse and 
governor of Bristol. He was afterward 
raised to the rank of lieutenant-general, and 
bad a share in the defeat of Charles IL at 
Worcester. On the death of Ireton, Fleet- 
wood married his widow, and being now 
related to Cromwell, was appointed deputy 
of Ireland, in which place he was succeeded 
by Cromwell's younger son, Henry. Fleet- 
wood joined in deposing Richard, and after 
the restoration he became one of the council 
of state, and commander-in-chief of the 
forces, but afterward retired to private life 
at Stoke Newington, where he died soon 
after. 

FLETCHER, Andrew, commonly called 
Fletcher of Saltoun, was born in 1653. He 
was distinguished by learning and eloquence, 
by courage, disinterestedness, and public 
spirit, but of an irritable and impracticable 
temper. Like many of his most illustrious 
coi temporaries (Milton, for example, Har- 
ringt:)]!, Marvel, and Sidney), Fletcher, from 
the misgovernment of several successive 
princes, conceived a strong aversion to hered- 



itary monarchy ; yet he was no democrat 
He was the head of an ancient Norman 
house, and was proud of his descent. He 
was a fine speaker and a fine writer, and 
proud of his intellectual superiority. Both 
in his character of gentleman and in his 
character of scholar, he looked down with 
disdain on the common people, and was so 
little disposed to intrust them with political 
power that he thought them unfit even to 
enjoy personal freedom. It is a curious cir- 
cumstance that this man, the most honest, 
fearless, and uncompromising republican of 
his time, should have been the author of a 
plan for reducing a large part of the working 
classes of Scotland to slavery. He bore, in 
truth, a lively resemblance to those Roman 
senators who, while they hated the name of 
king, guarded the privileges of their order 
with inflexible pride against the encroach- 
ments of the multitude, and governed their 
bondmen and bondwomen by means of the 
stocks and the scourge. — Macaulay. 

He opposed the arbitrary measures of the 
Duke of York in Scotland; his estate was 
confiscated, and he fled to the Continent. He 
came to England with the Duke of Mon- 
mouth in the rebellion of 1685, and was ap- 
pointed to command the cavalry of the ex- 
pedition. Fletcher was ill mounted; and, 
indeed, there were few chargers in the camp 
which had not been taken from the plough. 
Ordered upon a sudden and important ser- 
vice, he thought that the exigency of the 
case warranted him in borrowing, without 
asking permission, a fine horse belonging to 
Dare, the mayor of Lynn, who had joined 
the revolt. Dare resented this liberty, and 
assailed Fletcher with gross abuse. Fletcher 
kept his temper better than any who knew 
him expected. At last Dare, presuming on 
the patience with which his insolence was 
endured, ventured to shake a switch at the 
high-born and high-spirited Scot. Fletcher's 
blood boiled. He drew a pistol and shot 
Dare dead. Such sudden and violent revenge 
would not have been thought strange in 
Scotland, where the law had always been 
weak ; where he who did not right himself 
by the strong hand was not likely to be 
righted at all; and where, consequently, 
human life was held almost as cheap as in 
the worst governed provinces of Italy. But 



FLE 



332 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the people of the southern part of the island I charging their shot into the upper air. The 
were not accustomed to see deadly weapons fourth battle, called the battle of Ligny, was 



used and blood spilled on account of a rude 
word or a gesture, except in duel between 
gentlemen with equal arms. There was a 
general cry for vengeance on the foreigner 
who had murdered an Englishman. Mon- 
mouth could not resist the clamor. Fletcher, 
who, when his first burst of rage had spent 
itself, was overwhelmed with remorse and 
sorrow, escaped to the Continent, and re- 
paired to Hungary, where he fought bravely 
against the common enemy of Christendom. 
To Monmouth's cause this was a serious loss, 
but the event was fortunate for Fletcher, 
since he was saved from the dangerous fate 
to which the insurrection came. He returned 
to England with William of Orange, became 
prominent in the political aflairs of Scotland, 
and died in 1716. In one of Fletcher's 
pamphlets, occurs the memorable saying, 
" I knew a very wise man that believed that 
if a man were permitted to make all the 
ballads, he need not care who should make 
the laws of a nation." 

FLETCHER, John, son to the Bishop of 
London, a famous dramatic writer, born in 
1576, died of the plague in 1625. [See Beau- 
mont AND Fletcueu.] 

FLEURUS or Flerus; a town of Bel- 
gium, in the province of Hainault, on the 
Sambre, six miles north-east of Charleroi. 
Four battles have been fought here. In 
1622 the troops of Spain and Germany were 
matched against each other. In 1690 the 
French defeated the allies here with great 
loss. June 17th, 1794, the French under 
Jourtan gained a complete victory over the 
Austrians and allies, and it was on this occa- 
sion that aerostation was found to be of prac- 
tical use. Coutel, the chief of the aerostatic 
corps, ascended with a general and adjutant, 
in a balloon of great size, hovered over the 
enemy, and reconnoitered their works. The 
information thus gained was conveyed to the 
French by means of signal flags. During the 
process of inflation, the fire of a battery was 
opened upon the assistants, and as the bal- 
loon ascended for the first time, a cannon-ball 
passed between its neck and the gondola. 
Soon, however, the daring aeronauts attained 
a safe elevation, and could see beneath them 
the then harmless cannon fruitlessly dis- 1 



fought June 16th, 1815, between the Prus- 
sians and French, and was desperately con- 
tested. [See Ligny.] 

FLEURY, Andre Hercule de. Cardinal, 
preceptor to Louis XV., became prime 
minister on the disgrace and foil of his rival, 
the Duke of Bourbon. His administra- 
tion was conducted with great skill and ad- 
dress ; commerce and industry flourished 
under him, and he had the fortune to concili- 
ate the differences between the courts of Lon- 
don and Madrid. He died in extreme age in 
1743. 

FLODDEN FIELD, Battle of. James IV. 
of Scotland took part with Louis XII. of 
France against Henry VIII. of England, and 
this battle between the English and Scotch, 
Sept. 9th, 1513, was the result. James, 
most of his nobles, and 10,000 of his army, 
were slain, while the English, whom the 
Earl of Surrey commanded, sustained only 
insignificant loss. 

FLORIAN, a French dramatic writer, 
novelist, and fabulist, married a niece of 
Voltaire. He was a member of the French 
academy, and died Sept. 13th, 1794. 

FLORIDA, one of these United States, 
has an area of 59,268 square miles, and in 
1860 had 140,425 inhabitants, of whom 
61,745 were slaves, and 982 free colored 
persons. It consists of a narrow strip be- 
tween Georgia and Alabama, and the Gulf of 
Mexico, with a vast peninsula which sunders 
that gulf from the Atlantic. The southern 
part of this peninsula is low and flat, being 
mostly covered with swamps called everglades. 
In the north the surface of the country is in 
some parts slightly undulating, and the sur- 
face west of the neck of the peninsula is 
somewhat more uneven. Among the ever- 
glades are numerous tracts of pine land, 
prairies, and hummocks, and these with some 
marshes mark the northern part. The soil 
is generally sand, except in the hummocks, 
where it is clay mixed with sand : these are 
scattered throughout the country, varying in 
extent from a few acres to a thousand, and 
forming altogether but an inconsiderable 
portion of the peninsula ; they are covered 
with a growth of oak, dog-wood, magnolia, 
and pine, and afford excellent arable land. 



FLO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



333 




The prairies, or savannahs, are often miles in 
extent, fine natural pastures for great herds of 
cattle. The barrens are overgrown with forests 
of pine, with little underwood. The swamps 
are either formed by the inundation of the 
rivers, which, overflowing their high wooded 
banks, flood the low lands in the rear, or by 
the drainage of the surrounding region : the 
latter or pine-barren swamps are overgrown 
with cypress, and the river swamps are cov- 
ered with a heavy growth of timber. The 
sul)Stratum of the eastern part of the penin- 
sula is clay mixed with sand, but that of the 
western is a rotten limestone, undermined in 
many places by subterraneous streams, form- 
ing cavities called sinks. Connected with 
the same rock formation is the bursting forth 
of numerous springs so copiously as to form 
at once full-grown rivers. Indeed, they rather 
seem to be eruptions of subterraneous streams, 
suddenly emerging from dai'k labyrinths un- 
derneath, through which they have long 
crept. The central district of Florida is the 
finest tract. Here are many pine barrens, 
but among them are gentle eminences of fer- 
tility, supporting a vigorous growth of oaks 
and hickories, while numerous streams flow 
through the country or expand into beautiful 
lakes. Travelers have described the water 
in these rivers and lakes as so pellucid that 
the boat seems floating in the air. The 
warmth and humidity of the climate compen- 
sate for the poverty of the soil, and give it a 
vegetation of great variety and luxuriance. 
Ma,jestic forests abound with game, and give 



a peculiar and picturesque appearance. In- 
termixed with the dark glossy leaves of the 
oaks appear flowers of the most vivid and 
varied colors. Groves of magnolias cover 
immense tracts, bending beneath the weight 
of their snowy blossoms, and fill the air with 
perfume. The exportation of timber is a 
great source of the wealth of Florida. Cot- 
ton, sugar, and tobacco are the other staple 
exports. Tropical fruits flourish and flavor 
excellently. The long coast line of Florida 
is so dotted with keys and banks that there 
are few available harbors. The mild winters 
make it much resorted to by those afiiicted 
with pulmonary disorders. 

Florida was discovered in 1512, by Juan 
Ponce de Leon, in his famous search after 
the fabulous fountain of youth, which was 
to restore health and beauty to the aged, on 
Palm Sunday {Pasciia Florida), and hence 
the name. The French and Spaniards long 
made it the theatre of contest, but at length 
the Spaniards were established in the town 
and fort of St. Augustine. In 1763 Florida 
was ceded to Great Britain, in exchange for 
the island of Cuba. In 1781 the Spaniards 
conquered West Florida, and by the peace 
of 1783, Great Britain relinquished both prov- 
inces to Spain. Spain reluctantly ceded it 
to the United States in 1820, and in 1845 it 
was admitted as a state. The most import- 
ant event in its recent history is the war 
against the Seminoles from 183.5 to 1842. 
The greater portion of the tribe have been 
removed beyond the Mississippi. 



FLO 



834 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



The general assembly, consisting of two 
houses, meets biennially on the fourth Monday 
of November. The governor is chosen by 
the people for four years, and is ineligible for 
the succeeding term. The right of suffrage 
belongs to every free white male citizen aged 
twgnty-one or more, who has resided in the 
state for two years, and the county six 
months. Florida seceded from the Union, 
Jan. 10, 1861. Her important island posi- 
tions, however, at Key \Vest, Fort Jefferson 
on the Tortugas, and Fort Pickens on Santa 
Rosa Island, opposite Pensacola, which to- 
gether command the Gulf of Mexico, were 
fortunately retained to the Union. The state 
suffered comparatively little by the war. 

Tallahassee is the capital. Pensacola has 
one of the safest and most roomy harbors on 
the gulf: the government has a navy -yard 
here. .St. Augustine is the oldest town in 
the United States, having been settled by 
the Spaniards almost fifty years before the 
English reared their huts at Jamestown in 
Virginia. South of Florida, a chain of small 
rocky islands, called Keys from the Spanish 
cayo^ extend to the westward. South of the 
bank upon which the Keys rise, and sepa- 
rated from them by a navigable channel, is a 
long narrow coral ledge, known as the Flor- 
ida Reef. The most important of the Keys 
is Key West, a corruption of Cayo Hueso, 
'Bone Key.' Long the haunt of wreckers, 
smugglers, and pirates, its reputation of late 
years has improved. It is six miles long by 
two in breadth, with a large and well shel- 
tered harljor. Sponges are gathered, turtles 
and their eggs collected on the neighboring 
key.s, and salt made by evaporation. Wreck- 
ing is the most important business, for the 
neighboring reefs are rife with disaster. 

FLOYD, William, the first delegate from 
New York that signed the Declaration of 
Independence, was born on Long Island, 
Dec. 17th, 1734. He was a lawyer. An 
opulent landed proprietor, he was one who 
like Charles Carrol set his all at stake, and 
his property was laid waste by the British 
troops. Having commanded the militia of 
Long Island during the war, and served as 
representative in the first federal congress, 
he removed to a farm on the Mohawk River 
in 1803, where he died Aug. 4th, 1821, at the 
age of eighty-seven. 



FOO 



FOLARD, Chevalier Charles de, a cele- 
brated tactician, born at Avignon in 1G69. 
He was aid-de-camp under the Duke de Ven- 
dome in 1702, was wounded in the battle of 
Cassano, and made prisoner at Blenheim. 
He next served against the Turks, and then 
entered into the service of Charles XII., dur- 
ing the latter part of his career. He died at 
Avignon, in 1752. 

FONTAINE, Jean de la, one of the most 
distinguished literary men in the reign of 
Louis XIV., born in 1G21. Fontaine was 
educated at Rheims, and went to Paris, where 
he lived in habits of intimacy with the wits 
of the age. He died at Paris, in 1695, aged 
seventy-four. The most simple of men in 
private life, his writings exhibit great shrewd- 
ness and knowledge of mankind. His early 
works are tainted with licentiousness. He 
is best known by his "Fables." 

FONTAINEBLEAU, a town of France, 
thirteen leagues south-east of Paris, where is 
a splendid palace. It is famous, in diplo- 
matic history, as the place where several 
treaties have been concluded. It was here 
that Napoleon signed his first abdication, 
April 5th, 1814, apd bade an jiffectionate 
farewell to his devoted troops. 

FONTENELLE, Bernard le Bovier de, 
a distinguished French savant, author of 
"Plurality of Words," born 1657, and lived 
to January, 1757, nearly one hundred years. 
His mother was a sister of the celebrated 
Corneille. 

FONTENOY, a village of Belgium, where 
the French, headed by Count Saxe, defeated 
the English, Hanoverians, Dutch, and Aus- 
trians, under the command of the Duke of 
Cumberland, April 30th (May 11th), 1745. 
The battle was fought with great obstinacy, 
and the carnage on both sides was considera- 
ble. Count Saxe, who was at the time ill 
of the disorder of which he afterward died, 
was borne about in a litter, encouraging his 
soldiers. 

FOOTE, Samuel, a comic dramatist and 
actor, born at Truro, Cornwall, in 1721, died 
at Dover, in October, 1777. He was a great 
mimic aud a man of wit. A gentleman, who 
was the fortunate possessor of some fine 
Constantia wine, after praising its good quali- 
ties, invited Foote to taste. A very small 
bottle was produced, together with a very 



HISTORTi: AND BIOGRAPHY. 



335 



small glass, which the niggardly host half 
filled. The wag swallowed this immediately. 
"Well, Foote," said his entertainer, "what 
do you think of that ? It is forty -seven years 
old." "What do I think?" replied Foote; 
"why, sir, I think it's very little for its 
age." 

FORD, John, one of the finest of the old 
English dramatists, was born in 1586, and 
died in 1G39. 

FOSTER, John, an original and vigorous 
essayist, was born in 1770, and died in 1843. 
He was a Baptist clergyman in England. 

FOUCHE, Joseph, the famous minister 
of police under Bonaparte, was born at 
Nantes in 1763. At the beginning of the 
revolution he distinguished himself by vio- 
lent harangues, and was sent to the national 
convention in 1792, where he attached him- 
self to Marat and voted for the death of 
Louis XVI. During the reign of terror, 
Fouche was active in spoliation and atrocity. 
When Robespierre fell, Fouche shared in his 
odium, and withdrew from the scene for a 
couple of years. Under the directory he 
came forth, and was successively ambassador 
to Milan, to Holland, and minister of police. 
This latter post was the one for which Fouche 
was fitted both by nature and his career. He 
carried espionage to an almost fabulous per- 
fection. At the creation of the empire Napo- 
leon made him Duke of Otranto. After the 
battle of Waterloo he advised the abdication 
of Napoleon, and at the same time made his 
own peace with the Bourbons. His services 
were retained some time by Louis XVIII., 
but he soon went as ambassador to Dres- 
den. The general law of 1816 against all 
regicides deprived him of this last post, and 
after traveling awhile in Germany, he settled 
at Trieste. He died in 1820, leaving a for- 
tune estimated at $2,500,000. 

FOUQUIER-TINVILLE, Anthony Quen- 
TiN, an attorney, born in 1747, rendered his 
name infamous during the French revolu- 
tion. He obtained from Robespierre the post 
of public accuser, but was put to death as 
one of the revolutionary tribunal, May 7th, 
1795. 

FOURIER, Charles, the distinguished 
social philosopher, was born at Besancon in 
1772; died in Paris, 1837. 

FOX, Charles James, second son of Henry 



Fox, the first Lord Holland, was born Jan. 
14th, 1748. His mother was Lady Caroline 
Lennox, daughter of the Duke of Richmond, 
who was a grandson of Chai-les II., and so 
very proud of his sinister origin that neither 
he nor his duchess could consent that their 
daughter should wed Lord Holland, whose 
father Sir Stephen had been a singing-boy in 
a cathedral, while she was a great-grand- 
daughter of Louise de Querouaille, the ' Pop- 
ish mistress.' They commanded her to wed 
elsewhere, and an evening was set for the 
gentleman's formal introduction as her suitor. 
Lady Caroline, that afternoon, completed her 
toilet by shaving her eye-brows ! The ducal 
parents were very wroth, but it was plain 
she could not be presented to a new lover in 
that plight. Before morning she had eloped 
with Lord Holland. The match was happy. 
Lord Holland was a queer one. Thus, one 
day, Master Charles James very earnestly 
insisted upon smashing his watch just for the 
fun of it. " Well, if you must, I suppose 
you must," said papa ; and the watch was 
smashed. The father is said to have lured 
the son to play, and at a later day paid up 
his gaming debts with £140,000. Play was 
a blemish of the age, and did not spare 
Fox: yet while in office, we are told, he 
never touched a card ; and when at last his 
political friends wiped out the score against 
him, he abandoned the wretched habit alto- 
gether. 

He received his education at Eton, where 
he distinguished himself by his classical 
exercises. From that seminary he removed 
to Hertford College, Oxford, after which he 
went on his travels. In 1768 he was returned 
to parliament for Midhurst. In 1770 he was 
appointed a commissioner of the admiralty, 
which place he resigned in 1772, and soon 
after obtained a place at the treasury board. 
Some differences arising between him and 
Lord North, he was dismissed in 1774, and 
from that time Fox assumed the character 
of a whig. 

Almost the whole of his political life was 
spent in opposition. In vehemence and 
power of argument he resembled Demos- 
thenes; but there the resemblance ended. 
He possessed a strain of ridicule and wit, 
which nature denied to the Athenian ; and 
it was the more powerful, as it always ap- 



I 



FOX 



836 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



peared to be blended with argument, and to 
result from it. To the perfect composition 
which so eminently distinguished the speeches 
of Demosthenes, he had no pretense. He 
was heedless of method : haying the complete 
command of good words, he never sought for 
better; if those which occurred expressed 
his meaning clearly and forcibly, he paid little 
attention to their arrangement or harmony. 
The moment of his grandeur was when, 
after he had stated the argument of his adver- 
sary, with much greater strength than his 
adversary had done, and with much greater 
than any of his hearers thought possible, he 
seized it with the strength of a giant, and 
tore and trampled on it to destruction. If, 
at this moment, he had possessed the power 
of the Athenian over the passions or the 
imaginations of his hearers, he might have 
disposed of the house at his pleasure ; but 
this was denied to him ; and, on this ac- 
count, his speeches fell very short of the 
effect which otherwise they must have pro- 
duced. 

In 1780 he was elected for Westminster, 
which, with a slight interruption, he con- 
tinued to represent to his death. When the 
Rockingham party came into power, Mr. 
Fox was appointed secretary of state for 
foreign affairs. On the dissolution of this 
administration, by the death of the chief, a 
coalition was formed between Mr. Fox and 
Lord North, who, with their respective ad- 
herents, came again into office in 1733. The 
introduction of the India bill occasioned 
their final dismissal the same year. In 1788 
Mr. Fox traveled, but while in Italy he was 
recalled in consequence of the king's insan- 
ity. On this great occasion, he maintained 
that the Prince of Wales had a right to as- 
sume the regency, which was opposed by 
Mr. Pitt and the parliament. The next re- 
markable event in the public life of Mr. Fox 
was the part he took with regard to the 
French revolution. That change he hailed 
fts a blessing, while Burke denounced it as a 
curse ; and this difference of sentiment pro- 
duced a schism between them which was 
never repaired. On the death of Mr. Pitt, 
in 1806, Mr. Fox came again into office, as 
secretary of state; but he died of dropsy, 
Sept. 13 th, 1806. His remains were interred 
in Westminster Abbey. 



FOX 



FOX, George, the founder of the society of 
Friends or Quakers, was the son of a weaver 
at Drayton in Leicestershire, and born in 
1624. The shoemaker to whom he was in- 
dentured, traded also in wool and cattle, and 
George spent many of his hours in tending 
flocks, an employment which fostered his bent 
for musing and solitude. His communings 
finally wrought him to that religious enthu- 
siasm in which he fancied himself receaving 
messages from on high. An impressive pas- 
sage in his "Journal" has been paraphrased 
in Tennyson's "Two Voices." "One morn- 
ing, as I was sitting by the fire, a great cloud 
came over me, and a temptation beset me, 
and I sate still. And it was said, All things 
come by nature ; and the Elements and Stars 
came over me, so that I was in a moment 
quite clouded with it ; but inasmuch as I sate 
still, and said nothing, the people of the house 
perceived nothing. And as I sate still under 
it, and let it alone, a living hope arose in me 
■v#iich cried. There is a living God who made 
all things. And immediately the cloud and 
temptation vanished away, and the life rose 
over it all, and my heart was glad, and I 
praised the living God." Conceiving himself 
divinely commissioned to convert his coun- 
trymen from their sins, he began about 1647 
to travel through the country, and harangue 
at the market-places upon the vices of the age. 
He had formed the opinions that a learned 
education is unnecessary to a minister ; that 
the existence of a separate clerical profession 
is unwarranted by the Bible ; that the Crea- 
tor of the world is not a dweller in temples 
made with hands; and that "the light of 
Christ within" is a rule of duty superior 
to the Scriptures. He believed that he was 
divinely commanded to abstain from taking 
off his hat to any one in homage ; to use the 
words 'thee' and 'thou' in addressing all 
persons ; to bid nobody good-morrow or good- 
night ; and never to bend his knee to any one 
in authority, or take an oath, even on the most 
solemn occasion. He sometimes entered 
churches during service, and was moved to 
interrupt the clergymen by vociferous contra- 
diction. By such breaches of order, and such 
rude speech as " Come down, thou deceiver," 
he naturally gave great offense, which some- 
times led to long imprisonment, and some- 
times to severe handling by the populace. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



337 



His sect became numerous. At Derby Fox 
admonished the justice and those with him 
to tremble at the word of the Lord : the 
justice called him a quaker (whence the 
name arose), and threw him into a dungeon 
for a year. Fox visited Ireland, the Ameri- 
can colonies, and many parts of Europe, and 
died in London in 1690, worn down by the 
toils and hardships his zeal had brought upon 
him. 

FOX, John, a pious Protestant, was born 
at Boston, England, in 1517. His renun- 
ciation of popery lost him his fellowship at 
Oxford, and for a time he was much strait- 
ened for the wherewithal of life. After the 
accession of Elizabeth his fortune was easier. 
He died in 1587. He is best known for his 
" Book of Martyrs." 

FRANCE has an area of 203,736 square 
miles; population in 1861, 37,472,132. The 
Pyrenees separate it from Spain, the Alps from 
Italy, the Jura mountains from Switzerland, 
the Rhine from the duchy of Baden, but the 
rest of the frontier is conventional, and has 
often varied with the fortunes of war. France 
has ever been considered one of the most ag- 
ricultural countries of the continent ; yet the 
husbandry is often rude, and the implements 
used ancient and clumsy. The great divi- 
sion of property arising from the law of equal 
distribution among all the children at the 
demise of the parents, lessens the size of the 
farms. The northern part is the best tilled. 
The ordinary grains are grown, and in the 
southerly portions, maize, the vine, the mul- 
berry, and the olive flourish. Beet-root is 
extensively grown for the manufiicture of 
sugar. The basins of the Rhone, the Ga- 
ronne, and the Upper Loire are the most dis- 
tinguished for their nuilberry plantations and 
the produce of silk. The vintage is among 
the chief harvests of France; the average 
yearly produce of the vineyards is 924,000,000 
gallons, of which about one-seventh is distilled 
into brandy. 

France was anciently divided into thir- 
ty-three provinces of very unequal extent : Ar- 
tois, Picardy, Champagne, Lorraine, Alsace, 
Franche Comte, Burgundy, Orleans, Isle of 
France, Perche, Normandy, Brittany, Maine, 
Anjou, Touraine, Berri, Nivernois, Bourbon, 
Lj'onnois, Auvergne, Marche, Poitou, Aunis, 
Saintonge, Angoumois, Limousin, Guienne, 



Gascony, Beam, Foix, Rousillon, Languedoc, 
Dauphiny, and Provence. But since the 
revolution it has been divided into eighty-six 
departments. The departments formed from 
the six northern provinces are the department 
of Lhe North, Pas-de-Calais, Somme, Lower 
Seine, Eure, Calvados, Manche, Orne, Seine, 
Seine-et-Oise, Seine-et-Marne, Oise, Aisne, 
Aube, Upper Marne, Marne, and Ardennes. 
The departments formed from the six provin- 
ces of the east are Meurthe, Moselle, Meuse, 
Vosges, Lower Rhine, Upper Rhine, Doubs, 
Upper Saone, Jura, Cote-d'or, Yonne, Saone-et- 
Loire, Ain, Rhone, Loire, Isere, Drome, Upper 
Alps. The departments formed from the 
seven provinces of the south are the Mouths 
of the Rhone, Lower Alps, Var, Upper Gar- 
onne, Tarn, Aude, Herault, Gard, Lozere, 
Upper Loire, Ardeche, Eastern Pyrenees, 
Ariege, Lower Pyrenees, Gironde, Dordogne, 
Lot-et-Garonne, Lot, Aveyron, Tarn-et-Gar- 
onne, Landcs, Gers, Upper Pyrenees, Cor- 
sica. The departments formed from the six 
provinces of the west are Charente, Lower 
Charente, Vienne, Deux-Sevres, Vendee, 
Maine-et-Loire, lUe-et-Vilaine, Cotes-du-Nord, 
Finistcrre, Morbihan, Lower Loire, Sarthe, 
Mayenne. The departments formed from the 
eight central provinces are Loiret, Eure-et- 
Loir, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire, Cher, In- 
dre, Nievre, Allier, Creuse, Upper Vienne, 
Correze, Puy-de-Dome, Cantal, and Vaucluse. 
These departments are each administered by 
a prefect. They are subdivided into arron- 
disements, and these again into cantons and 
communes. 

Paris, the metropolis of France, is the sub- 
ject of a separate article. Lyons, at the con- 
fluence of the Saone and Rhone, capital of the 
department of Rhone, is the second city in 
the empire ; population over 318,803. It was 
founded by the Romans, b.c. 42. In a single 
night, A.D 59, the town was laid in ashes by 
fires from lightning. It was rebuilt by the 
aid of Nero, to whom the citizens adhered 
in his downfall. In 1793, the people of Ly- 
ons rose against the tyranny of the Jacobins. 
An army was sent by the convention to put 
them down, and the city sustained a siege 
for two months. After its surrender thou- 
sands of the inhabitants were massacred by 
the terrorists under Collot d'Herbois, and all 
the principal edifices were demolished. In 



22 



FRA 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the spring of 1814, several severe actions 
took place in the neighborhood, between the 
French and Austrians. On the return of 
Napoleon from Elba, in March, 1815, he was 
received here with acclamation. Lyons is a 
place of much traffic, and its manufactures 
are the most important in France. Its silks, 
for texture, hue, and beauty, are not equaled 
in the world. In their manufacture half the 
population are directly or indirectly con- 
cerned. Marseilles, on the Mediterranean, 
is the third city of the empire, and capital of 
the department of Bouches-du-Ehone ; pop- 
ulation, 260,910 in 1861. A Grecian settle- 
ment was made here as early as b.c. 600. 
Cicero styled it the Athens of Gaul. Hav- 
ing embraced the cause of Pompey, it was 
taken by Csesar, b.c. 49, after a long siege. 
During the thirteenth century it freed itself 
from feudal subjection and became a muni- 
cipal republic. It came under the perma- 
nent dominion of the French crown in 1482. 
The prosperity of Marseilles is due to its ex- 
tensive commerce. Its safe- harbor, in which 
i\y the flags of all nations, is formed bj^ a 
small inlet of the sea, running into the heart 
of the city, which is built around it. Bor- 
deaux, an important port, the capital of the 
former province of Guienne, and of the present 
department of Gironde, sits on the left bank 
of the Garonne, and contains 162,750 inhabit- 
ants. It is a city of great antiquity, and distin- 
guished for its gloomy splendor. It has some 
magnificent churches. Its academy of sci- 
ences has a library of 128,000 volumes. The 
Romans called this place Burdigala. In 
the fifth century it was in the blighting hands 
of the Goths, and later it was pillaged and 
burned by the Normans. When Louis VII. 
married Eleanor, daughter of the last Duke 
of Guienne, it fell into the hands of the French. 
"When that princess was repudiated, it, with 
all the south-east of France, came into the 
hands of the Duke of Normandy, afterward 
Henry II. of England, her second husband. 
It was restored to France under Charles VII. 
in 1451. During the revolution it was de- 
vastated by the terrorists, as being the seat 
of the Girondists. Bonaparte's continental 
system bore heavily upon the trade of the in- 
habitants of Bordeaux, and accordingly they 
willingly declared themselves in favor of the 
Bourbons, March 12th, 1814. Wine, brandy, 



and fruits are the great articles of export 
from Bordeaux. The finest clarets are from 
this part of France. Havre (population 
74,336), at the mouth of the Seine, is an im- 
portant port. One of the most interesting 
towns in France is Rouen, a little higher on 
the Seine; population 102,649. Its ancient 
name was Rotomagus. It was the capital of 
the duchy of Normandy. It was besieged by 
the English under Henry V. in 1418, and res- 
olutely defended by Alain Blanchard, with 
4,000 men. Famine, after five months, com- 
pelled the garrison to surrender, and Henr}' 
soiled his fame by the execution of the brave 
Blanchard. For thirty years the English held 
the town, and here in 1431 they burnt Joan 
of Arc. The tall, narrow houses of old 
Rouen are often highly pictui'esque, and curi- 
ous for their rich carvings and quaint Gothic 
ornaments. The noble cruciform cathedral, 
whose spire springs 433 feet toward the skj^, 
and the still purer Gothic church of St. Ouen, 
are objects of note in this ancient town. 
Rouen ranks next to Lyons among the man- 
ufacturing towns of France, and is a great 
seat of the cotton manufacture. 

The cathedral of Strasburg is yet more beau- 
tiful than that of Rouen. It was founded in 
1015, and not completed till 1439. The spire, 
the loftiest in the world, rises 466 feet above 
the pavement; at the outset a similar spire 
was intended to rise over the south portal. 
The airy grace of the architecture, the beauty 
of the sculptured ornaments, and the rich- 
ness of the many-hued windows, place this 
ancient pile among the foremost grandeurs 
of Gothic art. Strasburg (population 82,014) 
is on the left bank of the arrowy Rhine, and 
the chief town of fruitful Alsace. German 
is the language of the common people in 
this part of France, though French is gener- 
ally understood. By the fortifications and 
citadel of Louis XIV., Strasburg was made 
one of the strongest places in Europe. At 
Rheims is another ancient cathedral of great 
beauty. Before its altar the kings of France 
have been crowned for centuries, and at its 
font Clovis, the founder of the monarchy, was 
baptized from paganism into the Christian 
church. Rheims has some 44,000 inhabit- 
ants, and extensive woolen manufactures; 
yet it is a dull old town, and its wide streets 
are grass-grown for the lack of bustle. Caen 



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HISTORY AND BIOGHAPHY. 



Hd 




CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME AT 



was anciently the capital of lower Normandy, 
and the favorite residence of ^Yilliam the 
Conqueror, who was buried in the Ahhayc- 
aux-Hommes^ which he built. Caen was 
taken and plundered by Edward III. of Eng- 
land, who met with a desperate resistance. 
" The town was then," says Froissart, " large, 
strong, and full of drapery and all other sorts 
of merchandise, rich citizens, noble dames 
and damsels, and fine churches." Caen is 
still a fine town, the centre of consideraljle 
trade and manufactures, and the dwelling- 
I place of 40,000 people. Grenoble, capital 
'Of the department of Tsere, and of the ancient 
'Dauphiny, was the first city to open its gates 



to Napoleon, when he returned from Elba. 
The garrison had taken up arms to resist the 
little band of imperialists, when Napoleon, 
advancing and uncovering his breast, said to 
them, " If there be one among you, who 
would slay his general and emperor, he can 
do it. Behold, I am defenseless." He was 
answered by animating shouts of '■'Vive 
VEmpereur.'" The population of Grenoble is 
27,000. The town is largely engaged in the 
manufacture of kid-gloves. [See Bayonne, 
Brest, Nantes, Paris, Toulon, Toulouse.] 

The territory of France is admirably de- 
fended by nature against invasion, except 
toward the north-east. The Atlantic coast 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



has few harbors of any depth, and those are 
hard of access or strongly defended. The 
Pyrenees would be impassable in the face of 
an aroused nation ; the wall of the Alps, the 
Jura, and the Vosges, on the eastern frontier, 
equally so. But on the Bavarian, Prussian, 
and Belgian frontiers, there are no natural 
defenses. In this quarter, therefore, military 
science has done its utmost to ci-inmand all 
the great approaches, and in no other country 
are there so many strongly fortified towns in 
a same extent of territory. Here are the 
fortresses of Dunkirk, Lisle, Douay, Cam- 
bray, Valenciennes, Conde, Maubeuge, Av- 
esnes, Rocroy, Givet, Charlemont, Mezieres, 
Sedan, Thionville, Metz, Bitche, and Weis- 
emburg. Along the Rhenish frontier (the 
proper defense of which is not the Rhine, 
however, but the Vosges) are the strong- 
holds of Ilaguenau, Strasburg, Schelestadt, 
andNeufBrisach. Bcfort, Besancon, and the 
Fort-de-1'Ecluse command the entrance from 
Switzerland. Toward the Alps and Sardinia 
are Grenoble and Briancon. The Pyrenean 
passes are warded by Perpignan, Bellegarde, 
Mont Louis, St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, and Bay- 
onne. Many of the towns in the interior are 
.ortified, but Paris, with its continuous wall 
and detached forts, is the most important. 
The great naval stations and dock-yards are 
at Brest, Toulon, Rochefort, Cherbourg and 
L'Orient. 

The principal stock of the French race is 
the Celtic, admixed with the Romans, Visi- 
goths, and Franks. The Catholic is the pre- 
dominant religion of the country : both Cath- 
olic and Protestant clergymen are supported 
by the state. Education is carefully fostered 
by the government. The scheme of public 
instruction embraces a wide range of institu- 
tions and acquirements. Besides the ordinary 
academies and elementary schools, and the 
great universities and institutes, there are 
military schools, such as the Polytechnic and 
that of St. Cyr ; naval schools, as at Brest, 
and the marine schools of surgery at Roche- 
fort and Toulon ; normal schools in almost 
every department, for the training of teachers ; 
the Conservatoire of Arts and Trades, the 
Conservatoire of Music and Oratory, the Im- 
perial School of the Fine Arts, all at Paris ; 
schools of roads and bridges, schools of mines, 
schools of agriculture, schools of arts, and 



trades, and manufactures, schools of design, 
&c. Thus, throughout the whole empire, in- 
dustrial education is provided ; sometimes of 
a theoretical character, and sometimes exceed- 
ingly practical, as in the schools of weaving at 
Lyons and Nismcs, of ship-building at La Ro- 
chelle, or lace-making at Dieppe. As a conse- 
quence, the French hold high rank among 
ingenious and enlightened nations. The in- 
ventions of French chemists and their improve- 
ment of chemical science have done much in 
producing with economy and expedition the 
many chemical agents employed in the various 
branches of manufactures, particularly dyeing. 
The cloths and other woolens fabricated are of 
the best quality. The cotton manufacture is 
still more important, and the calicoes are wide- 
ly approved. French silks surpass all others for 
pure brilliancy of color and exquisite taste in 
patterns. Lijewelry, marquetry, ornamental 
bronze, and furniture, the French are almost 
unrivaled ; in chronometers and instruments 
for scientific purposes they are wholly so. 
Finest porcelain is made at Sevres, Paris, and 
Limoges. During the wars at the beginning 
of the present century, English cruisers cut 
France off from supplies of sugar ; the saccha- 
rine properties of the beet were tested ; and 
sugar from beet-root is now a great branch of 
manufacture. The leading exports from 
France are wine, brandy, liqueurs, salt, linen, 
hempen cloth, woolens, silks, cottons, hats, 
jewelry and household furniture. 

France was called by the Romans Transal- 
pine Gaul, or Gaul beyond the Alps, to dis- 
tinguish it from Cisalpine Gaul, on the Italian 
side of the Alps. Like other countries, it soon 
became a desirable object to the ambitious 
Romans, and, after a brave resistance, was 
annexed to their empire by the invincible 
arms of Julius Caesar, about 48 B.C. Gaul 
continued in the possession of the Romans 
imtil the downfall of that empire, in the fifth 
century. On the last day of the year 406, 
the Rhine was crossed by a host of barbarians 
who never repassed that frontier stream. 
Some twenty years before, when Maximus, 
chosen emperor by the legions in Britain, had 
crossed the channel into Gaul to dethrone his 
rival, Gratian, a considerable band of native 
Britons had followed his eagles. They re- 
tained possession of Armorica, which he be- 
stowed upon them, and thence came its name 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



341 



of Brctagne, or Brittany. Armorica main- 
tained its independence against the present 
invasion of Vandals, Alans, Suevians, and 
Burgundians, but the rest of Gaul became 
their prey. The Suevians, Alans, and Van- 
dals passed the Pyrenees into Spain ; the Bur- 
gundians settled, with the sanction of the 
Roman government, in the east of Gaul ; and 
the Visigoths, who had long been ravaging 
both the Roman empires, were induced to ac- 
cept the cession of the country south and west 
of the Loire. About 420, under the leader- 
ship of Pharamond, the Franks, an ancient 
people of Germany, settled in Flanders, and 
began to get a foothold in the land to which 
they afterward gave their name. With Pha- 
ramond originated the Salic law by which the 
sovereignty is rendered hereditary only in the 
male line. The Franks and Burgundians, 
after establishing their power, andreducingthe 
Gauls to a state of slavery, parceled out the 
lands among their principal leaders ; and suc- 
ceeding kings found it necessary to confirm 
their privileges, allowing them to exercise 
sovereign authority in their respective gov- 
ernments, until they at length assumed an 
independence, only acknowledging the king as 
their head. This gave rise to those numerous 
principalities that formerly existed in France, 
and to the several parliaments; for every 
province became, in its policy and govern- 
ment, an epitome of the kingdom. 

The first Christian monarch of the Franks 
was Clovis (son of the chivalrous Childeric), 
who is regarded as the true founder of the 
monarchy. He expelled the remnant of the 
Romans, weakened the Visigoths, and gained 
brilliant victory over the Germans. He is 
celebrated by the vow which he made to em- 
brace the Christian religion at the solicitation 
of his wife Clotilda, and was baptized at 
Rheims. The Franks finally conquered the 
Burgundians and Visigoths, and became mas- 
ters of all Gaul. The first race of French 
kings, prior to Charlemagne, found a cruel 
enemy in the Saracens, who then overran 
Europe, and retaliated the barbarities of the 
Goths and Vandals upon their posterity. In 
the year 800, Charlemagne, King of France, 
the glory of these dark ages, became master 
of Germany, Spain, and part of Italy, and 
was crowned King of the Romans by the 
pope. He divided his empire by will among 



his sons, which proved fatal to his family and 
their posterity. Soon after this the Normans 
ravaged the kingdom of France, and, about 
the year 90-5, obliged the French to yield up 
Normandy and Bretagne to RoUo, their leader, 
who married the king's daughter, and was 
persuaded to profess himself a Christian. 
This laid the foundation of the Norman power 
in France, which afterward gave a king to 
England, in the person of William, Duke of 
Normandy, who subdued Harold, the last 
Saxon king, in the year 10G6. 

In the reign of Philip I., who came to the 
throne in lOGO, the crusades were commenced. 
In 1108, Philip was succeeded by his son 
Louis the Fat, or Louis VI., who engaged in 
a war with Henry I. of England. Letters of 
franchise were granted to many cities and 
towns by Louis VI., and the authority of the 
crown over the great feudatories much in- 
creased. Louis VII., surnamed the Young, 
carried on his father's policy for strengthening 
the regal power. He marched into Cham- 
pagne in the j^ear 1137, and having surprised 
the city of Vctry, met with no resistance, ex- 
cept in the parochial church, which he caused 
to be set on fire ; a thousand and three hun- 
dred persons perished in the flames. At this 
time the English kings, as Dukes of Normandy 
and Anjou, were vassals of the French crown. 
Henry II. married Eleanor of Guienne, the 
repudiated wife of Louis, and thus his power 
in France was greater than that of the mon- 
arch to whom he owed allegiance: he held 
Normandy, Anjou, Maine, Touraine, Poitou, 
Limousin, Angoumois, Saintonge, Berri, 
Marche, part of Auvergne, Guienne, and Gas- 
cony. 

Philip Augustus, Louis's son and successor 
in 1180, and Richard I. of England, undertook 
a joint expedition to the holy land, in 1191 ; 
but the former returning to Europe in disgust, 
the latter was obliged to relinquish the enter- 
prise, and on his way home was imprisoned 
in Austria. During his captivity, and in the 
reign of his shiftless brother John, Philip 
gained Normandy, Anjou, Touraine, andBerri. 
Philip consolidated the regal power by sub- 
stituting constitutional forms for individual 
caprice. His reign was marked by blood- 
stained crusades against the Albigenses in the 
south of France. 

Philip II.- was succeeded by his son, Louis 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the Lion, in 1223. He was poisoned after a 
short reign of three years, during which he 
conquered Poitou, and was succeeded in 1226 
by his son, Louis IX., commonly styled St. 
Louis, who engaged in a new crusade against 
the infidels in Egj-pt and Palestine, in which 
himself and his nobility were taken prisoners. 
Having been afterward ransomed, he led an 
;irray against the infidels of Africa, where he 
died in 1270, before Tunis. His son and suc- 
cessor, Philip HL, kept the field against the 
Moors, and saved the remains of the French 
army ; and this procured him the surname of 
the Hardy. Li the reign of Philip IV., sur- 
named the Fair, who succeeded in 1285, 'the 
supreme tribunals, called parliaments, were 
instituted. The reign of St. Louis, one of the 
most equitable and virtuous of princes, and 
the reigns of his direct descendants, some of 
them as remarkable for opposite qualities, 
were marked by the consolidation of the 
power of the law as distinguished from that 
of the sword. This beneficial change, how- 
ever, was accompanied under the successors 
of Louis with the most revolting acts of in- 
justice in the name of law. Many nobles 
were despoiled of their fiefs, the order of the 
Templars was extirpated in the blood of its 
members, the Jews and Lombards were 
grievously oppressed, and trade was ruined 
by an abased coinage. Persecution assumed 
a more systematic form by the establishment 
of the inquisition at Toulouse, to root out the 
poor Albigenses. In this period the gi'eater 
part of Languedoc was added to the domains 
of the crown, which were considerably aug- 
mented elsewhere. 

The direct branch of Capetian kings ended 
with Charles IV., who left only a daughter; 
and the states having solemnly decreed that 
all females were incapable of succeeding to 
the crown, Philip de Valois, the next male 
heir, was raised to the throne in 1328. He 
was the grandson of Philip the Hardy by his 
third son, Charles of Valois. The mother of 
Edward III. of England was a daughter of 
Philip the Fair. Edward having claimed the 
French crown, hostilities commenced, and the 
English gained the battle of Crecy in 1340, 
and Poitiers in 1356; but about the end of 
the fourteenth century, the French recovered 
all the provinces which the English had con- 
quered in France. 



During the reign of Charles VI., who be- 
came insane shortly after coming of age, 
France fell into dissension. Two great fac- 
tions contended for the mastery, the one 
headed by the king s uncle, the Dulve of Bur- 
gundy, the other by the king's brother, the 
Duke of Orleans ; while the citizens and peas- 
ants rebelled against the exactions of the 
nobles, and demanded an increase of their priv- 
ileges. Henry V. of England took advantage 
of these disorders, and invaded France in 1415. 
He made himself master of Ilarfleur, and 
gained the famous battle of Agincourt, in 
Vvhich the French lost an incredible number 
of men. In 1420 the succession to the French 
throne was secured to the King of England by 
treaty; in consequence of which the infant 
Henry VI. was crowned King of France fit 
Paris. But by degrees Charles VII. recov- 
ered possession of the kingdom, in which he 
was greatly assisted by the enthusiast, Joan 
of Arc, who raised the siege of Orleans, and 
defeated the English ; but being taken pris- 
oner, this gallant girl was barbarously burned 
for alleged sorcery. 

Louis XL, a crafty and intriguing prince, 
did for France what Henry VII. did for Eng- 
land in breaking down the feudal power. By 
.craft or by force, he rendered the regal power 
absolute, and enlarged and consolidated his 
empire. He robbed the nobles of their choic- 
est privileges, and gi'adually united all the 
great fiefs with the crown. Upon the over- 
throw and death of Charles the Bold, he seized 
Burgundy. Pope Paul II. gave him the title 
of Most Christian King, which became an ap- 
pellation of the monarchs of France ; pretty 
name for such a cruel ruler, whose tyranny 
forced his subjects into a union against him, 
known as "the league of the public good." 
Ills son Charles VIIL was the last prince of 
the first line of Valois. The Duke of Orleans 
ascended the throne in 1498, under the title 
of Louis XI I. He was so humane, generous, 
and indulgent to his subjects, that he obtained 
the appellation of father of his people. Fran- 
cis I., one of the most distinguished of the 
kings of France, succeeded him. He ascended 
the throne in 1515, at the age of twenty -one, 
and died in 1547. His reign was passed in 
contests with the Emperor Charles V. He 
conquered the Milanese in 1525, but was taken 
prisoner at the siege of Pavia. In 1535 he 



FRA 



HISTOKY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



843 



possessed himself of Savoy, but was after- 
ward defeated. During his reign, notwith- 
standing the wars, arts, commerce, and hter- 
ature began to flourish in France. In the 
time of Henry II., Calais was conquered, the 
last relic of the English possessions in France. 

On the accession of Francis II., commenced 
those civil commotions which -harassed France 
daring thirty years. The king was instigated 
to attempt the extirpation of the Protestants, 
who, by way of reproach, were denominated 
Huguenots. The minority and reign of 
Charles IX. exhibited a scries of treacheries, 
commotions, and assassinations; France be- 
came a field of war and bloodshed. The mas- 
sacre of St. Bartholomew's disgraced the age. 
Henry III. was a weak and debauched prince ; 
and in him ended the line of Valois. On his 
death, the crown devolved on the house of 
Bourbon, in the person of Henry IV., King of 
Navarre, who was descended from Robert of 
France, Count of Clermont, the fifth and last 
son of Saint Louis. Henry was the son of 
Antony of Bourbon, Duke of Vendome, and 
Jeanne d'Albret, heiress of Navarre. He was 
justly styled the Great, being one of the best 
and most amiable of the French pi-inces ; but 
he perished by the hand of an assassin in IGIO. 

Under the minority and in the reign of 
Louis XIII., France returned to disorder and 
wretchedness, and Cardinal Richelieu, the 
prime minister, rendered the power of the 
crown absolute. The reign of Louis XIV. 
was long and brilliant. The great Conde 
compelled the Emperor Ferdinand III. and 
Christiana, Queen of Sweden, to conclude the 
peace of Westphalia. But the unbounded 
ambition of Louis rendered him odious or 
formidable to every prince in Europe. The 
united forces of England, Holland, and Aus- 
tria obliged him to conclude the peace of 
Ryswick in 1697, and that of Utrecht in 
1713. He reigned from 1643 to 1715. Wil- 
liam III. of England was the great enemy of 
Louis^XIV. In 1702, he organized a new 
confederacy of the powers of Europe against 
him, but died before hostilities commenced. 
The Duke of Marlborough, who led the allied 
forces, gained, in 1704, the battle of Blen- 
heim, which was followed by other victories. 
But, in 1713, this bloody and useless contest 
was terminated by the peace of Utrecht, | 



though Louis succeeded in placing his grand- 
son on the throne of Spain. 

At the age of five years, his great-grandson 
ascended the throne, under the title of Louis 
XV. In conjunction with Germany, Russia, 
and Sweden, France, in this reign, twice con- 
tended against Prussia and Great Britain. 
These wars were concluded in 1748 and in 
1703. Louis XVI. assumed the crown of 
France in 1774, under most unfortunate aus- 
pices. He found a court abandoned to the 
utmost extravagance, and the country loaded 
with an enormous debt. The king convoked 
an assembly of the notables, consisting of 
princes, deputies chosen from among the 
nobility, dignified clergy, the parliaments, 
and the 2^^^y^ (Tetat. 

It was proposed to establish a land tax, 
without any exception in favor of the nobility 
or clergy. This proposal being followed by 
a general refusal, the assembly of the nota- 
bles was dissolved, and the minister thought 
he could make a more advantageous bargain 
with the parliaments. But as the latter 
remonstrated, and advanced the opinion that 
the right of imposing new taxes belonged 
only to the states general, the king convoked 
them in 1789. Necker's indiscreet measure, 
by which it was stipulated that the numbers 
of the tiers etat (third estate) should be, at 
least, equal to that of the other two orders 
conjointly, threw the preponderance into the 
scale of the former, who could not fail to find 
many adherents in the superior classes. As 
soon as the deputies of the third order had 
formed themselves into a national assembly, 
the other orders were led away by their 
impulsive force, and the equilibrium was 
entirely destroyed. 

The storm of popular fury gathered and 
broke rapidly. On the 4th of July, 1789, the 
Bastile was destroyed. On the 4th of Au- 
gust the privileges of the nobility were sup- 
pressed. On the 5th of October, 1789, the 
king, queen, and royal family were forced 
from Versailles by the mob, and brought cap- 
tive to the capital. However, the monarch 
disconcerted the schemes of his adversaries 
by a free acceptance of the new constitution, 
which abolished the feudal system and tha' 
titles of nobility. The situation of Louis and 
his family became so unsupportable under 



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344 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the harsh restraints which were imposed, 
tliat they contrived to escape from their im- 
placable enemies ; but the unfortunate mon- 
arch, being recognized at St. Menehoult by 
Drouet, the post-master, was stopped at Va- 
rennes, constrained to return to Paris with 
his family, and to become a mere prisoner. 

While the king was preparing to surrender 
his throne and life, the Jacobins caused a de- 
cree to be enacted, suppressing the chasseurs 
and grenadiers, of whom they were afraid, as 
well as the staff of the national guard. All 
the measures which they pursued till the 
10th of August, 1792, had, for their sole 
aim, the overthrow of the monarchy. On 
that day, the Marseillaise, who had been in- 
vited to Paris to form the advanced guard in 
the attack on the palace of the Tuileries, in 
conjunction with the national guards, fired 
on the devoted Swiss who composed the royal 
body-guard, and almost annihilated them. 
The king and his family sought refuge in the 
assembly ; it was decreed that they should 
be imprisoned in the Temple, and they were 
conducted thither. 

The national convention was opened on the 
21st of September, and in the first sitting 
abolished royalty and proclaimed the repub- 
lic. The king was tried and condemned, and 
on the 21st of January, 1793, perished on 
the scaffold. Against the French republic, 
Austria and Prussia had already declared 
war, and, on the king's death, their example 
was followed by Great Britain and Holland, 
and speedily after by Spain and Russia. 
While Prance was pressed on all sides by the 
different powers of Europe, this unfortunate 
country was a prey to all kinds of internal 
disorders, and to the most unbounded licen- 
tiousness. 

Robespierre and Danton obtained a decree 
by which all the sam-cxdottes were to be 
armed with pikes and muskets at the expense 
of the rich, who were themselves to be dis- 
armed as suspected persons. Marat, one of 
the principal agents in the revolution, was 
assassinated by Charlotte Corday. Toward 
the close of June, 1793, the new constitution 
was adopted, and great disturbances broke 
out at Lyons, Marseilles, and in La Vendee. 
Soon after the surrender of Valenciennes to 
the English, the committee of public safety 
was established, to desolate France by the 



most horrid butcheries and persecutions. 
They apprehended all suspected persons, and 
tried them by revolutionary committees, the 
powers of which were so unlimited that they 
could readily seize on four-fifths of the popu- 
lation of France. 

One of their early victims was the unhappy 
Marie Antoinette, the widow of the murdered 
Louis. Her death was followed by the de- 
struction of the Girondists. The infamous 
Duke of Orleans was brought up to Paris 
from Marseilles, and, being tried and con- 
demned, braved the insults of the multitude 
on the way to execution. Brittany and a 
great part of Normandy being filled with the 
royalists, who had acquired the denomination 
of Ghouans, Carrier, one of the most atrocious 
monsters of the revolution, was sent to Nan- 
tes, where he spared neither age nor sex, but 
put to death the aged, the infirm, and even 
infants. The atrocities committed by the 
satellites of the convention in the city of 
Lyons, exceeded all that can be conceived ; at 
the end of five months, nearly 6,000 pei'sons 
had perished. 

In Paris the executions were now multi- 
jjlied to such a degree, that eighty persons 
were frequently conveyed jn the same vehicle 
to the place where they suffered. To cite 
the names of all the illustrious victims who 
fell, would far exceed our limits, and, at the 
same time, present too horrid a picture of 
human depravity. At length, Robespierre, 
Couthon, and St. Just were brought to ccn- 
dign punishment. A form of government 
was afterward settled by the convention ; and 
a council of ancients, a council of five hun- 
dred, and five rulers, called a directory, were 
appointed : but the other powers of Europe 
being still in league against France, and the 
new government being unfortunate in the 
field, the executive power was, in 1799, 
vested in three consuls, of whom the first 
was the victorious Napoleon Bonaparte. 

The consulate restored the energy of the 
government. Bonaparte, having, in 1800, 
gained the victory of Marengo, forced Aus- 
tria to conclude the treaty of Luneville in 
February, 1801; and concluded the treaty 
of Amiens with England in October of that 
year; thus restoring peace to all Europe. 
The British government refusing to surrender 
Malta, according to the treaty of Amiens, 



FRA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



84:5 



after some angry discussions the English am- 
bassador left Paris in April, 1803, and war 
was recommenced. Tn 1804, the first con- 
sul. Napoleon Bonaparte, was crowned Em- 
peror of France by the pope; and, in 1805, 
King of Italy, at Milan. He afterward as- 
sumed the title of Mediator of Switzerland, 
and Protector of the Confederation of the 
Rhine. He made one of his brothers King 
of Holland, another King of Naples, a third 
King of Spain, and a fourth King of West- 
phalia. 

These manifestations of ambition excited, 
in succession, the jealousies and fears of all 
Europe. Austria and Russia commenced 
hostilities in 1805, but were overthrown at 
Austerlitz; Prussia in 1806, but she was 
crushed at Jena ; Russia again in the same 
year, but she was defeated at Friedland; 
Spain, in 1807; Austria, again, in 1808, but 
she was overthrown at Wagram; Russia, 
again, in 1812; and finally, Russia, Prussia, 
Sweden, Austria, England, &c., invaded 
France in 1814, when Napoleon abdicated, 
retired to the island of Elba, and the Bour- 
bons were restored. After a year's absence. 
Napoleon returned to Paris, but having been 
defeated in the memorable battle of Water- 
loo, again abdicated the throne, and was con- 
veyed as a state prisoner to the island of St. 
Helena, where he died in 1821. The Bour- 
bons were reinstated on the throne in the 
person of Louis XVni., brother of Louis 
XVL, and France relinquished the states and 
provinces acquired during the revolutionaiy 
wars. Louis XVHL died on the 16th of 
December, 1824; his brother, Charles X., 
ascended the throne, and was crowned with 
splendor at Rheims, after taking the solemn 
oath to govern according to the charter. But 
the misfortunes of the Bourbons had not 
taught them wisdom. In 1830, the tyrann}' 
of the ancient regime seemed to have re- 
appeared, and fetters were placed upon the 
press. On Tuesday morning, July SVth, "the 
liberal journals of Paris were seized, and a 
revolution immediately broke out. In three 
days the glorious struggle was terminated in 
favor of the people. The paving-stones and 
tiles of the houses became weapons more for- 
midable than sabres or muskets. The royal 
cavalry, as they rushed upon the barricades, 
were assailed in front and from above • the 



young scholars of the Polytechnic school, 
having been dismissed without their swords, 
seized what arms they could find, and ranged 
themselves on the side of the people ; some 
commanded the populace, others served the 
guns with spirit and success. Aug. 2d, the 
king abdicated, and was permitted to leave 
France. The Duke of Orleans was chosen 
king, a new ministry appointed, and, after a 
fair trial, the old ministry was imprisoned 
for life. 

Louis Philippe, though put upon the 
throne by the will of the people, forgot the 
lesson that experience should have taught 
him. The tranquillity of France was again 
ruffled by discontent. At length, in Febru- 
ary, 1848, the suppression of a great reform 
banquet which was to be holden at Paris, 
caused a violent tumult. Barricades were 
thrown up in the streets of Paris, the Tuiler- 
ies were ransacked, the prisons opened, and 
wild excesses indulged in by the furious 
populace. Louis Philippe abdicated in favor 
of his little grandson, and fled across the 
channel. A republic was at once proclaimed, 
and a provisional government formed. This 
gave place on the 6th of May to an executive 
commission, chosen by the national assembly. 
Lamartine, Arago, Garnier- Pages, Marie, 
Ledru Rollin, Dupont de I'Eure, were the 
leading members of this commission. Lib- 
erty, equality, fraternity, were the watch- 
words of the new republic. The penalty of 
death for political offenses was abolished. 
Universal suffrage was proclaimed. All 
slaves upon French territory were set free. 
The perpetual banishment of the late mon- 
arch and his family was decreed. National 
workshops were established, wherein all 
laborers out of work were employed at the 
public expense. 

A spirit of anarchy was abroad, and the 
new government was assailed by many riots. 
A fearful struggle broke out on the 23d of 
June. Paris was declared to be in a state of 
siege, and the government invested General 
Cavaignac with dictatorial power. After a 
bloody contest of four days he brought the 
insurgents to submission. Sixteen thousand 
persons had been killed or wounded, and 
half as many were taken prisoners. A con- 
stitution was promulgated, under which, oa 
the 11th of December, 1848, Louis Napoleon 



FRA 



316 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



was elected president; Cavaignac was the 
candidate of the I'epublicans. 

The constitution was overthrown by the 
coup cretat of Dec. 2d, 1851. The legislative 
assembly was dissolved, and the resisting 
members arrested. Paris was declared to be 
in a state of siege, and occupied by thousands 
of troops. Thiers, Changarnier, Cavaignac, 
Bedeau, and Lamoriciere were thrown into 
prison. Hundreds were banished to the pes- 
tilential marshes of Cayenne. Louis Napo- 
leon was declared elected president for ten 
years. This was only preliminary to further 
usurpation. Dec. 2d, 1852, the empire was 
restored, and the nephew of his uncle reigned 
as Napoleon III. 

We subjoin a list of the dynasties of 
France. 

THE CABLOVINGIANS. 

752. Pepin the Short. 

768. Charlemagne, emperor of the West. 

814. Louis the Debonair, emperor. 

840. Charles the Bald, emperor in 875. 

877. Louis the Stammerer, his son. 

879. Louis III. and Carloman II. 

882. Carloman II. 

884. Charles the Fat; usurper, in prejudice to 

Charles the Simple. 

887. Eudes, or Hugh, Count of Paris. 

893. Charles III., the Simple. 

922. Robert, brother of Eudes ; Charles killed 

him in battle. 

923. Rodolf, Duke of Burgundy. 
936. Louis IV., son of Charles" IIL 
954. Lothaire, his son. 

986. Louis v., the Indolent, son of Lothaire ; 

poisoned by his queen, and thus ended 
the line of Charlemagne. 

THE CAPETS. 

987. Hugh Capet, son of Hugh the Great, Count 

of Paris, seized the crown, in prejudice 
of Charles of Lorraine, the uncle of 
Louis IV. 
996. Robert II., his son, born 970. 

1031. Henry I., his son, born 1005. 

1060. Philip I., his son, born 1053. 

1108. Louis VI., the Fat, his son, born 1078. 

1137. Louis VII., the Young, his son, born 1120. 

1180. Philip Augustus, his son, born 1165. 

1223. Louis VIII., Coeur de Lion, his son, born 
1187. 

1226. Louis IX., St. Louis, his son, born 1215. 

1270. Philip III., the Hardy, hia son, born 1245. 

1285. Philip IV., the Fair, his son, born 1268. 

1314. Louis X., the Headstrong, his sou, born 
1289. 

1316. John I., a posthumous son of Louis X. ; 
lived only a few days. 

1316. Philip v., the Long (on account of his 
stature), son of Philip the Fair, born 
1294. He was preferred to the daugh- 
ter and heiress of Louis X., thus con- 
firming the Salic law. 



1350. 
1364, 



1380. 
1422. 



1461. 
1483. 



1515. 



1547. 
1559. 



1560. 
1574. 



1610. 
1643. 
1715. 
1774. 



1804. 



1824. 



1848. 
FRA 



Charles IV., the Handsome, third son of 
Philip the Fair, born 1295. 

BRANCH OF VALOIS. 

Philip VI., born 1293, grandson of Philip 

the Hardy by his tliird son, Charles of 

Valois. 
John II., the Good, his son, born 1319. 
Charles V., the Wise, his son, born 1337; 

the first prince who bore the title of 

dauphin. 
Charles VI., his son, born 1368. 
Charles VII., the Victorious, his son, born 

. 1403. 
Louis XL, his son, born 1423. 
Charles VIII., the Aflkble, his son, born 

1470. 

BRANCH OP VALOIS ORLEANS. 

Louis XII., the Father of the People, born 
1462, descended from a younger son 
of Charles V. 

BRANCH OP VALOIS ANGOULEME. 

Francis I., the Father of Letters, born 

1494. 
Henry II., his son, born 1519. 
Francis II., eldest son of Henry II., born 

1544. 
Charles IX., second son of Henry II., 

born 1550. 
Henrv III., third son of Henry II., born 

1551. 

HOUSE OF BOURBON. 

Henry IV., the Great, born 1553, de- 
scended from Robert, Count of Cler- 
mont,, younger son of St. Louis, and 
brother of Philip III. 

Louis XIII., his son, born 1601. 

Louis XIV., his son, the Great, born 1638. 

Louis XV., his great-grandson, born 1710. 

Louis XVI., his grandson, born 1754. 

Louis XVII., his son. [Numbered with 
the kings though he never reigned. 
He died in prison, June 8th, 1795, aged 
ten years and two months.] 

REPUBLIC. 

Till 18' 4, under various forms, France was 
a r'jpublic. 

THE EMPIRE. 

Napoleon I., born Aug. 15th, 1769. 

THE BOURBONS RESTORED. 

Louis XVIII. (Count of Provence), 
brother of Louis XVI., born Nov. I7th, 
1755. 

Charles X. (Count of Artois), his brother, 
born Oct. 9th, 1757 ; deposed. 

HOUSE OP ORLEANS. 

Louis Philippe, son of the notorious Duke 
of Orleans, born Oct. 6th, 1773; de- 
posed. 

NEW RBPUBLIO. 

Louis Napoleon Charles Bonaparte, born 
April 20th, 1808, chosen president. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



3-17 



THE EMPIRE REVIVED. 

1852. Napoleon III. [By assuming this title 
Louis Napoleon recognized the son of 
Napoleon I., as the second emperor of 
the name. His father abdicated in his 
favor, but he never reigned.] 

FKANCIA, Gaspar Eodriguez de, com- 
monly called Dr. Francia, and known as the 
dictator of Paraguay, was born at Assomcion 
m that province, 1757. When the South 
American provinces threw off the yoke of 
Spain, Francia was zealous in establishing the 
mdependence of Paraguay, and soon attained 
the sole dictatorship, which he held from 
1815 till his death in 1840. He adopted the 
principle of non-intercourse, and during his 
rule Paraguay was another Japan. Although 
he is accused of cruelty, it should be remem- 
bered that he preserved order in Paraguay, 
during a period in which the neighboring 
state of Buenos Ayres changed its govern- 
ment, amid convulsions of riot and blood, 
nearly forty times ! 

FRANCIS I. of France, surnamed by his 
subjects the father of letters, was born at 
Cognac in 1494 ; his father was Charles, Count 
of Angouleme. He succeeded Louis XI L, 
in 1515. Louis had laid claim to the duchy 
of Milan. Francis renewed the demand. He 
passed the Alps, penetrated as far as Milan, 
and found the imperialists and Swiss camped 
near Marignano. The contest was kept up 
for two whole days. Francis and the Cheva- 
lier Bayard performed prodigies of valor, and 
the Marshal of Trivulzio, who had been in 
eighteen actions, called this a combat of 
giants. The Swiss were beaten with a loss of 
15,000 men; Sforza ceded Milan, and retired 
to France, where he died. The Swiss agreed 
to a perpetual treaty of peace, and long re- 
mained the faithful allies of France. Leo X., 
equally reconciled, came to a conference in 
which the pragmatic sanction was abolished, 
to make way for the concordat by which the 
king enjoyed the power of conferring benefices. 

The death of the emperor, Maximilian I., 
presented the imperial throne to the view of 
Francis I. and Charles of Spain. The for- 
mer never pardoned his rival for having ob- 
tained it, and hence arose interminable wars. 
The first care of Francis L was to attach to 
himself Henry VIIL of England ; and they 



had an interview near Calais on the Field of 



the Cloth of .Gold ; but Charles V. ruined 
his rival's scheme by gaining the ftivor of the 
all-powerful Cardinal Wolsey. The cam- 
paign which followed presented a scene of 
alternate success and defeat on both sides. 
The Milanese were won by the intrigues of 
Leo X. and Charles V. ; and France had at 
once for adversaries the new pope, Adrian 
VL, the emperor, England, the Venetians, 
and the Genoese, and, to crown her misfor- 
tunes, the Constable of Bourbon, whom dis- 
content drove to the arms of Charles V., 
and whom imperial favor raised to the rank 
of commander-in-chief. 

Francis fought in dificrent places with 
various success. The imperialists and the 
English were repulsed by La Tremouille, the 
Duke of Guise, and the Duke of Vendome ; 
but Bonnivet was beaten, and the brave Bay- 
ard killed, in Italy. Yet these misfortunes 
did not destroy the hopes of Francis : he 
passed the mountains and re-entered the ter- 
ritory of the Milanese. Following the ad- 
vice of Bonnivet, he besieged Pavia, although 
the oldest officers warned him against doing 
so. The allies arrived in time to succor it, 
and, on February 24th, 1525, was fought the 
battle of Pavia, in which Francis, after having 
had tM-o horses killed under him, and smart- 
ing with wounds, was taken prisoner. Bon- 
nivet killed himself in despair. 

The king wrote to his mother, Louisa of 
Savoy, who was regent in his absence, this 
memorable line, " Madame, we have lost all 
but honor." Transferred to Spain, he was 
imprisoned at Madrid, where, disheartened 
and sick, he signed the treaty by which he 
ceded Burgundy, Flanders, and Artois, and 
gave up his two sons as hostages. Issuing 
from his prison, his spirits revived with the 
free air and open scenery, and springing upon 
a spirited horse, he exclaimed with anima- 
tion, "I am yet a king." His progress 
through Spain hardly resembled that of a 
prisoner. Throughout his journey, enter- 
tainments were given him by the Spanish 
noblemen, who were glad of an oppor- 
tunity to display their wealth and conse- 
quence. One night, on arriving at a noble 
manor, he was obliged to take his seat at a 
splendid festival ; it concluded with a ball, 
in which the courteous monarch did not re- 
fuse to take a part. He asked two beautiful 



FRA 



848 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



girls, daughters of a proud old nobleman, to 
dance with hnn. But they only consented 
to perform that part of the figure in which 
the lady averts her face from her partner ; in 
short, so blindly patriotic were these pretty 
Spaniards, that they turned upon their heels, 
to the no small confusion of the King of 
France. Their old father, however, not only 
disapproved of their conduct, but punished 
it in a summary manner, for, seizing both by 
the hair, he dragged them out of the ball- 
room with more rapidity than grace. So 
much for refusing a king's invitation. 

Francis witnessed a whimsical instance of 
Spanish pride in his reception by a certain 
old gentleman named Don Diego d'Alvar, 
who, feigning a painful indisposition, kept his 
seat, while the French monarch remained 
.standing in his presence. Don Diego had a 
menagerie, an expensive part of the estab- 
lishment of a Spanish grandee in those times. 
During the festival given to Francis, an Afri- 
can lion escaped from his cage. Consterna- 
tion spread among the guests, each of whom 
thought himself the devoted victim of the 
infuriated animal, when the majur-domo of the 
castle, seizing in one hand a flaming brand, 
and grasping his sword in the other, advanced 
to meet the lion. The animal, frightened by 
the flames, recoiled, and the major-domo fol- 
lowed him up to his cage, in which he en- 
closed him with as much coolness as if he had 
been operating upon a greedy hound taken 
in the act of thieving from the larder. This 
act of courage was more admired by Francis 
than anythmg else which occurred at the 
castle of Don Diego. 

Francis returned to France. His cause 
becoming that of all the princes who dreaded 
the increase of the power of Charles V., a 
league was formed between the pope, the 
5)rinces of Italy, Henry YHI. of England, 
and Francis I. The indignant emperor sent 
Lancy into the States of the Church, where 
he made himself master of many places. 
The Constable of Bourbon, even after the 
conquest of Milan, wanting money, advanced 
upon Rome, and promised his troops the 
pillage of this city. He was killed in the 
assault. The furious soldiers, at the end of 
two hours' fighting, entered Rome, killed all 
they met, sacked the houses, profaned the 
churches, and delivered themselves up to ex- 



cesses of all kinds, which continued for two 
months. 

The flame of war rekindled. JNIarshal Lau- 
trec regained the greater part of Milan; 
sacked Pavia, in revenge for the capture of 
the king ; then forced the imperialists to con- 
clude a treaty with the pope, who was be- 
sieged in the castle of St. Angelo; and went 
thence to Naples, where he perished of the 
plague with the rest of his army. In 1529, 
a treaty of peace was concluded at Cambray, 
called the Peace of Ladies (Paix des Dames), 
on account of the plenipotentiaries, the 
Duchess of Angouleme, for Francis I., her 
son, and Margaret of Austria, governess of 
the Low Countries, for Charles V., her 
nephew. The king engaged to pay the em- 
peror 2,000,000 crowns, to cede the sover- 
eignty of Flanders and Artois, and to marry 
Eleonora, the sister of the emperor, whose 
attentions had solaced his captivity. 

Finding peace established, he employed 
hmiself in repressing a multitude of dis- 
orders to which the wars had given rise, in 
makmg wise regulations, in reforming legal 
abuses, and preserving the tranquillity of the 
church by persecuting the reformers that men- 
aced it. He founded colleges, protected litera- 
ture, which he himself cultivated, encouraged 
the arts, founded the royal library and printing 
establishment, honored learned men, and 
labored to deserve the title of restorer of the 
sciences. Commerce, trade and industry 
were fostered under his rule. 

But he again cast his eyes upon Milan, and 
in 1535 entered Italy, and made himself 
master of Savoy. Charles, in turn, made an 
irruption into Provence, but was repulsed 
with loss. The Flemings, who had entered 
Picardy, met with the same fate. The alliance 
concluded between Francis I. and Solyman, 
the sultan of the Turks, rendered Charles 
more prudent, and he concluded a truce for 
ten years. This was soon broken by his ill 
faith, and the murder of two French ambas- 
sadors. War was waged with various suc- 
cess, for two years, in Italy, France, Spain, 
and the Netherlands, till Charles and Francis 
concluded peace at Cressy in 15M. 

In March, 1547, Francis, who possessed so 
many good qualities, died, the victim of his 
illicit intrigues. Notwithstanding his numer- 
ous wars, he kept the finances of France in a 



FRA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



849 



flourishing condition. He wedded in 1514, 
Claude, dauglitur of Louis XII. and the 
Duchess of Brittany. She died in 1524, and 
in 1530 he married Eleanor of Austria, sister 
of Charles V,, and widow of Emmanuel the 
Fortunate of Portugal. She died in 1557. 

FRANCIS, Sir Philip, a famous politician, 
was born in Ireland, in 1740. He was edu- 
cated at St. Paul's school; after which he 
obtained a place in the office of the secretary 
of state. In 1760, he went in the suit of the 
English ambassador to Lisbon. In 1763, he 
was a clerk in the war office, and, in 1773, 
he went out to India, as a member of the 
council of Bengal, and fought a duel with 
Warren Hastings, who was wounded. On 
his return to England, he was elected to par- 
liament for Yarmouth in the Isle of Wight. 
He supported the proceedings against War- 
ren Hastings, whom he opposed on every 
occasion. When the whigs came into office, 
he was made knight of the bath. He died 
Dec. 22d, 1818. The authorship of the let- 
ters of Junius is most generally ascribed to 
him. [See Junius.] 

FRANCIS, St. There are five saints of 
this name in the Romish calendar. St. Fran- 
cis of Assise, 1182-1226; St. Francis of 
Calabria, 1416-1507; St. Francis of Borgia, 
died 1572; St. Francis of Sales, 1567-1622; 
St. Francis Xavier, 1506-1552. [See Xavi- 
EB.] The mendicant order of friars called 
Franciscans, and also Grey Friars, was 
founded by St. Francis of Assise, 1209-1220. 
Their rules were chastity, poverty, obedience, 
and very austere regimen ; but they became 
rich, voluptuous, and lazy. They appeared 
in England in 1224, and at the breaking up 
of monasteries by Henry VIII., they had 
fifty-five abbeys or other houses. 

FRANKFORT, on the Main, is one of 
the four free cities, and the seat of the Ger- 
man diet. A territory of 91 square miles is 
attached to the city, and the government is 
republican; total population in 1855, 74,784. 
Frankfort was made a free city in 1154. It 
is a place of large traffic, banking, and manu- 
factures. The aggregate capital of its bank- 
ers is said to be $100,000,000. In the six- 
teenth century its annual fairs were attended 
by forty thousand strangers. Though no 
longer so famous, they are still animated and 
attractive. 



FRANKLIN, Benjamin, was born in Bos- 
ton, Jan. 17th, 1706. He was the youngest 
of seventeen children, and was intended for 
his father's business, which was that of a 
soap-boiler and tallow-chandler, but being 
disgusted with this employment, he was ap- 
prenticed to his brother, who was a printer. 
This occupation was more congenial to his 
taste, and he used to devote his nights to the 
perusal of such books as his scanty means 
enabled him to buy. By restricting himself 
to a vegetable diet, he obtained more money 
for intellectual purposes, and at sixteen had 
read Locke on the Understanding, Xeno- 
phon's Memorabilia, and the Port Royal 
Logic, in addition to many other works. 
Having incurred the displeasure of his father 
and brother, he ran away, sailed in a sloop to 
New York, walked thence to Philadelphia, 
and entered that city with a dollar in his 
pocket, and a loaf of bread under his arm. 
Here he obtained employment as a printer, 
and Sir William Keith, the governor, observ- 
ing his diligence, persuaded him to go to 
England, to purchase materials for a press, on 
his own account, promising him letters of 
introduction and credit. This was in 1725. 
He found he was the bearer of no letters 
that related to himself, and he was accord- 
ingly obliged to work at his trade in London. 
He returned to Philadelphia, where, in a 
short time, he entered into business with one 
Meredith, and about 1728 began a newspa- 
per, in which he inserted many of his moral 
essays. He published ' ' Poor Richard's Alma- 
nac" for a quarter-century and more. It is 
well known for its pithy sayings : "Drive thy 
business, let not that drive thee ; " " God gives 
all things to industry ; then plow deep while 
sluggards sleep, and you will have corn to sell 
and keep ; " " Three removes are as bad as a 
fire;" "Keep thy shop, and thy shop will 
keep thee;" "If you would have your busi- 
ness done, go ; if not, send ; " as poor Rich- 
ard says. The frugal maxims of pooi- Dick, 
Franklin himself strictly observed, and he 
grew to prosperity and good repute in his 
adopted city. At the age of twenty-seven, 
he began the study of the modern and classi- 
cal languages. He founded the University 
of Pennsylvania and the American Philosoph- 
ical Society, and invented the Franklin stove, 
which still holds its place, even among the 



FRA 



350 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 




FUANKLIN S GUAVE AT rillLADELFllIA. 



varietj^ of modern inventions of a similar 
kind. In 174G, he made his experiments on 
electricity and applied his discoveries to the 
invention of the lightning-rod. 

In 1751, he was appointed deputy post- 
master-general for the colonies. After the 
defeat of Joraddock, a bill for organizing a 
pi'ovincial militia having passed the assembly, 
Franklin vras chosen its commander. In 1 757, 
he was sent to England with a petition to the 
king and council against the proprietaries, 
who refused to bear their share in the public 
expenses. While thus employed, he pub- 
lished several works, which gained him a 
high reputation, and the agency of Massa- 
chusetts, Maryland, and Georgia. In 1762, 
Franklin was chosen fellow of the royal so- 
ciety, and made doctor of laws at Oxford, and 
the same j^ear returned to America. 

In 1704 he was again deputed to England 
as agent of his province, and in 1766 was ex- 

FR 



amined before the house of commons on the 
subject of the stamp-act. His answers were 
clear and decisive. His conduct in England 
was worthy of his previous character. Find- 
ing him warmly attached to the colonies, 
invective an A coarse satire were leveled against 
him, but his integrity and matchless ■w'it 
formed an invulnerable defense. He was next 
offered "any reward, unlimited recompense, 
honors and recompense beyond his expecta- 
tions," if he would forsake his country, but 
he stood firm as a rock. 

He returned to America in 1775, and was 
immediately chosen a member of congress, 
and performed the most arduous duties in the 
service of his country. He was sent as com- 
missioner to France in 1776, and concluded a 
treaty, February 6th, 1778, in which year he 
was appointed minister plenipotentiary to the 
court of Versailles, and one of the commis- 
tioners for negotiating peace with Great Brit- 
A 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



851 



ain. Although he sohcited leave, he was not 
permitted to return till 1785. He was made 
president of Pennsylvania, and as a delegate 
to the convention of 1787, approved the fed- 
eral constitution. He died April 17th, 1790. 
How generally he was beloved, both at 
home and abroad, the various honors which 
he received, show. Incorruptible, talented, 
and virtuous, he merited the eulogium of 
Lord Chatham, who characterized him as 
" one whom all Europe held in high estimation 
for his knowledge and wisdom ; who was an 
honor, not to the English nation only, but to 
human nature." His wit and hvunor rendered 
his society acceptable to every class. On one 
occasion, he was dining with the English am- 
bassador and a French functionary at Paris. 
The former rose, and gave the following sen- 
timent: "England! the bright sun whose 
rays illuminate the world ! " The French 
gentleman, struggling between patriotism and 
politeness, proposed, " France ! the moon 
whose mild beams dispel the shades of night." 
Doctor Franklin, rising in turn, said, " Gen- 
eral George Washington ! the Joshua who 
commanded the sun and moon to stand still, 
and they obej^ed him ! " Franklin's wit and 
humor are happily displayed in an epitaph 
which he once wrote. 

THE BODY 
OP 

Benjamin Franklin, 

PRINTER 

(like the cover op an old book, 
its contents torn out, 

AND STRIPPED OP ITS LETTERING AND GILDING), 

LIES HERE, FOOD POR WORMS; 

VET THE WORK ITSELF SHALL NOT BE LOST, 

FOR IT WILL (as HE BELIEVED) APPEAR ONCE MORE 

IN A NEW 

« AND MORE BEAUTIFUL EDITION, 

CORRECTED AND AMENDED 

BY 

THE Author. 

FRANKLIN, Sir John, was born at Spils- 
by, Lincolnshire, in 1786. His early love for 
the sea led him into the navy as a midship- 
man at the age of fourteen. In 1803 he 
accompanied Capt. Flanders in a voyage of 
discovery to the South Seas, and was wrecked 
on the coast of New Holland. He was at 
Copenhagen, Trafalgar, and New Orleans. 
His first Arctic voyage was in 1814, as sec- 
ond to Capt. Buchan. He was also in the ex- 
pedition of Ross and Parry. Afterward, with 



Mr. Richardson, he made two arduous jour- 
neys by land in the polar regions, and for his 
services was knighted. From 1830 to 1843 he 
was governor of Van Diemen's Land. On the 
19th of May, 1845, he sailed once more for 
the frozen seas of the north. After a time 
the anxiety of Christendom was awakened 
in behalf of Sir John and his comrades. Ex- 
pedition after expedition, both from Eng- 
land and America, was dispatched for their 
rescue. The generous toil was in vain. The 
sad fate of the long missing party was at last 
ascertained, but not from a survivor's lips. 
[See North-West Passage.] 

FREDEGONDE, the wife of Chilperic of 
France, a ruthless woman who persuaded her 
husband to oppress his subjects. She is said 
to have murdered Sigebert, Meroveus, the 
son of Chilperio, Andoveus, his brother, and 
Pretextatus, Bishop of Rouen. Afterward, 
retiring to Paris, she continued her persecu- 
tions of Brunchaut, and Childebcrt her son, 
took the field, and vanquished him with the 
slaughter of 30,000 of his army. She then 
wasted Champagne, and retook Paris. She 
died in 597, after having caused Chilperic to 
be assassinated. 

FREDERICK I., surnamed Barbarossa, 
succeeded to the imperial crown, on the death 
of his uncle, Conrad III., in 1152. His first 
business was to insure the tranquillity of Ger- 
many, after which he marched into Italy, and 
assumed its sovereignty. He afterward re- 
newed the war, took Milan a second time, 
and destroyed it, but he was excommunicated 
by the pope. He engaged in the crusades 
against the Turks, defeated Saladin in two 
combats, and took several cities from the 
infidels. He was drowned July 10th, 1190; 
in the midst of his successes. 

FREDERICK IL, King of Prussia, com- 
monly called the Great, was the son of Fred- 
erick William I., and was born January 21st, 
1712. His education was strict, but when 
he grew up, he showed so strong an inclina- 
tion to literature and music, as to incur the 
displeasure of his father, who considered read- 
ing as beneath the dignity of a monarch and 
a man. So harsh was the conduct of his 
parent, that in 1730 he attempted to escape 
from Prussia, but was taken with his travel- 
ing companion, Lieutenant Catt, who was 
put to death by order of the king. The prince 



FRE 



352 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



himself was punished by confinement. The 
death of his father raised him to the throne, 
May 31st, 1740,. and, by taking advantage 
of the defenseless state of Maria Theresa, 
he added Silesia to his dominions. In 1744, 
he again took up arms against Austria; and 
the treaty of Dresden, in 1745, loft him in 
possession of an extended territory. In 17oa, 
he entered into an alliance with England, 
which produced the seven years' war; in 
which Frederick exhibited all the powers of 
his character as a skillful general. In 1757, 
he had to contend with Russia, Austria, Sax- 
ony, Sweden, and France; notwithstanding 
which, and though his enemies made them- 
selves ma.sters of his capital, he extricated 
himself from his difficulties, and by the battle 
of Torgau repaired all his losses. In 1763, 
peace was restored. Frederick afterward led 
a philosophic life, with the exception of his 
wicked share in dismembering Poland in 1773. 
He died August 17th, 1786. 

FRENEAU, Philip, a poet of the American 
Revolution, died at Freehold, N. J., Dec. 
18th, 1832, aged about eighty. He was for 
some time a captive in the Scorpion prison- 
ship at New^ York. 

FRIDAY, the sixth day in the week, was 
so called from Friga, a Scandinavian goddess 
commonly supposed to be the same with 
Venus. She was the wife of Thor, and the 
goddess of peace, fertility, and r'ches. Friga, 
Thor, and Odin composed the court or su- 
preme council of the gods. The Moham- 
medans consider Friday holy, because on 
that day the Hegira occurred. Per contra^ 
throughout Christendom from time immemo- 
rial, Friday has been dreaded as a day of ill 
omen. From the earliest days of Christianity 
the Friday before Easter has been kept as 
a solemn fast, in remembrance of the crucifix- 
ion of Christ, Friday, April 3d, a.d. 33. By 
the Saxon Christians this fast was called 
Long Friday, because of the great length of 
the offices observed and fastings enjoined. 
The name Good Friday is peculiar to the 
Episcopal church. The evil repute of this 
day of the week may have arisen from the 
fact that it was darkened by our Saviour's 
death. A superstitious fear of it has been 
especially prevalent among seamen. It would 
seem that Americans, whether mariners or 
landsmen, have little cause to dread this day. 



On Friday, August 21st, 1492, Christopher 
Columbus sailed on his great voyage of dis- 
covery. On Friday, October 12th, 1492, he 
first discovered land. On Friday, January 
4th, 1493, he sailed on his return to Spain, 
and had he not reached home in safety, the 
happy result that led to the settlement of this 
vast continent, would not have been known. 
On Friday, March 15th, 1493, he arrived at 
Palos in safety. On Friday, November 22d, 

1493, he arrived at Hispaniola, on his second 
voyage to America. On Friday, June 13th, 

1494, he, though unknown to himself, dis- 
covered the continent of America. On Fri- 
day, March 5th, 1496, Henry VII. of Eng- 
land gave to John Cabot his commission, 
which led t<; the discovery of North America ; 
this is thf- first American state paper in 
England. On Friday, September 7th, 1565, 
Melendez founded St. Augustine, the oldest 
town in the United States by more than forty 
years. On Friday, November 10th, 1620, the 
Mayflower, with the Pilgrims, made the har- 
bor of Provincetown, and on that day they 
signed that august compact, the forerunner 
of our present glorious constitution. On 
Friday, December 22d, 1620, the Pilgrims 
made their final landing at Plymouth rock. 
On Friday, February 22d, 1732, George 
AVashington, the father of American freedom, 
was born. On Friday, June 16th, Bunker 
Hill was seized and fortified. On Friday, 
October 7th, 1777, the surrender of Saratoga 
was made, which had such power and in- 
fluence in inducing France to declare for our 
cause. On Friday, October 19th, 1781, the 
surrender at Yorktown, the crowning glory 
of the American arms, occurred. On Friday, 
July 7th, 1776, the motion in Congress jvas 
made by John Adams, seconded by Richard 
Henry Lee, that the united colonies were, 
and of right ought to be, free and independ- 
ent. Thus, by numerous examples, we see 
that, however it may be with foreign nations, 
Americans need never dread to begin on Fri- 
day any undertaking, however momentous it 
may be. 

FRIEDLAND, a town of Bohemia, memo- 
rable for the battle fought there on the 14th 
of June, 1807, between the French and the 
allied Russians and Prussians, which resulted 
in the total defeat of the latter, with immense 
loss. Napoleon commanded the French in 



FRI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



853 



'9:t. 



r^^fe^ 




FULTON'S FIRST STEAMBOAT. 



person. The treaty of Tilsit was a result of 
his victory. 

FRIENDLY ISLANDS, a group of islands 
in the South Pacific Ocean, 150 in number. 
They are very fertile, but contain but few 
springs of good water. They were discovered 
by Tasnian in 1643, and visited m 1773 by 
Captain Cook, who thought the inhabitants 
amicable and inoffensive, and christened the 
isles accordingly. It was afterward learned 
that they intended to kill him and seize his 
vessels. The people are industrious, and 
many have been converted to Christianity by 
missionaries. 

FRISIANS, an old tribe of Germans, in- 
habiting Friesland. Prussia took possession 
of East Friesland in 1744, and it was annexed 
to Hanover in 1815. 

FRITH, John, an early martyr to the ref- 
ormation in England, was burned about 
1533 ; Frith's work on the Eucharist is sup- 
posed to have been the first English treatise 
on the side of the reformed doctrines. 

FROBISHER, Sir Martin, the first Eng- 
lishman who tried to find a north-west pas- 
sage to the Pacific, in 1576. He entered the 
strait since known by his name. He was 
knighted for bis services against the Armada. 



23 



He died in 1594 from a wound got In an 
attack on Brest. 

FROISSART, John, the celebrated French 
chronicler, died in 1402, aged sixty-nine. 

FRY, Elizabeth, who has been called ' the 
female Howard,' was born in 1780, at Earl- 
ham, Norfolk. Her maiden name was Gur- 
ney, and she was a member of the society of 
Friends. Her life was devoted to labors of 
love in behalf of the poor, the afflicted, and 
the suffering. In her endeavors for the ref- 
ormation of criminals she visited all the prin- 
cipal jails in Great Britain, France, Holland, 
Denmark, and Prussia. The unwearying 
benevolence of this excellent woman made 
serious inroads on her health, and she died 
at Ramsgate, October 11th, 1844. 

FUENTES D'ONORE, Battle of, in Por- 
tugal, May 5th, 1811, between the French 
under Massena, who desired to relieve Almei- 
da, and a greatly inferior force commanded 
by Lord Wellington. The fight lasted until 
evening, and victory rested with neither army. 

FULLER, Thomas, an eminent English 
divine and writer, born 1608 died 1661, aged 
fifty-three. He was the author of various 
works in practical divinity and history, but 
his quaint melange, "The Worthies of Eng- 



FUL 



354 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



land," is now best known. His memory was 
wonderful : it is said that he could repeat five 
hundred unconnected words after twice hear- 
ing them, and recite all the signs in the prin- 
cipal thoroughfare of London after once pass- 
ing through it and back again. He was chap- 
lain to Charles H. 

FULTON, Robert, the celebrated American 
engineer, was born in Pennsylvania in 1T65. 
At an early age he exhibited a fondness for 
the mechanical arts, and a talent for drawing. 
In his twenty-second year, he went to Eng- 
land, and subsequently to France, distinguish- 
ing himself in both >sountries by mechanical 
inventions. He returned to America m 1806. 
Mr. Livingston, the American ambassador to 



France, furnished him with funds to carry out 
his plans. Fulton had built a steamboat upon 
the Seine in 1803, which was partly success- 
ful. In 1807, the first attempt at steam nav- 
igation in America was made upon the Hud- 
son. The maximum speed was only five 
miles an hour. In 1809 Mr. Fulton took a 
patent for his invention, and in 1811 a second 
patent for subsequent improvements. He died 
February 24th, 1815. 

FUSELI, Henry, was born at Zurich, Feb. 
7th, 1741, and bred to the church. He came 
to England in 1763, and by the advice of Sir 
Joshua Reynolds adopted painting as a pro- 
fession, wherein he attained a flattering emi- 
nence. He died April 16th, 1825. 



G. 



GADSDEN, Christopher, lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of South Carolina, was born in 1724. 
He was an early and ardent friend of liberty, 
and discharged the duties of member of the 
provincial congress with ability and apolause. 
After the capture of Charleston by the British 
in 1780, Mr. Gadsden and other firm pati'iots 
were arrested, in flagrant violation of the terms 
of capitulation, and incarcerated for months 
in dungeons at St. Augustme. He died Aug. 
28th, 1805. 

GAELS, a family of the Celts, who passed 
over from Gaul to Britain and the neighboring 
islands. Traces of them are still found in the 
remote districts of Ireland and Scotland. 

GAGE, Thomas, the last royal governor of 
Massachusetts. He was lieutenant under 
Braddock, witnessed his defeat, and bore his 
body from the field of battle. In 1760 he 
was appointed governor of Montreal, and a 
few years afterward succeeded to the chief 
command of the British forces in America. 
He was the successor of Hutchinson in the 
office of governor of Massachusetts. Gage 
was naturally a benevolent and amiable man, 
but his sense of duty forced him to the exe- 
cution of the odious measures of his masters 
in England. He went home in the autumn 
of 1775, and died in April, 1787. 

GAINES, Edmund Pendleton, major-gen- 
eral in the American army, born in Virginia, 



1777, entered the army in 1799, served with 
distinction in the war of 1812, and died in 
1849. 

GALATIA, originally part of Phrygia and 
Cappadocia, obtained its name from the set-, 
tlement of a large body of Gauls in that sec- 
tion of Asia Minor, about B.C. 289. It became 
a Roman province, b.c. 25. St. Paul appears 
to have visited Galatia twice, about a.d. 50 
and 55 (Acts xvi. 6 ; xviii. 23). 

GALBA, Sergius, or Servius Sulpicius, 
succeeded Nero on the imperial throne. He 
had risen gradually through various state 
offices, although continually exposed to the 
jealousy of Nero, who ordered him to be as- 
sassinated ; and having escaped the toils which 
were laid for him, he was saluted emperor, 
a.d. 68. His avarice induced him to profit 
by the sale of offices, and his appointment of 
Piso Licinianus, instead of Otho, to fill the 
office of colleague in the government, exas- 
perated the praetorians, who put him to death, 
A.D. 69, in the seventy-secondyear ofhisage, 
after a reign of three months. 

GALENUS, Claudius, commonly called 
Galen, a celebrated Greek physician, who 
lived in the second century of the Christian 
era. He was an oracle in medical science for 
centuries. 

GALILEO, or Galilei, was born at Pisa, 
July 15th, 1564. He was a professor of math- 



GAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



855 



ematics at Pisa, and afterward at Padua. He 
constructed for himself a telescope in 1G09, 
with which he discovered mountains and cav- 
ities in the moon, the round disc of the plan- 
ets, the four satellites of Jupiter, and spots on 
the sun. For teaching the Copernican theory, 
he was accused of heresy, examined by the 
inquisition, and put to the torture. Worn 
out by age, he succumbed to his persecutors, 
and abjured his objectionable do^rines, in 
1633. In his later years he became blind. 
He died at Florence, January 8th, 1642. 

GALL, Francis Joseph, the founder of the 
science of phrenology, was born in the duchy 
of Baden, March 9th, 1758 and died in Paris 
in 1828. 

GALLATIN, Albert, born in Geneva, 1761, 
came to America in 1779, was for a while 
tutor at Cambridge, and finally removed to 
Pennsylvania. He represented that state as 
representative and senator in Congress from 
1793 to 1801. President Jefferson appointed 
him secretary of the treasury in 1802, and he 
administered that department with eminent 
ability till 1813, when he was sent abroad to 
negotiate peace with Great Britain. He was 
afterward minister to France, Great Britain, 
and the Netherlands. He died in 1849. 

GALLAUDET, Rev. Thomas H., the pio- 
neer of deaf-mute instruction in America, died 
at Hartford, Sept. 10th, 1851, aged sixty -four. 
He visited Europe in 1815, acquired the art 
from Abbe Sicard, and returned in August of 
the next year, with Laurent Clerc, one of Si- 
card's most intelligent deaf-mute pupils. He 
was the first principal of the American Asy- 
lum at Hartford, resigned in 1830, and became 
chaplain at the Retreat for the Insane in that 
city. 

GALVANI, Ldigi, a physician and physi- 
ologist, famous for his discovery of galvanism, 
was borri at Bologna in 1737, and died in 1798. 

GAMA, Vasco de, the celebrated Portu- 
guese navigator, who in 1497 discovered the 
way to the East Indies around the Cape of 
Good Hope. He lived in the reign of Eman- 
uel the Fortunate. He was appointed viceroy 
of the Portuguese Indies, and died in Decem- 
ber, 1524, at Goa. 

GANSEVOORT, Peter, was born in Alba- 
ny, N. Y., July 16th, 1749. He accompanied 
Montgomery to Canada, in 1775, and was 
raised to the rank of colonel the ensuing year. 



August 2d, 1777, he was besieged with his 
command in Fort Stanwix (where the town of 
Rome now stands), by Colonel St. Leger, with 
a body of British tories and Indians, who, 
after a most gallant defense, were repelled and 
forced to retreat, August 22d. Gen. Ganse- 
voort died July 2d, 1812. 

GARDEN, Alexander, an eminent botanist, 
born in Scotland, 1730; removed to Charles- 
ton, S. C, 1752, where he practiced medicine ; 
died in London, 1791, aged sixtj^-one. 

GARDENING. Introduced into England 
from the Netherlands, whence most vegetables 
were imported till 1500 ; muskmelons, the pale 
gooseberry, salads, garden roots, cabbages, 
&c., were brought from Flanders, and hops 
from Artois, 1520 ; rye and wheat from Tar- 
tary and Siberia, where they are yet indige- 
nous ; barley and oats unknown, but certainly 
not indigenous in England ; rice from Ethio- 
pia ; buckwheat, Asia ; borage, Syria ; cresses, 
Crete ; cauliflower, Cyprus ; asparagus, Asia ; 
chervil, Italy ; fennel, Canary Islands ; anise 
and parsley, Egypt; garlic, the East; shal- 
lots, Siberia; horse-radish, China; kidney 
beans. East Indies ; gourds, Astracan ; lentils, 
France ; potatoes, Brazil ; tobacco, America ; 
cabbage, lettuce, &c., Holland. Jasmine came 
from the East Indies ; the elder tree from Per- 
sia ; the tulip from Cappadocia ; the daffodil 
from Italy ; the lily from Syria ; the tube rose 
from Java and Ceylon ; the carnation and pink 
from Italy, &c. ; ranunculus from the Alps ; 
apples from Syria ; apricots from Epirus ; ar- 
tichokes from Holland ; celery from Flanders ; 
cherries from Pontus ; currants from Zante ; 
damask and musk roses from Damascus, as 
well as plums; gilliflowers, carnations, the 
Provence rose, &c., from Toulouse, in France ; 
oranges and lemons from Spain ; beans from 
Greece, and peas from Spain. 

GARDINER, Stephen, Bishop of Winches- 
ter, was a strenuous opponent of the reforma- 
tion in England. He lost his place under 
Henry VIII., but regained it under the bigoted 
Mary, whom he instigated to persecute the 
Protestants with fire and sword. 1483-1555. 

GARRICK, David, one of the most cele- 
brated and talented of English actors, and the 
friend of Dr. Johnson. He was born at Lich- 
field, 1716, and died Jan. 20th, 1779, having 
amassed a bountiful fortune by the profession 
he had elevated and adorned. 



GAR 



>0« 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA ulf 



GARTER, Order of the. This famous or- 
der of knighthood was instituted by Edward 
III. of England. King Edward, being of a 
military genius, and engaged in a war for re- 
covering France, made it his business to draw 
the best soldiers of Europe into his interest. 
•With this view he projected a restoration of 
King Arthur's round table, and proclaimed 
a solemn tilting, to invite foreigners of quality : 
and courage to the exercise. The place for 
the solemnity was fixed at "Windsor. He 
published his royal letters of protection for 
the safe coming and returning of such foreign 
knights as intended to venture their reputa- 
tion at the jousts and tournaments, which 
were to be held on the 19th of January, 1344. 
He provided a great supper to begin the 
solemnity,. and then ordering this feast to be 
annually kept at Whitsuntide, he for that pur- 
pose erected a particular building in the cas- 
tle, wherein he placed a round table, of two 
hundi'ed feet diameter, in imitation of King 
Arthur's at Winchester, and thereat enter- 
tained the knights at his own expense of a 
hundred pounds a week. 

The said king issuing out his garter for the 
signal of a battle that was crowned with suc- 
ojss (supposed to be Cressy), he instituted an 
order of knights, April 23d, 1349-50, giving 
the garter pre-eminence among its ensigns, 
whence the select number whom he incorpo- 
rated into a fraternity were styled Bquitcs 
AurecB Periscelidis, 'the knights of the golden 
garter.' The Black Prince was the first of 
the original twenty -five knights. 

The habits and ensigns of this order con- 
sist of the garter, surcoat, mantle, hood, 
george, collar, cap, and feathers; the four 
first were assigned by the founder, and the 
rest by Henry VHI. 

The garter, appointed to be worn by the 
knights on the left leg between the knee and 
calf, was instituted by the founder, as a tie 
of association, honor, and military virtue, to 
bind the knights strictly to himself and each 
other in friendship, and as an ensign of unity 
and combination, to promote the honor of 
God, and the interest of their prince and 
sovereign. He also caused to be wrought 
it) gold letters this motto, Jloni soit qui 
vial y pense (Evil to him who evil thinks) ; 
declaring thereby the equity of his inten- 



tion, retorting shame and defiance upon him 
who thought ill of the just enterprise in 
which he had engaged for the support of 
his right to the French crown. The garter 
is of blue velvet bordered with gold (having 
the letters of the motto of the same), and is 
buckled on at the time of the election. 

The knight's pantaloons are of pearl-colored 
silk. On the outside of the right knee is 
fixed a knot of open silver lace and ribbons 
intermixed, in the form of a large rose ; and, 
a little below the knee, is placed the garter. 
His shoes, which are of white shammy, with 
red heels, have each a knot on the exterior 
side. His doublet is cloth of silver, adorned 
before and behind, and down the sleeves, 
with several guards or rows of silver lace, 
each having a row of small buttons set down 
the middle. The cuffs are open, and adorned 
with the before-mentioned lace and ribbons 
set in small loops. At the bottom of the 
upper seam of each cuff is fixed a knot of 
silver ribbons that fall over his gloves, which 
are of kid, laced at the top with silver, and 
adorned at the opening with a knot, like that 
on the cuflT. His surcoat is of crimson vel- 
vet, lined with white taffeta. His cap is 
of black velvet adorned with a diamond band, 
and a plume of white feathers, with a heron 
sprig in the middle. The mantle is of sky- 
colored velvet, adorned on the left shoulder 
with St. George's cross encircled with the 
garter, wreathed on the edges with blue and 
gold. The hood is of crimson velvet and 
lined with white tafteta. The collar, which 
weighs thirty ounces troy, of gold, was intro- 
duced by Henry VHI., and contains twenty- 
six garters enameled, and 'as many knots, 
alluding to the sovereign of the order, to 
which is pendent the figure of St. George 
and the di-agon, which is a gold medal, and 
may be enriched with jewels at the pleasure 
of the owner. The officers of the order are 
the prelate of the garter, the chancellor of 
the garter, the register of the garter, and 
black rod, the last officer being instituted by 
the founder. The knights are installed in 
St. George's Chapel, at Windsor. 

GASCOIGNE, Sir William, an eminent 
English lawyer and judge, born 1350, died 
1413. 

GASSENDI, Plerre, an eminent French 



GAS 



HISTORY AND. BIOGRAPHY. 



35/ 



astronomer and philosopher, one of the 
great restorers of inductive philosophy, died 
1655, aged sixty-three, 

GAS, introduced in London, for lighting 
Pall Mall, in 1809; first into the United 
States, at Baltimore, 1821. 

GASTON DE FOIX, Duke of Nemours, 
the nephew of Louis XIL of France, was 
born in 1488. He ran a brilliant career in 
arms, and fell in the battle of Ravenna, 
April nth, 1512. 

GATES, Horatio, was an Englishman by 
birth, and the godson of Horace Walpole ; 
scandal said the filial relationship was closer 
and less sanctified. In Braddock's disastrous 
campaign, he commanded one of the inde- 
pendent companies from New York, and was 
severely wounded. Afterward he reached 
the rank of major in the regular army, but 
neither his pay nor promotion equaled his 
desires ; and after several years of solicita- 
tion and waiting for something better, he 
sold his commission, a disappointed man, 
crossed the Atlantic in 1772, purchased an 
estate in Virginia, espoused the popular side, 
and renewed his old campaigning acquaint- 
ance with George Washington. When Wash- 
ington was put at the head of the continental 
army, at his express request Gates was made 
adjutant-general, with the rank of brigadier. 
His experience was of much service in orga- 
nizing the raw forces at Cambridge. In 
May, 1776, he was made major-general, and 
in June the command of the army engaged 
in the invasion of Canada was conferred upon 
him. Questions of rank and precedence 
arose between him and Schuyler, the com- 
mander of the northern department. Through 
the intrigues of Gates with Congress, Schuy- 
ler was removed in August, 1777, and Gates 
made his successor. Schuyler was then 
busy in opposing the progress of Burgoyne's 
expedition; the glory of the victory that 
ensued was due in good part to his previous 
operations, though his supplanter had the 
fame. The Conway cabal raised up Gates 
as a rival to Washington, but their schemes, 
although very annoying and embarrassing, 
were finally abortive. When Gates was 
named to the command in the South, General 
Lee predicted, "His northern laurels will be 
exchanged for southern willows." This M'as 
verified in the disaster of Camden. His con- 



duct was investigated, and he was acquitted 
of blame. Meantime hostilities had ended.' 
Gen. Gates removed to the city of New York, 
and died April 10th, 1806, aged seventy- 
eight. A few years before, he had manumit- 
ted his slaves, but many preferred to remain 
in the family. Vanity was the general's 
besetting sin, often obscuring his judgment 
and better traits. 

GAY, John, the author of the "Beggars' 
Opera," "Black-Eyed Susan," and "Tlie 
Hare with Many Friends," died Dec. 4th, 
1732, aged forty-four. Over his grave in 
Westminster Abbey is a tablet with a long 
recital of his praises, set up by his friends, 
the Duke and Duchess of Queensberry ; but 
few read more than the irreverent epitaph 
which Gay himself composed : 

"Life's a jest, and all things show it: 
I thought so onc«: now I know it.' 

Gay and Swift were fast friends, and the let- 
ter of Pope, announcing Gay's death, was 
thus indorsed by Swift: "On my dear friend 
Mr. Gay's death. Received, December 15th, 
but not read till the 20th, by an impulse 
foreboding some misfortune." 

GENGHIS KHAN, the famous Mongol 
emperor, was born a.d. 1163. He founded 
in 1206 that vast empire, the grandeur of 
which was the theme of admiration through- 
out the world. The leading men of the small 
domain left him by his fother having rebelled 
against him, he marched upon them with an 
army of 30,000 men, and completely frus- 
trated their designs. Tartary and China 
and all inland Asia fell before the power of 
the conqueror, whose dominions extended to 
the banks of the Dnieper. He died Aug. 
24th, 1227, leaving to his children an empire 
twelve hundred leagues in length. The con- 
quests of the great khan were stained with 
the most atrocious cruelties ; his march was 
like the progress of a fiery storm, bursting 
over several countries at once, and involving 
them in ruin. According to the most moder- 
ate calculation, no fewer than 2,000,000 men 
fell beneath the murdering sword, without 
reckoning the numbers that affliction and the 
horrors of slavery consigned to the grave. 
[See Mongols.] 

GENLIS, Stephanie, Countess de, was 
born near Autun, in 1746. Soon after her 
birth «he narrowly escaped suffocation, for a 



GEN 



358 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



gentleman who called to see her mother, was 
about to sit down upon the chair on which 
the infant was laid, had actually divided the 
flaps of his coat for that purpose, and was 
only prevented by the united screams of the 
nurse and mother. The literary talent of 
Mademoiselle de St. Aubin early developed 
itself, and induced the Count de Genlis to 
offer her his hand without ever having seen 
her. She was governess to the children of 
the notorious Duke of Orleans, to whose 
number she added an illegitimate daughter, 
afterward the wife of Lord Edward Fitzger- 
ald. Madame de Genlis died, after a wander- 
ing life, in 1830, just after one of her pupils 
had become King of the French. 

GENOA is now a duchy of Sardinia. The 
city of Genoa, on the Mediterranean coast, 
has a population of 100,000. The harbor is 
capacious and secure. The city is built on a 
ileclivity, and the streets are narrow, dirty, 
and steep. The duchy contains 1,257 square 
miles, and 545,000 inhabitants. Genoa is a 
town of great antiquity. It was seized by 
the Langobards, after the fall of the western 
Roman empire, and came next into the hands 
of the Franks. It was erected into a republic 
after the fell of the Carlovmgian dynasty. 
Quarrels with the Pisans and Venetians occu- 
pied the Genoese for many years. In the 
thirteenth century the Genoese founded 
many and wealthy colonies in the Levant and 
the Euxine. The French assumed the sove- 
reignty of Genoa, but did not long retain it. 
Internal dissensions not unfrequently enabled 
foreign powers to seize upon the state. In 
1528 tranquillity was restored to Genoa, an 
aristocratical form of government established, 
and a doge placed at the head of the state. 
Some time after this the city was convulsed 
by furious contentions between the old and 
new nobility, the two fections into which 
the aristocracy was divided. Bj'- degrees 
Genoa lost her foreign possessions, the last 
of which, Corsica, revolted in 1730. During 
the invasion of Italy in 1797, Genoa observed 
a strict neutrality, but the dissensions of the 
Genoese did not escape the vigilant eye of 
Napoleon. He established a form of govern- 
ment on the French representative system, 
and gave it the title of the Ligurian republic. 
In 1805 it was annexed to the French empire. 
In 1815 the congress of Vienna annexed 



Genoa to the territories of Sardinia. The 
city was seize! by revolutionists, and a re- 
public proclaimed in April, 1850, but General 
Marmora quelled the rising before the month 
was out. 

GEORGE I., II., III., IV., of England. 
[See Hanover, House of.] 

GEORGIA has an area of 58,000 square 
miles; population in 18GU, l,057,286,of whom 
591,588 were whites, 402,198 slaves, and 3,500 
free negroes. Along the coast is a level strip, 
interspersed with many swamps. West of 
this tract are a series of plains forming the 
sand-hill belt or pine barrens, thickly grown 
with forests of the long-leaved pine ; varied 
with fine savannahs, verdant and well- 
watered, and ornamented with clumps of 
evergreens and other trees and shrubs. The 
lower sides of these savannahs are often 
joined by a great cane swamp, dotted with 
coppices and hummocks variously wooded. 
The northern half of the state is a hilly re- 
gion, blessed with a strong and productive 
soil and mild climate; "fertile and dehght- 
ful, continually replenished by innumerable 
rivulets, either coursing about the fragrant 
hills, or springing from the rocky precipices 
in many cascades, invigorating by their purity 
and coolness the hot and sultry air." Into 
this section the Blue Ridge enters from North 
Carolina, and, suddenly changing its general* 
course, runs nearly east and west into Ala- 
bama. The largest rivers of Georgia are the 
Savannah, which divides it from South Caro- 
lina, the Altamaha, and the Chattahoochee- 
Along the Florida border, between the head- 
waters of the Suwanee and the St. Mary's, 
there is an extensive series of swamps, the 
Okefinokee, covered with a thick growth of 
bay-trees, vines, and underwood, presenting 
in the wet season the appearance of wide 
lakes, with islands of rich high land. The "^ 
Creeks had a tradition that somewhere in this 
wilderness dwelt a race whose women were 
incomparably beautiful ; they called them the 
daughters of the sun. Some of the Creek 
hunters, when lost among the lab3a'inth of 
bogs, had been relieved by these charming 
maids ; but all search for the blissful island 
was in vain. 

On the low islands that line the Georgia coast 
is grown the long-staple cotton, thence called 
Sea-island cotton, whose value exceeds that 



GEO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



359 




of any other in the market. Rice is the other 
great agricultural staple. Tar, pitch, turpen- 
tine, and lumber, yielded by the broad forests 
of pine, are prominent exports. The mineral 
resources are imperfectly known : iron ores 
are abundant, and much gold has been found. 

Georgia was colonized in 1732 by a private 
company, and the colony named in honor of 
George II. In 1733 Gen. Oglethorpe founded 
the town of Savannah. The colony was in- 
tended as an asylum to relieve the distresses 
of the poor in England, and to secure the 
frontiers of South Carolina from the Indians 
and Spaniards. Several bodies of Germans 
and Highlanders were brought over soon af- 
terward. The lands were held on a military 
tenure. In 1752 it became a royal govern- 
ment, and in 1755 a provincial legislature was 
established. It joined its sister colonies in 
the Revolution, but from 1778 till the close of 
the war was occupied by a British force. Its 
territory originally included the present states 
of Alabama and Mississippi. The Creeks and 
Cherokees, whose home was here, have been 
removed beyond the Mississippi. 

Georgia seceded, Jan. 19, 1861, and was 
throughout one of the most important bases 
of the rebellion, as the main rebel railroad 
systems centered at Atlanta, and her finan- 
cial and agricultural resources were a princi- 
pal source of supplies. She also suffered 
severely, especially during that long course 
of tremendous operations which included 
Chicamauga, Chattanooga, the advance on 
Atlanta, the fall of that place and Sherman's 
great march from Atlanta to the sea. During 



this same period, several destructive forays 
were made into the state by Union cavalry. 
Milledgeville, the capital of the state, is 
pleasantly situated at the head of steamboat 
navigation on the Oconee, in the centre of a 
rich cotton district ; population in 1850, 2,216. 
Savannah is finely placed for a commercial 
town, accessible to large ships from the sea, 
and communicating with the interior by the 
noble river on which it stands. It is built on 
a plain about fifty feet above the water, from 
which it is a fine sight, with its spacious and 
regular streets, many public squares, hand- 
some buildings, and frequent groves of trees. 
The former unhealthiness has been done away 
by judicious drainage. Savannah is one of 
the most flourishing cities in the South, and 
the great commercial depot of Georgia ; pop- 
ulation in 1860, 22,292. It suffered a severe 
blow in 1820 by a conflagration whose loss 
was set down at $4, 000, 000. It was taken by 
the British in 1 778, and held until 1 782. The 
great interior emporium of Georgia is Augusta, 
at the head of steam navigation on the Savan- 
nah, well laid out and built, and the market 
of an extensive and populous country ; popu- 
lation 12,493, in 1860. Macon, on the Ocmul- 
gee, consisted in 1822 of a single cabin : in 
1853 it had 7,000 inhabitants, and its trade 
is rapidly growing. Columbus stands upon 
a plain about sixty feet above the Chattahoo- 
chee, just below the falls; population 7,000 
in 1853. The banks of the river are here very 
beautiful, and a spacious and regular town 
stands where in 1828 the solitude of the pri- 
meval forest lay. Athens^ on the Oconee, is 



GEO 



360 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the seat of Franklin College, originally incor- 
porated as the University of Georgia. Atlan- 
ta, the junction of three great railways, has 
grown rapidly of late. 

GEORGIA, a rich country of Asia, south 
of the Caucasus, between the Black Sea and 
the Caspian, now belonging to Russia. The 
beauty and grace of its women have long been 
famous. The Caucasian country is the seat 
of a great variety of tribes, differing in speech, 
habits, and many physical characteristics. 
The Georgians are the purest specimens of 
the Caucasian type, which the old ethnolo- 
gists made the highest class of the human 
race. The Assetes have a marked affinity in 
habits and customs with the ancient Germans. 
Here are the Yezidis, who worship the evil 
spirit, Armenians, Tartars, &c. In the same 
village, Armenians, Georgians, and Tartars 
dwell together, yet rarely intermix; each 
people preserving its own rites, traditions, 
customs, and dress. All the races who have 
passed through this country have left memo- 
rials. Here are the dwellings of the Troglo- 
dytes, entire cities cut out of the rock ; the 
colossal ruins of aqueducts and canals that 
date to the times of the great monarchies of 
Babylon, Assyria, and Persia; with Greek 
and Roman edifices, and castles of the middle 
ages. It is very remarkable that the prophet 
Elijah is a particular object of adoration among 
almost all the Caucasian tribes, whether Mo- 
hammedan or heathen. There are caverns 
consecrated to him, where the inhabitants 
assemble on certain days to offer sacrifices. If 
one is struck dead by lightning, they say that 
he was killed by the prophet Elijah, and his 
relatives rejoice. 

GERMANICUS C7ESAR, a son of Claudius 
Drusu^ Nero, and Antonia, the virtuous niece 
of Augustus. He was adopted by his uncle 
Tiberius, and raised to the highest offices of 
state. At the time of the death of Augustus, 
he was employed in a war with Germany, but 
Tiberius, jealous of the hero, recalled him, 
although he permitted him to celebrate a 
triumph for his victories. He then sent him 
to the east with sovereign authority, but saw 
his successes with a jealous eye. Germanicus 
died near Antioch, a.d. 19, in the thirty -fourth 
year of his age, not without suspicion of poison. 

GERMANTOWN, a town of Pennsylvania, 
miles north-west of Philadelphia, mem- 



orable for a battle fought here on the 4th of 
October, 1777, between the Americans, under 
Washington, and the British, to the disadvan- 
tage of the former. Victory was once within 
the grasp of the Americans, when, in the be- 
wildering fog that enveloped the field, the cry 
that the British were gathering in their rear, 
threw them into disastrous panic. The loss 
of the enemy was 71 killed, 415 wounded, and 
14 missing ; that of the Americans, 150 killed, 
521 wounded, and 400 made prisoners. 

GERMANY is bounded west by the Neth- 
erlands, Belgium, and France; south by 
Switzerland and the Austrian territories in 
Italy ; east by the kingdoms of Hungary, Ga- 
licia, Poland, and Prussia ; and north by the 
Baltic. Its area is estimated at 284,000 squara 
miles. The following are the states which 
form the Germanic confederation: Austria, 
Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, Hanover, Wurtem- 
burg, Baden, Hesse Cassel, Hesse Darmstadt, 
Lauenburg, Luxemburg, Brunswick, Meck- 
lenburg Schwerin, Nassau, Saxe Weimar, 
Saxe Coburg and Gotha, Saxe Meiningen Hild- 
burghausen, Saxe Altenburg, Mecklenburg 
Strelitz, Oldenburg, Anhalt Dessau, Anhalt 
Bernburg, Anhalt Kothen, Schwarzburg Son- 
dershausen, Schwarzburg Rudolstadt, Licht- 
enstein, Waldeck, Reuss, Schauenburg Lippe, 
Lippe Detmold, Hesse Homburg, Liibeck, 
Frankfurt, Bremen, and Hamburg. 

Germany, like Gaul, was anciently occupied 
by numerous tribes, some of which only were 
subjugated by the Romans, after a very fierce 
and prolonged resistance. It was afterward 
conquered by Charlemagne, who fixed his im- 
perial residence in Germany. The posterity 
of Charlemagne inherited this country until 
911. Otho the Illustrious, Duke of Saxony, 
having declined the royal dignity on account 
of his great age, Conrad I., first duke of Fran- 
conia, was unanimously elected to fill the 
vacant throne in 912. Thence, until 1806, the 
empire of Germany was an elective monarchy. 
Frederick Barbarossa ascended the throne in 
1152, and during his splendid reign was 
formed the famous league of the Hanseatic 
towns for the protection of commerce. Fred- 
erick II. was crowned at Aix-la-Chapelle in 
1212. He did much for the encouragement 
of arts and literature. 

The princes of the empire, assembled in 
diet at Frankfort, elected Rodolph of Haps- 



GER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



361 



burg to the imperial throne in 1272. He i 
swayed the imperial sceptre with ability for j 
about eighteen years, and died, after a short j 
illness, in the seventy -third year of his age. j 
Albert I. of Austria was invested with the j 
diadem at Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1298. Under his 
liarsh administration, the Swiss revolted, and [ 
the foundation of the Helvetic republic was ] 
laid. 

Henry YU. of Luxemburg was elected in 
1308, and now commenced the celebrated di- 
vision of Guelphs and Ghibellines in the con- 
tests between the emperors and popes. On 
his death, Louis of Bavaria was recognized as 
lawful possessor of the throne in 1330. 
Charles IV., King of Boh'emia, received the 
imperial diadem in 1347. His reign was pros- 
perous, and under his sway a spirit of opposi- 
tion to the corrupt clergy began to manifest 
itself At the diet of Nuremberg, 1356, he 
proclaimed the fomous Golden Bull, which 
became the fundamental law of the empire. 
This regulated the rights, privileges, and du- 
ties of the electors ; the manner of the election 
and coronation of an emperor ; the coinage, 
customs, and other matters of commerce ; the 
'tights and obligations of the free imperial 
cities, &c. 

Sigismund ascended the throne in 1411. 
He concurred with the pope in convoking the 
famous council of Constance, by which the 
reformer Huss was condemned; the war of 
the Hussites followed. Albert H. died in a 
short time, and, in 1440, the electors placed 
upon the imperial throne Frederick IIL, Duke 
of Austria. During his long reign, science 
and learning made great advance, and many 
universities were founded throughout Germa- 
ny. His son Maximilian was elected king of 
the Romans, and invested with the supreme 
dignity in 1493. He was an active and enter- 
prising prince. He ended many abuses which 
had desolated the empire, particularly private 
feuds. He improved the courts, introduced 
a system of police, and established a post in 
1516. He organized the army anew and bet- 
ter. During his reign the Reformation began. 
[See Refokjiation.] At the death of Maxi- 
milian, Francis I. of France, Henry VIH. of 
England, and Charles of Spain sought the 
imperial crown. The latter was preferred. 
[See Charles V.] Ferdinand, the brother of 
Charles, succeeded him at his abdication. 



Then came Maximilian IL, the son of Ferdi- 
nand, who had already received the crown of 
Bohemia, and had been elected king of the 
Romans. On the demise of this illustrious 
prince, his eldest son, who had been elected 
king of the Romans, and acknowledged as his 
successor to the crown of Hungary and Bo- 
hemia, succeeded to the empire by the name 
of Rodolph n., in 1576. The emperor ceded 
Bohemia to his brother Matthias, who suc- 
ceeded him in 1612. On the demise of Mat- 
thias, Ferdinand was declared emperor in 1619, 
but, on account of his fanaticism, the Protes- 
tants renounced allegiance to him, and the 
'thirty years' war' was waged with sanguin- 
ary animosity by both parties. Ferdinand 
was at first triumphant, and Germany began 
to tremble with the apprehension of slavish 
subjection ; Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, 
rushing with impetuosity into the empire, de- 
feated tne imperialists, but was slain on the 
plain of Lutzen. 

On the death of Ferdinand IL, his son, Fer- 
dinand IIL, ascended the imperial throne in 
1637, at a critical period, and succeeded in 
tranquilizing Germany, although the flames 
of war yet rolled unabated. France, Sweden, 
Denmark, England, and some of the German 
states were confederated against Spain and 
the house of Austria. At length a treaty was 
concluded, in 1648, since known as the peace 
of Westphalia. By this treaty, the religious 
and political liberties of the Germans were 
firmly secured against misrule. On the death 
of Ferdinand, Leopold 1. of Hungary and Bo- 
hemia was declared duly elected to the im- 
perial throne in 1658. Scarcely were the 
troubles in the north composed, when a war 
with Turkey broke out, while Louis XIV. of 
France took this opportunity of marching 
against the German monarch. But notwith- 
standing his perplexities and embarrassments, 
Leopold found means to rencJer the crown of 
Hungary hereditary in his fomily, an object 
which had long been desired. The Archduke 
Joseph was chosen sovereign of Hungary, 
elected king of the Romans, and ascended the. 
imperial throne in 1705. He governed with 
stern inflexibility, and continued the Spanish 
war. The Archduke Charles was elevated to 
the imperial throne, by the name of Charles 
VI., in 1711. Anne of England having ex- 
pressed her pacific intentions, he had to si-s- 



GER 



•662 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



tain the whole weight of a war with France 
and Spain, unless he accepted the terms of 
Louis. At length, however, negotiations were 
commenced, and the treaty of Utrecht re-es- 
tablished the general peace. Charles died in 
the twenty-ninth year of his age. He was 
the author of the ' pragmatic sanction,' which 
secured all the possessions of the house of 
Austria to his daughter the Archduchess 
Maria Theresa, and which was guaranteed by 
the states of the empire, and by all the great 
powers of Europe. 

The death of Charles, in 1740, was followed 
by very serious commotions, but the prag- 
matic sanction was preserved, and the treaty 
of Fussen and Aix-la-Chapelle terminated the 
war of the Austrian succession in favor of 
Maria Theresa. Two years after the conclu- 
sion of 'the seven years' war' by the treaty 
of Hubertsburg, the Emperor Francis, hus- 
band of Maria Theresa, died in the twenty- 
first year of his reign. He was succeeded by 
his son Joseph II. Joseph joined with Rus- 
sia and Prussia in the base dismemberment of 
Poland, but this did not prevent hostilities 
from being commenced between Austria and 
Prussia, on account of the succession to the 
electorate of Bavaria. Maria Theresa, Em- 
press of Germany, Queen of Hungary and 
Bohemia, and Archduchess of Austria, died 
in 1780. Joseph II. promulgated a decree in 
favor of the libertj^ of the press, which had 
been hitherto much circumscribed in the 
Austrian dominions. In 1783 he published 
an edict for the total abolition of villanage 
and slavery in Bohemia, Moravia, and Sile- 
sia; and similar measures were taken soon 
after for the relief of the peasants of Austrian 
Poland. He also abolished the use of torture 
in his hereditary dominions. He was suc- 
ceeded by his brother, Leopold IL, Grand- 
duke of Tuscany, in 1790. 

The French revolution now attracting the 
attention of all the European powers, a con- 
ference was held at Pilnitz between the empe- 
ror, the King of Prussia, and the Elector of 
Saxony ; but, instead of advising an imme- 
diate attack upon France, Leopold acted 



tilities, but his designs were soon terminated 
by his death, in the second year of his reign. 

Francis II. succeeded his father in 1792. 
At the instigation of the King of Prussia, he 
resolved to use his utmost endeavors for the 
restoration of the monarchy in France ; but 
the attempts of the allies were so unfortunate 
in the first campaign, that they commenced 
the second with altered views, and a feeling 
of insecurity in consequence of previous losses. 
The second campaign proved more successful, 
but that of 1794 was disastrous to the allies. 
The fourth campaign again raised the hopes 
of the Austrians. In 1796, from altered 
views of expediency, the French turned their 
arms upon the Austrian possessions in Italy, 
where the victories of Bonaparte soon spread 
the terror of his name. 

At length the court of Vienna, finding that 
all expectations of effectual opposition to the 
French were totally unfounded, concluded in 
1797 the treaty of Campo-Formio, by which 
the emperor ceded to France the whole of the 
Netherlands, and all his former territory in 
Italy, but received in return the city of Ven- 
ice, Istria, Dalmatia, and the Venetian 
islands in the Adriatic. However, the want 
was renewed with great vigor on both sides, 
and, in 1799, the Austrians compelled the 
French to evacuate nearly the whole of Italy. 
The brilliant successes of the Archduke 
Charles in Germany, also, reanimated the 
court of Vienna, and contributed to break off 
the conferences at Rastadt. In the mean time, 
Bonaparte having returned from Egypt, and 
been chosen first consul of the French repub- 
lic, the war with Austria was destined to 
take a new turn. That general, at the head 
of an army of reserve, marched towaid Italy, 
with inconceivable labor crossed the Alps, 
and advanced to Milan. After reducing Pa- 
via, and defeating the Austrians in the battle 
of Montebello, the French marched to the 
plain of Marengo. Both the French and im- 
perialists exhibited extraordinary skill and 
resolution. At length the first consul, avail- 
ing himself of an error which had been comr 
mitted, compelled his enemies to retreat | 



with his accustomed moderation, and merely | In Germany the French had opened the cam- 
wished to oppose an effectual security against i paign with similar success; and General 
the hurricane which threatened Europe. He Moreau, after defeating the imperialists in 
was afterward persuaded to commence hos- 1 several engagements, formed a junction with 

GER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



863 



the army of Italy, and obliged the Austrians 
to conclude an armistice. 

Soon after, preliminaries of peace were 
signed at Paris ; but as Bonaparte refused to 
negotiate with England, the emperor would 
not ratify them. Hostilities were therefore 
re-commenced, and the Austrians were de- 
feated by Moreau in the decisive battle of 
Hohenlinden. This was followed in 1801 b^ 
the treaty of Luneville, by which the empe- 
ror ceded to France the Belgic provinces and 
the whole of the country on the left side of 
the Ehine. In 1805, the court of Vienna 
entered into an alliance with Russia, against 
France. Preparation was made for war. 
Without waiting for the arrival of the Rus- 
sian troops, the Austrians marched toward 
the banks of the Danube, where hostilities 
commenced, and the French, under Bona- 
parte, after a severe contest, succeeded in 
defeating the imperialists with great loss. 
The Austrians retreated, and Bonaparte ad- 
vanced to Munich. From this time, partial 
engagements took place, in which the Aus- 
trians, though they fought with bravery, 
were uniformly defeated. The whole Aus- 
trian army in Suabia now concentrated itself 
in and near Uhn ; and everything seemed to 
indicate the approach of a general and deci- 
sive battle. However, to the astonishment 
ii'ad concern of all Europe, Gen. Mack, who 
was in Ulm with 33,000 men, without strik- 
ing a blow agreed to the terms of capitulation 
offered by Bonaparte, evacuated that import- 
ant fortress, and surrendered himself and his 
troops prisoners of war. Bonaparte was 
everywhere victorious, and the decisive battle 
of Austerlitz compelled an armistice, speedily 
followed by the treaty of Presburg. 

In 1806, sixteen German princes renounced 
their connection with the German empire, and 
signed at Paris the Confederation of the Rhine, 
by which they acknowledged Napoleon as their 
protector. This was followed, on the 6th of 
August, by the renunciation of the title of Em- 
peror of Germany, by Francis, who assumed 
that of Emperor of Austria, and publicly 
absolved all the German provinces and states 
from their reciprocal duties toward the Ger- 
man empire. In 1809, Francis, smarting 
under sacrifices already made, and dreading 
farther encroachments, resolved to try again 
the chance of war, at a time when a large 



proportion of the military force of France was 
employed in completing the subjugation of 
Spain. AVar was declared, in proclamations 
from the Archduke Charles and the Emperor 
Francis, and these were followed by a man- 
ifesto, stating the provocations and causes of 
alarm which had been given by France to 
Austria. 

The Austrians were defeated in two battles, 
one at Abensburg by Napoleon in person, 
and the other at Eckmuhl ; and after these 
defeats, Vienna surrendered to the French 
emperor. But in the battle of Aspern, which 
followed soon after, Napoleon experienced 
the severest check which his career had yet 
received. After the decisive battle of Wa- 
gram, an armistice was concluded. This was 
followed by a peace between Austria and 
France, by which Francis ceded to Napoleon 
all those parts of his territory which bordered 
on the Adriatic. Other cessions were also 
made. By a secret article in this treaty, the 
Emperor Francis agreed to give his daughter, 
the Archduchess Maria Louisa, in marriagfc 
to Napoleon. After the disastrous conse- 
quences of the Russian campaign, Austria 
declared war against France, a declaration 
which was followed by a treaty of amity and 
defensive alliance between the courts of Vi- 
enna and Petersburg. Russia and Prussia had 
previously formed treaties with Great Britain. 
Sweden had also joined the allies, and the 
accession of Bavaria to the common cause 
proved the general concurrence of Germany 
to throw off the yoke of Napoleon. The battle 
of Leipzig decided the fate of Germany. 

After Napoleon abdicated the throne of 
Fi'ance in 1814, the allied powers concluded 
a treaty at Paris by which the German states 
were to be independent, and united by a fed- 
eral league. As the Austrian or Catholic 
Netherlands were unable to secure their 
independence, Belgium was annexed to the 
Netherlands, forming a single state, under 
the sovereignty of the house of Orange. After 
the battle of Waterloo, in 1815, a congress of 
the allied powers was held at Vienna, at which 
the future tranquillity of Germany was pro- 
vided for by a solemn act of confederation, 
signed by its sovereigns and free cities, in- 
cluding the Emperor of Austria and the King 
of Prussia, for those of their possessions for- 
merly appe-rtaining to the German empire, 



GER 



364 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the King of Denmark for Holstein, and the 
King of the Netherlands for Luxemburg. 

In 1848 a closer union of the German peo- 
ple was proposed. The Prussian king, egged 
on by the violent excitement then prevalent, 
urged the German princes and people to 
abandon their local names and independence, 
and unite under one guiding hand. This 
guide he offered himself to be, and he for- 
mally 'fused and dissolved the name of 
Prussia in that of Germany.' A national 
constitutional assembly was convoked at 
Frankfort. Austria and Prussia struggled 
for the ascendency in the proposed empire, 
and the result was naught. 

EilPEEORS OF GERMANY. 



CAELOVINGIANS- 

Charlemagne. 

Louis the Debonair, King of France. 

Lothaire, his son ; died in a monastery at 

Treves. 
Louis II., his son. 
Charles the Bald, King of France. 
[Interregnum.] 
Charles the Fat, of Fro.nce; crowned King 

of Italy; deposed. 
Arnulf, or Arnoul, his nephew ; crowned 

emperor at Rome in 896. 
Louis III., called IV., his infant son, the 

last of the Carlovingian line in Ger- 



800. 
814. 
840. 

855. 
876. 
817. 
880. 

887. 

899. 



911. 
918. 



936. 
973. 



1002. 
1024. 
1039. 
1056. 

1106. 

1125. 
1138. 
1138. 
1152. 
1190. 



1198. 
1208. 



1112. 



many. 

THE SAXON DYNASTY. 

Conrad I., Duke of Franconia. 

Henry I., the Fowler, son of Otho, Duke 
of Saxony. 

Otbo I., the Great, his son; crowned by 
Pope John XII. in 962. 

Otho II., the Bloody; massacred his chief 
nobility ; wounded by a poisoned arrow. 

Otho III., the Red, his son, not of age ; 
poisoned. 

Henry II., the Saint, Duke of Bavaria. 

Conrad II., the Salique. 

Henry III., the Black, his son. 

Henry IV., his son; excommunicated by 
Pope Pascal II. ; deposed by his son. 

Henry V. ; married Maud, or Matilda, 
daughter of Henry I. of England. 

Lothaire II., the Saxon. 

[Interregnum.] 

Conrad III., Duke of Franconia. 

Frederick Barbarossa. 

Henry VI., the Sharp, his son; he de- 
tained Richard I. of England in cap- 
tivity. 

Philip, brother to Henry ; assassinated. 

Otho IV., the Superb; excommunicated 
and deposed. 

Frederick II., King of Sicily, son of Henry 
VI. ; deposed, and Henry, Landgrave 
of Thuringia, elected. Frederick died 



1250. 
1250. 



1291 
1292 



1298. 



in 1250, naming his son Conrad his 
successor, but the pope gave the impe- 
rial title to William, Earl of Holland. 

Conrad IV., son of Frederick. 

William, Earl of Holland ; died in Decem- 
ber, 1255. The electors could not agree 
upon a successor. 
1256. [Interregnum.] 

HOUSES OP HAPSBURG, LUXEMBURG, AND BAVARIA. 

1273. Rodolph of Hapsburg. 
[Interregnum.] 

Adolphus, Count of Nassau, to the exclu- 
sion of Albert, Rodolph's son ; depo.sed, 
and slain at the battle of Spires. 
Albert, Duke of Austria, son of Rodolph ; 
assassinated by his nephew. 
1308. Henry VII. of Luxemburg. 

1313. [Interregnum.] 

1314. Louis IV., of Bavaria, and Frederick III., 

of Austria, son of Albert, rival emper- 
ors. Frederick died in 1330. 

1347. Charles IV., of Luxemburg. 

1378. Wenceslaus, King of Bohemia, his son. 

1400. Frederick, Duke of Brunswick ; nmrdered 
as soon as elected. 

1400. Rupert, Count Palatine of the Rhine. 

1410. Jossus, Marquess of Moravia; cliosen by 
one party of tlie electors ; died 1411. 

1410. Sigismund, King of Hungary ; elected by 
another party ; King of Bohemia in 1419. 

HOUSE OF AUSTRIA. 

1438. Albert II., the Great, Duke of Austria, 

and King of Hungary and Bohemia. 

1439. [Interregnum.] 

1440. Frederick IV., the Pacific. 
Maximilian, his son. 
Charles V. (I. of Spain), his grandson; 

son of Joan of Castile and Philip of 

Austria; abdicated. 
Ferdinand I., King of Hungary, brother 

of Charles. 
1564. Maximilian II., his son, King of Bohenna 

and Hungary. 
1576. Rodolph II., his son. 
1612. Matthias, brother of Rodolph. 
1619. Ferdinand II., cousin of Rodolph, son of 

the Archduke Charles, King of Hun- 
gary. 
1637. Ferdinand III., son of Ferdinand II. 
1658. Leopold I., his son. 
1705. Joseph I., his son. 

Charles VI., brother of Joseph; succeeded 

by his daughter. 
Maria Theresa, Queen of Hungary and 

Bohemia, whose right to the empire 

was sustained by England. 
1742. Charles VII., Elector of Bavaria, whose 

claim was supported by France. The 

crown contested in a general war. 

Charles died in January, 1745. 
1745. Francis I., of Lorraine, Grand-Duke of 

Tuscany, consort of Maria Theresa. 
1765. Joseph II., their son. 
1790. Leopold II., his brother. 
1792. Francis II., his son. In 1804 this prince 

took the title of Emperor of Austria 

only. 



1493. 
1519. 



1558. 



1711. 



1740. 



GER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



365 



GERRY, Elbridge, one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, and after- 
ward vice-president of the United States, was 
born at Marblehead, Mass., July 17th, 1744. 
He was graduated at Harvard College, 1762, 
and afterward, by his success in commercial 
pursuits, acquired considerable property. 
From his warm patriotism, he was elected a 
member of the Massachusetts general court, 
and to the continental congress in 1775. He 
held the front rank in that body on naval and 
commercial matters, and rendered important 
aid as an able financier. In 1797 he accom- 
panied Gen. Pinckney and Mr. Marshall on 
a special mission to France, and upon his 
return was elected governor of Massachusetts 
for several successive years. In 1809 and 
1810 he was again raised to the executive. 
In 1812 he was elected vice-president, over 
Jared IngersoU of Pennsylvania, and died in 
ofBce at Washington, November, 1814. 

During his last year of office as governor 
of Massachusetts, his party friends perpe- 
trated a glaring iniquity in forming senato- 
rial districts, which gave an expressive word 
to the political vocabulary of the country. 
The object was to get a majority of the legis- 
lature out of a minority of the votes of the 
people. As an instance, in the old, rich, 
populous county of Essex, it was necessary 
to cut a rim in a zigzag course almost com- 
pletely around the county somewhat in the 
shape of a horse-shoe. An ingenious wag 
drew a map of the county with this rim of 
democratic towns painted in different colors, 
resembling some monster animal with many 
short legs and claws — a sort of sea-serpent, 
ending with a horrible head and open jaws 
at Cape Ann, and a tail at Marblehead. The 
party trick was called the gerrymander, and 
similar unfairness since in various states, has 
kept the word in use. 

GHENT. A city of Belgium [see Belgi- 
um], where a treaty of peace between Great 
Britain and the United States was signed, 
Dec. 24th, 1814. 

GIBBON, Edward, an eminent English 
historian, born at Putney, in 1737. He re- 
sided much abroad, chiefly at Lausanne, but 
was engaged at homs in political life for some 
time. He conceived the idea of his great 
work, the " Decline and Fall of the Roman 



Empire," at Rome, in 1764, as he sat amidst 
the ruins of the Capitol, "while the bare- 
footed friars were singing vespers in the 
temple of Jupiter ; " and he has eloquently 
recorded the mixed emotions with which, 
one moonlight night of June, 1787, in a sum- 
mer-house in his garden at Lausanne, he 
wrote the last sentences of the task which 
had so long been his occupation and pleas- 
ure. He died in England, on the 16th of 
January, 1794. 

GIBRALTAR, a fortified rock in Andalu- 
sia, at the entrance of the Mediterranean, 
rising about 1,600 feet above the sea. This 
rock, under its ancient name of Calpe, and 
Mt. Abyla (now Ceuta) opposite on the Afri- 
can coast, were called by the ancients the 
Pillars of Hercules. In the early part of the 
eighth century an army of Saracens from 
Africa, commanded by Tarif, or Tarek, 
landed near here. They erected a castle, and 
called the rock Gibel-Tarif, 'the mountain 
of Tarif.' At the downfall of the Moors the 
rock fell into the hands of the Spaniards, by 
whom it was fortified till it was thought 
impregnable. But, on the 24th of July, 
1704, it was taken after a dreadful cannon- 
ade, by an English and Dutch fleet com-* 
manded by Sir George Rooke and the Prince 
of Hesse Darmstadt. Since then it has been 
possessed by the British, although many 
attempts have been made to regain it. It 
was besieged by the Spaniards and French, 
Oct. 11th, 1704; by the Spaniards in 1720 
and 1727. But the most memorable siege 
was that by the Spaniards and French from 
July, 1779, to February, 1783. The British 
garrison numbered only 7,000. The assail- 
ants had an army of 40,000 men, a thousand 
pieces of artillery, and a mighty fleet of three- 
deckers, frigates, floating batteries, gun- 
boats, &c. For weeks, six thousand shells a 
day were thrown into the town. Yet this 
great armament was beaten off, and wholly 
overthrown by the brave garrison, who were 
commanded by Gen. Elliot. 

GIBSON, George, a native of Lancaster, 
Penn., settled early in life at Pittsburg, joined 
the Revolutionary army as a colonel, and 
served to the end of 1778. In the war with 
the Indian tribes. Colonel Gibson again com- 
manded a regiment, and shared the fatal dan- 



GIB 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



gers of St. Clair's defeat, in which he re- 
ceived a mortal wound, at Fort Jefferson, 
Dec. 11th, 1794. 

GIBSON, John, uncle of the above, born 
at Lancaster, Pcnn., May 23d, 1740, served 
'under Gen. Forbes when that officer took 
Fort du Quesne ; entered the Revolutionary 
army as a colonel early in the war, and con- 
tinued through it ; died at Braddock's Field, 
near Pittsburg, April 10th, 1822. 

GIFFORD, William, born in April, 1756, 
and early left an orphan, was apprenticed to 
a shoemaker. Industry and perseverance 
raised him to a prominent rank in English 
literature as a satirical poet, a translator, and 
a critic. He was editor of the Quarterly 
Review from its start in 1808 till within two 
years of his death, which took place Dec. 
31st, 1826. 

GILBERT, Sir Humphrey, half-brother to 
Sir Walter Raleigh, and one of the earliest 
English adventurers who attempted to form 
a colony in America, born in 1539 ; in 1576, 
published "A Treatise to prove a Passage by 
the North-west to the East Indies." In 1578 
he obtained a patent to make a settlement in 
North America, and in that year made a 
voyage to Newfoundland, returned to Europe, 
and in 1583, on his homeward-bound voyage, 
in a barque of only ten tons, from another 
trip to America, was lost with all his crew. 

GILPIN, Bernard, the 'apostle of the 
north,' was born in Westmoreland in 1517, 
and educated in Catholicism. His inquiries 
turned him to the reformed faith. He became 
rector of Houghton in Durham, a parish 
containing no less than fourteen villages, 
shrouded in ignorance and superstition. He 
was arrested by order of Bishop Bonner, but 
the death of bloody Mary saved him from the 
stake, and he returned to his zealous work 
of good. His labors were not confined to 
his own parish. Every year he visited divers 
neglected districts in Northumberland, York- 
shire, Cheshire, Westmoreland, and Cumber- 
land ; and that his own flock might not suf- 
fer, he was at the expense of a constant 
assistant. In all his journeys he did not fail 
to visit the gaols and places of confinement ; 
and by his labors and affectionate manner 
of behavior, he is said to have reformed many 
abandoned persons in those abodes of human 
misery. He had set times and places of 



preaching, in the different parts of the coun- 
try, which were as regularly attended as the 
assizes. If there was a church in the place, 
he made use of it ; if not, of barns or any 
other large buildings. He had an enthusi- 
astic warmth in his addresses, which turned 
many to a sense of religion, who had never 
thought of anything serious before. Danger 
and fatigue were in his estimation abundantly 
compensated by advantage accruing to his 
uninstructed fellow-creatures. This good 
man is said to have amassed, by unwearied 
application, a vast stock of knowledge ; to 
have been ignorant of no part of learning in 
esteem at that time ; to have been more than 
usually skilled in the classic languages, his- 
tory, and poetry: but everything he made 
subservient to the nobility and benefit of his 
Christian ministry. He established and sus- 
tained excellent schools; generous bounty 
was dispensed by his hand ; and his door was 
ever open to the poor or the stranger. Lord 
Burleigh's offer of a bishopric he refused: 
his ambition worked itself out in good deeds. 
"Meanwhile age began to grow upon him. 
After his le<in body was quite worn out with 
diversity of pains-taking, at the last even, feel- 
ing beforehand th« approach of death, he 
commanded the poor to be called together, 
unto whom he made a speech, and took his 
leave of them. Afterwards he did the like 
to others. He used many exhortations to his 
schollers, to his servants, and divers others, 
and fell asleep in great peace in the sixty- 
sixth year of his age, in the year of our Lord 
1583.'' 

GLAUBER, John Rodolph, a German 
chemist, and dabler in alchemy; he dis- 
covered the sulphate of soda, now known as 
Glauber's salt; flourished 1640-1660. 

GLENCOE, Massacre of. In August, 
1691, a proclamation was issued by Wil- 
liam III. of England, offering indemnity to 
such insurgents as should take the oath of 
allegiance to the king and queen on or before 
the last day of the year ; and the chiefs of 
such clans as had been in arms for James II. 
soon embraced the offer. But Macdonald of 
Glencoe was prevented by accident, not de- 
sign, from tendering his submission within 
the limited time. He did not reach Inverary 
till the new year had come in. The sheriff, 
however, yielding to the importunities and 



GLE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



867 



even tears of the aged chieftain, administered 
to him the oath of allegiance then, and sent 
an explanation of the circumstances to the 
privy council at Edinburgh. But Stair and 
Breadalbane were the enemies of Macdonald ; 
they persuaded William that the Macdonalds 
were great obstacles to the pacification of the 
Highlands ; and the royal command was ob- 
tained "for the good and saftie of the Coun- 
trie, that thes miscriants be cut off root and 
branch." Capt. Campbell, of Argyle's regi- 
ment, repaired to Glencoe with a hundred 
and twenty men. He was the uncle of young 
Macdonald's wife, and he and his troops 
were received by the unsuspecting Highland- 
ers with the utmost hospitality. The orders 
were "to fall upon the rebels the Macdonalds 
of Glencoe, and put all to the sword under 
seventy:" yet for several days this dread 
intent was concealed, and butchers- and vic- 
tims dwelt in peace with one another. The 
mask dropped on the night of Feb. 13th, 
1691. Macdonald was shot dead at his bed- 
side. His aged wife was stripped naked by 
the soldiers, who tore the rings from her 
fingers with their teeth. Neither age nor 
sex was spared. Thirty-eight persons were 
massacred, and several who fled among the 
mountains perished by starvation and expos- 
ure. The hamlet was laid in ashes. 

GLENDOWER, Owen, a celebrated Welsh 
chieftain, born in 1354. He was the deter- 
mined foe of Henry IV., and for a long time 
kept up a marauding warfare which was 
highly annoying to the English. He died, 
unsubdued, Feb. 24th, 1416. 

GLISSON, Francis, president of the col- 
lege of Physicians, London, died in 1677, 
aged eighty. He was one of the founders of 
the Royal Society, and was eulogized by 
Boerhaave and Haller. 

GLUCK, CnKisTOPHER, the Chevalier, an 
eminent German musical composer, died at 
Vienna, 1787, aged seventy-one. 

GOBELIN, Giles, famous as a dyer of 
scarlet in the reign of Francis I. of France, 
and the founder of the works where the 
beautiful Gobelin tapestry has been produced. 

GODFREY OF Bouillon, Marquis of An- 
vers and Duke of Brabant, was the son of 
Eustace II., Count of Boulogne, and was born 
about the middle of the eleventh century. 
He served with distinction under Henry IV., 



Emperor of Germany, but acquired an im- 
perishable fame in the first crusade. At 
Nice, EJessa, and Antioch, he particularly 
distinguished himself, and in July, 1099, he 
took Jerusalem, after a siege of five weeks. 
On taking possession of the city, he threw 
off his armor, clothed himself in a mantle, 
and, with bare head and naked feet, went to 
the Church of the Sepulchre. On the foun- 
dation of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem, 
in the same year, Godfrey's virtues were 
declared to be pre-eminent ; the princes con- 
ducted him to the church which covered the 
tomb of Christ, and offered him a crown. 
But he refused to wear a diadem of gold 
where his Saviour wore a crown of thorns, 
and modestly claimed only the honor of being 
the defender of the Holy Sepulchre. He 
enjoyed it but a short time, for he died July 
18th, 1100, just one year after the taking of 
Jerusalem. 

GODFREY, Thomas, inventor of the quad- 
rant commonly called Hadley's, by whom he 
was cheated out of the credit of the inven- 
tion ; born in Philadelphia, where he died in 
December, 1749. 

GODMAN, John D., an eminent American 
naturalist, was born at Annapolis, Md., and 
at an early age was apprenticed to a printer. 
Disliking his business, he shipped as a sailor 
on board the Chesapeake flotilla, in the war 
of 1813. Having afterward studied medicine, 
he settled in New York, and was offered the 
professorship of anatomy in Rutger's Medical 
College. The state of his health, however, 
rendered traveling necessary, and he went to 
Vera Cruz, but without experiencing the 
relief which he hoped. He died in Philadel- 
phia, April 17th, 1830, in the thirty-second 
year of his age. His "Natural History of 
American Quadrupeds," and his "Rambles 
of a Naturalist" were deservedly popular. 

GODOLPHIN, Sidney, Earl of, and lord 
high treasurer of England, was born in Corn- 
wall, and educated at Oxford. He was em- 
ployed in the reigns of Charles II. and 
James II., although he had voted for the 
exclusion of the latter in 1680. He was 
placed at the head of the treasury on the 
accession of Queen Anne, but was obliged to 
retire from office in 1710. He died in 1712. 

GODWIN, William, the author of " Caleb 
Williams," was born in 1756, and died in 



GOD 



ms 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



1836. He was a voluminous writer, a warm 
republican in politics, and an eccentric and 
remarkable man. 

GOETHE, John Wolfgang von, born Aug. 
28th, 1749, at Frankfort on the Maine. He 
displayed an early fondness for literature and 
the arts, which increased with his years. His 
studies embraced the whole circle of the sci- 
ences. In 1771 he took the degree of doctor 
of laws. About the year 177G, on the invi- 
tation of the grand-duke, he went to Weimar, 
where he passed the rest of his life, loaded 
by his patron with honors, ennobled, made 
a privy counselor, and for many years prime 
minister. Owing in part to the liberal 
patronage of the grand-duke, the little court 
of Weimar M'as a distinguished focus of Ger- 
man literature ; and in the early years of the 
present century, this place reckoned among 
its residents more than twenty writers of 
note, at the head of whom were Goethe, 
Schiller, Wieland, Herder, and for a time 
Kotzebue. 

The following particulars of the life of this 
celebrated man were written not long before 
his death. "It would be difficult to find a 
man who had arrived at the age of eighty-one 
with fewer infirmities than Goethe. The 
prodigious activity of his mind seems not to 
have worn out his body, although the latter, 
it is said, was put to the proof by his juvenile 
irregularities. His elevated form, the strik- 
ing regularity of his features, his imposing 
and noble bearing, the athletic proportions 
of his body, seem to have suffered no injury 
from age ; he holds himself as upright as a 
young man of eighteen ; no apparent infirmity 
accompanies his years, and the wrinkles of 
his face hardly indicate a man of sircy. 
There is in his behavior and countenance 
something cold and reserved, which adds to 
the emotion which is felt in beholding him. 
He "rarely determines, in the interviews 
which he grants to strangers, to display the 
resources of his genius; and visitors are 
sorry to observe that these hours of audience 
are only moments of repose for his spirit, 
perhaps of annoyance. It is said that this 
reserve always disappears in favor of strang- 
ers who arrive at Weimar preceded by a 
literary reputation. Goethe has felt obliged 
to impose this reserve upon himself to avoid 
the unhappy consequences of frankness which 



once distinguished him, and it is said that 
English travelers have not a little contributed 
to it by the indiscretion they have shown in 
publishmg in their journals incorrect frag- 
ments of their conversation with him. 

" The life which Goethe leads at present 
bears the impress of that vigor of mind and 
body, which he has succeeded in preserving. 
With a freshness and activity of mind that 
eighty years of a laborious life have not 
impaired, he knows how to profit by every 
moment of the day. By six o'clock in the 
morning he is at work, and he permits no 
interruption until the hour of noon. During 
these long mornings he writes letters, com- 
poses, reviews his complete works, and ar- 
ranges his correspondence with Schiller, of 
which the first volume has been published 
some months. At noon strangers are admit- 
ted. After dinner, he assembles at his house, 
about four or five o'clock, the limited number 
of the elect who have the happiness to live 
in habits of intimacy with him. The eve- 
nings of Goethe are consecrated to reading ; 
he reads with a prodigious rapidity, which 
would be but a defect, were it not accom- 
panied by an astonishing memory and an 
extraordinarj^ faculty of analj^sis. He is but 
seldom seen at' the theatre, and the theatre 
of Weimar feels this abandonment but too 
sensibly. Goethe was formerly the manager, 
perhaps we may call him the creator of it: 
it was he who, aided by Schiller, formed all 
the actors who, for more than a quarter of a 
century, shone in the first rank upon the 
German stage, and made the little theatre of 
Weimar the true school of the di-amatic art 
in Germany." 

Goethe died at Weimar, March 22d, 1832, 
aged eighty -two. He was an eminent author 
and a romantic poet, held in great repute by 
his countrymen and admirers, and styled the 
patriarch of German literature ; according to 
a writer in the Foreign Quarterly Review, 
"the first man of his nation and time;" and 
according to Prince Puckler Muskau, "the" 
third in the gi-eat triumvirate with Homer and 
Shakspeare." Among the most celebrated 
of the productions of Goethe are the " Sor- 
rows of Werther," "Faust," and "Wilhelm 
Meister's Apprenticeship." He maintained 
for many years a tranquil empire over the 
literature of his country, which was implicitly 



GOE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



369 



acquiesced in by the candidates for literary- 
fame; yet many of his voluaiinous works 
have been much complained of, as charac- 
terized by unintelligible mysticism, and as 
of irreligious and immoral tendency. 

GOFFE, William, one of the judges of 
Charles I., and a genei'al under Cromwell. 
When the Stuarts were restored, he, with 
Whalley, another of the regicides, came to 
New England, and found concealment at New 
Haven, Hadley, and elsewhere. Sept. 1st, 
1675, Hadley was attacked by Indians. The 
savages were repelled by an aged man, who 
suddenly appeared and headed the inhabit- 
ants, and disappeared as suddenly after the 
victory. This man, regarded as an angel at 
the time, was afterward discovered to be 
GoflFe, who for many years was secreted 
there. He is supposed to have died in 1680. 

GOLDSMITH, Oliver, an eminent poet 
and miscellaneous writer, born in Ireland, 
Nov. 10th, 1728. His father was a poor 
curate. He studied at Dublin, Edinburgh, 
and Leyden, and took a doctor's degree at 
Padua, a maternal uncle defraying part of the 
expenses. Having made the tour of Europe 
on foot, supporting himself by flute-playing, 
he reached London, after a long absence, with 
but a few pence in his pocket. Here he 
sustained himself by his pen, and compiled 
many works, besides composing those which 
have rendered his name immortal. His poem 
of "The Traveller" gained him an enviable 
poetical reputation. His fame was estab- 
lished on a firm basis by "The Deserted 
Village." Improvident, like many men of 
genius, he was about to marry his landlady 
to cancel a debt he owed her, when the sale 
of the manuscript o-f his novel " The Vicar 
of Wakefield," which met the approbation 
of Dr. Johnson, afforded him a temporary 
relief An adventure of his own formed the 
groundwork of his highly successful comedy, 
" She Stoops to Conquer." He put up at the 
house of a gentleman, mistaking it for an inn, 
and amused the inmates by calling out lustily 
for whatever he wanted, ordering the ser- 
vants, slapping his host upon the back, and 
asking to see the bill of fare ; his mortifica- 
tion, on discovering his mistake, can easily 
be imagined. He died April 4th, 1774. He 
was eccentric even to absurdity, and in 
society showed the simplicity of La Fontaine. 



extemporaneous verses, 



24 



Garrick, in some 
spoke of him as 

"Noll, 
Who wrote like an angel, but talked— like poor 
Poll." 

The debts he left amounted to £2,000. " Was 
ever poet so trusted before?" said Dr. John- 
son. "No man," said the doctor also, "was 
wiser when he had a pen in his hand, or more 
foolish when he had not." 

GONZALVO, Hernandez y Aguilar, of 
Cordova, commonly called the ' great captain,' 
was born in 1443. This celebrated Spaniard 
served under Ferdinand and Isabella in the 
conquest of Grenada, where he took several 
strong places from the Moors. Ferdinand 
gave him command of the forces which he 
sent into the kingdom of Naples to succor 
Frederick and Alphonso. After having gained 
his purpose, he returned to Spain, and then, 
serving against the Turks, wrested Zante and 
Cephalonia from them. He was afterward, 
in consequence of his various victories, ap- 
pointed viceroy of Naples, Avith unlimited 
powers. He died.in 1515. 

GOOKIN, Daniel, major-general of Mas- 
sachusetts from 1681 to 1687, the year of his 
death. He was an Englishman, but came to 
Virginia in 1621, and in 1644 removed to 
New England that he might enjoy freedom 
of worship. He was the author of " Histori- 
cal Collections of the Indians in New Eng- 
land," and a zealous coadjutor of the Rev. 
John Eliot. 

GORDIUS, a king of Phrygia, who fast- 
ened the pole of his chai-iot with so ingenious 
a knot that the oracle promised the empire of 
Persia to the man who should loose it. Alex- 
ander the Great cut it with his sword. 

GORE, Christopher, a governor of Mas- 
sachusetts, born in Boston in 1758, was the 
son of a mechanic. His education was com- 
pleted at Harvard University ; he studied law 
and practiced it with success. He was the 
first United States district attorney for Massa- 
chusetts, and was one of the commissioners to 
settle the claims on England for the spoliations 
committed by her upon the property of the 
Americans. In 1809 he was chosen gover- 
nor of Massachusetts, but remained in oflBce 
only one year. In 1814 he was chosen 
United States senator. He died in retire- 
ment, March 1st, 1827. 



GOR 



370 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



GORE, John, the friend and companion of 
Capt. Cook, born in Virginia, 1735, entered 
the British navy early in liie, and made his 
first voyage round the world with Com- 
modore Byron. In 1768, he was appointed 
second lieutenant of the Endeavor, under 
Captain Cook, and again circumnavigated the 
earth. In 1776, he was appointed first lieu- 
tenant of the Resolution, and, by the succes- 
sive deaths of Captains Cook and Clerke, 
returned to Europe, October, 1780, commander 
of the squadron. He ended his days as one 
of the captains of Greenwich Hospital, Aug. 
10th, 1790, aged fifty-five. 

GOTHS, an ancient barbarous tribe, whose 
origin is very uncertain. They were said 
to come from Scandinavia. For a long time 
they resided in Germany, whence they finally 
forced their way and made themselves formid- 
able to the Romans. Under Alaric, they took 
and plundered Rome. The Goths of the east 
were called Ostrogoths, and those of the west 
Visigoths. 

GRACCHUS, Tiberius Sempronius and 
Caius, the sons of the celebrated Cornelia, 
lost their lives in attempting to reform the 
republic. With a winning eloquence, affected 
moderation, and unconmion popularity, Tibe- 
rius began to revive the agrarian law, which 
had already caused dissensions among the 
Romans. His proposition passed into a law, 
but he was killed in the midst of a tumult, 
for happening to raise his hand to his head, 
his enemies declared that he signified a de- 
sire for a crown, and he was slain in the 
outbreak of popular fury which ensued. His 
brother Caius supported the cause of the 
people with more vehemence and less modera- 
tion than Tiberius, and his success animated 
his resentment against the nobles. With the 
privileges of a tribune, he treated the patri- 
cians with contempt, and this behavior hast- 
ened his ruin. He fled with a large number 
of his adherents, but the consul Opinius 
attacked and defeated them, and slew their 
leader, b.c. 121, about thirteen years after the 
unfortunate end of Tiberius. 

GRAHAM, Sylvester, the untiring advo- 
cate of a vegetarian system of dietetics in 
America, died at Northampton, Mass., Sept. 
11th, 1851, aged fifty-five. He was a native 
of Suffield, Conn. 

GRATTAN, Henry, was born about 1750 | ranean. 

GRE 



in Dublin. He was elected into the Irish 
parliament in 1775, and by his powerful re- 
monstrances obtained for his countiy a par- 
ticipation in the commerce of Britain, for 
which he was rewarded by a vote of £50,000. 
In 1790 he was returned for the city of Dublin, 
and from that time was the active leader of 
the opposition till the union with England, 
which measure he resisted with all his elo- 
quence. When it was effected, he accepted 
a seat in the House of Commons for Malton. 
In the French wars he supported government ; 
but his principal exertions were called forth 
in advocating the claims of the Catholics, to 
which cause he fell a martyr, by leaving Ire- 
land in an exhausted state, to carry the peti- 
tion with which he was intrusted to England. 
He died, soon after his arrival. May 14th, 
1820 ; and his remains were interred in West- 
minster Abbey. No government ever dis- 
mayed him ; the world could not bribe him. 
He only thought of Ireland ; lived for no 
other object ; dedicated to her his beautiful 
fancy, his elegant wit, his manly courage, and 
all the splendor of his astonishing eloquence. 
He was so born, and so gifted, that all the 
attainments of human genius were within his 
reach ; but he thought the noblest occupation 
of man was to make other men happy and 
free ; and in that straight line he went on for 
fifty years, without one side look, without 
one yielding thought, without one motive in 
his heart which he might not have laid open 
to the view of God and man. 

GRAY, Thomas, an English poet, born in 
London in 1716. After completing the course 
of education at Eton and Cambridge, he made 
the tour of Europe with his friend Horace 
Walpole, returning in 1741. The remainder 
of his life was passed in literary retirement. 
He was forever laying gigantic literarj^ plans, 
which he wanted the perseverance to execute. 
He wrote little, and published only after 
mature deliberation. His " Ode on a Distant 
Prospect of Eton College," " Hymn to Ad- 
vei-sity," "The Bard," and "Elegy in a 
Country Church-yard," are inimitable. This 
distinguished poet died of a gout in the 
stomach, July 30th, 1771. 

GREECE. Ancient Greece contained about 

22,121 square miles. It was bounded on the 

west by the Ionian Sea, south by the Mediter- 

east by the -^gean, and north by 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



371 



lUyria and Macedonia. This country has 
been esteemed superior to every other part 
of the earth, on account of the salubrity of 
the air, the temperature of the climate, the 
fertility of the soil, and, above all, the fame, 
lea-rning, and arts of its inhabitants. It is 
severed by the Gulf of Corinth. The north- 
ern part contained Thessaly, Epirus, Acarn- 
ania, Jitolia, Locri^, Doris, Phocis, Boeotia, 
Megaris, and Attica. The southern part, 
called the Peloponnesus, contained Laconia, 
Messenia, Arcadia, Elis, Argolis, Achaia, 
Sicyonia, and Corinth. Sketches of these 
distinct states are given elsewhere. 

The history of Greece is darkened, in its 
primitive ages, by the mists of fable. The 
inhabitants believed that they were the orig- 
inal dwellers in the country, and sprang from 
the earth whereon they dwelt-, and they 
heard with contempt the probable conjec- 
tures which traced their origin to the inhab- 
itants of Asia and the colonies of Egypt. In 
the first periods of their history, the Greeks 
were governed by monarchs ; and there were 
as many kings as there were cities. The 
monarchical power gradually decreased ; the 
love of liberty established the republican 
governments ; till no part of Greece remained 
in the hands of an absolute sovereign. The 
expedition of the Argonauts first rendered 
the Greeks respectable among their neigh- 
bors ; in the succeeding age, the wars of 
Thebes and Troy gave opportunity to their 
heroes to display their valor in the field of 
battle. The simplicity of the ancient Greeks 
rendered them virtuous ; and the establish- 
ment of the Olympic games in particular, 
where the only reward of the conqueror was 
a laurel crown, contributed to their aggrand- 
izement, making them ambitious of fame, and 
not the slaves of riches. 

The austerity of their laws, and the educa- 
tion of their youth, particularly in LacedfB- 
mon, rendered them brave and active, insen- 
sible to bodily pain, fearless and intrepid in 
the hour of danger. The celebrated battles 
of Marathon, Thermopylae, Salamis, Platsea, 
and Mycale sufficiently show what superi- 
ority a well trained though small army pos- 
sesses over millions of undisciplined barba- 
rians. After many signal victories over the 
Persians, the Greeks became elated with their 
success, and when they found no one able 



to dispute their power abroad, they turned 
their arms against each other, and leagued 
with foreign states to destroy the most tiour- 
ishing of their cities. The Messenian and 
Peloponnesian wars are examples of the dread- 
ful calamities which arise from civil discord 
and long prosperity ; and the ease with which 
the gold and sword of Philip of Macedon cor- 
rupted and enslaved Greece, fatally proved 
that when a nation becomes indolent and lux- 
urious at home, it ceases to be respectable in 
the eyes of neighboring states. The annals 
of Greece, however, abound with singular 
proof of heroism and resolution. While the 
Greeks rendered themselves so illustrious by 
their mihtary exploits, the arts and sciences 
were assisted by conquest, and received fresh 
lustre from the liberal patronage bestowed on 
them. 

From the dominion of Macedon, Greece 
passed under the yoke of Ptome. From the 
fifteenth century until a recent period, Greece 
was subject to the Turkish government. 
Although degraded, changed from what she 
was, there was yet something in modern 
Greece to remind the world of foniier days 
of glory. Ere the storm of the revolution 
broke forth, the bard could sing : 

"On Suli's rock, and Parga's shore, 
Exists the remnant of a line 

Such as the Doric mothers bore, 
And there, perhaps, some seed is sown. 
That Heracleidan blood might own." 

The Greek revolution broke out at a village 
of Achaia, March 23d, 1821. At length 
England took the part of tJie Greeks, and a 
Russian, French, and British squadron, under 
Admiral Sir Edward Codrington, destroyed 
the Turkish-Egyptian armada of 110 ships, 
in the bay of Navarino, Oct. 20th, 1827. In 
1828, the war between Russia and Turkey 
broke out, and the interference of foreign 
power produced the pacification of Greece 
in 1829. The Turks were compelled to yield 
their grasp. A monarchy was finally estab- 
lished and Otho of Bavaria was called to the 
throne in 1833, After a troubled, inefficient 
and unprosperous reign, Otho absconded from 
Athens, Oct. 13, 1862 ; six days afterwards 
a revolution broke out to secure a change of 
dynasty ; a provisional government was 
formed which continued until June, 1863, 
when the youngest son of the King of Den- 



GRE 



872 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



mark accepted the throne, and became king 
by the title of George I. 

Modern Greece has an area of 19,250 square 
miles; population in 1861, 1,330,933. 

GREP]NE, Col. CiiKisTOPHEK, a relation of 
Gen. Nathaniel Greene, and a native of War- 
wick, Rhode Island, was born 1737, and in 
May, 1775, entered the service as a lieuten- 
ant. He was with Montgomery at Quebec, 
where he became a prisoner. Soon after his 
exchange in 1777, he was placed in command 
of Fort Mercer, at Red Bank, N. J., which 
he gallantly defended against the British. 
He fell May 22d, 1781, in an action with some 
tories near New York. 

GREENE, Nathaniel, was born of Qua- 
ker parentage at Warwick, R. I., May 22d, 
1742. He early evinced an attachment to 
learning and a fondness for a martial life. He 
took up arms for his country's defense when 
he heard of the affair at Lexington ; the 
Quakers disowned him. He was among the 
first brigadier-generals commissioned by Con- 
gress, rose to the rank of major-general, and 
was in the battles of Trenton, Princeton, 
Brand3^wine, Germantown, and Monmouth. 
In December, 1780, he took the command of 
the army in the South, where he continued till 
the close of the war. In 1 785 he went to G eor- 
gia to look after an estate which he had pur 
chased there, and died from a sun-stroke near 
Savannah, June 19th, 1786. He was one. of 
the ablest of Washington's generals, and one 
of his most attached and faithful friends. 

GREENLAND, an extensive country of 
North America, belonging to Denmark. The 
natives belong to the Esquimaux family, and 
are rude in their manners, and confined in 
their ideas. They are of diminutive size, 
clothed in skins, and subsisting by hunting 
and fishing. Their religious notions are rude 
and primitive. There are several settlements 
upon the coast of Greenland, many of them 
being made by the Moravian missionaries. 
Greenland was discovered at the end of the 
tenth century, and soon colonized from Ice- 
land. It is said that in 1406 there were 
almost two hundred villages, but the colony 
was suddenly lost to the world : vast floes of 
ice blockaded the coast, and shut out all 
supplies. Davis rediscovered Greenland in 
1586. The Northmen called this country 
Greenland because its verdure was so much 



more luxurious than that of Iceland. A 
wonderful change has taken place in this 
land. The reindeer and the hare have both 
disappeared; fields once fertile are now oc- 
cupied by enormous glaciers ; the shores, too, 
are beset with immense fields of ice, which 
forbid the approach of the inquiring mar- 
riner ; and of the once flourishing Scandina- 
vian settlements, nothing remains but vague 
intimations. History forgot them nearly five 
hundred years ago and recorded nothing of 
their fate. 

GREENOUGH, Horatio, a sculptor of 
eminence, was born in Boston in 1805, passed 
much time in the pursuit of his art in Italy, 
and died in Boston, Dec. 18th, 1852. 

GREENVILLE, Sir Bevil, grandson of Ad- 
miral Greenville, was born 1596, and slain in 
the battle of Lansdown, near Bath, 1643, 
fighting for King Charles. 

GREENVILLE, Sir Richard, commander 
of the first English colony sent to North Amer- 
ica, was born in 1 540. Greenville shared with 
Howard, Drake, Raleigh, Hawkins, Frobisher, 
the renown of defeating the Spanish Armada. 
In 1591 he was made vice-admiral of a squad- 
ron sent out to the West Indies. In this 
expedition he fell in with a superior force, I 
and in the action his ship was taken and I 
himself mortally wounded. ' 

GREGORY. Sixteen popes have born this 
name. Gregory I., surnamed the Great, 
succeeded Pelagius II., in 590, and intro- 
duced many of the present ceremonies of the 
Romish church. He was of a noble fiimily 
and induced to take monastic vows by a 
disgust of worldly affsiirs. He died in 604. j 
Gregory VII. is better known by his orig- ' 
inal name of Hildebrand. [<9(?e Hildebrand.] ' 
Gregory XIII., the greatest civilian and can- j 
onist of his time, to whom we owe the rcfor- ' 
mation of the calendar, born 1502, reigned j 
from 1572 to 1585. [See Time.] | 

GRENVILLE, George, born in 1722, en- I 
tered parliament in 1750, and took a prom- j 
inent part in the public affairs of Great 
Britain. During his ministry the stamp act 
was brought forward. He died Nov. 18th, 
1770. He married the daughter of Sir Wil- 
liam Wyndham. Richard, his brother. Earl 
Temple (1711-1779), w^as also a leading 
statesman, though neither so honest nor capa- 
ble. George's third son, William Wyndham, 



GRE 



HISTORY ANT) BIOGRAPHY. 



373 



afterward Lord Grenville, was a distinguished 
and powerful statesman, and was the nom- 
inal head of the ' all-the-talents ' ministry, 
which came in upon Mr. Pitt's death, and was 
soon shattered by the death of Mr. Fox. 

The secret of the authorship of "Junius" 
was said to have been intrusted to Lord Gren- 
ville, and the rumor was that it would be dis- 
closed after his death ; the office of making 
the disclosure, some have supposed, was con- 
fided to his nephew, Lord Nugent. He died 
at his seat, Dropmore, in Buckinghamshire, 
on the 12th of January, 1834, aged seventy- 
four. 

GliEY, Lady Jane, an unfortunate and 
mos': amiable lady, the daughter of Henry 
Grey, Marquis of Dorset, by Lady Frances 
Brandon, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, 
was of royal descent on both sides. She was 
born in 1537, at Bradgate Hall, her father's 
seat in Leicestershire, and early in life gave 
proofs of uncommon genius. She worked 
admirably with her needle ; wrote an elegant 
hand; played well on several instruments; 
and was well versed in Greek and Latin, be- 
sides being conversant with French and Ital- 
ian. Roger Ascham, "the schoolmaster of 
princes," has given a beautiful and affecting 
narrative of his interview with her at Bradgate 
Hall, where he found her reading Plato's Phoe- 
don in Greek, while the ftunily were amusing 
themselves in the park. 

In 1551, her father was created Duke of 
Suffolk ; and at this time Lady Jane Grey 
was much at court, where the ambitious Duke 
of Northumberland projected a marriage be- 
tween her and his son. Lord Guilford Dudley, 
which took place at the end of May, 1553. 
Soon after this Edward VI. died, having been 
prevailed upon, in his last illness, to settle the 
crown upon the Lady Jane, who, against her 
will, was proclaimed with great pomp. The 
splendor of royalty, however, endured but a 
short time. The nation was dissatisfied, and 
the nobility incensed at the presumption of 
Northumberland, so that Mary was not long 
in obtaining the victory, and with an indig- 
nant spirit she determined on revenge. Lady 
Jane and her husband, after having been con- 
fined in the Tower some months, were ar- 
raigned and condemned to death, Nov. 3d, 
1553. The sentence was not carried into ex- 
ecution until the 12th of February in the fol- 



lowing year, when Lord Guilford first suffered, 
and his wife immediately afterward, on the 
same scaffold. She died with the firmness 
and meekness of a martyr ; and such no doubt 
she was, since her Protestant principles were 
more offensive to the queen than the part she 
had been compelled to act. On the evening 
pj-evious to her death she sent a letter written 
in Greek to her sister ; and even after seeing 
the headless body of her husband carried to 
the chapel, she wrote three sentences, in 
Greek, Latin, and English, in a table book, 
which she presented to the lieutenant of the 
Tower. 

GRIDLEY, Jekemiah, a distinguished law- 
yer, who was born in 1705, and flourished in 
Massachusetts before the revolution. Al- 
though a warm opponent of the British min- 
istry, he accepted the office of attorney-gen- 
eral of th6 province of Massachusetts Bay, 
and defended the writs of assistance, but was 
completely refuted by James Otis, who had 
studied law in his office. He died in Boston, 
Sept. 7th, 1767. 

GRIMSTON, Sir Harbottle. An EngHsh 
lawyer of much repute, lived (notwithstanding 
his name) almost ninety years, dying in 1683. 

GRISWOLD, RoGEii, a governor of Connec- 
ticut, was the son of Gov. Matthew Griswold, 
and born at Lyme in that state in 1762. He 
was educated at Yale College, and chosen 
member of Congress in 1794. In 1807 he ac- 
cepted the office of judge of the supreme court 
of Connecticut, and, after serving aslieutenant- 
governor, in 1811 was chosen governor. He 
died at Norwich, Oct. 12th, 1812. 

GROTIUS, or De Groot, Hugo, a famous 
scholar and statesman, born at Delft, April 
10th, 1583. So precocious were his powers, 
that he had a European reputation at fifteen. 
Grotius, having espoused the cause of a relig- 
ious sect called the Remonstrants, was con- 
demned to imprisonment for life in the fortress 
"of Louvenstein, but having concealed himself 
in a chest in which his wife had sent him some 
books, he was carried out of the castle unsus- 
pected. After wandering about in several 
countries, having been banished forever from 
his own, he went to Stockholm in 1634, and 
was appointed counselor of state, and ambas- 
sador to the French court. Although person- 
ally obnoxious to Cardinal Richelieu, he held 
this office for ten years, and then returned to 



GRO 



874 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Sweden, passing through his native country, 
where his reception was most flattering. He 
soHcited his dismission from the Queen of 
Sweden ; after leaving her court, he was taken 
sick at Rostock, in Pomerania, and died tliere, 
August 28th, 1645. He was a profound and 
elegant scholar, and a powerful w^-iter upon 
international law. 

GROUCHY, Emanuel, Count, a marshal of 
France, born at Paris in 17G0, and known as 
a brave and successful soldier in the wars of 
Napoleon, is memorable for his singular con- 
duct at Waterloo. With thirty -five thousand 
men and eightj^ pieces of artillery under his 
orders, he remained immovable either by the 
prayers or the threats of the other generals, 
in a position which could only be justified by 
the strict letter of his instructions. It is not 
certain that he intended to betray the cause 
of Napoleon, but his culpable indecision con- 
tributed decidedly to the result of the conflict. 
He was restored to his military rank on the 
accession of Louis Philippe, and died in 1847. 

GUATEMALA, the largest and most north- 
ern of the five republics of Central America, 
has a territory of 59,000 square miles and a 
})opulation of 1,100,000. The resources of 
this fertile country wait for the magic touch 
of enterprise and industry. Many of the ab- 
original tribes are yet in the perfect indepen- 
dence of barbarian life. Guatemala la Nueva, 
the seat of government, was founded in 1775, 
and contains 40,000 inhabitants. It is situa- 
ted on the river Vacas, twenty -six miles from 
the Pacific. 

GUELPHS, one of the two great factions 
which divided Europe in the middle ages, 
during the contest between the papal and 
imperial power. The Guclphs sustained the 
pope, the Ghibellines the emperor. Guelph 
is the family name of the dynasty now upon 
the British throne. 

GUESCLIN, Bektkand du, constable of 
France, and one of her most renowned gener* 
als, born in 1314, at the castle of Motte Broon, 
near Rennes. At the age of seventeen,years, 
he won a prize in a tournament. After the 
1)attle of Poictiers, and the losses of Charles, 
Du Guesclin came forward and redeemed the 
honor of his country, wresting from the hands 
of the English almost all their possessions. 
He died, in the midst of triumph, before Cha- 
teau-neuf-de-Raudon, July 13th, 1380. He 



had nothing pleasing or noble in his person, 
and owed his honors wholly to his own exer- 
tions. 

GUIANA, a country of South America, 
formerly of vast extent. At present, what 
was formerly Spanish Guiana belongs to Ven- 
ezuela, and Portuguese Guiana to Brazil. The 
remaining portions are divided between the 
English, Dutch, and French. Parts of Guiana 
are yet wild and imperfectly known, and in 
its interior the El Dorado of the Spaniards 
was formerly believed to exist. 

French Guiana, or Cayenne, is an alluvial, 
swampy region, covered with forests whose 
trees are as prodigious in size as they are va- 
rious in species. Here thrive fine aromatics 
unknown to other regions of the west. The 
Cayenne is the most pungent and delicate of 
peppers. But a serious obstacle to settlement 
is presented by the pestilential vapors steam- 
ing from the woods and marshes. The French 
colonized Cayenne in 1625. After having 
fallen into the hands of the English and the 
Dutch, it revolted to its original possessors in 
1677. In a settlement on a great scale at- 
tempted . in 1763, there perished 13,000 per- 
sons : so that during the revolution, deporta- 
tion to Cayenne was considered almost as fatal 
as sentence of death. Within the last few 
years, many Frenchmen have been banished 
to this poisonous spot as a penalty for their 
opposition to the despotism of Louis Napoleon. 

Surinam, or Dutch Guiana, is the most im- 
portant of the Dutch possessions in this west- 
ern world. The colonies of Demerara, Ber- 
bice, and Essequibo formerly belonged to 
Holland, but were conquered by the English, 
and since 1814 have constituted British Gui- 
ana. The industry of the new ownerg, with 
the fertilit}"^ of the soil, has rendered this one 
of the most productive regions on the conti- 
nent. 

GUIDO RENI, commonly called Guido, 
was born at Bologna in 1575. His father 
was a musician, ajid he was intended for the 
same calling. But at an early age he evinced 
a decided taste for painting, and he became 
one of the most distinguished pupils of the 
Caracci. Guido resided some twenty years in 
Rome, and came away abruptly, during the 
pontificate of Urban VIII., in consequence of 
an ofTensive reprimand from Cardinal Spinola. 
He had been commissioned to paint one of the 



GUI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



375 



altar-pieces of ot. Inter's, and had received for the decapitation of his political opponents, 



four hundred scudi in advance ; but after a 
few years not having even commenced the 
picture, the cardinal rather harshly reminded 
him of the money advanced for which he had 
done nothing. Guido at once restored the 
four hundred scudi, and in a few days left 
Rome ; all attempts to induce his return were 



and he himself lost his head under it in 1581. 
GUISE, a town and dukedoih of France, in 
Picardy, besieged by the Spaniards in 1528. 
The Dukes of Guise were very important per- 
sonages in all the affairs of France, from the 
reign of Francis I. to that of Henry IV. This 
family was a branch of the house of Loi-raine, 



vam. He lived in great splendor at Bologna, promoted by Francis I. in 1528 from Counts 
where he died Aug. 18th, 1G42, and was in- j of Guise to Dukes. The first thus raised was 
terred with great pomp in the church of San , Claude, the son of Rene II. One of his 
Domenico. Notwithstanding the princely in- i daughters wedded James V. of Scotland, and 
come that he received for many years, his i was the mother of Queen Mary. He had eight 



habits of gaming and profuse liberality em- 
barrassed his circumstances, and he died \n 
debt. It was during the latter unhappy pe- 
riod of his career, that he sold his time for so 
much an hour to certain dealers, one of whom 
tasked the painter so rigidly as to stand by 
him, watch in hand, while he worked. 

GUILFORD, Battle of. A battle was 
fought between the British under Cornwallis 
and the Americans under Greene, March 13th, 
1781, near Guilford Court House, N. C. The 
combat lasted two hours. The American force 
was twice that of the British, and was very 
advantageously posted. No battle in the 
course of the war reflected more honor on the 
courage of the royal troops. The panic and 
flight of the North Carolina militia turned the 
scale against Gen. Greene ; the British gained 
a nominal victory, the Americans retreating 
in good order. The loss on the side of Corn- 
wallis was more than 600 killed and wounded ; 
that of Greene's army was over 400, and many 
of the militia were reported missing, having 
forsaken the field for their firesides. 

GUILLOTIN, Joseph Ignatius, an eminent 
physician, born in 1738, was the inventor 
(about 1785) of the instrument of death called 
by his name. His humane design was to ren- 
der capital punishment less painful by decap- 
itation, and he was greatly annoyed that the 
guillotine should be named after him. He- 
was imprisoned during the revolutionary 
troubles, and ran some hazard of suffering the 
fatal stroke of his own invention. But he 
escaped, and lived till 1814, greatly respected. 
An engine called the maiden, somewhat sim- 
ilar to the guillotine, was in use in Halifax, 
Yorkshire, in the time of Elizabeth. It was 
introduced into Scotland by the regent Morton, 



sons, among whom were Francis, Duke of 
Guise, Claudius, Duke of Aumale, and Rene, 
Marquis of Elboeuf Francis gallantly defend- 
ed Metz against Charles V. and took Calais 
from the English. He was virtually monarch 
of France. He was the head of the League, 
and the great opponent of Conde and the Hu- 
guenots. He was assassinated in 1563. He 
was the father of Henry, Duke of Guise, and 
Charles, Duke of Maine, &c. Henry placing 
himself* at the head of the holy league, was 
slain in the states of Blois, by the order of 
King Henry III., in 1588. The Duke of Maine 
took up arms against Henry IV., till at last, 
in 1594, he was forced to submit to that vic- 
torious prince. 

GULF STREAM. One of the most remark- 
able of all known oceanic phenomena is the 
mighty current which ceaselessly flows from 
west to east, across the bosom of the North 
Atlantic. The fountain-head of this _ ocean- 
river, as it may well be termed, is in the Gulf 
of Mexico. Thence it flows north-easterly 
along the shores of the United States, until it 
reaches the banks of Newfoundland; then 
stretches across the Atlantic to the British 
islands, where it divides into two parts, one 
flowing northward to the Arctic Sea, the other 
southward to the Azores. In the whole world, 
there is not another so majestic flow of water 
as this ocean-river. Its current is more rapid 
than the Amazon or the Mississippi. In the 
severest droughts it never fails ; in the great- 
est floods it never overflows. Though its 
banks and bed consist of cold water, yet the 
river itself is warm ; and so great is the want 
of affinity between these waters, so reluctant 
are they to mingle with each other, that their 
line of junction is often distinctly visible to 



GUL 



376 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the eye : one-half of a ship may frequently be 
perceived floating in the cold ocean water, the 
other half in this warm current, known to 
mariners and geographers as the Gulf Stream. 

Long before the discovery of America, the 
Gulf Stream, by carrying nuts, bamboos, and 
artificially carved pieces of wood to the shores 
of Europe, indicated the existence of a western 
continent. Columbus himself was told by a 
settler in the Azores, that even strange boats 
had been seen, constructed so that they could 
not sink, and managed by broad-faced men of 
foreign appearance. Were these Esquimaux 
Indians? Wallace, in his "Account of the 
Islands of Orkney," tells us that in 1682 an 
Esquimaux was seen in his canoe off" the south 
side of the island of Edda by many persons, 
who could not succeed in reaching him ; and 
another was seen, in 1684, off the island of 
Westram. Moreover, he says, "Pe the seas 
never so boisterous, these boats, being made 
of fish-skins, are so contrived that they can 
never sink, but are like sea-gulls swimming 
on the top of the water." Two more of these 
current-drifted canoes were subsequently 
found on the shores of the Orkneys ; one was 
sent to Edinburgh, the other hung up in the 
church of Burra. 

As if determined to make its course and 
existence known to the most unobservant, the 
Gulf Stream carried the main-mast of the Eng- 
lish ship Tilbury, that was destroyed by fire 
off the coast of St. Dommgo, during the seven 
years' war, to the coast of Scotland. But, 
again, it carried to Scotland a number of casks 
of palm-oil, that were recognized, by their 
marks and brands, to be part of the cargo of 
a ship that had been wrecked near Cape Lopez 
in Africa. How could this last remarkable 
drift come to pass ? Simply thus : the Gulf 
Stream, which we have compared to a river, 
is in reality a part of a great system of oceanic 
circulation. The branch that turns off from 
the British islands, southward to the Azores, 
joins the great equatorial current which, flow- 
ing to the westward from the coast of Africa, 
enters the Caribbean Sea, and emerges from 
the Straits of Florida as the Gulf Stream. The 
casks of palm-oil, then, had twice traversed 
the Atlantic — first from east to west in the 
equatorial current, and secondly from west to 
east in the Gulf Stream — before they found a 
resting-place on the coast of Scotland. 



If we were to place little pieces of cork, 
chaff", or other light bodies, in a basin of water, 
and give the water a circular motion, the light 
substances would crowd together in the cen- 
tre, where there is the least motion. So it is 
in the great basin of the Atlantic, where the 
Sargasso Sea forms the centre of the whirl 
caused by the circular motion of the equato- 
rial current and the Gulf Stream. This sea, 
situated about midway in the Atlantic, in the 
triangular space between the Azores, Cana- 
ries, and Cape de Verd Islands, covering a 
space equal in extent to the valley of the Mis- 
sissippi, is so thickly matted over with a 
peculiar weed {Fucns natans) that the speed 
of vessels passing through it is often greatly 
retarded. To the eye, at a short distance, it 
seems substantial enough to walk upon, and 
countless hosts of small Crustacea dwell on this 
curious carpet of the ocean. Columbus sailed 
through it, on his first voj^age of discovery, in 
spite of the terrors of his less adventurous 
companions, who believed that it marked the 
limits of navigation ; and its position has not 
altered since that time. This Sargasso, or 
Sea of Lentils, as the Spaniards first tei'med 
it, has a historical interest. In the celebrated 
bull of Pope Alexander VI. in 1493, when he 
divided the world between the Spaniards and 
the Portuguese, he decreed that the Sargasso 
Sea was to be their mutual boundary to all 
eternity ! 

The Gulf Stream preserves its identity in 
physical characteristics throughout the many 
thousand miles of its continuous flow ; the 
only change undergone is that of degree. As 
its waters gradually commingle Avith those of 
the clasping sea, their deep blue tint declines, 
their high temperature diminishes, the speed 
with which they press forward abates. The 
maximum of velocity, where the stream quits 
the narrow channel of Bemini, which com- 
presses its egress from the gulf, is about four 
-miles an hour ; off" Cape Hatteras, where it 
has gained a breadth of seventy -five miles, the 
velocity is reduced to three miles. On the 
parallel of the Newfoundland banks, it is far. 
ther reduced to one and a half miles an hour, 
and this gradual abatement of force is contin- 
ued across the Atlantic. The highest temper- 
ature observed is eighty-five degrees. 

The waters of the Gulf Stream do not, in 
any part of their course, touch the bottom of 



GUL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



877 



the sea. They are everywhere defended from 
so comparatively good a conductor of heat by 
a cushion of cold water, one of the best of 
non-conductors ; the genial warmth is carried 
thousands of miles to fulfill its destined pur- 
poses. On a winter-day, the temperature of 
the stream, as far north as Cape Hatteras, is 
from ||venty to thirty degrees higher than the 
water of the surrounding ocean. Even after 
flowing three thousand miles, it preserves in 
winter the heat of summer. With this tem- 
perature it crosses the fortieth degree of north 
latitude, and there overflowing its liquid banks, 
spreads itself out, for thousands of square 
leagues, over the cold waters around, covering 
the ocean with a mantle of warmth. Moving 
now more slowly, but dispensing its genial in- 
fluence more freely, it at last meets the British 
islands. By these it is divided, one part go- 
ing into the polar basin of Spitzbergen, the 
other entering the Bay of Biscay ; but each 
with a warmth considerably above the ocean 
temperature. 

Modern ingenuity has suggested a method 
of warming buildings by means of hot water. 
The north-western parts of Europe are warmed 
in similar manner by the Gulf Stream. The 
torrid zone is the furnace; the Caribbean Sea 
and Gulf of Mexico, the boilers; the Gulf 
Stream, the conducting-pipe ; from the banks 
of Newfoundland to the shores of Europe is 
the great hot-air chamber, spread out so as to 
present a large surface. Here the heat, con- 
veyed into this warm-air chamber of mid- 
ocean, is taken up by the prevailing west 
winds, and dispensed over Britain an^i other 
countries, where it is so much required. 
Such, in short, is the influence of the Gulf 
Stream upon the climate, that Ireland is 
clothed in robes of evergreen grass ; while in 
the same latitude, on the American side of the 
Atlantic, is the frost-bound coast of Labrador. 
In 1831 the harbor of St. John's, Newfound- 
land, was closed with ice so late in the season 
as June ; yet the port of Liverpool, two de- 
grees farther north, has never been closed by 
frost in the severest winter. The Laplander 
cultivates barley in a latitude which in every 
other part of the world is doomed to perpet- 
ual sterility. The benefit thus conferred by 
the Gulf Stream is a remarkable accident. It 
obviously depends on the Gulf of Mexico con- 
tinuing to be a gulf, which, however, it might 



easily cease to be. A subsidence of the Isth- 
mus of Panama to the extent of a couple of 
hundred feet (and such subsidences have taken 
place in geological times all over the world), 
would allow the equatorial current of the At- 
lantic to pass through into the Pacific, instead 
of being reflected back to European coasts. 
Britain would become a Labrador, and cease 
to be the seat of a numerous and powerful 
people. 

While the Gulf Stream is covering Europe's 
shores with verdure, ripening the harvests of 
England and the vintage of France, its influ- 
ence is equally beneficial at its fountain-head 
in the western world. The Caribbean Sea 
and the Gulf of Mexico are encompassed on 
one side by the chain of West India Islands, 
and on the other by the Cordilleras of the 
Andes, contracting with the Isthmus of Dari- 
en, and again expanding over the plains of 
Central America and Mexico. On the extreme 
summits of this range are the regions of eter- 
nal snow ; next in descent is the tierra tem- 
plada^ or temperate region ; and lower still is 
what the Spaniards truly and emphatically 
have termed tierra caliente^ the burning land. 
Descending still lower is the level of the sea, 
where, were it not for this wonderful system 
of aqueous circulation, the peculiar features 
of the surrounding country assure us we 
should find the hottest and most pestilential 
climate in the world. But as the waters be- 
come heated, they are carried off by the Gulf 
Stream, and replaced by cooler currents en- 
tering the Caribbean Sea. The surface-water 
flowing out is four degrees warmer than the 
surfece-water entering to supply its place. 

As in a hot-water apparatus for warming 
a building, the water cooled in the hot-air 
chamber flows back to the boiler ; so one 
part of the waters of the Gulf Stream, after 
giving out their heat, flow toward the equa- 
torial current, the other to the polar basin 
of Spitzbergen. The secrets of the Arctic 
regions are hidden by impenetrable ice; but 
we know that a return-current, bearing im- 
mense icebergs, comes down from the di'eary 
north, through Davis's Strait, and meets the 
Gulf Stream at the banks of Newfoundland. 
Scoresby counted at one time six hundred 
icebergs starting off on their southward jour- 
ney by this current, which, pressing on the 
waters of the Stream, curves its channel into 



GUL 



378 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



a ' bend,' in shape resembling a horse-shoe, 
and some hundreds of miles in area. This 
bend is the great receptacle or harbor of the 
icebergs which drift down from the north, 
and are here melted by the warm waters of 
the Gulf Stream. Who dare say that, in the 
course of ages, the banks of Newfoundland 
have not been formed by the earth, stones, 



whaler so accurately the course of this 
mighty current, then so little known? It 
was the whales, the gigantic prey he followed 
in the ocean. The right whale {Balcena 
mysticetus), as seamen term it, never enters 
the warm water of the Gulf Stream, which, 
as well as the warm waters of the torrid 
zone, is as a wall of fire to these creatures. 



and gravel carried down to that spot by these But they delight to congregate, seeking for 
very icebergs ? Such is the distinctness food, along the edges of the Stream ; and 



kept up between the warm and cold water, 
that, though this northern current forms a 
large bend or indentation in the Gulf Stream, 
it does not commingle with it ; the former 
here divides into two parts, one actually 
under-running the Gulf Stream, the othei 
flowing south-westerly between it and the 
coast of America. 

Though the Gulf Stream was noticed by 
Sir Humphrey Gilbert in the sixteenth cen- 
tury, we are indebted to Dr. Franklin for the 
first chart of its course. Being in London 
in 1T70, his attention was called to a memo- 
rial which the board of customs at Boston 
had sent to the lords of the treasury, stating 
that the Falmouth packets were generally a 
fortnight longer on their voyage to Boston 
than common trading-vessels were from Lon- 
don to Rhode Island. They therefore begged 
that the Falmouth packets should be sent to 
Providence instead of to Boston. This ap- 
peared very strange to Franklin, as the trad- 
ers were deeply laden and badly manned 
vessels, to say nothing of the extra distance 
between London and Falmouth. He con- 
sulted a Nantucket whaling-captain named 
Folger, who happened to be in London at the 
time. Folger immediately explained the 
mystery by stating that the Rhode Island 
trading-captains were acquainted with the 
course of the Gulf Stream, while those of the 
English packet-service were not. The latter 
kept in it, and were set back from sixty to 
seventy miles per day, while the former 
merely ran across it. At the request of 
Franklin, the Nantucket whaler traced the 
course of the Stream, and the doctor had it 
engraved, and sent copies to the Falmouth 
captains, who treated the communication 
with contempt. This course of the Stream, 
as laid down by Folger, has been retained 
in our charts almost to the present day. 
Who taught this unscientific Nantucket 



thus Folger, through the experience of many 
voyages, was enabled so correctly to denote 
its course. 

The Gulf Stream of the Atlantic has its 
counterpart in the Pacific. The latter flows 
out of the Straits of Malacca, just as the 
Atlantic current flows out of the Straits of 
Florida. The coast of China is its United 
States ; the Philippines its Bermudas ; the 
Japanese islands its Newfoundland. The 
climates of the Asiatic coast correspond with 
those of America along the Atlantic ; and 
those of Columbia, Washington, and Van- 
couver are duplicates of those of Western 
Europe and the British islands ; the climate 
of California resembles that of Spain; and 
the sandy plains and rainless regions of 
Lower California remind us of Africa. The 
course of this Stream has not yet been traced 
out, but it sets southwardly along the coast 
of California and Mexico, as the Gulf Stream 
does along the west coast of Africa to the 
Cape Verd Islands. This current, too, has 
its Sargasso Sea ; to the west, from Califor- 
nia, of the southwardly set, lies the pool in 
which the drift-wood and sea-weed of the 
North Pacific are gathered. Inshore of, but 
counter to, the China stream, along the east- 
ern shores of Asia, is found a current of cold 
water, resembling that between the Gulf 
Stream and the American coast. Like its 
countei-part, it is the nursery of valuable 
fisheries. 

GUNPOWDER PLOT, a conspiracy formed 
in the beginning of the reign of James I. of 
England, for the re-establishment of popery. 
The Roman Catholics had expected great 
favor and indulgence from James, both be- 
cause he was a descendant of Mary, a rigid 
Catholic, and because, he had shown some 
favor to that religion in his youth ; but they . 
soon discovered their mistake, and were at 
once surprised and enraged to find James, 



GUN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



379 



on all occasions, express his resolution of 
strictly executing the laws enacted against 
them, and of j^ersevering in the policy of his 
predecessor. This declaration determined 
certain desperate men among them to destroy 
the king and parliament at a blow. They 
stored, in the vaults under the parliament- 
house, thirty-six barrels of gunpowder, pur- 
chased in Holland, and covered them with 
coals and fagots. The meaning of a warning 
but ambiguous letter, received by Lord Mon- 
teagle, was first penetrated by the king. The 
care of searching the vaults devolved upon 
the Earl of Sutiblk, the lord chamberlain, 
who purposely delayed the search until the 
day before the meeting of parliament, Nov. 
5th, 1605. He remarked the great piles of 
fagots which lay in the vault under the house 
of peers, and seized a man preparing for the 
terrible enterprise, dressed in a cloak and 
boots, with a dark lantern in his hand. This 
was one Guy Fawkes, who had just dis- 
posed every part of the train for taking fire 
the next morning; the matches and other 
combustibles being found in his pockets. 
The whole of the design was now discov- 
ered ; but the atrocity of his guilt, and the 
despair of pardon, inspiring him with resolu- 
tion, he told the officers of justice with an 
midaunted air that had he blown them and 
himself up together, he had "been happy. 
Before the council he displayed the same 
intrepid firmness, mixed even with scorn and 
disdain, I'efusing to discover his associates, 
and showing no concern but for the failure 
of his enterprise. But his bold spirit was 
at length subdued; after confinement in 
the Tower for two or three days, on being 
shown the rack, his courage failed him, and 
he made a full discovery of his accomplices, 
to the number of eighty. Catesby and Percy 
were killed; Sir Everard Digby, Rockwood, 
Winter, Garnet, a Jesuit, and others, were 
executed, as was also Guy Fawkes. 

GUNTER, Edmund, an eminent English 
mathematician, author of the scale and chain 
which bear his name, died in 1626, aged 
forty-five. 

GUSTAVUS I. of Sweden, commonly 
called GusTAvus Vasa, was imprisoned when 
Christian II. of Denmark sought to enslave 
his country. Having escaped from prison in 
1519, he arrived at Lubeck after meeting 



with various difficulties. The father of Gus- 
tavus perished in the wholesale slaughter of 
Swedish nobles by Christian in 1520. Pro- 
scribed by the tyrant, he fled into Dalecarlia, 
where he roused the miners to revenge the 
wrongs of their country. The young hero 
found the peasants prepared to receive him 
with open arms, and to swear to revenge the 
massacre at Stockholm with the last drop of 
their blood. The brave Dalecarlians flocked 
to the standard of Gustavus, who was from 
this moment irresistible. After the expul- 
sion of the Danes, Gustavus was proclaimed 
King of Sweden and of the two Gothlands 
in 1523, and he soon succeeded in establish- 
ing the doctrines of Luther in his dominions. 
In 1531, Christian made preparations for re- 
covering the throne, but his vast armament 
was defeated with great slaughter. In 1542, 
Gustavus prevailed on the states to render 
the crown hereditary in his own fiimily. 
This valiant, wise, and virtuous hero, the 
true deliverer of his country, died in 1560, 
at the age of seventy. 

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS, King of Sweden, 
succeeded his father, Charles IX., in 1011, at 
the age of eighteen. Russia, Poland, and 
Denmark were then enemies of Sweden. Gus- 
tavus, having placed the Chancellor Oxen- 
stiern at the head of the administration of 
civil affairs, took charge himself of the mar- 
tial operations, and in 1613 prosecuted the 
war against Denmark with such vigor and 
success, that, through the mediation of Great 
Britain and Holland, an advantageous peace 
was procured, by which the Danish monarch 
renounced all pretensions to the throne. He 
was equally successful with the Russians, 
who ceded to him the fine province of Livo- 
nia and part of the province of Novogorod. 
His hostilities, however, with his cousin 
Sigismund of Poland, were of longer dura- 
tion, and w^ere productive of those glorious 
events which procured him a conspicuous 
rank among the most distinguished warriors 
of his time. The King of Poland could not 
forget the Swedish crown, of which he had 
'been deprived by the impolitic conduct of 
his father and himself, and formed a plot for 
seizing on Gustavus, who, however, avoided 
the snare. 

The Swedish monarch, having prepared a 
numerous fleet, laid siege to Riga in 1621. 



GUS 



880 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Gustavus proved victorious, but allowed 
the besieged to capitulate on honorable 
terms. During a series of years he was en- 
gaged in constant warfare, which afforded 
him opportunities of training the Swedes, 
and forming those intrepid commanders and 
formidable battalions which long kept Europe 
in alarm. At length, in 1G29, Gustavus glo- 
riously terminated the war with Poland, and 
obtained large cessions of territory. He did 
not, however, long enjoy the fruits of his 
victories in peace. 

The war between the Catholics and Pro- 
testants, which laid Germany waste in this 
century, had already commenced. Gustavus 
Adolphus was looked to as the champion of 
the reformed feith. This, with the resent- 
ment he felt against the emperor for aiding 
Poland, and his ambition to cui'b the power 
of the house of Austria, determined him to 
march into Germany in 1630. He reduced 
Frankfort on the Oder, and various other 
places, and compelled the Elector of Bran- 
denburg to unite his troops with the Swedish 
battalions. He then invaded Saxony. In 
1631, Tilly awaited Gustavus at Leipzig with 
an army of 40,000 men. The Swedish mon- 
arch led his troops to the attack, and after 
an obstinate conflict obtained a decisive vic- 
tory. He then penetrated into Bavaria, and 
levied contributions on the opulent districts 
of Germany. The battle of Lutzen ensued 
in 1632, on the fate of which contest that 
of Europe appeared to depend. The Swedish 
infantry performed prodigies of valor, broke 
the line of the imperialists, and seized their 
cannon. Victory had already declared for 
the Swedes, when Gustavus was found 
stretched among the slain. His death 
plunged Sweden into the greatest affliction, 
but his triumphant bands for a time supported 
her military reputation. 

GUSTAVUS HI. of Sweden, the eldest 
son of Adolphus Frederick, Duke of Holstein- 
Gottorp, was born in 1746, and succeeded to 
the throne on his father's death, Feb. 12th, 
1771. The country, which was convulsed 
throughout, was tranquillized by the prudent 
measures of Gustavus, who was wise, firm, 
and accomplished, although fond of pleasure 



and ambitious. He determined to take part 
against the French revolutionists, and thereby 
gave very general dissatisfaction. A con- 
spiracy was formed against him; the most 
prominent members were the Counts Horn, 
Ribbing, and Ankarstroem, and he was shot 
by the latter at a masquerade at Stockholm, 
March 15th, 1792. 

GUSTAVUS IV., his son, deposed and 
banished in 1809, died in Switzerland, after 
wandering through Europe under various 
names and the most straitened circumstances. 

GWINNETT, Button, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born in 
England in 1732, and came to Charleston, 
S. C, in 1770. Soon afterward he purchased 
a large tract of land in Georgia, which he 
made his permanent residence. He took an 
active share in the affairs of the Revolution, 
and was in Congress in 1776. Subsequently 
he assisted in framing a state constitution for 
Georgia, and was chosen the first governor 
under it. He died May 27th, 1777, from a 
wound received in a duel with Gen. Mcintosh. 

GYPSIES. These mysterious vagabonds 
are the most widely diffused yet distinct race 
on the earth, not excepting even the Jews. 
They first made their appearance in Europe 
about 1517, in Bohemia, whence they are 
sometimes called Bohemians. Their origin 
has been a« matter of much doubt. The 
common belief was (as some of the earliest 
hordes in Europe stated, and as the name 
' gypsy ' implied) that they came from Egypt, 
being driven forth by the Turks. Their 
supposed skill in the black art gave them a 
universal reception in that early age of cre- 
dulity and superstition. Notwithstanding the 
persecution and proscription they have so 
generally met, they are yet found in all parts 
of Europe, as well as in Asia and Africa, and 
some even are leading the same wandering 
life in our own country. Through all their 
intercourse with other nations, they, like the 
Jews, have preserved their manners, customs, 
usage, and appearance unchanged. They 
have a tongue of their own, which has been 
traced to an Indian origin. They call them- 
selves Roumani. 



GYP 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHT. 



881 



H. 



HAHNEMANN, Samuel, was born of poor 
parents at Meissen in Saxony, 1755, and 
received his diploma as doctor in physic at 
Heidelberg in 1781. His researches led him 
to propound a new theory of medical science, 
now known as homoeopathy, in support of 
which he published numerous treatises. He 
died at Paris in 181:3. 

HALE, Sir Matthew, one of the most 
upright judges that ever sat upon the Eng- 
lish bench, born in 1609, died in 1676. Rich- 
ard Baxter said, " I believe he would have 
lost all he had in the world, rather than do 
an unjust act." 

HALE, Nathan, the mai'tyr-spy of the 
American Revolution, was born in Coventry, 
Conn., June 6th, 1755. He graduated with 
honor at Yale College in 1775, and was teach- 
ing school at New London, when news of the 
blood spilt at Lexington thrilled through the 
land. " Let us march immediately," said he, 
"and never lay down our arms until we 
obtain our independence." He enrolled at 
once as a volunteer, and sought the scene of 
action. After the disastrous battle of Long 
Island, it was an anxious question with Gen. 
Washington, what would be the next move 
of the victorious British against the scanty 
and ill-appointed patriot army ? He directed 
Colonel Knowlton to select some competent 
person, who should seek the royal camp 
and penetrate the veil in which Howe had 
shrouded his designs. Col. Knowlton ap- 
plied to various ofHcers, with ill success : 
men who did not fear the hazard could not bear 
the ignominy of the task of a spy. Young 
Hale undertook it, assigning these reasons 
against the remonstrances of his comrades : 
"I think I owe to my country the accom- 
plishment of an object so important, and so 
much desired by the commander of her ar- 
mies ; and I know no other mode of obtain- 
ing the information than by assuming a 
disguise and passing into the enemy's camp. 
I am sensible of the consequences of discov- 
ery and capture in such a situation. But 
for a year I have been attached to the army 
and have not rendered any material service, 
while receiving a compensation for which I 



make no return. Yet I am not influenced by 
the expectation of promotion or pecuniary 
reward. I wish to be useful, and every kind 
of service necessary for the public good be- 
comes honorable by being necessary. If the 
exigencies of my country demand a peculiar 
service, its claims to the performance of that 
service are imperious." In the plain costume 
of a schoolmaster, he crossed the sound from 
the Connecticut shore, gained the perilous 
knowledge he sought, reached in safe return 
the point where he had landed on the Long 
Island shore, and there was captured. The 
telltale notes and draughts in which he had 
put his observations, revealed his errand ; he 
was borne to New York, and sentenced to be 
hanged the next morning at daybreak. The 
provost marshal treated the doomed man 
with an awful cruelty, refusing him tlie solace 
of a Bible and the use of writing materials ; 
the intercession of a young lieutenant pro- 
cured the latter. The calm message home 
which Hale penned for his mother, was torn 
in pieces by the wretch, "that the rebels 
should never know they had a man who could 
die with such firmness." Injuries and taunts 
could not shake the firm spirit of the young 
hero; his dying words were, "I only regret 
that I have but one life to live for my coun- 
try ! " He was executed September 22d, 
1 776. The place of his burial is unknown. 
He was betrothed to a young lady in Con- 
necticut, who survived him many years, 
dying in 1845. She had wedded and borne 
children, but her last thoughts on earth 
were busy with her maiden memories ; she 
murmured, just before death, " Write to 
Nathan ! " 

HALIDON HILL, Battle op. Fought 
near Berwick, between the English and 
Scots, July 19th, 1333. The Utter were 
sorely defeated, 13,000 being slain, while the 
southron loss was small. After this victory 
Edward III. placed Edward Baliol on the 
Scottish throne. 

HALIFAX. George Saville, Marquis 
of Halifax, a celebrated English statesman, 
was born in Yorkshire in 1630. He was 
created a peer for his loyalty at the restora- 



HAL 



S82 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



tion, and in 1682 was raised to the dignity 
of a marquis, soon after which he was made 
lord privy seal. At the beginning of the 
reign of James II., he was appointed presi- 
dent of tlie council, but on refusing his consent 
to the repeal of the test acts, he was dis- 
missed. In the convention parliament, he 
sat as speaker of the House of Lords, and 
concurred in all the measures of the Revolu- 
tion ; but afterward he joined the opposition. 
He died in 1695. 

HALL, Lyman, one of the signers of the 



Declaration of Independence, was born in ^ated on the Elbe, about eighty miles from its 



Connecticut, in 1731, graduated at Yale, 
studied medicine, and went to South Caro- 
lina in 1752. He was a practicing physician 
in Georgia on the breaking out of the Revo- 
lution. He at once was ready to devote 
his property and person to the service of his 
country, and in 1775 he was chosen a dele- 
gate to the general congress, then assembled 
in Philadelphia. He was at the North until 
after the evacuation of Savannah in 1782, when 
he returned and found all his property con- 
fiscated to the crown. In 1 783, he was 
chosen governor of the state of Georgia, and 
died in retirement in Burke county in 1790. 
HALL, Robert, one of the most eloquent 
of modern preachers, born near Leicester in 
1764, was the son of a Baptist clergyman. 
He learned to read from inscriptions on grave- 
stones, and at an early age was a prodigy of 
learning. While yet a boy he found his 
favorite reading in Edwards on the Will and 
Butler's Analogy. He spent some time at 
King's college, Aberdeen, where he had for 
fellow-student and warm friend, Sir James 
Mackintosh. From their partialitj^ for Greek 
literature, the twain were dubbed "Plato 
and Herodotus." The eloquent orations and 
evangelical discourses wherewith he admin- 
istered to the Baptist church at Cambridge 
won him the foremost rank among British 
preachers. He suffered acute pains from a 
disease of the spine, and in 1804 he began to 
be afflicted by occasional insanity, which at 
last rendered it necessary that his connection 
with the flock at Cambridge should be sev- 
ered. He recovered completely, and spent 
twenty years in useful and brilliant ministry 
at Leicester, removing in 1826 to Bristol, 
where he labored till within a fortnight of 



his death, which came the 21st of February, 
1881. 

HALLE, a Prussian city, in the province 
of Saxony, on the right bank of the Saale, 
containing 30,000 inhabitants. Its univer- 
sity ranks deservedly very high. It was the 
scene of an obstinate conflict, Oct. I7th, 1806, 
three days after the battle of Jena. 

HALLEY, Edmund, an eminent astrono- 
mer, born in London, Nov. 8th, 1656, died 
Jan. 14th, 1742. 

HAMBURG, a free city of Germany, situ- 



mouth, containing 229,941 inhabitants. It 
was founded in the reign of Charlemagne, 
and was originally a fort called Hammen- 
burg. In 1618, it was admitted into the 
number of imperial towns, subject to the 
counts of Holstein. In 1768, however, the 
subjection was annulled, arid Hamburg was 
confirmed into an independent city. In 
1807 it was taken possession of by a large 
French garrison, and Bonaparte seized a part 
of its public funds. In 1810, it was incor- 
porated into the French empire; and in 1813, 
an unsuccessful effort was made to shake 
off the French yoke. A contribution of 
$9,000,000 was then levied upon it, and the 
most positive orders were given to defend it, 
at whatever sacrifice, against the allies. This 
led to incalculable distress, to the destruction 
of the houses on the ramparts, to the seizure 
of considerable merchandise, and, finally, of 
the bank funds, by Davoust. At last, the 
city was evacuated, in May, 1814, and a 
part of the bank funds were restored by the 
Bourbons. Thrift and energy insured a 
return of prosperity. Hamburg was smitten 
by a mighty conflagration in May, 1842, 
which left twenty thousand people houseless. 
The territory of Hamburg is about 150 square 
miles, and the total population 217,000, the 
most of whom are Lutherans. 

HAMILTON, Alexander, was born in the 
island of Nevis, W. L, in 1757. At the age 
of sixteen, he entered Columbia College, New 
York, in which institution he greatly distin- 
guished himself At the age of seventeen 
he published political essays in favor of the 
colonial cause, so powerful and brilliant that 
they were at first attributed to Mr. Jay, then 
in the prime of l\M At nineteen, eager to 



HAM 



HISTOliY AND BIOGIIAPHT. 



383 






'"^ ' \>?il' 



'Ml 










iMILTON S MONUMENT IN TRINITY CHCRCII-YAKD, NEW YORK. 



peril his life for liberty, Hamilton entered the 
army ; he soon rose to the rank of captain of 
artillery, and Washington appointed him his 
aid-de-camp, ranking as lieutenant-colonel, 
when he was but twenty years of age. At 
the siege of Yorktown, he was in the hottest 
of the fire, and headed an assault which car- 
ried one of the outworks. After the war he 
commenced the study of the law in New 
York, and was speedily admitted to practice. 
In 1783 he was chosen member of Congress, 
and distinguished himself by his ability, un- 
wearied industiy, and patriotism. He was a 
member of the convention which met at 
Philadelphia for the purpose of framing the 
federal constitution. The essays which, with 
Jay and Madison, he published under the 
title of "The Federalist," contributed very 
essentially to render the constitution popular. 
As secretary of the treasury, to which office 
he was appointed in 1789, he gained the 
reputation of one of the greatest financiers of 
the age. In 1795 he retired into private 
life, but in 1798, as inspector-general, he or- 
ganized the army intended to repel the threat- 



ened invasion of the French, and in 1799, on 
the death of WJishington, he succeeded to 
the chief command. June 11th, 1804, in 
consequence of a dispute between Colonel 
Burr and General Hamilton, the parties met 
at Hoboken, and Hamilton was killed at vae 
first shot, standing on the fatal spot where 
his eldest son had recently been slain hi a 
similai rencontre. Hamilton married Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Gen. Schuyler. She died 
in 1854, at the advanced age of ninety-six. 

HAMILTON, Sir Wii.liam, a distinguished 
metaphysician, professor in the University 
of Edinburgh, died in 1857. 

HAMPDEN, John, was born at London 
in 1594. He belonged to one of the worship- 
ful and ancient country families of England, 
as did most of the parliamentary leaders 
in the great contest with the crown. He sat 
in the earlier parliaments of Charles I., but 
took no prominent part till he so nit'.nfully 
stood forth against the unauthorized iax for 
ship money in 1636. The king unsuccess- 
fully sought his impeachment. Whe^-i resort 
to arms became necessary, Hampden /f.ised a 



HAM 



384 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



regiment from his tenantry, and brought to 
the field the same courage and capacity he 
had shown in discussion. He was killed in 
an engagement with Prince Rupert, June 8th, 
1643. 

HANAU, a province of Hfesse-Cassel, the 
capital of which, Hanau, on the Kinzig, con- 
tains about 16,000 inhabitants. In 1792, 
Hanau was attacked, but not occupied, by 
the French. October 30th, 1813, an Austrian 
and Bavarian corps opposed here the great 
army of the French, in their retreat from 
Leipsic : a sanguinary conflict took place, in 
which the former were forced to retire. 

HANCOCK, John, was born at Quincy, in 
Massachusetts. Having lost his parents 
early, he was sent to Harvard College, where 
he graduated in 1754, by his uncle, a rich 
and benevolent merchant of Boston, to whose 
wealth and business he succeeded in 1764. 
After the battle of Lexington, when pardon 
was offered to the rebels in case of submission 
to the royal authority, Hancock and Adams 
were the only Americans excepted by Gage 
from the offer of mercy. After having been 
president of the provincial congress of Massa- 
chusetts, Hancock was sent to the general 
congress at Philadelphia in 1775, and filled 
the presidential chair of that body until 1779, 
when sickness compelled him to relinquish it. 
He was annually chosen governor of Massa- 
chusetts from 1780 till 1785. In 1787 he 
was re-elected, and filled the post until his 
death, Oct. 8th, 1793, at the age of fifty-six 
years. As the president of Congress, he was 
the first to sign the Declaration of Independ- 
ence. 

HANDEL, George Frederic, a native of 
Saxony, born February 24th, 1684. He pro- 
duced his earliest operas at Hamburg. In 
1710, he visited England, and his fame and 
fortune were there established. In 1741, he 
brought out his master-piece, the oratorio of 
"The Messiah." Toward the latter part of 
his life he was afflicted with total blindness. 
He died April 13th, 1759, leaving a fortune 
of £20,000. His appetites were coarse, his 
person ungainly, and his temper violent, 
altliough an external roughness was compen- 
sated by a humane and generous heart. 

The following anecdote strikingly illus- 
trates his manners and his peculiar humor. 
Dr. Greene, a personal friend, as well as a 



warm admirer of Handel, brought to the 
great German an anthem of his own compo- 
sition, requesting the favor of his opinion and 
remarks upon it. Handel readily received 
the production, promised to examine it imme- 
diately, and invited the doctor to breakfast 
with him the next day. Dr. Greene accord- 
ingly waited on the illustrious musician. 
Handel received him with cordiality, gave 
him an elegant breakfast, treated him with 
every politeness, but constantly continued to 
evade his visitor's questions respecting his 
opinion of the anthem. Greene, at length, 
too impatient to wait any longer for the great 
composer's decision on the merits of his 
piece, exclaimed vehemently, "My dearest 
friend, keep me no longer in suspense — tell 
me, I pray you — tell me what do you think 
of my anthem ^ " Handel, who had found it 
scientifically written, but very deficient in 
melody, answered, "Oh, it is ver fine, my 
dear doctor, ver fine indeed ; only it do vant 
air, and so I flung it out of de vindow." 

The publisher of one of Handel's operas 
cleared £1,500 by it ; this caused the com- 
poser to say, "My dear sir, as it is only right 
that we should be upon an equal footing, you 
shall compose the next opera, and / will sell 
it." 

HANNIBAL, son of Hamilcar Barcas, born 
B.C. 247, was a celebrated Carthaginian gen- 
eral. He was educated in his father's camp, 
and inured from his early years to the labors 
of the field, having passed into Spain when 
nine years old. Before leaving Carthage 
Hamilcar swore him to eternal enmity to the 
Romans. After his father's death, he had 
the command of the cavalry in Spain, and 
some time after, upon the death of Hasdrubal, 
he was invested with the command of all the 
armies of Cartilage, though not j-et in the 
twenty -fifth year of his age. In three years 
of continual success, he subdued all the na- 
tions of Spain which opposed the Carthagin- 
ian power, and took Saguntum after a siege 
of eight months. This city was in alliance 
with Rome, and its fall was the cause of the 
second Punic war, which Hannibal prepared 
to support -with, all the courage and prudence 
of a finished general. The army with which 
he entered Italy amounted, by the largest 
computation, to 100,000 foot and 20,000 
horse. With this overwhelming force he 



HAN 



HISTOliY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



885 





THE HANCOCK HOUSE IN BOSTON. 



passed the Alps, conquered his opponents, 
crossed the Apennines, invaded Etruria, de- 
feated Flaminius at the lake Thrasymene, 
and Caius Terentius and L. Jimilius in the 
fatal battle of Cannte. Had Hannibal, imme- 
diately after this battle, marched his army to 
tke gates of Eome, it must have yielded 
amidst the general consternation ; but his 
delay continued so long that the Romans 
recovered their hopes, and when he finally 
approached the walls, he was informed that 
the piece of ground on which his army then 
stood, was being sold at a high price in the 
Roman forum. He then, after some time, 
retired to Capua, the luxuries of which ener- 
vated bis troops, and unfitted them for action ; 



Zama, was defeated, and fled to Adi'umecum. 
The Carthaginians procured peace on favora- 
ble terms, and Hannibal fled to Syria, but he 
was pursued from place to place by the ani- 
mosity of the Romans, and at length killed 
himself at the court of Prusias, King of 
Bithyriia, b.c. 183, aged sixty-four years. 

HANNO, a Carthaginian general of high 
reputation, who was conquered by Scipio in 
Spain. He is not to be confounded with the 
great navigator, who lived three or four cen- 
turies earlier. 

HANOVER, in the north of Germany, was 
erected into a kingdom in 1814. It contains 
14,800 square miles, and 1,819,777 inhabit- 
ants. The Hartz mountains contain silver. 



this gave rise to the saying that "Capua was ' iron, copper, lead, &c. When Napoleon had 
a Cannae to Hannibal." Marcellus, who sue- i obtained dominion over almost the whole con- 
ceeded the cautious Fabius in the field, first j tinent in 1811, Hanover became an integral 
taught the Rortians that Hannibal was not j part of the kingdom of Westphalia, which had 



invincible. Scipio having passed over into 
Africa, the Carthaginians now recalled Han- 
nibal to combat the adventurous Romans. 
After sixteen years of flattering triumph, the 
Carthaginian general left Italy, met Scipio at 



been formed of provinces ceded by Prussia 
and others to France, and of which Jeromo 
Bonaparte, brother of Napoleon, was the 
sovereign. Hanover, its capital, suffered 
severely during its occupation by the French 



25 



HAN 



886 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



from 1803 to 1813 ; but was relieved from 
their presence by the arrival of Bernadotte, 
with an allied force, on the 6th of November 
of the latter year. The city of Hanover, cap- 
ital of the kingdom, has 40,000 inhabitants. 
Gottingen, a city on the Leine, contains 
10,000 inhabitants, and is famous for its uni- 
versity, founded by George II. in 1734. 

HANOVER, House of. Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of James I. of England, married with 
Frederick, the Elector-Palatine of Bohemia. 
Their daughter Sophia became the wife of 
Ernest Augustus, Duke of Brunswick Lunen- 
burg, and first Elector of Hanover. In 1701 
the English parliament limited the succession 
of the crown, after William III. and Queen 
Anne, if the latter had no issue, to the Prin- 
cess Sophia of Hanover, and the htirs of her 
body, being Protestants. Accordingly, upon 
the death of Anne, Sophia's son George Lewis, 
Elector of Hanover and Duke of Brunswick 
Lunenburg, became also King of Grcnt Brit- 
ain as Geokge I. He was born May 28th, 
1660, and had married his cousin Sophia, 
heiress of Brunswick Zell. He was pro- 
claimed King of England, Aug. 1st, 1714, and 
landed at Greenwich in the following month. 
At the commencement of his reign, the Whigs 
had the ascendency, both in and out of par- 
liament. In 1715 a revolution broke out in 
Scotland in favor of the Pretender, but was 
quelled without much trouble, although there 
were many who were decidedly opposed to 
the existing government. In 1715 the bill 
for septennial parliaments was brought into 
the house of lords by the Duke of Devon- 
shire, and passed both houses. In 1718 a 
quadruple alliance of England, Holland, 
France, and Germany, was formed against 
Spain, and the Spanish were defeated by Sir 
George Byng on the coast of Sicily. In 1720 
was started the celebrated South Sea scheme, 
which involved thousands of families in ruin. 
In 1721 Bishop Atterbury was seized and 
conveyed to the Tower, and afterward ban- 
ished on suspicion of treason ; the Duke of 
Norfolk, the Earl of Orrery, and others were 
imprisoned for participation in the plot. In 
1725 the treaty of Hanover was signed to 
counteract the first treaty of Vienna. In 
1727 the king visited his electoral dominions 
at Hanover, but being seized with a paralytic 
disorder on the roa4 from Hanover to Hol- 



land, he was conveyed to Osnaburgh, June 
11th, 1727, where he died, in the thiiteenth 
year of his reign. The disaffection toward 
the Elector of Hanover, on his arrival in Eng- 
land, was very great, and the populace gave 
no equivocal signs of it. One time a noisy 
mob surrounded a carriage which contained 
some German ladies of the court, and assailed 
their ears with epithets of abuse more fluent 
than elegant. One of the foreigners, putting 
her head out of the carriage-window, said, in 
her broken English, "Aly good peoples, we 
ish come for all your goods." " Yes,'" replied 
a surly fellow in the crowd, "and for all our 
chattels too." 

George Augustus, the first George's son, 
came to the throne as George II. He was 
born Oct. 80th, 1683, and was created Prince 
of Wales, Oct. 4th, 1714. In 1704 he married 
AVilhelmina Caroline Dorothea, of Branden- 
burg-Anspach, and in 1727 succeeded his 
father. In 1729 the peace of Seville was 
concluded with Spain, but the war with that 
country was renewed in 1739. In 1742 Sir 
Robert Walpole resigned, after having been 
minister for nearly twenty years, and in the 
same year*, the king, espousing the cause of 
Maria Theresa, marched against the French, 
whom he defeated in the battle of Dettingen, 
but without gaining much advantage. In 
1745 Charles Edward, the young Pretender, 
landed in Scotland, but was finally defeated at 
Culloden. The peace of Aix-la-Chapelle was 
conckided in 1748. In 1754 the encroach- 
ments of the French in America brought on 
that war which resulted ha})pily for Great 
Britain, and some of the successes of which 
in America are attributable to the bravery 
of the provincial troops. In the midst of 
general prosperity, George II. died at Ken- 
sington, Oct. 25th, 1760, in the seventy- 
seventh year of his age and thirty-third of 
his reign. He possessed no shining qualities, 
and despised learning. 

Quarrels between the monarch and the 
heir apparent marked this dj-nasty. Thus 
George II. while Prince of Wales had not 
been on the best of terms with his father. 
Similar ^sagreement sundered him in turn 
from his son Frederick. The houses in Lon- 
don to which George Augustus, and after- 
ward Frederick, retired when in disfavor at 
St. James's, were familiarly known as ' pouting 



HAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



387 



houses.' Frederick died before his father, 
and the grandson, Geokge III., was heir to 
tlie crown. His long and eventful reign we 
have mentioned in our sketch of England. 
His mother was the Princess Augusta of 
Saxe Gotha, who gave him birth June 4th, 
1738. He succeeded his grandfather, George 
II., Oct. 25th, 17G0 ; married Charlotte Sophia, 
Princess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Sept. 8th, 
1761 ; and both were crowned Sept. 22d in 
the same year. He was deranged in mind 
from OctoBer, 1788, to March, 1789. On the 
24th of April, 1789, he went in procession to 
St. Paul's, to offer thanks for his recovery. 
The malady returned in 1801, and afflicted 
him till 1804; he relapsed in 1810, and 
died in Windsor Castle, Jan. 29th, 1820, in 
the eighty-second year of his age, and the 
sixtieth of his reign. Queen Charlotte died 
in 1818. George III. was a virtuous man, a 
good husband and father. Before his time 
the English court had the licentiousness of 
France with the coarseness of Germany. 
Under the influence of George and his excel- 
lent consort, decency was restored. But his 
virtue was not shared by all his numerous 
offspring; the Duke of York and the Duke 
of Cumberland were notoriously profligate ; 
they were outdone in vice and shame by their 
eldest brother, George IV. 

He was born Aug. 12th, 1762. Well edu- 
cated and talented, he abueed the gifts be- 
stowed upon him, and in his youth plunged 
into the guiltiest excesses. Loaded with 
debt, he at length adopted a system of 
retrenchment, sold his splendid racing-stud, 
and reduced his whole establishment. With 
the assistance of parliament, he extricated 
himself from his difficulties. The indignation 
excited by a nefarious transaction of his, 
which was exposed by the Jockey Club, com- 
pefled him to abandon the turf. The fat 
young debauchee became enamored with Mrs. 
Fitzlierbert, a brilliant and lovely widow of 
twenty -five. His heart, he declared, was now 
seriously affected ; the fair widow divided his 
affection with the bottle ; and his wooing was 
as assiduous as was her avoidance of him. 
She remained obdurate to all entreaty, till 
one day several gentlemen of the prince's 
household arrived at her house in the utmost 
consternation, informing her that the life of 
the prince was in imminent danger ; that he 



had stabbed himself, and that only her imme- 
diate presence could save him. There prob- 
ably never was a man more ridiculous when 
playing the part of a lover than ^his Prince 
of Wales. To have himself bled, in order 
that he might look pale and interesting m the 
eyes of the Cynthia of the minute, M'as with 
him no unusual trick. On this occasion, 
however, it was positively declared that he 
had stabbed himself, and the emissaries be- 
sought the young widow to hasten and heal 
the wound. She proceeded to Carlton House, 
under the very proper guardianship of the 
Duchess of Devonshire. She found the prince 
pale and covered with blood. "The sight," 
we are told, "so overpowered her faculties 
that she was deprived almost of afl conscious- 
ness. The prince told her that nothing could 
induce him to live, unless she promised to 
become his wife, and permitted him to put a 
ring round her finger." She repented, how- 
ever, of her betrothal, fled beyond the sea, 
and remained a year on the continent, en- 
deavoring to avoid the perilous suit. Couri- 
ers with ardent dispatches followed her with 
such speed and in such numbers that the 
suspicious French government at last began 
to clap them in prison. George once wrote 
her a love-letter of seven and thirty pages, in 
which he assured her that his father would 
connive at the union. She returned to Eng- 
land, and was privately married to the prince. 
But she was wife and yet no wife. Public 
attention was turned to the match; parlia- 
ment began to inquire into the matter ; and 
Mr. Fox was authorized by the princely liar 
to deny that he was married. The pressure 
of his ill-gotten debts induced him, in 1795, to 
marry Caroline Amelia Augusta, daughter of 
the Duke of Brunswick. Her sufferings and 
persecution excited the world's indignation 
against her heartless husband. One daugh- 
ter, the Princess Charlotte, was the only off- 
spring of this unhappy and unhallowed union. 
This lovely and virtuous girl wedded Prince 
Leopold, afterward King of the Belgians; 
the hope of the nation was turned to lament- 
ation by her death in childbed, Nov. 5th, 
1817, at the early age of twenty-one. Her 
injured mother died in 1821, shortly after 
her husband ascended the throne. 

George IV. had been regent during the long 
insanity of his father. His reign as king 



HAN 



388 



COTTAGE^ CYCLOPEDIA OP 



was not long. He died July 26th, 1830. 
On his death-bed he received a touching note 
from Maria Fitzherbert, long separated from 
him, as fi](>m a wife offering her services to 
her husband. She died in March, 1837. 
George was succeeded by his brother Wil- 
liam, Duke of Clarence, who had spent much 
of his life in the naval service. The sailor 
king had his errors, but what with compari- 
son to his brother, and his own bluff good 
nature, he was very popular. His queen 
was Adelaide, sister of the Duke of Saxe 
Meinengen, who survived him some twenty 
years. William IV. died June 20th, 1837. 
The kingdom of Hanover was subject to the 
Salique law, by which a woman can not hold 
the sceptre. Victoria, a girl of eighteen, the 
daughter of the Duke of Kent, was the heir 
to the British crown. The throne of Han- 
over therefore fell to the Duke of Cumber- 
land, her uncle, and Victoria became Queen 
of Great Britain and Ireland. She was mar- 
ried Feb. 10th, 1840, to her cousin. Prince 
Albert, of Saxe-Coburg. The crown is not 
likely to lack an heir in the direct line; 
Victoria and Albert are blessed with nine 
children: Victoria Adelaide Mary Louisa, 
Princess Royal, born Nov. 21st, 1840 ; married 
to Prince Frederick William of Prussia, Jan- 
uary, 1858. Albert Edward, Prince of Wales, 
born Nov. 9 th, 1841. Alice Maud Mary, 
born April 25th, 1843. Alfred Ernest, 
born Aug. 6th, 1844. Helena Augusta Vic- 
toria, born May 25 th, 1846. Louisa Carolina 
Alberta, born March 18th, 1848. Arthur 
Patrick Albert, born May 1st, 1850. Leo- 
pold George Duncan Albert, born April 7th, 
1853. Beatrice Mary Victoria Feodore, born 
April 17th, 1857. 

There were thirteen children born from the 
marriage of George III. with Queen Char- 
lotte ; and yet, of this numerous family there 
are singularly few legitimate descendants in 
the present generation. The sons were seven : 
George, Prince of Wales, afterward George 
IV. ; Frederick, Duke of York ; William, 
Duke of Clarence, afterward William IV. ; 
Edward, Duke of Kent; Ernest, Duke of 
Cumberland, afterward King of Hanover; 
Augustus, Duke of Sussex, and Adolphus, 
the Duke of Cambridge. Of the six daugh- 
ters, the names in the order of birth stand 
thus : the Princess Royal, Charlotte Augusta, 



who was man-ied to the King of Wurtem- 
burg ; the Princess Augusta, who died unmar- 
ried ; the Princess Elizabeth, who was married 
to the Prince of Hesse Homburg ; the Prin- 
cess Mary, who was married to her cousin, 
the Duke of Gloucester ; and the Princesses 
Sophia and Amelia, both of whom died un- 
married. The last of these children on earth 
was Mary, Duchess of Gloucester, who expired 
April 30th, 1857, at the age of eightj^-one. 
Queen Victoria, daughter of the Duke of 
Kent; the King of Hanover, son of the Duke 
of Cumberland ; and the three children of the 
late Duke of Cambridge, — these are the only 
lawful grand-children of the third George 
that survive; and the Princess Charlotte, 
daughter of George IV., is the only one who 
has passed away. 

HANSEATIC LEAGUE. In the middle 
of the thirteenth century, the sea and land 
were infested wi;h pirates and robbers. Itie 
German trade being exposed to accidents bj' 
land and sea, Hambvu-g and Lubeck, in the 
year 1241, entered into a confederacy in which 
they agreed to defend each other from all 
attacks and from every act of violence. This 
league was soon after joined by Brunswick ; 
it was named by way of eminence, the Hanse, 
meaning a league for mutual defense. Many 
other towns joined in a short time. In 
1260 a meeting of the members was held 
at Lubeck, and continued there every three 
years. In the fourteenth century, this league 
attained everywhere a high political import- 
ance, and enjo)^ed extensive and uncommon 
privileges, till at last it became the mistress 
of lands and seas and crowns. So it contin- 
ued for a length of time, till the traveling 
becoming more secure, and the circumstan- 
ces that gave it rise being changed, the Han- 
seatic League began to foil. The last diet 
was held at Lubeck in 1630. The largest 
number of the Hanse towns was eighty -five. 

HARDICANUTE, son of Canute and Em- 
ma, and the opponent of Harold, filled the 
thrones of England and Denmark for a short 
time. He made himself odious by the impo- 
sition of taxes, and died of repletion at the 
nuptials of a Danish lord in 1041. 

HARLEY, Robert, Earl of Oxford and 
Mortimer, a distinguished statesman in the 
time of Queen Anne, was born in 1661. He 
was impeached in 1715, on suspicion of favor 



HAR 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



389 



ing the restoration of the exiled Stuarts, and 
was confined in the Tower a couple of years. 
He was finally set free, and died May 21st, 
1724 He was a great patron of literature, 
and by him the Harleian Library, now in the 
British Museum, was brought together. 

HxiROLD I., of England, was the son of 
Canute, by Alfwcn, daughter of the Earl of 
Southampton. He was proclaimed King of 
England on the death of Canute in 1035, and 
was supported by the Danes, in opposition 
to Earl Godwin of Kent, who favored Hardi- 
canute. He died in 1039. 

HAROLD IL, son of Earl Godwin, usurped 
the English throne against Edgar, after the 
death of Edwar(i the Confessor, 1066. He 
was defeated and slain in the fatal battle of 
Hastings, Oct. 14th, 1066. 

HAROUN AL Rasciiid was one of the most 
celebrated of the Saracenic caliphs ; the ter- 
ritories which he governed extended from 
Egypt to Khorassan. He was no less distin- 
guished for his taste, and the encouragement 
he afforded to literature and the arts, than 
for his power. He was the second son of 
the Caliph Mahadi, and succeeded his elder 
brother, Hadi, a.d. 786. He differed in so 
many respects from the despots of the east, 
that he obtained the name of al Raseliid^ ' the 
just' The caliph was fond of personally 
ascertaining the condition of his people, when, 
rid of the dazzling attributes of rank, he feared 
no concealment on their part. Many instan- 
ces of the wisdom and justice of his decisions 
have come down to us. A merchant, having 
lost a purse containing a large sum of money, 
caused the loss to be proclaimed, with an 
accurate description of the purse and the 
value of its contents, offering a large reward 
to the person who should find and restore it. 
After some days had elapsed, a poor laborer 
presented himself before a magistrate with 
the purse, and claimed of the merchant (who 
was summoned) the reward which belonged 
to him. The merchant, rejoiced at finding his 
money, thought to avoid payment of the 
reward by declaring that the purse contained, 
in addition to the money, an emerald of great 
value, which the finder must be compelled to 
restore. The poor laborer was overwhelmed 
by this assertion, and the magistrate appeared 
at a loss, but the caliph, who was present in 
disguise, advanced and decided the case; 



"Since," said he, "the merchant declares 
that the purse which he lost contained a sum 
of money and an emerald, and since the fitider 
of this purse swears, and the seal upon the 
purse proves, that he has taken no precious 
gem, this can not be the purse which the mer- 
chant has lost. Let, then, its present holder 
endeavor to discover the real owner, and, 
failing to do so, appropriate the prize ; and let 
the merchant make diligent search for the 
money and the emerald which he has lost ; 
the present property being, as he has proved, 
none of his." 

Haroun was an ardent lover of learning, 
and caused it to be disseminated throughout 
his realms. He was a warm admirer of the 
ancient classics, and translations of the Iliad 
and Odyssey, with other works of antiquity, 
made his people acquainted with the beauties 
of Greek and Roman literature. He invaded 
the Greek empire no fewer than eight times, 
conquering in 802 the Emperor Nicephorus, 
who had refused to pay him the customary 
tribute. The Greek monarch was compelled 
to pay a heavier tribute to the caUph, and 
promise not to rebuild the frontier towns 
which had been ruined and plundered. The 
caliph's destruction of the family of the Bar- 
mecides displaj's the stern resolution of a 
despot. He had experienced the care of 
Yahia, the head of the Barmecide family, who 
had superintended his education ; the eldest 
of Yahia's sons was a general who had served 
his country well ; the second was Giafar, the 
caliph's prime vizier, and the two other sons 
were in responsible and dignified stations. 
The Barmecides were in favor with all classes, 
and Giafar stood high in the graces of the 
caliph. Indeed, so warmly attached was the 
latter to the vizier, that, for the sake of enjoy- 
ing his company with that of his beloved 
sister Abassa, he united them in marriage, 
but placed capricious restrictions upon their 
intimacy. On the disobedience of the pair, 
all the violent passions of the caliph were 
aroused. He publicly sacrificed Giafar to his 
resentment, and impoverished the whole fam- 
ily. Haroun, at the height of splendor and 
fame, sent an embassy to the Emperor Char- 
lemagne, bearing, among other presents, a 
water-clock, an elephant, and the keys of the 
holy sepulchre at Jerusalem. The caliph was 
seized with a mortal illness while preparing 



HAR 



890 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



to depart upon a military expedition, and 
died at Tous, in Khorassan, a.d. 809, in the 
forty-seventh year of his age, and the twenty- 
third of his reign. No other of the Saracenic 
caHphs ever attained the height of power 
and popularity which Haroun al Raschid 
gained, and although some of his acts are 
inexcusable, yet considering the examples 
furnished by his age, and the preceding, we 
can not withhold from him a large share of 
praise. Haroun is one of those characters 
which are equally the delight of history and 
romance, and while the graver acts of his 
reign employ the pen of the rigid annalist, 
his varied adventures are themes for the gay 
eloquence of such works as the "Arabian 
Nights' Entertainments." 

HARPER, Robert Goodloe, was born near 
Fredericksburg, Va., of poor parents. He 
served a short time in a troop of light horse, 
but he soon withdrew from the service for 
the purpose of completing his education. 
He entered Princeton College, and while dis- 
tinguishing himself in the upper classes, he 
was employed in the instruction of the lower. 
After leaving college he went to Charleston, 
S. C, where he studied law, but soon retired 
to an interior district to practice. Some 
essays in a newspaper gave a favorable idea 
of his talents and principles ; he was elected 
to the legislature, and soon after to Congress. 
In 1801 he resumed the practice of law in 
Baltimore, having married the daughter of 
Charles Carroll of Carrollton. He defended 
Judge Chase on his impeachment. He was 
afterward senator in Congress^ but his pro- 
fessional duties compelled him to resign. 
He died suddenly on the 15th of January, 
1825, aged sixty. 

HARRIS, John, the first compiler of a dic- 
tionary of arts and sciences in England, died 
a beggar, 1719, aged forty-nine. 

HARRISON, Benjamin, a signer of the 
Declai-ation of Independence, born in Berke- 
ley, Virginia. He was educated at William 
and Mary College, and began his public career 
in the Virginia assembly in 1764. From 1774 
to 1777 he was a delegate to Congress, chair- 
man of the board of war, speaker of the 
house of burgesses, and governor of Virginia 
from 1782 to 1784; he was extremely popu- 
lar and useful. He died in April, 1791. 

HARRISON, William Henry, the youngest 



son of Benjamin Harrison (above), was born 
on the 9th of February, 1773, at Berkeley in 
Charles City county, Virginia, about twenty- 
five miles below Richmond. His father was 
a descendant of the great General Harrison 
who held a commission under Cromwell. 
His mother was Elizabeth Bassett, a niece of 
the wife of General Washington. At the time 
of Benjamin Harrison's death, in 1791, his 
estate having become embarrassed in the pub- 
lic service, William Henry was at Hampden 
Sidney College, qualifying himself for the 
study of medicine, but M'lien the news of the 
Indian outrages on the frontiers reached Vir- 
ginia, he determined to enter the army. This 
resolution, which was opposed by his guard- 
ian, the celebrated financier Robert Morris, 
was warmly approved by the illustrious 
Washington, who gave him the commission 
of ensign in the first I'egiment of artillery, 
then stationed at Fort Washington on the 
Ohio, near the spot where Cincinnati now 
stands. Jtist after he arrived at the post, the 
news of Gen. St. Clair's defeat by the Indians 
on the Wabash reached it, and though he 
was urged to relinquish his new profession, 
on the grounds of the extreme hardships and 
deprivations of the service, and his youth and 
apparently slender constitution, he promptly 
and decidedly rejected the advice. Soon after, 
he was intrusted with the command of the 
escort of a train of pack-horses, destined to 
furnish supplies to Fort Hamilton on the 
Miami, twenty or thirty miles north of Fort 
Washington. This service required especial 
prudence and sagacity, and was performed 
by him, though a mere youth, in such a 
manner as to obtain the warm commendation 
of Gen. St. Clair. 

Judge Burnet, in his " Transactions of the 
Historical Society of Ohio," speaks thus of 
this circumstance: "Soon after the battle 
and defeat of St. Clair, which was on the 4th 
of November, 1791, General Harrison, then 
a subaltern, was sent in command of a small 
detachment from Fort Washington to Forts 
Hamilton and Jefferson. It was in the midst 
of one of the severest winters ever known in 
this country. Subalterns, as you know, 
were not permitted to march on horseback. 
Of course this youthful hero, not then twenty 
years of age, marched on foot, through the 
•snow, at the head of his detachment, with 



HAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



391 



his knapsajck on his back ; and although the 
woods were swarming with Indians, who had 
been released from the necessity of watching 
the army, he marched to the place of his des- 
tination rn safety, after as severe an exposure 
to frost, fatigue, and danger as was endured 
at any time during the -war." 

From this time forward, the best years of 
his life were devoted to his country. In 1793 
he was made a lieutenant, and in 1793 Gen. 
Wayne appointed him one of his aids, which 
he continued to be during the war. On the 
20th of August, 1794, in marching down the 
Maumee, Gen. Wayne with 900 men was 
attacked by Indians to the number of 2,000, 
and put them to flight. In his official account 
he mentions that his " faithful and gallant aid, 
Lieutenant Harrison, rendered most essential 
service, by communicating orders in every 
direction, and by his conduct and bravery ex- 
citing the troops to press for victory." In 
August, 1795, peace was concluded at Green- 
ville. Soon after, Harrison was promoted to 
the rank of captain, and placed in command 
of Fort Washington. 

When Gen. Wayne died in 1797, Capt. 
Harrison resigned his commission, and was 
made secretary of the North-western Terri- 
tory, and ex officio lieutenant-governor, Gen. 
St. Clair being governor. This office he filled 
with so much approbation, that he was chosen 
by the inhabitants their first delegate to Con- 
gress. His popularity was increased by his 
wish that the public lands should be sold in 
small quantities to actual settlers, instead of 
permitting speculators to purchase them in 
large ones, which object he accomplished, as 
well as a reform in the method of locating 
military land-warrants. The North-west Ter- 
ritory being divided into two, Ohio and Indi- 
ana, he was made governor of the latter in 
1799, in which office his power was very 
extended, including that of superintendent of 
Indian affairs, and commissioner for treating 
with the Indians. The territory included 
the present states of Indiana, Illinois, Michi- 
gan, and Wisconsin; the seat of govern- 
ment was at Vincennes, a village on the 
Wabash. Harrison's conduct as governor 
was held in high estimation, and Adams, 
Jefferson, and Madison successively appointed 
him for a period of thirteen years. 

In 1806, through the intrigues of two 

H 



celebrated chiefs of the Shawnee tribe, 
Tecumseh and his brother the Prophet, the 
Indians began again to be troublesome. 
Their hostile demonstrations gradually in- 
creased. Gov. Harrison endeavored, unsuc- 
cessfully, to conciliate them. The brothers, 
incited by British emissaries, were untiring 
in their endeavors for a league of all the 
tribes against the whites, till they had about 
them a thousand warriors. These committed 
atrocious depredations along the frontier, till 
even the governor's house was scarcely con- 
sidered safe from their attacks. In Septem- 
ber, 1809, a council convened at Fort Wayne, 
at which Gov. Harrison negotiated with the 
Miamies, Delawares, Pottawatomies, and 
Kickap'oos, a large purchase of land. Tecum- 
seh was much dissatisfied with this treaty 
when he heard of it, and he threatened the 
lives of some of the chiefs by whom it had 
been concluded. Hearing this, Harrison 
invited him to come to Yincennes, stipulating 
that he should not bring with him more than 
thirty warriors. But, alleging suspicion of 
treachery from the Americans, he came with 
more than four hundred, armed. He also 
refused to hold the conf(#ence at the ap- 
pointed place, which was under the portico 
of the governor's house, insisting that it 
should be in a neighboring grove. The coun- 
cil was held August 12th, 1810. Tecumseh 
complained of injustice that Indians had re- 
ceived. To an explanation from Harrison, 
he fiercely shouted, " It is false ! " His war- 
riors sprang to their feet and brandished their 
clubs and tomahawks. They eyed the gov- 
ernor with ferocious gaze. His military escort 
numbered but twelve men, and they were 
cut off from him by the threatening Indians. 
They advanced, and would have fired upon 
the maddened savages, had not Harrison re- 
strained them. The moment was perilous, 
but the cool bravery of the governor was 
equal to it. In a calm, firm voice, he said to 
Tecumseh, "You are a bad man: I will have 
no further talk with you. You must now 
take your departure from these settlements, 
and hasten immediately to your camp." 
Tecumseh was cowed by the governor's 
dauntless bearing, and the next day he 
apologized for his insolence. No satisfactory 
result came of the council ; and Tecumseh 
withdrew to Tippecanoe, the residence of 



592 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the Prophet, and the brothers continued their 
machinations. A blow against the ruthless 
marauders became luiavoidable, and the foi*- 
bearance of the American government was at 
last exhausted. The next j^oar Gov. Har- 
rison received orders to march against the 
Prophet's town. Hastily assembling a force 
of 900 men, he advanced, and on the 9th of 
November, 1811, the famous battle of Tippe- 
canoe was fought. In this fierce contest, the 
cool courage of Harrison was gallantly con- 
spicuous ; victory crowned the bravery of 
himself and his men. Notwithstanding this 
decisive blow, Tecumseh and the Prophet con- 
tinued busy in mischief, and when war broke 
out with England in 1812, their activity was 
redoubled. Gov. Harrison received a briga- 
dier-general's commission in the army of the 
United States, and President Madison in- 
vested him with the command of the north- 
western army, nominally consisting of ten 
thousand men, but undisciplined, destitute, 
and scattered over a wide region. The trust 
was as trying as it was important. The 
marked points of the campaign of 1813 un- 
der his direction, were the glorious defense 
of Fort Meigs, anfl the important and deci- 
sive victory won in the battle of the Thames, 
the 5th of October, in which Tecumseh fell, 
and by which the north-western frontier was 
relieved from danger. Harrison had received 
the promotion of majoi'-general. The jeal- 
ousy of Gen. Armstrong, the secretary of 
war, ousted him from active service, and led 
him to tender his resignation early in 1814. 

"From 1816 to 1819 he was a representative 
in Congress from Ohio. He was earnest for 
the recognition of the South American repub- 
lics. He assiduously and successfully labored 
for the relief of the veterans who had served 
in the war of the Revolution, as well as those 
who had been wounded or otherwise disabled 
in the late war with Great Britain. In 1825 
he took his seat as United States senator from 
Ohio. He supported the administration of 
John Quincy Adams, and in 1828 that presi- 
dent appointed him minister to the South 
American republic of Colombia. His mis- 
sion was cut short by the accession of Gen. 
Jackson, one of whose first acts was his re- 
call. After his return he led a quiet life upon 
his little farm at North Bend, on the Ohio 
River a few miles below Cincinnati. He had 

H 



given his life to his country's service, not to 
the accumulation of fortune, and his means 
were small. He took the office of clerk to 
the court of Hamilton county, and this mod- 
est station he held till 18-10, when the people 
called him to the highest office in their gift. 

The joy with which his elevation to the 
executive was hailed soon changed to a na- 
tion's mourning. The cares of office, and 
the devotion with which he entered into its 
onerous duties, wore heavily upon him; a 
severe cold was followed by an attack of 
bilious pleurisy that baffled medical skill, and 
his useful and honorable life closed April 4th, 
1841, just one month from the day of his in- 
auguration. Party distinctions were merged 
in sorrow for his untimely decease, and 
throughout the land funeral honors were 
paid to his memory. Minute guns were 
fired, bells were tolled, and resolutions ex- 
pressive of the most profound regret were 
adopted in almost every town and village 
throughout the Union. It being the first 
instance of the death of a chief magistrate 
while occupying the presidential chair, the 
impression made was doubly strong. The 
funeral ceremonies at Washington were very 
impressive. Mr. Tyler, who as vice-presi- 
dent succeeded to the office of chief magis- 
trate, issued a recommendation to the people 
of the Union to observe the 14th of May as 
a day of fasting and humiliation, in conse- 
quence of the affliction the nation had sus- 
tained. It w^as almost unanimously observed, 
and very few clergymen in the country failed 
to improve the opportunit}^ to impress upon 
the minds of their hearers the weight of our 
national sins, and the solemn lesson given 
them of the vanity of all earthly distinctions 
and honors. Ohio could not relinquish her 
claim to the remains of one who, from the 
age of nineteen, had been devoted to her best 
interests. A committee of her most respect- 
able inhabitants went on to Washington, 
and were permitted to convey them to North 
Bend, where, on the mound under which 
they are deposited, a modest tomb denotes to 
the eye of the traveler sailing upon the Ohio, 
the spot where rests the patriot, hero, and 
Christian. 

In person General Harrison w^as tall and 
slender. Although his constitution was not 
the most robust, habitual activity and tem- 
AS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



393 



perance secured him a bodily vigor seldom 
surpassed. He was of generous disposition, 
and easy and unostentatious in manners. At 
the age of twenty-one, while stationed as a 
captain at Fort Washington (where the 
queenly city of Cincinnati now stands), he 
married Anna, the daughter of John Cleves 
Symmes, the founder of the Miami settle- 
ments. Four sons and a daughter died be- 
fore him ; Mrs. Harrison, a son, and three 
daughters survived. 

HART, John, a signer of the Declaration of 
Independence, was born at Hopewell) N. J., 
about ITIS. He tilled the earth, and his mind 
was strong, though little cultivated by letters. 
He was a member of the congress of 1Y74, 
and soon after signing the Declaration of In- 
dependence retired from that body. When 
New Jersey became the theatre of war, he 
suffered much loss at the hands of the loyal- 
ists. He died in IVSO, and was buried at Rah- 
way, N. J. 

HARTLEY, David, an eminent English 
metaphysician, died in 1757, aged fifty-three. 

HARVEY, William, M. D., the discoverer 
of the circulation of the blood, born at Folke- 
stone in 1578, died in London, June 3d, 1657. 

HASTINGS, a borough, market town, and 
cinque-port in Sussex, memorable for the bat- 
tle fought in its vicinity, Oct. 14th, 1060, 
which gave the English crown to William the 
Conqueror. 

HASTINGS, Warren, was born Dec. 6th, 
1732, near Daylesford, in Worcestershire, and 
was sent to India, as a writer in the com- 
pany's service, in 1750. He diligently ap- 
plied himself to the duties of his station, and 
in his leisure studied the oriental languages. 
After fourteen years' residence in Bengal he 
returned to England; but in 1769 he went 
out again, as second in council at Madras, 
where he remained about two years, and 
then removed to the presidency at Calcutta. 
He held the post of governor-general till 

1785. For his bold and unscrupulous meas- 
ures against Hyder Ali, and in the various 
dangerous exigencies of his administration, 
grave charges of injustice, cruelty, and op- 
pression were brought against him in parlia- 
ment, supported by such men as Fox, Burke, 
and Sheridan. He returned to England in 

1786, and an impeachment followed. 

The trial began on the 13th of February, 

H 



1788; in the words of Macaulay, the high 
court of parliament was to sit according to 
forms handed down from the days of the 
Plantagenets, on an Englishman accused of 
exercising tyranny over the lord of the holy 
city of Benares, and the ladies of the princely 
house of Oude. The place was worthy of 
such a trial. It was the great hall of William 
Rufus ; the hall which had resounded with 
acclamations at the inauguration of thirty 
kings ; the hall which had witnessed the just 
sentence of Bacon, and the just absolution 
of Somers ; the hall where the eloquence of 
Strafford had for a moment awed and melted 
a victorious party, inflamed with just resent- 
ment ; the hall where Charles had confronted 
the high court of justice, with the placid 
courage that has half redeemed his fame. 
Neither military nor civil pomp vras wanting. 
The avenues were lined with grenadiers. 
The streets were kept clear by cavalry. The 
peers, robed in gold and ermine, were mar- 
shaled by garter king-at-arms. The judges, 
in their vestments of state, attended to give 
advice on points of law. Near a hundred 
and seventy lords, three-fourths of the upper 
house, walked in solemn order from their 
usual place of assembling to the tribunal. 
The junior baron present led the way, George 
Eliot, Lord Heathfield, recently ennobled for 
his memorable defense of Gibraltar against 
the fleets and armies of France and Spain. 
The long procession was closed by the Duke 
of Norfolk, earl marshal of the realm, by the 
great dignitaries, and by the brothers and 
sons of the king. 

The gray old walls were hung with scarlet. 
The long galleries were crowded hj an audi- 
ence such as has rarely excited the fears or 
the emulation of an orator. There were 
gathered together from all parts of a great, 
free, enlightened, and prosperous empire, 
grace and female loveliness, wit and learning, 
the representatives of every science and of 
every art. There were seated round the 
queen the fair-haired young daughters of the 
house of Brunswick. There the ambassadors 
of great kings and commonwealths gazed with 
admiration on a spectacle which no other 
country in the world could present. There 
Siddons, in the prime of her majestic beauty, 
looked with emotion on a scene surpassing 
all the imitations of the stage. There Gib- 
\S 



894 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



bon, the historian of the Roman empire, 
thought of the days when Cicero pleaded the 
cause of Sicily against Verres, and when, 
before a senate that still retained some show 
of fi-eedom, Tacitus thundered against the 
oppressor of Africa. The spectacle had 
allured Reynolds from that easel which has 
preserved the thoughtful foreheads of so 
many writers and statesmen, and the sweet 
smiles of so many noble matrons. There 
appeared the voluptuous charms of Mrs. 
Fitzherbert, to whom the heir of the throne 
had in secret plighted his faith. There were 
the members of that brilliant society which 
quoted, criticised, and exchanged repartees, 
under the rich peacock hangings of Mrs. 
JVIontague. And there the ladies, whose lips, 
more persuasive than those of Fox himself, 
had carried the TTestminster election against 
palace and treasury, shone round Georgiana, 
Duchess of Devonshire. 

The Serjeants made proclamation. Hast- 
ings advanced to the bar, and bent his knee. 
The culprit was indeed not unworthy of that 
great presence. He had ruled an extensive 
and populous country, had made laws and 
treaties, had sent forth armies, had set up 
and pulled down princes. And in his high 
place he had so borne himself, that all had 
feared him, that most had loved him, and 
that hatred itself could deny him no title to 
glory, except virtue. He looked like a great 
man, and not like a bad man. A person 
small and emaciated; yet deriving dignity 
from a carriage which, , while it indicated 
deference to the court, indicated also habitual 
self-possession and self-respect; a high and 
intellectual forehead ; a brow pensive, but not 
gloomy ; a mouth of inflexible decision ; a 
face pale and worn, but serene, — such was 
the aspect with which the great proconsul 
presented himself to his judges. His counsel 
accompanied him; men all of whom were 
afterward raised by their talents and learning 
to the highest posts in their profession — the 
bold and strong-minded Law, afterward chief- 
justice of the king's bench; the more hu- 
mane and eloquent Dallas, afterward chief- 
justice of the common pleas ; and Plomer, 
who, nearly twenty years later, successfully 
conducted in the same high court the defense 
of Lord Melville, and subsequently became 
vice-chancellor and master of the rolls. 

H 



But neither the culprit nor his advocates 
attracted so much notice as his accusers. In 
the midst of the blaze of red drapery, a 
space had been fitted up with green benches 
and tables for the Commons. The managers, 
with Burke at their head, appeared in full 
dress. The collectors of gossip did not fail 
to remark that even Fox, generally so regard- 
less of his appearance, had paid to the illus- 
trious tribunal the compliment of wearing a 
bag and sword. Pitt had refused to be one 
of the conductors of the impeachment ; and 
his commanding, copious, and sonorous elo- 
quence was wanting to that great muster of 
various talents. Age and blindness had un- 
fitted Lord North for the duties of a public 
prosecutor ; and his friends were left without 
his excellent sense, his tact, and his urbanity. 
But in spite of the absence of these two dis- 
tinguished members of the lower house, the 
box in which the managers stood contained 
an array of speakers such as perhaps had 
not appeared together since the great age of 
Athenian eloquence. There were Fox and 
Sheridan, the English Demosthenes and the 
English Hyperides. There was Burke, igno- 
ant, indeed, or negligent, of the art of adapt- 
ing his reasonings and his style to the 
capacity and taste of his hearers, but in 
amplitude of comprehension and richness of 
imagination superior to everj'^ other orator, 
ancient or modern. There, with e)'es rever- 
ently fixed on Burke, appeared the finest 
gentleman of the age, his form developed by 
every manlj^ exercise, his face beaming with 
intelligence and spirit — the ingenious, the 
chivalrous, the high-souled Windham. 

The charges and the answers of Hastings 
were first read. The ceremony occupied two 
whole days, and was rendered less tedious 
than it would otherwise have been, by the 
silver voice and just emphasis of Cowper, the 
clerk of the court, a near relation to the 
amiable poet. On the third day, Burke rose. 
Four sittings were occupied by his opening 
speech, which was intended to be a general 
introduction to all the charges. With an 
exuberance of thought and a splendor of dic- 
tion which more than satisfied the highly 
raised expectation of the audience, he de- 
scribed the character and institutions of the 
natives of India, recounted the circumstances 
in which the Asiatic empire of Britain had 
AS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



895 



originated, and set forth the constitution of 
the company and of the Enghsh pi-esidencies. 
Having thus attempted to communicate to 
his hearers an idea of eastern society as vivid 
as that which existed in his own mind, he 
proceeded to arraign the administration of 
Hastings, as systematically conducted in defi- 
ance of morality and public law. The energy 
and pathos of the great orator extorted ex- 
pressions of unwonted admiration from the 
stern and hostile chancellor [Lord Thurlow], 
and,> for a moment, seemed to pierce the 
resolute heart of the defendant. The ladies 
in the galleries, unaccustomed to such dis- 
plays of eloquence, excited by the solemnitj' 
of the occasion, and perhaps not unwilling to 
display their taste and sensibility, were in a 
state of uncontrollable emotion. Handker- 
chiefs Avere pulled out; smelling-bottles 
were handed round; hysterical cries and 
sobs were heard; and Mrs. Sheridan was 
carried out in a fit. At length the orator 
concluded. Raising his voice, till the old 
arches of Irish oak resounded, "Therefore," 
said he, "hath it with all confidence been 
ordered by the Commons of Great Britam, 
that I impeach "VYarren Hastings of high 
crimes and misdemeanors. I impeach him 
in the name of the Commons' house of par- 
liament, whose trust he has betrayed. I im- 
peach him in the name of the English nation, 
whose ancient honors he has sullied. I im- 
peach him in the name of the people of India, 
whose rights he has trodden under foot, and 
whose country he has turned into a desert. 
Lastly, in the name of human nature itself, 
in the name of both sexes, in the name of 
every age, in the name of every rank, I im- 
peach the common oppressor of all." 

The trial thus strikingly commenced was 
for a time the great event of interest for the 
English pubUc. With the brilliant speech 
of Sheridan in June, the excitement^ulmin- 
ated ; he occupied two whole days, and the 
hall was crowded to suffocation, some paying 
even fifty guineas for a place to hear him. 
The spectacle had now lost the charm of nov- 
elty; the great displays of rhetoric were 
over ; there remained only dry details of evi- 
dence, and bickerings between the managers 
of the impeachment and the counsel for the 
defense. More stirring occurrences diverted 
attention from Indian affairs, and at times 



the impeachment was almost forgotten. A 
well constituted tribunal, sitting regulaHy 
six days in the week, would have finished 
the trial in less than three months. But it 
was impracticable for the house of lords to 
give more than a few days to the impeach- 
ment, during each session of parliament ; the 
trial was not terminated till the spring of 
1795. Hastings was then acquitted. But 
he was a ruined man ; the legal expenses of 
his defense had been enormous, the other 
outlays perhaps still larger. He was par- 
tially reimbursed by an annuity which his 
friends in the East India Company settled 
upon him, and by other reward that they 
bestowed upon him. The last twenty-four 
years of his life were chiefly spent in retire- 
ment at Daylesford, the manor of his ancestors, 
which, from boyhood, it had been his desire 
to recover. He died Aug. 22d, 1818. 

HAUSER, Caspar, a personage whose his- 
tory is enveloped in mystery, died at Anspach, 
Bavaria, of wounds inflicted by an unknown 
assassin, Dec. 17th, 1833. On the 26th of 
May, 1828, a youth, apparently about sixteen 
or seventeen years of age, was found at one 
of the gates of Nuremberg ; he was unable to 
give any account of himself, nor could it be 
discovered who brought him there, whence 
he came, or who he was. He was four feet 
and nine inches in height; was very pale; 
had a short delicate beard on his chin and 
upper lip; his limbs were slender; his feet 
bore no marks of having been confined in 
shoes ; he scarcely knew how to use his fin- 
gers or hands ; and his attempts to walk re- 
sembled the first efforts of a child. He under- 
stood nothing that was said to him, and only 
replied in a few words of unintelligible gib- 
berish; his countenance was expressive of 
gross stupidity. He held in his hand a letter 
addressed to the captain of one of the cavalry 
companies of Nuremberg, dated "Bavarian 
frontiers ; place nameless." Its purport was 
that the bearer had been left with the writer, 
who was a poor laborer, in October, 1812, 
and who, not knoM'ing his parents, had 
brought him up in his house, without allowing 
him to stir out of it. A note accompanying 
the letter contained these words : "His flither 
was one of the light cavalry ; send him, when 
he is seventeen years old, to Nuremberg, for 
his father was stationed there. He was born 



HAU 



■ do 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



A[ii-il 30th, 1S12. I am a poor girl, and can l tain Lunisden and Dr. Knox on a mission to 



not support him ; his father is dead." A pen 
being put into his hands, he wrote in plain 
letters Casjjar Hauser. He appeared to be 
hungry and thirsty, but manifested great 
aversion to eating or drinking anything that 
was offered to him except bread and water. 
Pie fell into the hands of persons who treated 
him kindly, and taught him the use of lan- 
guage ; and he manifested the most amiable 
and grateful disposition. But he could give 
no account of himself, except that, as far back 
as he could remember, he had always inhab- 
ited a small cell, continually seated on the 
ground, with his feet naked, and having no 
covering except a shirt and trousers, and he 
had never seen the sky. When he awoke 
from sleep he was accustomed to find near 
him some bread and a pitcher of water ; but 
he never saw the face of the person who 
brought them ; and it was at Nuremberg that 
he first learnt there M'ere other living crea- 
tures besides himself and the man with whom 
he had always been. Previous to his death 
Hauser resided at Anspach, 'where he had a 
little employment in the registrar-oflBce, and 
Lord Stanhope had also provided for his sup- 
port. Some time before his assassination, an 
ineffectual attempt had been made upon his 
life, by the same assassin, it is supposed, that 
finally inflicted the fatal blow with a dagger. 

HAVELOCK, Sir Henky, w\as born at 
Bishopwearmouth in 1795, and educated at 
the Charter House. About 1813, in conse- 
quence of adverse fortune, Ingress Park, his 
fiither's property in Kent, was sold to govern- 
ment; Hav clock was entered at the Middle 
Temple, and attended the lectures of Chitty, 
the eminent special pleader, where his most 
intimate associate was Sir Thomas Talfourd, 
the author of "Ion." An elder brother had 
distinguished himself in the Peninsular war 
and at "Waterloo, .and Henry, yielding to the 
military propensities of his famdy, endeavored 
to obtain a commission. A month after 
Waterloo, he was appointed second lieutenant 
in the rifle brigade. 

Havelock served for eight years in England, 
Scotland, and Ireland, and embarked for India 
in 1823. Next year the first Burmese war 
broke out ; he was present at the actions of 
Napadee, Patanagoh, and Paghan. Xi the 
close of the war he was associated with Cap- 



the court of Ava, and had an audience of the 
"Golden Foot," when the treaty of Yandaboo 
was signed. In 1827 he pubhshed the " His- 
tory of the Ava Campaigns." In 1888 he 
was promoted to a captaincy, after having 
served twenty-three years as a subaltern. An 
army was now collected for the invasion of 
Afghanistan, and Havelock accompanied it on 
the staff of Sir W^illoughby Cotton. He went 
through the first Afghan campaign, was pres- 
ent at the storming of Ghuznee and the oc- 
cupation of Cabul, and then returned to India 
with Sir Willoughby Cotton. Having ob- 
tained leave to visit the presidency, he pre- 
pared a " Memoir of the Afghan Campaign," 
which was soon after printed in London. He 
returned to the Punjaub in charge of a detach- 
ment, and was placed on the staff of Gen. 
Elphinstone, as Persian interpreter. 

When the Eastern Ghilzies, having i isen, 
blockaded Cabul, Havelock was sent to join 
Sir Robert Sale, then marching back to India, 
and was present at the forcing of the Khoord 
Cabul pass, at the action of Tezeen, and all 
the other engagements of that force till it 
reached Jellalabad. In the final attack on 
Mahomed Akbar, in April, 1842, which obliged 
that chief to raise the siege, Havelock com- 
manded the right column, and defeated him 
before the other columns could come up. For 
this he was promoted to a brevet majority, 
and was made companion of the bath. He 
was then nominated Persian interpreter to 
General Pollock, and was present at the action 
of Mamoo Keil, and the second engagement at 
Tezeen. He proceeded with Sir John McCas- 
kill's force into the Kohistan, and had an im- 
portant share in the brilliant affair at Istaliff. 
Next year he was promoted to a regimental 
majority, and nominated Persian interpreter 
to the commander-in-chief. Sir Hugh Gough. 
At the close of 1843 he accompanied the army 
to Gwalior, and was engaged in the battle of 
Maharajore. In 1844 he was promoted to the 
rank of lieutenant-colonel by brevet. In 1845 
he proceeded with the army to meet the inva- 
sion of the Sikhs, and was actively engaged in 
the battles of Moodkee, Ferozeshah, and So- 
braon. On the conclusion of the Sutlej cam- 
paign he was appointed deputy adjutant-gen- 
eral of the queen's troops at Bombay. The 
second Sikh war now broke out, and his elder 



HAV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



397 



brother, Coi. William Havelock, was killed at admiral, the son of a barrister, was born in 



Kamnuggur. His own regiment having been 
ordered into the field, he quitted his stafif em- 
ployment at Bombay, in order to join it, and 
had proceeded as far as Indore when his fur- 
ther progress was countermanded, and he re- 
turned to his post. 

Twenty -five years of incessant and laborious 
service now began to tell on his constitution, 
and his medical adviser in 1849 sent him to 
Europe for two years, for the restoration of 
his health. He returned to Bombay in 1851, 
and was soon after made brevet-colonel, and 
appointed, through the kindness of Lord Har- 
dinge, by whose side he had fought in the 
three battles of the Sutlcj, quartermaster-gen- 
eral, and then adjutant-general, of the queen's 
troops in India. On the dispatch of the ex- 
pedition to Persia, he was appointed to the 
second division, and commanded the troops at 
Mohammerah, the glory of which action was, 
however, reserved for the naval force. On 
the conclusion of peace he returned to Bom- 
bay, and embarked in the Ei'in for Calcutta, 
in which vessel he was wrecked, in 1857, off 
the coast of Ceylon. Five days after, he ob- 
tained a passage in the Fire Queen, and on 
reaching Calcutta, was immediately sent up 
to Allahabad as brigadier-general, to command 
the movable column, to act against the insur- 
gent sepoys. 

He first attacked the mutineers at Futty- 
pore, on the 12th of July; on the 15th, at 
Asung, and at Pandoo Nuddee; on the 16th 
at Cawnpore, he had a horse shot under him, 
and the enemy lost twenty-three guns. Ad- 
vancing from Cawnpore on the 29th, he cap- 
tured Oonao, Busserut Gunge, and nineteen 
guns. This position he was obliged to give 
up, but he retook it on the 5th of August, 
inflicting great slaughter. On the 12th of 
August he again defeated the mutineers, and 
on the 16 th attackSd them at Bithoor. Event- 
ually receiving reinforcements under Sir James 
Outram, he entered Lucknow on the 25 th of 
September, and held his ground there until 
the garrison was finally relieved by Sir Colin 
Campbell on the 17th of November. The 
severe toils of the campaign had told upon 
the gallant general's health ; he died on the 
21:th of November, 1857. Havelock was as 
conspicuous for his piety as for his bravery. 

HAWKE, Lord Edwakd, a gallant English 



1713, and entered the naval service as a mid- 
shipman at the age of twelve. In 1744 he 
distinguished himself in the action of Toulon. 
November 20th, 1759, he gained a great vic- 
tory over the French fleet commanded by Con- 
flans in Quiberon Bay, though it was a lee 
shore, and the sea ran high in the midst of a 
storm. The projected invasion of England 
was thus defeated. He was raised to the 
peerage in 1776, a few years after he had been 
appointed first lord of the admiralty. He died 
Oct. 14th, 1781. 

HAYDN, Francis Joseph, an eminent com- 
poser, the author of the great oratorio of the 
" Creation," M'as born near Vienna, in March, 
1732. He visited England, but spent most of 
his life at Vienna, near which place he died. 
May 81st, 1809. 

HAYNE, Isaac, a native of South Carolina, 
distinguished himself by his services during 
the Revolution. After the capture of Charles- 
ton, he took an oath of allegiance to Great 
Britain, with the express stipulation that he 
should not bear arms against his country. 
When, in violation of British promises, he 
was summoned to join the British standard, 
he refused, and was in consequence condemned 
by a court of inquiry, and hanged, on the 4th 
of August, 1781. 

HAYTI is one of the largest of the West 
Indian islands, lying between Jamaica and 
Porto Rico, having an area of 29,000 square 
miles. It is sometimes called St. Domingo 
and sometimes Hispaniola. In the centre 
rises a lofty mountain range, its sides covered 
with vegetation, and noble woods, and leaping 
streams that fertilize the plains below. The 
principal productions of the island are coffee, 
the sugar-cane (for making rum), cotton, cat- 
tle, and some tobacco. Here Columbus found- 
ed his first colony, under the name of Hispan- 
iola. After the rapacity of the Spaniards had 
drained the gold-mines, and their cruelty had 
extirpated the natives, St. Domingo was neg- 
lected for the richer lands of Peru and Mexico. 
In the time of Louis XIV. the French gained 
the western third of the island, which in their 
hands attained a prosperity and opulence sur- 
passing not only the Spanish part, but the 
whole Spanish West Indies. 

When in 1791 the French revolution de- 
clared all men free and equal, the slaves of St. 



HAY 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Domingo carried the doctrine out for them- 
selves : they di'ove out their former task- 
masters -with dreadful slaughter. Toussaint 
I'Ouverture established a republic in 1801. 
After he had been treacherously borne off" to 
France, the negroes rallied under Dessalines, 
who set up a military despotism and called 
himself James I. Dessalines restored the 
name of Hayti, by which the natives called 
the island when Columbus discovered it. 
After his murder in 1806, French Hispaniola 
was divided into two states: the northern 
coast was formed into a negro republic under 
Christophe, who in 1811 took the title of 
Emperor Henry I. ; the plains about Port au 
Prince became a mulatto republic under 
Petion. Continual war subsisted between 
these two states. Boyer in 1813 succeeded 
Petion as president: Christophe committed 
suicide in 1820, and Boyer subjected not only 
his empire, but Spanish Hispaniola also. 
Boyer was deposed in 1844, and a struggle 
for power ensued, which terminated in March, 
1847, by the election of Gen. Faustin So- 
louque as president. He declared himself, in 
Aug. 1849, emperor. Gen. Fabre GelFrard 
proclaimed a republic at Gonaives, Dec. 22, 
1808, and Faustin was forced to abdicate. 
GefTrard has since been president. The cap- 
ital is Port-au-Prince. The eastern part of 
the island made itself an independent repub- 
lic (of San Domingo) under Gen. Santana, 
Feb. 27, 1844, who, however, being gained 
over by Spain, proclaimed, March 16, 1861, 
that San Domingo was re-U'nited to Spam. 
Hostilities followed, but in 1865, the Spanish 
*brccs were obliged to evacuate the island 
and it was left still free. 

HAZLITT, William, an able critic on 
poetry, the drama, and the fine arts, was the 
son of a Unitarian minister in Shropshire. 
He died in London, Sept. 18th, 1830, at the 
age of fifty-two. 

HEATH, William, born at Roxbury, Mas- 
sachusetts, in 1737, and died in his native 
place, Jan. 24th, 1814, aged seventy-seven. 
Amongst the first to take up arms in favor of 
his insulted country, he wa.s appointed by 
the provincial congress of Massachusetts, in 
1775, a brigadier-general, and was by the 
continental congress, in 1776, raised to the 
rank of major-general. He commanded on 
the Hudson in 1779. He was the last sur- 



vivor of the major-generals of the Revolu- 
tion. 

HEBER, Reginald, was the son of a cler- 
gyman in Cheshire. At Brazennose, Oxford, 
he ranked high for his scholastic attainments 
and poetical abilities. He relinquished tempt- 
ing prospects at home to accept the arduous 
bishopric of Calcutta, in 1823. His earnest 
labors were cut short by an apoplectic stroke, 
April 1st, 1826, in the forty-third year of his 
age. 

HECTOR, the brave son of Priam, King 
of Troy, killed by Achilles. 

HECUBA, daughter of Dymas, King of 
Thrace, and second wife of Priam. She sur- 
vived the fall of Troy but a short time, and 
was stoned to death by the Greeks, who were 
exasperated at her bitter reproaches. 

HEGEL, Geokge William Frederick, an 
eminent German metaphysician, born at 
Stuttgardt 1770, died at Berlin, Nov. 14th, 
1831. 

HEGIRA, the flight of Mohammed from 
Mecca to Medina, from which era the Moham- 
medans begin their computation of time. 
They fix it on the 16th of July, a.d. 622. 

HELEN, the beautiful daughter of Leda, 
wife of Tyndarus, as it is fabled, by Jupiter, 
who introduced himself to her notice in the 
form of a swan. She married Menelaus, 
whom she forsook for Paris, son of Priam, 
who bore her to Troy, and thus kindled 
the flame of war between the Greeks and 
Trojans. She was received by Menelaus 
after the fall of Troy, but on his death was 
murdered bj^ Polyxo of Argos, the widow of 
one of the warriors killed before Troy. 

HELIOGABALUS. Marcus Aurelius An- 
toninus, a Roman emperor, son of Varius 
Marcellus, was called Heliogabalus, from 
having been a priest of the sun in Phoenicia. 
At the age of fourteen he was invested with 
the purple on the death of* Macrinus, but his 
cruelty and licentiousness were such that his 
subjects rose against him, and his head was 
severed from his body, March 10th, a.d. 222, 
in the eighteenth year of his age. He bur- 
thened his subjects with the most oppressive 
taxes ; his halls were covered with carpets of 
gold and silver tissue ; his mats were made 
with the down of hares and the soft feathers 
found under the wings of partridges. He 
often invited the lowest of the people to share 



HEL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



his banquets, and made them sit down on 
large bellows full of wind, which, by suddenly 
emptying themselves, threw the guests on the 
ground, and left them a prey to wild beasts. 
He tied some of his favorites to a large wheel, 
and was particularly delighted to see them 
whirled round like Ixion, alternately sus- 
pended in the air and plunged beneath the 
water. 

HELLE, in fable, a daughter of Athamas 
and Nephese, who, to escape from the perse- 
cution of her step-mother Ino, trusted herself 
to the back of a golden ram, fi-om which she 
fell and was drowned in that part of the sea 
called the Hellespont, now the Dardanelles. 

HEMANS. Felicia Dorothea Browne 
was born at Liverpool, September 25th, 1793. 
Her union with Capt. Hemans in 1812 proved 
an unhappy one, and they separated in 1818. 
Her poems are marked by beautiful purity 
of sentiment and gentle pathos. The grace- 
ful poetess died at Dublin, May 16th, 1835. 

HENGIST, the first Saxon king of Kent, 
about the end of the fifth century. . He was 
invited to the aid of the Britons against the 
Scots and Picts, and received from the hands 
of Vortigern the whole of Kent, for which he 
gave his daughter in marriage. However, he 
leagued with the enemies of Britain, and 
committed great ravages beyond the limits 
of his territory. He died in the year 488. 

HENRY I. of France. Constance his moth- 
er endeavored to set his younger brother, 
Robert, upon the throne ; but, with the assist- 
ance of Robert H., Duke of Normandy, Henry 
defeated the queen's army, and obliged his 
brother to content himself with the dukedom 
of Burgundy. In his time Pope Leo IX. 
held a council at Rheims in France, and the 
Normans headed by Robert Guiscard, took 
Naples and Sicily from the Saracens. He 
died Aug. 4th, 1060. 

HENRY IV. of France, called the Great, 
born in 1553, was son of Anthony of Bour- 
bon, Duke of Vendome, and Jeanne d' Albret, 
Queen of Navarre. After the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew, he signalized himself against 
the leaguers, and on the death of Henry III. 
succeeded to the throne, taking the title of 
King of France and Navarre. His enemies 
endeavored in vain to make the old Cardinal 
de Bourbon king under the title of Charles 
X. Henry was victorious at Arques, Ivry, 



and elsewhere. Although, to make sure of his 
crown, he embraced Catholicism, he secured 
the Huguenots by the edict of Nantes. With 
the aid of his able minister, the Duke of Sully, 
he did much to raise the country from the 
plight into which misrule and contention had 
plunged it. The Duke de Biron's execution, 
in 1602, was the only example of severity in 
his reign ; and France had enjoyed peace for 
sixteen years, when the fanatic Ravaillac, with 
a knife, stabbed the king in his coach at Paris, 
May 14th, 1610, when on the eve of march- 
ing to fight on the side of the Protestant 
princes of Germany. Henry was an able and 
popular prince. Amours were the great 
blemishes upon his character, and he set a 
pernicious example uhat his subjects were but 
too ready to follow. His first wife was Mar- 
garet de Valois, sister of Charles IX. ; after 
her divorce he wedded Marie de MediciSj who 
was regent after his death. 

HENRY L, Emperor of Germany, son of 
Otho, Duke of Saxony, succeeded Conrad, his 
brother-in-law, in 919. He reduced Arnold, 
Duke of Bavaria, and vanquished the Hunga- 
rians, Bohemians, Sclavonians, and Danes. 
He took the kingdom of Lorraine from Charles 
the Simple, defeated the Hungarians a second 
time, and killed 8,000 of their number. He 
died of an apoplexy in 936. 

HENRY III. of Franconia, surnamed the 
Black, succeeded Conrad II. in 1039. He de- 
feated the Bohemians (that denied him tribute) 
in his second campaign, and restored Peter to 
the throne of Hungary, whence his subjects 
had driven him in 1043; reduced the petty 
princes of Italy, and made war on the Hunga- 
rians. He died at Bothfeld in Saxony, in 1056. 

HENRY I. of England, the youngest son 
of William the Conqueror, was born in 1068. 
Upon the death of his brother William Rufus 
in 1100, he hastened to Winchester, secured 
the royal treasure, and usurped the crown. 
He removed the odious restrictions of the 
curfew ; his marriage with Matilda, daughter 
of Malcolm, King of Scotland, and also a de- 
scendant of the ancient Saxon line, still fur- 
ther ingratiated him with the common peo- 
ple. Robert, the eldest son of the Conqueror, 
having returned from Palestine to his duchy 
of Normandy, difficulties arose between the 
brothers; Henry invaded Robert's domain, 
and in the battle of Tinchebray (1106) the 



HEN 



400 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



latter was defeated and captured. Henry 
reigned over Normandy, and Robert, for the 
remaining eight and twenty years of his Hfe, 
lay imprisoned in Cardiff Castle. Queen 
Matilda died May 1st, 1119; she had borne 
the king one daughter, Maud, or Matilda, who 
had wedded Henry V. of Germany, and one 
son, Prince William. In 1120 Henry passed 
over to Normandy with his son, that the 
barons of the duchy might pay their homage 
to the young prince. On the voyage home, 
the crew of Prince William's vessel were in 
liquor ; she struck upon the rocks near Bar- 
fleur ; only one of the many lives on board 
was spared, that of a butcher of Rouen. 
Prince William, h^ newly married bride, his 
bastard brother Richard, his fair cousin Lucia, 
and the throng of gay nobles composing his 
retinue, — all were drowned. King Henry, 
some say, never smiled again. In 1129 he 
married Adelais, daughter of Godfrey, Earl 
of Louvaine ; she survived him. Henry died 
Dec. 1st, 1135, of a surfeit of lampreys, a 
fish of which he was inordinately fond. This 
king's scholarship so far surpassed the ordi- 
nary attainments of his time that he was 
surnamed Beauclerc. 

HENRY II., III., IV., v., VI., Kings of 
England. [See Plaxt.vgenet.] 

HENRY Vir., VIII., Kings of England. 
[See TuDOK.] 

HENRY, Matthew, the celebrated com- 
mentator on the Scriptures, was born in 1662 
in Flintshire, whither his parents had retired 
after his father, Rev. Philip Henry, was 
ejected from his parish for nonconforming. 
Matthew became a dissenting minister at 
Chester, where he continued with great use- 
fulness for twenty -five years. In 1712 he 
removed to Hackney, near London. Of sev- 
eral theological works put forth by this excel- 
lent divine, the largest and best known is his 
Commentary on the Bible, wliich he did not 
live to complete. He died of apoplexy in 
June, 1714. 

HENRY, Patrick, son of John Henry, was 
born in the colony of Virginia, May 29th, 
1736. Passionately addicted to field sports, 
and averse to toil of any kind, even the ele. 



a farm ; but agricultural as well as mercan- 
tile pursuits, in which he had previously 
embarked, possessed no charm for him, and 
he was unsuccessful. As a final efFort, he 
resolved to attempt the law, and was licensed . 
to practice after six weeks' preparatory study. 
For several years his practice was limited and 
the wants of his family extreme. The first 
argument that he made was in 1763, in oppo- 
sition to the clergy's tobacco stipend. His 
eloquence electrified his hearers, gained his 
cause, and put him at once in the front rank 
of his profession. In 1765 he was elected 
member of the house of burgesses, and intro- 
duced his celebrated resolutions on the stamp 
act. In the midst of the debate on this 
occasion, he exclaimed, "Cassar had his 
Brutus, Charles the First his Cromwell, and 

George the Third " " Treason ! " cried the 

speaker — "Treason, treason!" echoed from 
every part of the house. Henry faltered not 
for an instant, but, taking a loftier attitude, 
and fixing on the speaker an eye of fire, he 

added " may profit by their example. If 

this be treason, make the most of it." Henry 
served his country in various posts, Avas sent 
to the congress at Philadelphia in 1774, took 
the field, and was elected governor of the 
commonwealth of Virginia. In 1791 he 
retired from public life, and died June Cth, 
1799. His eloquence was manl_y and con- 
vincing, and his voice powerful and musical. 
The following was his language in 1 775 : 

"It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. 
Gentlemen may cry, -peace^ fcace — but there 
is no peace. The war is actually begun. 

" The next gale that sweeps from the north 
will bring to our ears the clash of resounding 
arms ! Our brethren are alread}^ in the field ! 
Why stand we here idle ? What is it that gen- 
tlemen wish ? What would they have ? Is 
life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be pur- 
chased at the price of chains and slavery? 
Forbid it, Almighty God ! — I know not what 
course others may take, but as for me, give 
me liberty or give me death!'''' 

He took his seat. No murmur of applause 
was heard. The effect was too deep. After 
the trance of a moment, several members 
started from their seats. The cry, ' ' To arms," 



ments of education were mastered by him 
with distaste, although he had a strong mind j seemed to quiver on every lip, and gleam 
and a retentive memory. At the age of eight- i from every eye ! Richard Henry Lee arose 
een he married Miss Skelton, and settled on I and supported Mr. Henry with his usual 

HEN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPH.Y. 



401 



spirit and elegance. But his melody was lost 
amidst the agitations of that ocean which the 
master spirit of the storm had lifted up on 
high. That supernatural voice still sounded 
in their ears and shivered along their arte- 
ries. They heard, in every pause, the cry 
of liberty or death. They became impatient 
of speech ; their souls were on fire for action. 

IIERCULANEUM, an ancient city not far 
from Naples, which was buried by an erup- 
tion of Vesuvius, in the reign of Titus, Aug. 
24th, A.D. 79. It has been excavated, and 
presents a most curious and interesting spec- 
tacle. The same eruption destroyed Pompeii. 

HERCULES, a fabulous Grecian hero, the 
son of Jupiter and Alcmena, the wife of Am- 
phitryon, king of Thebes. In vain did the 
jealous Juno send two serpents to kill the 
young hero in his cradle : he strangled them 
both, and thus displayed to all' the divinity 
of his origin. He had to combat for a long 
time the enmity of Juno, who exacted of him 
twelve labors, independently of other signal 
actions which he performed. 1. He killed 
the Nemean lion, to deliver the kingdom of 
jVIycene, and wore his skin in the remainder 
of his exploits. 2. He slew the Lernean 
hydra, whose heads multiplied sevenfold on 
being severed. 3. He brought to Eurystheus 
upon his shoulders, the Erymanthean boar, 
an animal of a prodigious size. 4. He sub- 
dued the golden-horned and brazen-hoofed 
stag of Diana. 5. He destroyed with his 
arrows the foul Stymphalian birds of extra- 
ordinary size and voracity. 6. He cleansed 
the Augfean stables. 7. He tamed the 
furious bull of Crete. 8. He gave Diomedes 
to be devoured by his own horses, which had 
been fed on human flesh. 9. He vanquished 
the Amazons, whose queen, Hippolyta, he 
gave in marrii^ge to his friend Theseus. 10. 
He brought the oxen of Geryon, king of Spain, 
to Greece. This was only effected by killing 
this monarch, formidable for his triple head. 

11. He obtained the golden apples of the gar- 
den of the Hesperides, by killing the dragon 
with a hundred heads that guarded them. 

12. He dragged away Cerberus, the three- 
headed dog that watched the gate of hell, 
into which he descended twice, once with his 
friend Theseus, and afterward to seek the 
queen Alceste, who devoted herself to death 
for her husband Admetus. 



26 



The centaur Nessus having insulted De- 
janira, the wife of Hercules, the hero killed 
him with an arrow, the barb of which was 
poisoned with the blood of the Lernean hydra. 
The dying centaur persuaded Dejanira to give 
a tunic dipped in his blood to her husband, 
in token of reconciliation. Hercules had no 
sooner clothed himself in this garment than 
he perceived that he was poisoned by it. He 
accordingly, with the help of Philoctetes, 
built a funeral pile on Mount Qlta, and ex- 
pired in the flames. But Jupiter received 
him in the ranks of the gods, and gave him 
in marriage Hebe, the beautiful goddess of 
youth. Hercules is generally represented 
as a robust man, leaning on his club. On 
his shoulders he wears the skin of the Ne- 
mean lion, and in his hands he holds the 
Hesperian fruit. 

Abyla, a mountain of Africa, and Calpe 
(now Gibraltar) directly opposite, were for- 
merly called the Pillars of Hercules, from a 
tradition that this Samson of the Greeks 
forced them asunder to form a junction 
between the waters of the Atlantic and 
Mediterranean. In this tale we perceive the 
reminiscence of a great convulsion of nature 
that separated Europe and Africa. 

HERO AND LEANDER. Their amour is 
famous. Their fidelity was so great, and 
their loye so ardent, that Leander frequently, 
in the night, eluded the vigilance of his fom- 
ily, and swam the Hellespont from Abydos 
to Sestos, while Hero, a beautiful priestess of 
Venus, held a burning torch as a beacon to 
guide his course. After many stolen trysts, 
thus obtained, Leander was drowned one 
stormy night ; and Hero, in despair, threw 
herself from her tower, and perished in the 
sea, 627 b.c. The Hellespont is now called 
the strait of the Dardanelles. [See Abydos.] 

HERMANN, the deliverer of Germany 
from the Roman yoke, was born 18 b.c. He 
was educated at Rome, and honored by Au- 
gustus with the knighthood, and the rights 
of citizenship. But from attachment to the 
land of his birth, he instigated the Germans 
to revolt. After various fortunes he was 
assassinated in the thirty -seventh year of his 

e. 

HEROD, surnamed the Great, was born 
at Ascalon, Judea, b.c. 71. He reigned m 
Judea as a vassal of the Romans,_and ren- 



HER 



402 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



dered himself odious by his tyranny. As 
he knew that the day of his death would 
become a day of mirth and festivity, he 
ordered the most illustrious of his subjects to 
be confined and murdered the very instant 
he expired, that every eye in the kingdom 
might seem to shed tears at the death of 
Herod. This order was never executed. He 
died a dreadful death in the seventieth year 
of his age, after a reign of forty years, which 
was rendered memorable by the birth of 
Christ. 

HERODOTUS, 'the Father of History,' 
born at Halicarnassus in Caria, B.C. 484, 
flourished b.c. 440 ; time of his death un- 
known. His history includes a period of 
234 years, from b.c. 713 to 479. 

HERRINGS, Battle of the. This battle 
was fought in 1429, when the English were 
besieging Orleans. The Due de Bourbon, 
trying to cut off a convoy from the English 
camp, was severely beaten. The convoy 
being laden with herrings, the battle thence 
had its ludicrous name. 

HERSCHEL, Sir William, born in Hano- 
ver, November 15th, 1738, came to England 
in 1757, and was at first a humble musician. 
Love of science led him to the study of 
mathematics and astronomy. Too poor to 
purchase a telescope, he "constructed one 
with his own hands, grinding and ijolishing 
the specula himself. He completed in 1774 
a five feet Newtonian reflector with which he 
could see the satellites of Jupiter and the 
belt of Saturn. He discovered the planet 
Uranus in 1781. He died August 25th, 1822. 

HESSE-CASSEL, an electorate, and a 
member of the Germanic confederacy, con- 
taining 786,392 inhabitants in 1855. The 
sovereigns of Hesse-Cassel formerly filled 
their coffers by hiring out their subjects as 
mercenaries in foreign wars. Several thou- 
sand Hessians were employed by the British 
in the American Revolution. The grand 
duchy of Hesse Darmstadt has 854,314 in- 
habitants, and the little landgraviate of Hesse 
HOMBDKG, 25,000. 

HEWES, Joseph, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, was born at Kingston, 
N. J., in 1730. He was educated at Princeton, 
became a merchant, and at the age of thirty 
settled in North Carolina. After sitting sev- 
eral years in the colonial assembly, he was 



elected to Congress in 1774. He was com- 
pelled by sickness to leave his seat in 1779, 
and died Nov. 10th of that year. 

HEYWARD, Thomas, Jr., a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was a native of 
St. Luke's, S. • C, born in 1740. Having 
studied law at the Temple in London, he 
practiced his profession in his native state, 
and soon entered upon political life. He was 
elected to Congress in 1775, and left that 
body in 1778 to fill a judicial station at home. 
He commanded a battalion of militia during 
the siege of Charleston, was made prisoner 
upon the surrender, and sent with others to 
St. Augustine. He retired from public life 
in 1778, and died in March, 1809. 

HIERO I., a king of Syracuse after his 
brother Gelon, rendered himself odious hj 
his tyranny in the beginning of his reign. 
He made war against Theron, the tyrant of 
Agrigentum, and took Himera. He obtained 
three different crowns at the Olympic games, 
two in horse-races, and one in a chariot-race. 
The first Olympic ode of Pindar is inscribed 
to him, and mention is made of his horse 
Phrenicus, by which he was the winner of 
the Olympic crown. The ancient races were 
somewhat different from the modern ; at the 
former, honor alone was the reward of the 
winner, and no one lost either his character 
or his money. In the latter part of his reign, 
the conversation of Simonides, Epicharmus, 
Pindar, &c., softened the roughness of Iliero's 
manners and the severity of his government, 
and tended to render him the patron of learn- 
ing, genius, and merit. He died after a reign 
of eighteen years, b.c. 407, leaving the crown 
to his brother Thrasybulus, Avho disgraced it 
by his tyranny. 

HIERO II., a descendant of Gelon, reigned 
about two hundred years after.the preceding. 
He was appointed to carry on the war against 
the Carthaginians. He joined his enemies in 
besieging Messina, which had surrendered to 
the Romans; but he was beaten by Appius 
Claudius, the Roman consul, and obliged to 
retire to Syracuse, where he was soon blocked 
up. Seeing all hopes of victory lost, he made 
peace with the Romans and proved so faith- 
ful to his engagements, during the fifty-nine 
years of his reign, that the Romans never 
had a more firm or attached ally. He died 
in the ninety -fourth year of his age, about 225 



HIE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



403 




Vr7Vr-.Vr^V^V^V^\7 



V 



V 



V 



VIVW 



B.C. He was universally regretted, and all 
the Sicilians showed by their lamentations 
that they had lost a common father and a 
friend. He liberally patronized the learned, 
and employed the talents of Archimedes for 
the good of his country. 

HIEROGLYPHICS, or 'sacred engraving,' 
was the name given first to the sculptures 
and inscriptions on the monuments of Egypt : 
it is now often used to denote simply picture 
writing, which is seen in its rudest state 
upon the buffalo skins of our North Ameri- 
can Indians, &c. A new charm was given to 
similar sculptures, and indeed to the study 
of antiquity in general, by Champollion's dis- 
covery of the key to these so long inexplica- 
ble mysteries. This indefatigable scholar, 
after many years of toil, at last succeeded 
in deciphering every inscription presented to 



him ! He discovered that these hieroglyphics 
were usually employed as mere alphabetic 
letters ; that when thus read, they yield 
regular compositions in the Coptic or old 
Egyptian language. 

The hieroglyphic writing is eminently 
monumental. It is, from the nature of the 
signs which it employs, a species of painting, 
and it presents a various and picturesque 
aspect which distinguishes it essentially from 
every other method of writing. The hiero- 
glyphic characters do in fact exhibit images 
of almost every material object in creation: 
celestial bodies, human figures in various 
positions, human limbs taken separately, 
wild and domestic quadrupeds, limbs of ani- 
mals, birds, fishes, reptiles, insects, vegeta- 
bles, plants, .flowers, and fruits, buildings, 
furniture, coverings for feet and legs, head- 



HIE 



404 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



dresses, weapons, orn.aments and sceptres, 
tools and instruments of various sorts, vases, 
cups, and the like, geometrical figures, and 
fantastic forms. The figures are arranged in 
columns, vertical or horizontal, and grouped 
together, as circumstances required, so as to 
leave no spaces unnecessarily vacant. We 
c-\n not go into a detailed account of the vari- 
ous methods of Egyptian writing, but give 
a familiar specimen of the phonetic and al- 
phabetic, an illustration of which is pre- 
sented on the preceding page. To write 
the word 'Boston' (see cut, A), for 'b' the 
Egyptians wo did look for some familiar ob- 
ject, the name of which began with 'b,' say 
a censer, which is called in Egyptian ierie, 
and the engraving would be the more appro- 
priate to use, from the church-going character 
of the inhabitants of Boston ; in looking 
round for an object whose name begins with 
'o,' the literary character of the city would 
suggest the reed, an instrument of writing 
anciently, and now so used in the East ; this, 
in Egyptian, is oke; for 's' take a star, sion ; 
for 't' a hand, tot; for 'o,' again, to have a 
variety, instead of the Egyptian tufted reed, 
as above, they might take an abbreviation of 
it, the curled line; for 'n,' we have the vul- 
ture, 720ure, or, better, the sign for inunda- 
tion, nep/i. Fig. B gives an Egyptian speci- 
men of the .symbolical style, in what is gen- 
erally called an anaglyph. It is a female 
winged sphinx, founded on a block of black 
granite. The sphinx was an emblem of 
strength and wisdom, the body being that 
of a lion, and the head human. The name 
Tmauhmot (daughter of Horus, a king of the 
eighteenth dynasty of Egypt) is read in the 
oval. This, then, is a symbolical image of 
the queen herself; and the flowers of lotus, 
underneath, are evidently, though emblem- 
atically, taken for the Nile, and for the 
whole country of Egypt. The sphinx, in- 
stead of a paw, has a hand, raised in the atti- 
tude of protection. The whole, then, seems 
to be in praise of a monarch, and to signify 
"a monument raised to the memory of Queen 
Tmauhmot, s'yled the guardian and protec- 
tress of the land of Egypt, by her wisdom 
and strength." 

HILDEBRAND succeeded Alexander IT. 
as pope in the year 1073, taking the name 
of Gregory VII. Being advanced by the suf- 



frages of the cardinals without the emperor s 
authority, the better to confirm himself in 
the pontificate he abolished the nnperial 
power of conferring investiture upon bishops 
and clergymen, and became an inveterate 
enemy of the Emperor Henry IV. lie pre- 
vailed upon Rodolpb, Duke of Sual)ia, to 
assume the title of emperor and take up arms 
against Henry; but Rodolph being over- 
thrown and slain, Henry marched directly 
into Italy, besieged Rome, took the city, 
and established Clement III. upon the papal 
throne. Gregory fled to Salerno, and there 
died, after having enjoyed the papal dignity 
twelve years. He was the first who bore the 
exclusive title of pope, which theretofore had 
been common to other bishops. 

HILL, Rowland, son of Sir Rowland Hill, 
was born at Hawkestone, Shropshire, in 
1745, and educated at Eton and Cambridge. 
He was a Calvinistic Methodist, and took 
Whitfield for his model. His discourses 
were singular, being sometimes crowded with 
puns and stories, while at others their solem- 
nity was unbroken. Some of his .straits are 
mentioned in his diary. "1767, Jan. 1st, 
preached at Chesterton; we had the honor 
of a mob ; no other harm was done than the 
windows broke." "Thursday, in a barn, for 
the first time, with much comfort. God 
send, if I am to live, this may not be my last 
barn. Some gownsmen were there, but they 
were not permitted to do more than gnash 
their teeth." Mr. Hill used to be circum- 
spect in receiving recruits. To a person who 
had a great desire to preach, and talked 
about hiding his talents, he replied that " the 
closer he hid them the better." Robert Hall 
once replied to a shoemaker, who expressed 
a similar reluctance to hide his talents in a 
napkin, "The smallest pocket-handkerchief 
you have will do, sir." Mr. Hill, in his 
"field campaigns," used to go to large towns 
on market-days, and address the assemblage 
in the market-houses. When he heard of a 
fair or a revel, he preached there in spite of 
the violence with which he was assailed, and 
often with success. His favorite text was 
"Come ye out from among them." The 
freshness and originality of his addresses 
attracted crowds to hear him. He preached 
on Calton Hill in Edinburgh to an audience 
of ten thousand. Nor was he admired by a 



HIL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



405 



vulgar and uneducated class only ; Sheridan 
used to say, "I often go to hear Rowland 
Hill, becajse his ideas come red-hot from the 
heart." The eccentricities of manner, the 
quaintness of expression, the anecdotes and 
witticisms in the pulpit, were forgotten by 
his regular hearers, in the rich vein of ster- 
ling piety and spiritual instruction that 
marked the service. He died April 11th, 
1833. 

HILLHOUSE, James, a man very highly 
respected for his private virtues, and his 
great and long continued public services, 
was born at Montville, Conn., Oct. 21st, 
1754, and died at New Haven, Dec. 29th, 
1832. He was a member of the senate from 
1796 to 1810. 

HIPPIAS AND HIPPARCHUS, two sons 
of Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens, whom 
they succeeded 527 b.c. Hipparchus was 
slain in a conspiracy, 512 b.c, by Harmodius 
and Aristogiton, who had devoted themselves 
to their country. Hippias alone now held 
the reins of government, but he became 
odious, and on the siege of Athens by the 
Lacedasmonians, he surrendered the city and 
retired to Ligasum, on the Hellespont, 509 b.c. 
Thus Athens once more recovered its libert3^ 
An attempt was afterward made to restore 
Hippias to the government of Athens. By 
some authors he is said to have perished at 
the battle of Marathon ; but others assert 
that he died at Lemnos in poverty and dis- 
tress. 

HIPPOCRATES, a celebrated Greek physi- 
cian, born 4G0 B.C. He is called the Father 
of Medicine. The time of his death is un- 
known. 

HOADLEY, Benjamin, an eminent Eng- 
lish divine. Bishop of Bangor and of Win- 
chester, died in 1761, aged eighty-five. 

HOBBES, Thomas, a celebrated English 
philosopher, died in 1769, aged ninety-one. 

HOCHE, Lazake, born in 1768, was a 
brave and skillful general in the French revo- 
lutionary army. He accomplished the pacifi- 
cation of La Vendee and Brittany ; headed 
the expedition against Ireland in 1796, which 
was dispersed by storms; and in 1797 was 
put in command of the army of the Sambre 
and the Meuse. He died in this year, after 
a short illness. 

HOCHKIRCHEN, Battle of, between the 



Prussians under Frederick the Great, and the 
Austrians under Count Daun, Oct. 14th, 
1758. Frederick was taken unawares, and 
was defeated. 

HOFER, Andrew, the Tell of the Tyrol, 
a heroic Tyrolese who headed an insur- 
rection of his countrymen on the 10th of 
April, 1809. His resistance to the French 
was chivalric, and successful on many occa- 
sions. After he found farther resistance 
useless, he concealed himself, but was be- 
trayed by a priest, conve3red to Mantua, and 
shot, February 20th, 1810. He met his fate 
with firmness, rejoicing that he had done his 
duty. 

HOGARTH, William, was born in Lon- 
don, Dec. 10th, 1697. He was apprenticed 
at an early age to a silversmith, but at the 
expiration of his time, in 1718, he took to 
engraving in copper for the booksellers. In 
1730 he married the only daughter of Sir 
James Thornhill, against the father's will, 
and set up as a portrait painter with con- 
siderable success. He now commenced his 
remarkable series of satirical paintings re- 
flecting on the social abuses of the time; 
producing "The Harlot's Progress" in 1734, 
"The Rake's Progress" in 1735, and "Mar- 
riage a la Mode" in 1745. In 1753 he ap- 
peared as an author in his "Analysis of 
Beauty." In 1757 he was appointed serjeant 
painter to the king. He died in London, 
Oct. 26th, 1764, and was buried at Chiswick. 

HOGG, James (commonly called 'the 
Ettrick Shepherd'), was born Jan. 25th, 
1772 ; he greatly prided himself that his 
birth-day was the anniversary of that of 
Burns. He was a native of Ettrick Vale, in 
picturesque Selkirkshire. A love of romance 
and poetry, he inherited from his mother, 
whose, memory was thickly stored with the 
ancient legends and ballads of Scotland ; and 
his solitary watches over his flocks on the 
hills and among the glens heightened his 
imagination. The "Queen's Wake" estab- 
lished his fame as an author; it consists 
of a collection of tales and ballads supposed 
to be sung to Mary Queen of Scots by the 
native bards of Scotland, assembled at a royal 
wake at Holyrood, in order that the fair 
monarch might prove the wondrous powers 
of Scottish song. The worldly schemes of 
the Shepherd were seldom successful; he 



HOG 



406 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



made two disastrous attempts at farming; 
and his sole support, for the latter years of 
his life, was the remuneration atforded by 
his literary labors. He lived in a cottage 
which he had built at Altrive, on a piece of 
moorland presented to him by the Duchess 
()f Buccleuch. His love of angling and field 
sports amounted to a passion, and when he 
could no longer fish or hunt, he declared his 
belief that his death must be near. In the 
autumn of 1835 he was attacked with a drop- 
sical complaint ; and on the 21st of Novem- 
ber of that year, after some days of insensi- 
bility, he breathed his last as calmly, and 
with as little pain, as he ever fell asleep in 
liis gray plaid on the hillside. His death 
was deeply mourned in the vale of Ettrick, 
for all rejoiced in his fame, and, notwith- 
standing his personal foibles, the Shepherd 
was generous, kind-hearted, and charitable 
far beyond his means. 

HOHENLINDEN, a village of Bavaria, 
eighteen miles east of Munich, remarkable 
for the great defeat which the Austrian army 
sustained here on the 3d of November, 1800, 
fr/) u the French under Moreau. 

H,)LBEIN, Hans, an eminent Swiss paint- 
er, died in London, 1.554, aged fifty-six. He 
WH the favorite artist of Henry VHL 
II JLLAND. [See Netherlands.] 
HOLSTEIN, a duchy in the north of Ger- 
mmy, belonging to Denmark. It contains 
3,2 J !) square miles, and 479,000 inhabitants, 
mostly Lutherans. Almost the whole of the 
couatry is fruitful. The King of Denmark is 
Dake of Holstein, by virtue of which he has 
a plac3 in the German confederation. War 
sibsisteJ between Denmark and the duchies 
of S^hleswig and Holstein in 1849 and 1850. 
Th-3 matters of ditf jrence were patched up by 
ta J intervention of Austria and Prussia. 

H JLT, Sir John, an eminent English law- 
yer and judge, died in 1709, aged sixty-seven. 
He was a firm opponent of the oppressions of 
the crown. 

HiJLWELL, John Zephaniah, was one of 
the few survivors of the party of 146 English, 
wh) wjre confined by the Nabob of Bengal 
lin 175!), in what was called the Black Hole 
,at ilcutta. Mr. HolwcU wrote an account 
of this dreadful affair, which he survived 
forty-two years, dying in 1798, aged eighty- 
.nine. [See Black Hole.] 



HOLYOKE, Edward Augustus, M. D., son 
of the Rev. Edward Holyoke, president of Har- 
vard College, was born Aug. 1st, 1728, in 
Essex county, Mass. He was graduated at 
Harvard in 174G, and commenced the practice 
of medicine at Salem in 1749. He was dis- 
tinguished in his profession, and published 
several scientific disquisitions. He died the 
31st of March, 1829, being then over one 
hundred years of age. 

HOMER, the most celebrated poet of anti- 
quity, was, according to common tradition, 
born on the river Meles, not far from Smyrna. 
His father's name was Moeon, and his moth- 
er's Critheis. Seven cities contended for the 
honor of being his birth-place : Smyrna, Colo- 
phon, Chios, Argos, Athens, Rhodes, and 
Salamis. It is doubtful whether he lived in 
the tenth, ninth, or eighth century before 
Christ. Little is known of Homei". He has 




been represented as blind, but this must have 
been a misfortune occurring in his latter days, 
for his descriptions could only have been 
given by a man possessed of sight. He wan- 
dered about singing his poems, which were 
handed down from mouth to mouth, and from 
generation to generation, after his death, un- 
til they were finally transmitted to paper, and 
thus preserved from oblivion. The poems 
attributed to Homer are the Iliad and the 
Odyssey : the subject of the Iliad is the re- 
venge taken by Achilles on Agamemnon for 
depriving him of his mistress, Briseis, during 
the siege of Troy, and the evils which in con- 
sequence befell the Greeks : the Odyssey nar- 



HOM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



4o; 



rates the adventures of Ulysses, returning i 
from Troy to Ithaca, his native island. 

HONORIUS, the first emperor of the West- 
ern empire of Rome, succeeded his father 
Theodosius the Great, with his brother Arcadi- 
us, A.D. 395. He was neither bold nor vicious, 
but he was of a modest and timid disposition, 
unfit for enterprise, and fearful of danger. He 
conquered his enemies by means of his gener- 
als, and suffered himself and his people to be 
governed by ministers who took advantage of 
their imperial master s indolence and inactiv- 
ity. He died of the dropsy, in the thirty* 
ninth year of his age, Aug. 15th, a.d. 423. 

HOOD, Robin, an outlaw in the time of 
Richard I., who dwelt chiefly in Sherwood 
Forest, Nottinghamshire, and was the most 
romantic and courteous of bandits, as well as 
the most powerful. He took from the rich, 
but he gave to the poor. It is said that he 
was bled to death by a nun, to whom he ap- 
plied for phlebotomy, in the year 1247. 

HOOD, Samuel, Viscount, was the eldest 
son of the Rev. Samuel Hood, vicar of Thorn- 
combe, in Devonshire ; at which place he was 
born in 1724. He went to sea at the age of 
sixteen, and, for his gallantry in taking a 
fifty-gun ship, was made a post-captain in 
1759. In 1780, with the rank of admiral, he 
sailed to the West Indies, where he defeated 
the attempt made upon St. Christophei-'s by 
the Comte de Grasse. He also had an active 
part in the victory obtained over that com- 
mander on the 12th of April, 1782 ; for which 
he was created Baron Hood of Catherington, 
in the kingdom of Ireland. In 1784 he was 
elected into parliament for Westminster ; he 
vacated his seat, on being named one of the 
lords of the admiralty, in 1787. In 1793 he 
was appointed to command in the Mediterra- 
nean, where he distinguished himself by 
taking possession of Toulon, and, when it was 
no longer tenable, destroying the arsenal, 
dock-yard, and shipping. After this he made 
himself master of Corsica, and then returned 
to England, where he was made a viscount, 
and governor of Greenwich Hospital. He 
died at Bath, January 27th, 1816. 

HOOD, TnoMAs, a poet and prose-writer of 
the utmost humor and pathos, died in 1845, 
aged forty-seven. His lot was lifelong toil, 
threatened by poverty, and embittered by ill 
health. 



HOOKER, Richard, author of " Ecclesias- 
tical Polity," died in 1600, aged forty-seven. 
This learned theologian having occasion to 
visit London, and arriving from Oxford wet 
and weary, received so much kindness and 
attention from his hostess that she completely 
won his confidence. The good man came to 
be persuaded by her that his constitution was 
tender; that it was best for him to have a 
wife, who might prove a nurse to him, such 
a one as might both prolong his life and 
make it comfortable; and such a one she 
could and would provide for him, if he thought 
fit to marry. The helpmate she provided 
was her own daughter, silly, clownish, and 
withal a perfect Xantippe. Hooker married 
her, however, according to his promise, and 
had an especial occasion to practice the spirit 
of resignation during his seventeen years of 
wedlock, the remnant of his life. 

HOOPER, William, a signer of the Declar- 
ation of Independence, was born at Boston, 
Mass., June 17th, 1742, the son of a Scotch 
clergyman, and was educated at Harvard. 
He studied law under James Otis, and com- 
menced practice at Wilmington, N. C, in 
1767. He was a member of the colonial 
legislature in 1773, and the next year was 
sent to the continental congress, where he 
served till 1777, when he resigned and re- 
turned home. In 1786 he was elected a 
judge, and in October, 1790, he departed 
from life. He advocated the cause of liberty 
both with pen and voice, and was its active 
champion. Among the documents from his 
pen was an address to the people of Jamaica 
in 1775. 

HOPKINS, Stephen, a signer of the Declar- 
ation of Independence, was born in Scituate, 
R. I., March 7th, 1707. He was chosen 
speaker of the general assembly in 1741. In 
1751 he was appointed chief-justice of the 
superior court of Rhode Island, and in 1774 a 
delegate to Congress. Previous to this, he 
had held for some years the office of governor 
of Rhode Island. In 1778 he was a fourth 
time chosen member of Congress. He died 
July 13th, 1785, at the age of seventy-eight. 
He was bred as a farmer, and afterward en- 
gaged in commerce at Providence. Although 
a self-taught man, he was an excellent math- 
ematician, and well versed in political econo- 
my and science. 



HOP 



408 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



HOPKINSON, Francis, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born in 
Philadelphia in 1737. After receiving a col- 
legiate education and having studied law, he 
visited England for two years, and upon his 
return became distinguished in his profession. 
He resided at Bordentown, N. J., when the 
war of the Revolution broke out, and was 
chosen a delegate to Congress from that state 
in 1776. He strongly advocated independ- 
ence, and was an active member. He was 
afterward judge of the district court for 
Pennsylvania. He was a wit and a poet, as 
well as a lawyer and judge. He died May 
9th, 1790. 

HORACE. QuiNTus Horatius Flaccus, a 
celebrated Roman poet, was born at Venu- 
sium B.C. 65. He was well educated, and 
fought for liberty at Philippi, b.c. 42. He 
gained the favor of Maecenas, but lived in 
retirement, and even refused the splendid 
offers of Augustus, preferring the peaceful 
solitude of his Sabine farm. He died sudden- 
ly, 9 B.C., in the fifty -seventh 'year of his age. 

HORATH, three Roman brothers, who 
during the reign of Tullus, to prevent the 
effusion of blood in a general battle, engaged 
the Curiatii, three Alban brothers, to decide 
the contest. Two of the Horatii were slain, 
when the surviving brother, feigning flight, 
permitted the Curiatii, who were disabled by 
wounds, to approach him one by one, and 
then slew them singly, thus deciding the con- 
test in favor of the Romans. The conqueror 
stained his triumph by murdering his sister, 
because, amidst her country's joy, she could 
shed tears at the death of her lover, one of 
the Curiatii. 

HORATIUS, surnamed Codes, 'the one- 
eyed,' alone sustained the attack of the Etru- 
rian army, w^iile his friends broke down the 
bridge over the Tiber that led to Rome, be- 
hind him. He then committed himself to the 
waves, armed as he was, and reached Rome 
in safety. This exploit was performed b.c. 
507. 

HOWARD, John, the philanthropist, was 
born at Hackney, in 1726. He was bound 
apprentice to a grocer in London ; but dis- 
liking the business, and inheriting an inde- 
pendent fortune, he purchased his indentures, 
and made the tour of France and Italy. On 
his return, he married a widow lady, much 



older than himself, who died about three 
years afterward. In 1756 he undertook a 
voyage to Lisbon, to see the place after the 
earthquake ; but on the voyage the ship was 
taken by a French privateer, and carried to 
France. On being released, Mr. Howard re- 
tired to a villa in the New Forest; and, in 
1758, married a second time; but lost his 
lady in 1765. About this time he settled at 
Cardington, near Bedford, where his time 
was much occupied in benevolent objects, 
and in the education of his son, who after- 
ward became hopelessly insane. In 1773 he 
received the office of high sheriff, which led 
him to make inquiries into the state of pris- 
ons. With this view he visited every prison 
in the united kingdom, and traveled through 
France, Germany, Holland, Italy, Spain, Por- 
tugal, and Turkej^ He published, in 1777, 
a work entitled "The State of the Prisons in 
England and Wales," dedicated to the House 
of Commons. In 1780 appeared an appendix, 
with an account of the author's travels in 
Italy. He also printed a description of the 
Bastile, a translation of Tuscany's new code 
of civil law; and, in 1789, "An Account of 
Europe." The plague was now the object of 
his researches, and, with a design of ascer- 
taining the nature of this disorder, and the 
means of curing it, he set out for the east ; 
but died of a malignant epidemic, at Cherson, 
in the south of Russia, January 20th, 1790. 
A statue has been erected to his memory in 
St. Paul's Cathedral. 

HOWARD, John Eager, a gallant ofiicer 
in the American revolution, was born in 
Maryland, June 4th, 1752. He principally 
distinguished himself in the southern cam- 
paigns, and received a wound at the battle of 
Eutaw, from the effects of which he never 
recovered. He was chosen governor of ]Mary- 
land in 1788, and filled the post for three 
years. From 1796 till 1803 he was a mem- 
ber of the senate of the United States. Col. 
Howard died in October, 1827. 

HOWARD, Charles, Earl of Nottingham, 
was the son of William Lord Howard, of 
Effingham, and grandson of Thomas, the sec- 
ond Duke of Norfolk. He was born in 1536. 
He went in 1559 to congratulate Francis IT. 
of France on his accession to tlic throne ; and 
in 1569 M-as made general of the horse in the 
army sent against the Earls of Northumbcr- 



HOW 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



409 



land and Westmoreland. The next jear he 
went with a fleet of men-of-war to convoy the 
Princess Anne of Austria to Spain ; and in 
1573 he succeeded his father in his titles and 
estate. The same year he was installed 
knight of the garter, and made lord chamber- 
lain of the household; and in 1585 he was 
constituted lord high admiral of England. In 
1588 he commanded the fleet which defeated 
and dispersed the Spanish armada; and, in 
15iJ6, when another invasion was apprehend- 
ed, he was appointed commander-in-chief at 
sea, as the Earl of Essex was on the land. 
In this expedition Cadiz was taken, and the 
Spanish fleet burnt ; for which he was made 
Earl of Nottingham and justice-itinerant of all 
the forests south of Trent. In 1(301 he sup- 
pressed the Earl of Essex's rebellion, and was 
principally concerned in bringing that noble- 
man to the block. James I. continued him 
in all his employments ; and at the coronation 
the earl acted as lord high steward. In 1005 
he went ambassador to Spain; and in 1613 
he conveyed the Princess Elizabeth, on her 
marriage, to Flushing. He died in 1624. 

HOWARD, Henky, Earl of Surrey, was 
the eldest son of the third Duke of Norfolk, 
by Elizabeth, daughter of Edward Staftbrd, 
Duke of Buckingham. He was born in 1516. 
lie was well educated, talented, and cliivalric. 
While at Florence he issued a general chal- 
lenge, and in a splendid tournament main- 
tained the beauty of his mistress Geraldine 
at the point of the lance; he was completely 
victorious. In 1542 he served in the army, 
under his father, in Scotland; and in 1544 
he went as field-marshal to Boulogne, where, 
being then knight of the garter, he was con- 
stituted king's lieutenant and captain-general. 
Happening, however, to prove unfortunate in 
an attempt upon the enemy's convoy of pro- 
visions, he incurred the displeasure of Henry 
VIII., which hastened his ruin. Some in- 
temperate language, used by him, was caught 
hold of; charges were brought against him, 
and he was beheaded on Tower Hill, Janua- 
ry 19th, 1546-7. 

HOWARD, Thomas, Earl of Surrey, and 
third Duke of Norfolk, was born in 1473. He 
was bred to arms, and soon after the accession 
- of Henry VIII. was honored with the order of 
the garter. He succeeded his brother. Sir 
Edward Howard, as high admiral, in 1513 ; 



and the victory of Flodden Field was chiefly 
owing to his valor and ' skill. For this, the 
title of Duke of Norfolk was restored to his 
father, and he was himself created Earl of 
Surrey. In 1521 he went to Ireland as lord 
lieutenant, and while there suppressed a dan- 
gerous rebellion. Notwithstanding these ser- 
vices, he was sent to the Tower by Henry, 
at the close of his reign, and kept there till 
the accession of Mary, when he was released, 
and contributed to suppress Wyatt's rebellion. 
He died in 1554. 

HOWE, George, Viscount, was the eldest 
son of Sir E. Scrope, second Viscount Howe 
in Ireland. He was the second in command 
in Abercrombie's expedition, and fell before 
Ticonderoga in 1758, aged thirty -four. He 
was the idol of the army, both regular and 
provincial, and his untimely death was lament- 
ed throughout the colonies. 

HOWE, Richard, Earl, the second son of 
Sir Emanuel Scrope, second Viscount Howe, 
was born in 1725, and at the age of fourteen 
went on board the Severn, part of the squad- 
ron destined for the South Seas under Anson. 
In 1745 he was with Admiral Vernon, and 
soon after was made commander of the Balti- 
more sloop, in which, with another armed 
vessel, he beat ofl"two French ships conveying 
troops and ammunition to the Pretender ; for 
which he was made a post-captain. On the 
breaking out of the war with France, he com- 
manded the Dunkirk ; with which he took 
the Alcide, a French sixtj^-four, off Newfound- 
land. In 1757 he served under Sir Edward 
Hawke, and his ship, the Magnanime, battered 
the fort on the Aix till it surrendered. After 
this he was appointed commodore of a squad- 
ron, with which he took the town of Cher- 
bourg, and destroyed the basin. When France 
entered into war to aid America against Eng- 
land, Lord Howe was sent to America to op- 
pose D'Estaing. In 1782 he was made an 
English viscount, and appointed to the com- 
mand of the fleet sent to the relief of Gibral- 
tar, which object he accomplished. The next 
year he was made first lord of the admiralty ; 
but soon resigned that station to Lord Keppel. 
In 1788 he was created an English earl. On 
the breaking out of hostilities with France, in 
171)3, he was appointed to the command of 
the channel fleet; and on the 1st of June, in 
the following year, he gained a complete vic- 



HOW 



410 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



tory over the French, who lost seven ships of 
the line. For this he received the thanks of 
parliament; the king visited him on board 
his ship, presented him with a valuable sword, 
and made him knight of the garter. The last 
service rendered by his lordship to his coun- 
try, was in reducing the mutinous seamen to 
their duty by kindness, at Portsmouth in 
1797. He died August 5th, 1799. 

HOWE, Sir William, brother of the pre- 
ceding, succeeded General Gage in the com- 
mand of the forces in America in 1775. He 
defeated the Americans in the battle of Long 
Island, 1776, took possession of New York, 
and in the October of the same year, repelled 
the Americans at Germantown. He was suc- 
ceeded in his command by Clinton, in 1778. 
His death took place in 1814. 

HUDSON, Hexky, an eminent naval com 
mander and discoverer in North America, from 
1607 to 1610. In the latter year, whilst nav- 
igating the bay which now bears his name, 
his crew mutinied, and put him, his son, and 
seven others on shore, where they no doubt 
perished. 

HUGH CAPET, Duke and afterward King 
of France, was the son of Hugh the Great, 
who dying left him under the protection of 
Richard I., Duke of Normandy. Lothaire, 
King of France, pleased with Hugh's prudence 
and generosity, gave him, in 960, the dukedom 
of France, with the earldom of Paris and Poi- 
tou. Louis v., dying fifteen or sixteen months 
after his father, Hugh Capet was proclaimed 
king at Noyon, and crowned at Rheims, 987. 
Charles L, Duke of Lower Lorraine, son of 
Louis IV., the only man of the royal blood 
left in France, was taken prisoner by Hugh, 
and died in 992. 

HUGUENOTS, the name given in 1560 by 
the Catholics of France to their Protestant 
countrj'men, as a term of reproach. Thou- 
sands of them perished in the massacre of St. 
Bartholomew, and the persecutions that fol- 
lowed. Henry IV. secured their safety and 
rights by the edict of Nantes. Its revocation 
by Louis XIV., and the cruelties of the drag- 
onnade, drove throngs into exile. The man- 
ufoctures of England had their start from the 
Flemings who fled from the Low Countries 
before the pitiless Duke of Alva : they received 
new impulse from the Huguenot artisans. 
Many Huguenots sought an asylum beyond 



the sea. Some settled in Rhode Island; oth- 
ers in Ulster and Orange counties, New York, 
where their descendants are numerous at this 
day ; more made their home in South Caro- 
lina, sowing those seeds of civil liberty which 
ripened so nobly during the Revolution. 

HULL, Isaac, was born at Derby, Conn., 
in 1775. He began to follow the sea when a 
mere lad, and at the establishment of the navy 
received a lieutenant's commission. To him 
the first British flag was struck on the ocean, 
during the war of 1812 ; this was on the 19th 
of August, 1812, when the frigate Guerriere, 
commanded by Capt. Dacres, was captured by 
the frigate Constitution, after a close action of 
thirty minutes. Commodore Hull died at 
Philadelphia, Feb. 13th, 1843. 

PIULL, William, was an officer in the Rev- 
olutionary army. He afterward reached the 
rank of brigadier-general and was governor of 
Michigan territory. At the commencement 
of the war of 1812, he commanded the north- 
western army. He surrendered his whole 
force at Detroit to Gen. Brock, Aug. 16th, 
1812. For this reverse. Gen. Hull was con- 
demned by a court-martial to be shot ; a sen- 
tence which was mitigated in consideration of 
his previous services and his age. He lived 
to see his character vindicated, dying in 1825, 
aged seventy -two. 

HUME, David, the philosopher and histo- 
rian, died at Edinburgh, his native city, Aug. 
25th, 1776, aged sixty-five. 

HUMPHREYS, David, was born at Derby, 
Conn., July, 1752. In 1780 he was appointed 
aid to Gen. Washington, with whom he re- 
mained through the residue of the war, and 
at its termination accompanied him to Vir- 
ginia. Col. Humphreys was distinguished 
for his gallantry and military skill at the siege 
of Yorktown. He remained with Gen. Wash- 
ington until 1790, with the exception of two 
years' residence in France. In 1790 he was 
appointed minister to Portugal, and afterward 
to Spain. He died Feb. 21st, 1818, aged sixty- 
six. He was much interested in the introduc- 
tion of merino sheep into this country. 

HUNGARY, the country of the Magyars, 
or Hungarians. They are represented as de- 
rived from the Huns of Attila. A complete 
account of ancient Hungary would present 
little more than the melancholy picture of a 
perpetual seat of war. The Romans for a time 



HUN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



411 



assumed the ascendant, and obtained a decided 
superiority over the opposite and conflicting 
parties. The Hungarians have been thought 
to belong to the Finnish nations, from the 
resemblance there is between certain words 
of their respective dialects. The Magyars 
appear to have been a principal division cf 
that great northern people near the Altai 
Mountains, whence issued the hordes who 
introduced such changes in the character of 
nations, Asiatic and European. So far as the 
Magyars are concerned, their progress from 
the Altai Mountains seems obvious. About 
the end of the ninth century, we find a divi- 
sion of them entering the plains of Munkatz, 
under their leader, Almus, whose son Arpad 
was the first duke of Hungary. In a few 
years (896) Arpad had dispossessed several of 
the princes of Hungary, and contracted alli- 
ances with others. He subdued a considera- 
ble portion of the Moravian kingdoni, and, in 
the ardor of conquest, was for attempting to 
establish himself in the territories of the Em- 
peror Arnulph. Arpad finally extended his 
conquests into Bavaria, Suabia, Franconia, 
and Italy; his exertions were divided, but 
everywhere successful. His son Zoltan, in 
907, had penetrated into Alsatia, Lorraine, 
and France. While the genius of the state 
was thus aspiring to eminence, the strength 
of others seemed proportionately paralyzed, 
as if the unremitting cruelties characteristic 
of Attila were again to be feared. 

The imputation of ferocity affixed to the 
name of the Huns inspired terror, till their 
fourth duke, Geysa, diverted their ferocious 
dispositions into other channels. The atten- 
tion he bestowed in giving a tmge of religion 
to the mind and manners of his countrymen, 
operated as an incentive to their civilization. 
It was not until the commencement of the 
eleventh century, that a people rude, and 
proud of their rudeness, were induced to lay 
aside their barbarous habits. Stephen, their 
last duke and first king, introduced the 
Christian religion, and those social institu- 
tions, which, if left to operate unrestrained, 
give a stamp to the character of a people. 
He died in 1J)38, after a reign of forty-one 
years," during which he had established laws 
in the interior, reunited Transylvania to his 
kingdom, subjugated the Sclavi and Bulgari- 



ans, and effected much for the amelioration of 
society and morals. 

On the death of Stephen, Hungary be- 
came subject to the tyranny of various 
princes, the country being involved, for 
nearly a century, in the horrors of civil war. 
In this distracted state of the kingdoni, vari- 
ous usurpers aspiring to the throne, the 
churches were destroyed, and the ministers 
of religion persecuted. Any intervals of 
peace were interrupted by the Bulgarians, 
AVallachians, Russians, Croats, &c., renewing 
their inroads. Under Ladislaus I., 1077, the 
country enjoyed some tranquillity ; religion, 
commerce, legislation, tempered the bold 
independence of a dark age ; and as a war- 
rior, he also became the temporary savior of 
his country. John Corvin, or Hunniades, 
was justly celebrated for his military achieve- 
ments in the wars with Amurath II. and 
Mohammed II. His son, Matthias Corvin, 
was unanimously elected king in 1458, and 
gave early indications of great gifts and 
talents, adding not a little to the lustre of his 
father's acquirements. From his character, 
policy, military operations, and great power, 
he has been described as one of the most 
accomplished kings of Hungary. Such was 
the force of his mind, that his views extended 
to whatever could secure his government, 
and render it formidable. His ends were 
great, and his means prudent ; he kept both 
the Turks and Austrians at bay, and, as a 
politician and hero, was watchful over his 
enemies, both at home and abroad. To his 
other eminent qualities, this king added a 
measure of literary reputation. He is said 
to have been conversant with the languages, 
arts, and sciences of his time ; the country 
flourished under his establishments, civil and 
military ; and the love of his subjects shows 
the great esteem in which he was held by 
them. Compared, generally, with his con- 
temporaries in power, the energy of his mind 
seems worthy of admiration. He knew how 
to anticipate hostile designs, and we find the 
kingdom, under his government, preponder- 
ating in the balance of Europe. Matthias 
had no children, and the election of a new 
king occasioned a scene of distress. Under 
Louis IL in 1516, the Turks besieged Bel- 
grade, which surrendered to their arms ; and 



HUN 



412 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



this was followed by various other successes. 
In the famous battle of Mohatz (1526), Louis 
was defeated and slain ; Buda was given up 
to pillage ; and the ferocious barbarians, un- 
der Solyman II., after plundering the coun- 
try, converted the scens of their depredations 
into an immense desert. The country was 
now convulsed with disputes about the suc- 
cession, the Archduke Ferdinand being op- 
posed by John Zapolski, who was finally 
seated on the throne. Zapolski died in 
1540, and the Hungarians invited Ferdinand 
to the throne. The country was again deso- 
lated and crimsoned with blood. In 1564 
Maximilian II., Emperor of Germany, laid 
claim to the crown, but it was not till 1570 
that a peace was finally ratified between the 
Hungarians and Germans ; John Sigismund, 
son of Zapolski, was created Prince of Tran- 
sylvania. The next circumstance to be no- 
ticed and recorded, is the definitive subjection 
of the Hungarians to the imperial house of 
Austria. At the accession of Charles VI., 
Emperor of Germany, a definitive treaty, in 
1711, terminated all differences; it was not 
till then that every principle of internal hos- 
tility, all those evils which had proved . a 
hindrance to civilization, disappeared. As 
the Hungarians were now united to the Aus- 
trian d3masty, the series of their kings is that 
of the emperors. 

The Austrian rule was on many accounts 
unpopular, and ardent patriots dreamed of a 
restoration of that independence which had 
been lost in the Austrian empire. When, 
in 1848, France set the fires of revokition a 
blazing, they soon caught in Hungary. A 
provisional government was set up, at the 
head of which was the eloquent Kossuth. 
For a time a brilliant struggle kept the Aus- 
trian power at bay ; but dissensions weakened 
the patriots ; Kossuth, great as were his elo- 
quence and patriotism, lacked decision ; the 
czar sent an army in aid of the imperial des- 
potism ; the Austrians were victorious in 
several fields ; and on the 11th of August, 
1849, Kossuth, in obedience to his colleagues, 
resigned his authority into the hands of Gor- 
gei, the commander of the army, and fled into 
Turkey. Gorgei completed the negotiations 
he had before commenced with the Russian 
general, for an unconditional surrender. On 



the 17th of August the Hungarians laid down 
their arms ; the contest was at an end. The 
hapless nation suffered severely under the 
restored domination of Austria, which was 
now far more severe than ever. 

Hungary, as at present limited, contains 
69,325 square miles, and in 1857 had a popu- 
lation of 9,900,785. Pesth, the most popu- 
lous city and the ancient capital of the king- mti 
dom, stands on the east bank of the Danube, t| 
opposite Buda; population 131,705. 

HUNS, a warlike tribe of Scythia, or Tar- 
tary, who invaded Europe in the fifth cen- \i 
tury. The ravages of Attila, their leader, f 
gained him the name of ' the scourge of God.' 
It was to check the invasions of this people, 
that the Chinese b.uilt their great wall about 
200 B.C. 

HUNTER, John, the eminent surgeon, 
died very suddenly in St. George's Hospital, 
London* Oct. 16th, 1793, aged sixty -five. 
His elder brother, William (1717-1783), was 
also a distinguished anatomist. 

HUNTINGDON, Selina, Countess of, was 
the second daughter of Washington, Earl Fer- 
rers. She was born in 1707, and left the 
widow of Theophilus Hastings, Earl of Hunt- 
ingdon, in 1747. She was the friend of 
Whitfield and the Wesleys, in aid of whose 
evangelical schemes, by the rearing of chap- 
els, the maintenance of ministers, the founda- 
tion of seminaries for their training, &c., 
her ample jointure and her active labors were 
bestowed. She lived to the age of eighty- 
four. 

HUNTINGTON, Samuel, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born in 
Windham, Conn., July 3d, 1732. He was 
the son of a farmer, and educated at a com- 
mon school. At the age of twenty-two, he 
was admitted to practice law in his native 
place, but shortly afterward removed to Nor- 
wich. In 1764 he was representative of- 
Norwich to the general assembly, and in the 
next year king's attorney ; in 1774 he was 
made a judge of the superior court. In 1775 
he was chosen a member of the council of 
Connecticut, and in 1776 he took his seat as 
a delegate to the general congress. In 1779 
he succeeded John Jay as president of that 
body. He was made chief-justice of Connec- 
ticut, then lieutenant-governor; and in 1786 



HUN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



413 



he succeeded Mr. Griswokl, as governor of 
Connecticut, filling the office till his death, 
January 5th, 1796. 

HUSS, John, the celebrated reformer, was 
a native of Bohemia, born in 1370, and edu- 
cated at the University of Prague. He early 
perceived the corruption of the Romish 
church, and exposed its prevalent abuses 
freely, although persecuted by several popes. 
He finally appeared at the council of Con- 
stance under a safe-conduct from the Emperor 
Sigismund : yet nevertheless he was thrown 
into prison, and, after some months of con- 
finement, sentenced to be burned alive. This 
dreadful fate he met with resignation and 
lofty faith, July 6th, 1415, and his ashes 
were thrown into the Rhine. The rebeUion 
of the followers of Huss lasted fifteen yeai's, 
and filled Bohemia with bloodshed. 

HUTCHINSON, Thomas, born at Boston, 
1711, graduated at Harvard College in 1727. 
He was appointed lieutenant-governor of 
Massachusetts in 1758, and chief-justice in 
1760. In 1771 he was made royal governor 
of Massachusetts. He was succeeded by 
Gage in 1774, and retreated to England, 
where he lived in retirement at Brompton, 



and died June 3d, 1780, in his sixty-ninth 
year. At one time a Boston mob attacked 
his house, which was nearly demolished. 
His uniform support of the ministerial meas- 
ures made him exceedingly unpopular. 

HYDER ALI, an eastern prince of Mo- 
hammedan origin, the formidable enemy to 
the British in India. He was frequently suc- 
cessful, and, in 1766 his dominions contained 
70,000 square miles. He died in 1782, and 
was succeeded by Tippoo Saib, his son. 

HYMEN. Hymenaeus, an Athenian youth 
of extraordinary beauty, but low birth, be- 
came enamored of the daughter of one of 
the noblest of his countrymen. The rank 
of his mistress preventing his suit, he fol- 
lowed her wherever she went, disguised as a 
woman. A procession to Eleusis was seized 
by pirates, and Hymen, after sharing the 
captivity of his mistress, eifected her rescue. 
He was rewarded by her hand, and so great 
was his felicity in wedlock that the Atheni- 
ans instituted festivals in his honor about 
1350 B.C., and solemnly invoked him at their 
nuptials, believing that no union could be 
joyous or fortunate without his aid. 



I. 



ICELAND, a large island in the Atlantic 
Ocean, near the confines of the polar circle, 
belonging to Denmark. Christianity was 
introduced into it in 981. Among its curiosi- 
ties are the Geysers, or boiling springs, and 
the numerous volcanoes, the largest of which 
is Mount Hecla, whose terrific eruptions have 
often caused the greatest distress among the 
inhabitants. The islanders are simple, frugal, 
industrious, and pious ; the lower classes are 
well informed. The staple exports are fish, 
oil, eider down, sulphur, and salted mutton. 
Iceland was discovered in the middle of the 
ninth century, and settled by Norsemen in 
874. 

ILLINOIS contains 55,405 square miles, 
and in 1860 had 1,711,951 inhabitants. The 
Mississippi forms the western boundary of 
this rich country ; the Ohio the southern ; the 
Wabash and Lake Michigan wash a large part 



of the eastern line ; while the interior is pene- 
trated by such noble and navigable streams 
as the Illinois, the Rock, and the Kaskaskia. 
A small tract in the south is hilly, and the 
northern portion is also somewhat broken ; 
but the general surface is almost a uniform 
level, or slightly undulating. About two- 
thirds of the state consisted of prairies, on 
whose wide expanses cultivation is rapidly 
encroaching. The barrens, or oak openings, 
partake as it were at once of the character of 
the forest and the prairie. They rise from a 
grassy turf seldom encumbered with brush- 
wood, but not unfrequently broken by jungles 
of rich and gaudy flowering plants, and of 
dwarf sumach. Among the oak openings 
you find some of the most lovely landscapes 
of the west, and travel for miles and miles 
through varied parks of natural growth, with 
all the diversity of gently swelling hill and 



ILL 



414 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDI.V OF 




dale: here, trees grouped, or standing single ; 
and there, arranged in long avenues, as 
though by human hands, with slips of open 
meadow between. Sometimes the openings 
are interspersed with clear lakes of enchanting 
beauty. The alluvial bottoms are tracts of 
great fertility. Lead is found in the north- 
western corner of Illinois in exhaustless 
quantities. Bituminous coal, iron, and cop- 
per are also obtained. Maize and wheat are 
the great staples of the state. In the north 
are stony tracts, but elsewhere the plough 
may furrow millions of acres without turning 
even a pebble. 

Settlements were made along the Missis- 
sippi by the French from Canada toward the 
close of the seventeenth century, as at Caho- 
kia and Kaskaskia. The whole of this region 
was abandoned to the English by the peace 
of 1763. In 1809 Illinois was organized as 
a territory, and its admission into the Union 
followed in 1818. The state is named from 
its great central river, whose appellation is 
aboriginal, meaning ' the river of men.' By 
the constitution the elective franchise per- 
tains to every white male major citizen, who 
has resided in the state for one year. Slavery 
is prohibited, and negroes are forbidden to 
enter the state. Dueling is a disqualification 
for office. The state senate is elected for 
four years, one-half biennially; the lower 
house for two years. The sessions are bien- 
nial. The governor is elected for four years. 
The three judges of the supreme court have 
terms of nine years, one being chosen trien- 



nially by the people. There are seventeen 
circuit judges, chosen for four j-ears. Con- 
siderable provision is made by the state lor 
education. 

Springfield, the capital, on the border of a 
beautiful gjjrairie, had 6,500 inhabitants in 
1853. The great city of Illinois is Chicago, 
on Lake Michigan. Wherein 1832 was only 
a hamlet of 250 people is now a well-built, 
bustling emporium that numbers its thou- 
sands; in 1860 there were 109,260 inhabitants. 
Important railroads centre here, with which 
and the navigation of the fresh-water seas, 
its growth bids fair to continue as astonish- 
ingly. Alton, on the left bank of the Missis- 
sippi, three miles above the confluence of the 
Missouri, is the chief town of western Illinois ; 
population 7,338. Peoria and Quincy are 
flourishing towns. 

INDIA. This region, between Cape Co- 
morin and the Himalaya Mountains, formerly 
called the Peninsula within the Ganges, is 
known in the Persian language as Hindus- 
tan, the country of the Hindoos. The area 
is about 1,300,000 square miles, or more than 
ten times the extent of Great Britain and 
Ireland. The population is estimated at 
200,000,000. The coast-line amounts to 
3,200 miles, of which 1,800 miles are washed 
by the Indian Ocean, and 1,400 miles by the 
Bay of Bengal. Intersected by vast and 
lofty mountain ranges, the Indian peninsula 
presents a remarkably varied surface of table- 
land, plain, and valley ; and extending as it 
does from 8° 4' to 34° N. lat., with some- 



IND 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



415 



times tracts half a mile above the level of the 
gea, there are many varieties of climate and 
a great range of temperature. 

The island of Rameserum, oflT the coast of 
Southern India, is low, sandy, uncultivated, 
but celebrated for the extent and splendor 
of its great pagoda ; it is still visited by pil- 
grims from all parts of Hindustan. The 
isolated mountain region of Southern India 
rises to 7,000 and 8,000 feet, the highest land 
south of the Himalayas. Here are the do- 
minions of the Rajah of Travancore and the 
Rajah of Cochin. 

The region south of the river Nerbudda, 
separated from Southern India by the Gap 
of Coimbatore, is called the Deccan. It is 
mostly an elevated table-land, the greatest 
portion still under the sway of Hindoo or 
Mohammedan princes, in alliance with the 
British. The kingdom of Mysore, in the 
south, is governed by a Hindoo prince. In the 
north are the territories of the Nizam of Hy- 
drabad, or Hyderabad ; Hydrabad, the capi- 
tal, is noted for its traflBc in diamonds ; this 
was formerly called the kingdom of Golconda. 
East of this are the possessions of the Rajah 
of Berar or Nagpoor. The territory of the 
Raji^h of Colapore extends along the West- 
ern Ghauts. The Deccan is skirted on every 
side by lofty ranges of mountains, known as 
the Ghauts, from which the descent to the 
low narrow belt along the seashore is steep 
and difBcult. The southern part of the nar- 
row coast between the Western Ghauts and 
the Indian Ocean is called Malabar. On 
these Western Ghauts, between 12° and 14^ 
N. lat., grows the only sandal-wood in Hin- 
dustan; it is an important export to China 
and Japan. The city of Goa, belonging to 
the Portuguese, lies on the western coast: 
once it was splendid and populous, with mag- 
nificent dwellings and many elegant churches 
and monasteries ; these are now decaying, 
and the ancient town, now very unhealthj^ 
is scantily peopled. A new, well-built town, 
five miles nearer the sea, called Panjim, is 
the residence of the Portuguese viceroy, and 
has 20,000 inhabitants. Mahe is a French 
settlement on this coast, with a trade in 
pepper. On the Nilgherry Mountains, only 
eleven degrees from the equator, the climate 
and productions of Europe are found. Here 
are established sanitary stations, where Eu- 



ropeans may regain their health when im- 
paired by a long residence in hot countries. 
The country between the Eastern Ghauts and 
the Bay of Bengal comprises the central and 
northern Carnatic, with the Guntoor Circar. 
Here is the Coromandel coast, Madras, the 
French settlement of Pondicherry, and the 
Danish one of Tranquebar. The coast is 
much exposed, and during the south-west 
monsoon the only smooth water is the harbor 
of Coringa. 

Central India, or the mountain region of 
Northern Hindustan, has nearly the form of 
a triangle, whose base is the Vindhya Mount- 
ains, and the apex near Delhi. To this region 
belong Gujerat and Cutch. The country is 
for the most part in the possession of native 
rulers, the Mahratta princes, Scindia, Ilolkar, 
the Guicowar, the Rajpoots, and the Rajah 
of Rewa. 

The Ganges rises among the highest Hima- 
layas, and enters the sea by a many-branched 
delta, after a course of nearly 1,500 miles. 
The great plain drained by it and its afflu- 
ents is the most fertile, the best cultivated, 
and the most thickly inhabited portion of 
Hindustan, containing more than one-half of 
its population. Here are the cities of Be- 
nares, Calcutta, Cawnpoor, Delhi, Lucknow, 
&c. This region is entirely under British 
rule ; the kingdom of Oude was their last 
acquisition. 

The Indus rises on the table-land of Thi- 
bet. The extensive plain of the Indus com- 
prehends the Punjaub (country of the five 
rivers), Sinde, &c. The Punjaub has very 
fertile and very sterile tracts ; rice is the 
chief object of agriculture. The Sikhs are 
the principal inhabitants. The Punjaub is 
now a British province, and Lahore the seat 
of rule. Sinde is indebted for its fertility to 
the inundations of the Indus ; as far as these 
extend, the countiy yields abimdant crops. 
It is thinly peopled. It was formerly ruled 
by cliiefs of Belooch descent, called ameers ; 
it is now annexed to the Bombay presidency. 

The Himalayas form the northern boundary 
of India. The range is some 1,500 miles in 
length, with a breadth between 80 and 120 
miles ; it may occupy a surface of 150,000 
square miles. In its arms the Cashmere val- 
ley is enclosed. The highest portion of the 
Himalayas is the Dhawalaghiri range, where 



IND 



416 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the summit of Ghosa Cotce attains an eleva- 
tion of ^8,000 feet above the level of the sea, 
the highest land known on the globe. The 
word 'Himalaya' is Sanscrit, meaning, 'the 
abode of frost' 

The aboriginal tribes, besides the Hindoos, 
are few and only found in the mountainous 
parts of India. The foreigners are partly 
Asiatics and partly Europeans. The Asiatics 
have come by sea and by land. To the former 
class belong the Arabs, who are very numer- 
ous on the coast of Malabar. Some Parsees, 
or Guebres, are dispersed through the cities 
on the coast between Bombay and Surat. 
The Asiatics who entered by land chiefly 
settled in the plains of the Ganges and the 
Indus. They came with the conquerors who 
at several epochs have established their em- 
pires here. They are mostly Afghans, are 
commonly called Patans, and number about 
10,000,000. The Europeans are chiefly de- 
scendants of the Portuguese, and most nu- 
merous along the western coast. Their 
number is between one and two million. 
The British race is pre-eminent in power ; 
yet it numbers less than 100,000. 

India is rich in gems ; not diamonds only, 
but rubies, emeralds, sapphires, turquoises, 
opals, amethysts, and almost every known 
gem, are found, of great purity and beauty. 
Gold is rare. There is iron of good quality. 
The celebrated Damascus blades bore testimo- 
ny of old to the worthof Indian steel, and there 
is still some produced of equally fine quality. 
Lead, copper, zinc, and tin also exist in vari- 
ous districts. The forests furnish valuable 
woods — ebon}^, satin-wood, calamander, teak, 
saul-wood, and the useful bamboo. The 
most important crop of India is cotton. It 
is inferior to the cotton of the United States 
in length of fibre and in cleanliness. The 
other great staple of India is rice, grown in 
every variety of soil and in every climate. 
The land is rich in dyes. India rubber has 
long been exported to England. Tobacco is 
grown considerably, but of inferior quality. 
Maize is freely cultivated, Ijut it is far from 
equalling to the American corn. 

India is comprised in three great political 
divisions, the presidencies of Bengal (includ- 
ing the sub-presidency of Agra, or the north- 
western provinces), Madras, and Bombay, 
the former the seat of the governor-general 



and the supreme council. These divisions 
include not only the territories under tlie 
direct rule of the British, but also most of 
the native states, some of which are sub- 
sidiary, some tributary, some protected, and 
some nominally independent ; but all are 
more or less under British control. Nearly a 
million and a half sterling has been annually 
paid in pensions to conquered native princes. 

The antiquity of the Hindoos is undoubt- 
edly great ; little change has taken place in 
their religion, manners, or customs, for more 
than two thousand years. Hindustan was 
very slightly known to the ancients. They 
had some vague idea of its extent and 
wealth, but they had little knowledge of its 
interior. Various attempts were made to 
subdue the land : Alexander the Great car- 
ried his victorious arms across the frontier ; 
Seleucus advanced as far as the Ganges ; 
Semiramis pushed her forces against the In- 
dians ; and other adventurers essayed their 
subversion. Whatever successes they gained 
appeared not to result to their advantage ; 
the people resisted their invaders with great 
bravery. The Romans never extended their 
conquests as far as India. 

Commerce between India and the western 
nations of Asia appears to have been carried 
on from the earliest times. Indian articles 
found their way into Europe through the 
Phoenician merchants. After the foundation 
of Alexandria in Egypt, the Indian traffic 
was sustained almost exclusively by its mer- 
chants. 

Hardl}^ anything is known of the history 
of India from the time of Alexander to the 
Mohammedan conquest. The Greek king- 
dom of Bactria, founded by Theodotus, a 
lieutenant of the Sj^rian monarchs, B.C. 255, 
comprised a considerable part of northern 
India. It was overthrown, b.c. 126, by the 
Tartars (called Scythians by the Greeks), who 
possessed the greater part of north-western 
Hindustan till they were driven bej^ond the 
Indus," B.C. 56, by Yicramaditya I. The 
earliest invasion of the Mohammedans was 
made in the latter part of the tenth century 
under Mahmoud (Jhazni, who led twelve ex- 
peditions in all into Hindustan, sacking cities, 
carrying off their treasure, and trying to ex- 
terminate the inhabitants, since he could not 
convert them to the faith of Islam. Inva- 



IND 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



417 



sions and conquests followed, and in 1093 
Delhi was taken, and made the capital of the 
Mohammedan empire in India. In 1398 
Tamerlane descended upon India M'ith his 
conquering horde of Tartars, massacring the 
inhabitants of every place through which he 
passed, and defeating the Indian army with 
immense slaughter. He carried away a great 
booty and a vast retinue of slaves, leaving 
the country a desert which he had found a 
garden. In 1526 Baber, a descendant of 
Tamerlane, took Delhi, and established the 
Tartar dynasty, or as it is commonly called, 
the Mogul empire. The emperor was known 
in Europe as the Great Mogul. Akbar, 
Shah Jehan, Aurungzebe, were emperors of 
great renown. 

In 1738 Nadir Shah, or Kouli Khan, the 
ambitious monai'ch of Persia, crossed the 
Indus with a brave and veteran army, and 
soon decisively defeated the Mogul's troops. 
Nadir Shah's stay at Delhi was marked by 
rapacity and bloodshed ; a hundred and fifty 
thousand of the inhabitants were massacred, 
and the conqueror is said to have borne off 
over 1100,000,000 in treasure ! By this blow 
the power of the emperor was nearly de- 
stroyed ; only one imperial army ever entered 
the field after this, and that was defeated by 
the Rohillas in 1749. Delhi, and a few miles 
around it, constituted almost the sole terri- 
tory of the descendants of Tamerlane ; while 
the governors of districts and provinces, un- 
der the names of rajahs, nabobs, and a variety 
of others, became independent sovereigns. 

The Portuguese were the first nation of 
Europe that got a foothold in India ; Vasco 
de Gama landed at Calicut, May 20th, 1498. 
By the possession of Malacca they commanded 
the trade of the Indian archipelago ; and by 
their numerous settlements along the Mala- 
bar coast, especially at Goa and Diu, they 
monopolized the commerce with Europe. 
Under their rule the inquisition was planted 
in India, and its shambles dripped with hor- 
rors. In the beginning of the seventeenth 
century, the English, Dutch, and French began 
to make settlements along the coast, and the 
Portuguese lost their dominions almost as 
rapidly as they had acquired them. They 
still possess Goa, Damaun, and Diu. The 
Dutch never gained much political power in 
Hindustan, though at one time they carried 



27 



on the greater part of the Indian trade. The 
French obtained extensive possessions in the 
Deccan, of which they retain only Pondi- 
cherry, Carical, Yanaon, Mahe, and Chander- 
nagore. 

The first maritime mercantile adventure 
from England direct to India was in 1591. 
In 1600 a charter was given to an association 
of merchants, under the designation of " The 
Governor and Company of London Mer- 
chants trading to the East Indies." In 1615 
an English ambassador. Sir Thomas Roe, was 
sent to the court of the Mogul emperor, by 
whom he was cordially received. The Eng- 
lish East India Company were pretty suc- 
cessful in their voyages ; and after victoriously 
contending with the Portuguese in several 
naval engagements, they at length succeeded 
(1612) in forming a factory at Surat, on the 
Malabar coast, by permission of the Emperor 
Jehan Ghir. They had to struggle against 
the enmity of both the Portuguese and the 
Dutch. In 1639 permission was obtained to 
erect a fortress at Madras. Accident laid 
the foundation of their power in Bengal in 
1652, when, thi-ough the influence of a medi- 
cal gentleman who had successfully used his 
professional skill at the court of the Mogul, 
a license was given, for the merely nominal 
sum of thirty thousand rupees, permitting 
the English East India Company to trade 'to 
an unlimited extent, free from all payment 
of duties. The first English post was at 
Hooghly, twenty-three miles higher up the 
river than Calcutta. It was not until 1698 
that the factory was removed to Calcutta, 
and Fort William built. 

Bombay had been ceded to the Portuguese 
by the Mogul in 1630. It came into the pos- 
session of England on the marriage of Charles 
II. with the Infanta Catherine of Portugal. 
By the marriage contract, Charles was to 
receive £500,000 in money, the town of Tan- 
gier in Africa, and the island of Bombay with 
its dependencies, together with permission 
for his subjects to carry on a free trade with 
the Portuguese settlements in India and Bra- 
zil. The island was transfert-ed to the East 
India Company in 1668. 

The wars waged between France and Eng- 
land in the eighteenth century extended into 
India. Hostilities commenced in 1747, and 
were waged with spirit by both sides, th»^ 



IND 



b 



418 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



abilities of Clive contributing to the successes 
of the English, until in 1755 a cessation took 
place. In 175G, the authorities at Calcutta 
having been induced by dread of the French 
to strengthen their fortifications, Surajah 
Dowlah, the soubahdar of Bengal, who had 
never been friendly to the English, made this 
a pretext for attacking the place. The out- 
posts were assailed on the 18th of June, 1756, 
and after two days the fort was carried by 
storm. The tragedy of the Black Hole fol- 
lowed. On the first day of the next year 
Calcutta was retaken by the English ; on the 
23d of June following the nabob was de- 
feated at Plassey by Clive ; and early in July 
he was assassinated by the son of his suc- 
cessor. From this time may be dated the 
beginning of the absolute government of the 
English in Bengal. 

On the Coromandel coast, meantime, affairs 
were going on very indifferently for the Eng- 
lish. But things again took a turn, all the 
enterprises of the French commander going 
awry. His attempt upon Wandewash, in 
1760, was extremely unfortunate. Chelta- 
put, Arcot, Timery, Carical, Cillambaram, 
Alamparva, Trincomalee, Cuddalore, fell into 
the hands of the English. Pondicherry was 
invested, and capitulated Jan. 15th, 1761 ; 
the power of the B'rench in India being thus 
annihilated. 

In 1767 a new enemy appeared in the 
Deccan — Hyder Ali, Prince of Mysore, who 
had raised himself from the rank of a sub- 
ordinate soldier and established a principality 
for himself For several years he baffled the 
attempts of the English to crush him, and 
he often gained advantages over them in bat- 
tle. In 1781 Sir Eyre Coote was appointed 
commander-in-chief; he defeated Hyder in 
several severe engagements. In the midst 
of the contest with the English Hyder died, 
and there succeeded him as Sultan of Mysore 
his bloodthirsty son, Tippoo Saib. He waged 
war for several years, till Seringapatam, the 
capital of Mysore, was stormed, and Tippoo 
slain, May 4th, 17f>0. 

To enumeratfe in detail all the conquests 
and intrigues by which the British extended 
their empire in India would far outrun our 
limits. From 1801 to the close of 1805 the 
first Mahratta war lasted, in which Gen. 
Wellesley, the future Duke of Wellington, 



distinguished himself, especially at Assaye. 
The second Mahratta war continued from 
1806 till 1822. At the renewal of the Com- 
pany's charter in 1813, only the monopoly 
in the trade between China and England was 
retained; unrestricted intercourse with ths 
Indian possessions was allowed to British 
merchants. In 1824 the Burmese commenced 
hostilities ; Rangoon was taken by the Brit- 
ish, and the Burmese several times defeated ; 
in February, 1826, the Burmese monarch, 
humbled and disheartened, made peace, ced- 
ing a large tract of territory, and paying 
£1,000,000 sterling. 

At the renewal of the charter in 1833, not 
only was the monopoly of the China trade 
abolished, but the Company was restricted 
from carrying on any commercial operations 
whatever on its own account, and was con- 
fined entirely to the territorial and political 
management of the vast empire beneath its 
sway. The disastrous Afghan expedition we 
have already spoken of under Afghanistan. 
As a sequel came hostilities with the Ameers 
of Scinde; their army of 30,000 foot and 
5,000 horse was routed on a bloody field by 
Sir Charles Napier with a little band of 2,100, 
and Scinde was annexed to the British em- 
pire. The next great storm of bloodshed 
was the war with the Sikhs, who crossed the 
Sutlej and attacked the British at Ferozepore, 
Dec. 14th, 1845. At Moodkee, Ferozeshah, 
Aliwal, and Sobraon, within sixt}^ days, the 
Sikhs wei-e defeated, and the war ended. A 
second war with the Sikhs began in 1848. 
Chillianwallah and Goojerat were the deci- 
sive battles. March 14th, 1849, the Sikhs 
laid down their arms, and surrendered un- 
conditionall3^ The Punjaub was annexed to 
the British dominions. In both wars the 
victories over the Sikhs were bought by a 
heavy sacrifice of British blood and life. In 
1852 a second war with Burmah resulted 
in the annexation of Pegu; and in 1856 the 
large, rich province of Oude was taken from 
its profligate king. 

Edmund Burke accused his countrymen of 
having sold every monarch, prince, and state 
in India, broken every contract, and ruined 
every prince and every state who had ever 
trusted them. India has presented a novel 
spectacle. A handful of strangers from a 
small ocean isle, dwelling among a people 



IND 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



419 



differing every way from them, draw from 
the country a revenue of £27,000,000; they 
fill the highest offices of state ; they have 
power over 98,000,000 of people, and exer- 
cise indirect authority over 52,000,000 more 
whom they suifer to be ruled through native 
princes. Their sway extends over a space 
half as large as Europe. The chiefs of this 
vast empire had neither crown nor sceptre. 
Subjected at home to the same laws as other 
citizens, placed under the same power, their 
rise was as silent as their fall ; they reigned 
or died unknown to their subjects. These 
masters, these kings, were merchants — mer- 
chant princes in truth ! they composed the 
English East India Company. 

A veil may well be drawn over the bloody 
contests and oppressive measures by which 
the natives of India were crushed, their 
princes ruined and betrayed, their wealth 
stolen from them, and their rights trampled 
under foot, without remorse or hesitation. 
Eloquent and upright men in England indig- 
nantly denounced the conduct of the Com- 
pany — in vain. Confiding in their wealth, 
steeled by an unrelenting avarice, proud in a 
constant success, they smiled at every attempt 
to shake their power or impeach their officers. 
The native sovereigns were not backward to 
inflict revolting cruelties in retaliation. It 
must be remembered that the Mohammedan 
rulers who had sway before the advent of the 
British, were themselves usurpers, and that 
their despotisms were cruel and treacherous. 
Notwithstanding the crimes that have sullied 
the rule of the British, it has on the whole 
been beneficial to the unhappy country. For 
the wrongs of which they were guilty they 

I have reaped an awful harvest. 

For a long time the Mohammedans of Up- 

• per India had been discontented with their 

subordinate position, but it was of no use to 

I I try to throw off" the British yoke so long as 
' the Hindoo soldiery continued true to their 
[ salt. The high-caste sepoys of the Bengal 
I army being mostly Brahmins, they obtained 
i a consideration for religious scruples and 
1 whims which gradually impaired and ulti- 
I mately destroyed all discipline. When it 
! became absolutely necessary to curtail some 
1 of their privileges, they considered them- 
, solves aggrieved, and to arrogance added dis- 
content. The introduction of improved mus- 



kets rendering the use of greased cartridges 
necessary, a quantity was sent out from Eng- 
land. The sepoys objected to them because 
they might have been greased with the fat 
of cows or pigs ; the former is an object of 
especial veneration, the latter of abhorrence 
and hatred, and by tasting the fat of either 
caste would be lost. The issue of the obnox- 
ious cartridges was at once discontinued. 
This was in January, 1857. A mutinous 
spirit, however, gradually cropped out in the 
Bengal native army. In March several regi- 
ments were disbanded, followed by others, 
till in June the army had lost, by disband- 
raent and desertion, 30,000 men. In April 
eighty-five of the native cavalry at Meerut 
refused to use their cartridges; they were 
committed to jail. May 9th. On the 10th 
the native troops rose, fired on their officers, 
killing Col. Finnis and others, released their 
imprisoned comrades and hundreds of crimi- 
nals, massacred many European.s, fired the 
public buildings, and then marched off for 
Delhi. The sepoys there welcomed the mu- 
tineers and fraternized with them. Delhi 
was soon wholly in their hands. The titular 
king of Delhi was proclaimed emperor. The 
fate of the Europeans resident in Delhi was 
awful. Delicate women were stripped of their 
clothing, violated, turned naked into the 
streets, beaten with canes, pelted with filth, 
and abandoned to the beastly lusts of the 
rabble until welcome death relieved them. 
Men were slowly hacked to pieces, burned 
to death, or horribly mutilated. A sepoy 
snatched a child from its mother's arms, and 
dashed its brains out on the pavement before 
her. Atrocities so terrible and disgusting 
that they can never be hinted at on the page 
of history were the fate of the Englishmen 
and Englishwomen throughout this reign of 
horror. 

Similar mutinies followed at various points, 
accompanied by similar outrages. In several 
instances some of the rebelling sepoys pro- 
tected their British officers and enabled them 
to escape ; in others they were loud in profess- 
ing loyalty, and swore to defend the English 
to the last drop of their blood, — yet the mo- 
ment after, perfidiously shooting them down, 
and marching to join the insurgents at Delhi. 
It became evident that the whole Bengal 
army was leavened with the spirit of evil. 



IND 



420 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



It was a force of upward of 150,000 men. 
The European troops in Bengal were less 
than 25,000, and were distributed through 
the country at about a hundred military sta- 
tions. Some disaffection appeared in the 
Bombay army, but it was more promptly met ; 
there had been less regard to high caste paid 
there, and there was better discipline. The 
Madras sepoys generally exhibited a striking 
example of fidelity. Most of the native 
princes kept their faith with the British gov- 
ernment during this critical period. The 
villagers showed little love for the insurgents, 
a fact testifying that the trouble was a mu- 
tiny, not a popular insurrection. 

The news of these horrible massacres 
caused great excitement in England. Regi- 
ment after regiment was sent to the relief, 
and Sir Colin Campbell hurried on to take 
the command. Eucknow was besieged In- 
the insurgents, and the men of the garrison 
of Cawnpore were massacred by Nena Sa- 
hib. The heroic Havelock came up too late 
to avert this terrible catastrophe, and the day 
before he entered Cawnpore Nena Sahib 
finished the tragedy by murdering the wo- 
men and children. This was in the middle 
of July, 1857. Not till the 19 th of Septem- 
ber was Havelock's force strong enough to 
advance to the relief of the long beleaguered 
band at Lucknow. On the 25th, when a few 
hours must have given the besieged over to 
their pitiless foe, Ilavelock and succor came, 
and they were saved. Meanwhile a British 
army had gathered before the walls of Delhi, 
and on the 7th of September the siege com- 
menced. Several successful assaults Avere 
made, with great loss of life, and on the eve- 
ning of the 20th, the rebels evacuated the 
city and suburbs. Among the prisoners 
made was the wretched old King of Delhi ; 
his life and that of his wife were spared ; his 
two sons and grandson were shot. The fall 
of Delhi scattered the rebels through the 
land, and the war assumed more of a guer- 
rilla character. 

The force with which Ilavelock relieved 
Lucknow not being strong enough to protect 
the retreat of the women and children to 
Cawnpore, he remained at Lucknow ; the 
insurgents again besieged it, and the position 
of its defenders became quite critical. One 
of Sir Colin Campbell's first movements was 



for its relief He prosecuted hostilities 
against the insurgents with his proverbial 
energy, and with much hard fighting before 
the close of 1858 the mutiny was quelled. 
Sir Colin was elevated to the peerage as Baron 
Clyde. 

The missionaries in India were not spared 
in this whirlwind of fire and blood. Ten of 
these devoted men, with their wives, were 
slain ; of whom four belonged to the Ameri- 
can Presbyterian mission at Futtehgur. The 
destruction of mission property was immense. 
The mission bungalow residences, the schools, 
the churches or chapels, the libraries and 
stores of books, were destroyed. The ex- 
tensive printing-presses of the American 
mission at Allahabad, and of the Church of 
England mission at Agra, with the fonts of 
type, and Bible, and tract, and school-book 
depositories, — the accumulated results of the 
knowledge, experience, and toil of many a 
devoted spirit for many years, — all disap- 
peared. 

In 1858 the East India Company ceased to 

exist, and by act of parliament the control 

of India came into the hands of the crown. 

The following have been the governors- 
general of India ;— 

Warren Hastings assumed the government April 
13th, 1772. 

Sir JoiiD Macphersou, Feb. 1st, 1785. 

Lord Cornwallis, Sept. 12th, 1786. 

Sir John Shore (afterward Lord Teignmouth), 
Oct. 28th, 1793. 

Lord (afterward Marquis) Cornwallis again : he 
relinquished the appointment. 

Sir Alured Clarke, April 6th, 1798. 

Lord Morningtou (afterward Marquis Wellesley), 
May 17th, 1798. 

Marquis Cornwallis again, July 30th, 1805. 

Sir George Hilaro Barlow, Oct. 10th, 1805. 

Lord Minto, July 31st, 1807. 

Earl of Moira (afterward Marquis Hastings), Oct. 
4th, 1813. 

Hon. John Adam, Jan. 13th, 1823. 

Rt. Hon. George Canning ; he relinquished the 
appointment. 

Lord Amherst, Aug. 1st, 1823. 

Hon. Wm. Butterworth Bayley, March 13th, 
1828. 

Lord Wm. Cavendish Bentinck, July 4th, 1828. 

Sir Charles Theophilus (afterward Lord) Metcalfe, 
March 20th, 1835. 

Lord Auckland, March 4th, 1836. 

Lord Ellenborongh, Feb. 28th, 1842. 

William Wilberforce Bird, June loth, 1844. 

Sir Henry (afterward Viscount) Hardinge, July 

23d, 1844. 
: Lord Dalhousie, Jan. 12th, 1848. 

Lord Canning, July, 1855. 



IND 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



421 



•T 



Calcutta, the capital of the province of 
Bengal, and the seat of supreme government 
for British India, is situated on the east bank 
of the Hoogly, one of the arms of the Ganges, 
a hundred miles from the sea. Drainage has 
ameliorated the unhealthiness of its site. It 
was a small native village when the English 
established their foctory in 1656. Fort Wil- 
liam was built by Olive in 1757. The town 
extends more than six miles along the river, 
having an average width of three miles. 
The population, with the suburbs, is esti- 
mated at 500,000, made up of a strange 
hodgepodge of Eurasions (half-breeds), Ar- 
menians, Jews, Moguls, Parsees, Arabs, Bur- 
mese, Madrasses, native Christians, and 
British. The great mass speak the Bengalee 
language, and many the Hindustanee also. 
No springs are found for a hundred and forty 
feet below the surface, and for good water 
the people are dependent upon tanks filled 
by the periodical rains. Calcutta is the great 
emporium of trade and commerce for all Ben- 
gal. Flocks of kites, vultures, crows, and 
adjutant cranes clear away the surplus food 
provided for Europeans, which is thrown at 
night into the streets, since it can not be kept 
in that climate, and the religious prejudices 
of the natives forbid them to consume it. 
These feathered scavengers are aided by 
foxes, jackals, and wild dogs from the jun- 
gles, who prowl and howl through the ways 
at night. The markets are abundantly sup- 
plied with choice meats, game, fish, and 
fruits. Several institutions for literary, sci 
entific, and educational objects have been es- 
tablished by the English. 

The sacred city of Benares, in Bengal, 
rises like an amphitheatre on the high north- 
ern bank of the Ganges. It has more than 
600,000 inhabitants, and the dense masses at 
the great Hindoo festivals present an extra- 
ordinary scene. The natives call Benares 
Cusi or GasM, ' the splendid,' and it is re- 
garded with peculiar reverence. It abounds 
in temples. A college for the instruction of 
Hindoos in their own literature was founded 
here by the British government in 1791. 
Benares is a great mart for diamonds and 
other gems, which are brought principally 
from the Bundelcund. The city was ceded 
to the East India Company by the Nabob of 



Oude in 1775. A Hindoo imagines that if 
he dies in Benares, his eternal felicity is cer- 
tain. 

The city of Bombay is situated on an 
island of the same name, on the western 
coast of India ; population, 566,000. It is 
belted with fortifications. The trade of Bom- 
bay is very great, cotton being the largest 
export 

Madras lies on the eastern coast. Fort St. 
George was built in 103'J, and a factory estab- 
lished here. The population is 300,000, and 
there are several populous suburbs. The 
coast has no indentation, nor has Madras any 
harbor or pier. A heavy swell rolls in shore 
throughout the year, and vessels anchor in 
the open roads a mile or so out. Consider- 
able difficulty is frequently experienced in 
landing passengers and goods. 

The languages of India may be divided 
into two great classes. I. Languages de- 
rived from the Sanscrit, spoken in the north- 
ern and central provinces — the Ilindee, 
Bengalee, Punjaubee, Mahratta, Guzerattee, 
Cutchee, Boondela, Brig Bliakhur, Ooriya, 
and Asamese. II. Languages less closely 
dependent upon the Sanscrit, spoken in the 
southern parts — the Teloogoo, Tamul, Cana- 
rese, Malayala, and Cingalese. The common 
language of Mohammedans is Hindustanee ; 
this is a compound of Hindce, the primi- 
tive language of the Hindoos, with Arabic 
and Persian, the speech of their Moham- 
medan conquerors. Legislative acts are 
translated into Persian, Bengalee, and Hin- 
dustanee. 

The Hindoos from earliest times have been 
divided into four castes, or races. The Brah- 
mins occupy the first rank; their proper 
duties are to teach the Vedas or sacred books, 
to perform sacrifices to the gods, and to 
meditate upon divine and holy objects. The 
Kshatriya, or military class, is said by the 
Brahmins to be extinct, but the Rnjpoots 
claim to belong to this class. The Vaisyas 
are agriculturists, herdsmen, and hunters. 
The Sudras are handicraftsmen and artisans, 
and tlie lowest and most degraded class in 
Hindoo societ}^ The Hindoos of the present 
day are divided into numerous sects, all of 
modern origin, and most of them differing 
very much from the ancient religion. 



IND 



422 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 




^:^^ 



INDIANx\ has an area of 33,809 square 
miles, and in 1860 had a population of 
1,350,428. In some quartci'S the surface is 
hilly, but the greater portion of the state is 
level or slightly undulating. The land is 
generally rich and productive, and along the 
streams lie strips of alluvion that are almost 
exhaustless in fertility. The state is well 
watered by many fine streams, some of them 
navigable, as the Wabash and the White. It 
is rich in indigenous timber ; the oak, the 
walnut, the .sycamore, and the poplar attain 
a noble size ; oaks and beeches are the most 
prevalent. Indiana is a great grain-growing 
state ; her manufactures are yet in embryo. 
Bituminous coal is abundant. 

The first settlement in Indiana was made at 
Vincennes on the Wabash, by the French, 
in 1702. All this region passed into the 
hands of the British by treatj^ and was 
WTested from them in the Revolution. The 
early white dwellers in these then distant 
wilds suffered severely from the tomahawk 
and scalping-knife of the savage. Indiana 
was admitted into the Union in 1816. The 
present constitution was framed in 1851. 
The governor is elected for four years ; the 
senate for the same term ; and the representa- 
tives for two j^ears. The general assembly 
meets biennially on the first Monday of Jan- 
uary. The right of suffrage extends to 
every white male citizen of the United States 
who is of age and has resided in the state six 
months, and to every white foreign-born male 
who shall have resided in the United States 



one year, in the state six months, and have 
duly declared his intention to become a citi- 
zen of the United States. The constitution 
prohibits the immigration of negroes. Libe- 
ral legislation has provided for public instruc- 
tion, and there are institutions at Indianapo- 
lis where all the blind and deaf-mute children 
of the state are educated without charge for 
board or tuition. 

Indianapolis, the capital, was laid out in 
1821 : in 1820 its site was covered with a 
dense forest, which in 18G0 had given place 
to the homes of 18,611 people. It was plan- 
ned upon noble dimensions ; the broad streets, 
intersecting one another at right angles, bear 
the names of the different states of the Union. 
Evansville, on the Ohio, is a thriving town 
of (1853) 8,000 inhabitants. New Albany, 
farther up the river, is laid out with great 
regularity, is the seat of a good business, 
and the largest town in the state ; population 
in 1860, 15,000. Madison, still above, is 
handsomely built of brick, with broad 
straight streets, and is a place of enterprise ; 
population in 1858, 12,000. 

INDIANS. The aboriginal population of 
America consists of two distinct races — the 
Esquimaux, inhabiting the seaboard districts 
of the Arctic regions ; and the copper-colored 
Indians, who were spread over all the rest 
of the continent. The question as to the ori- 
gin of the latter has never been solved, and 
perhaps is beyond the province of history. 
Notwithstanding some partial differences of 
complexion and stature, and a prodigious 



IND 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



423 



diversity in languages, a strong family char- 
acter pervades the Indians of both Americas. 
Humboldt testifies that the Indians of New 
Spain bear a general physical resemblance to 
those of Canada, Florida, Peru, and Brazil. 
In their civil and social state, however, there 
has been a great difference among the abo- 
rigines. The Aztecs of Mexico, the inhabi- 
tants of Oundinamarca, the Peruvians, and 
the ancient possessors of Central America, 
all made much progress in civilization, con- 
trasting strongly with the bold and terrible 
traits of the barbarous tribes, many of whom 
seemed sunk in the lowest naisery. 

From Hudson's Bay to Mexico, and from 
the Atlantic to the Rocky Mountains, Hie 
whites found the country possessed by many 
petty and independent tribes, who wei'e gene- 
rally enemies to one another. They were in 
the rudest state of society, wandering from 
place to place, without science and without 
arts, with no metallic instruments, and own- 
ing no domestic animals. A little corn was 
raised by the labor of their women with a 
clamshell or the scapula of a buffiilo ; this 
they devoured with savage improvidence, and 
subsisted during the rest of the year upon 
precarious supplies of game and fish. They 
were thinly scattered over a wide extent of 
country, fixing their summer residence upon 
some fertile spot, and roaming during the 
winter, with their families and their mat or 
skin houses, in search of the animals neces- 
sary for food or clothing. Their numbers 
never could have been considerable, for their 
habits could exist only in a boundless forest 
and among a sparse population. Where 
each family requires for its daily con- 
sumption a deer, an elk, or a buffalo, the 
herd which is to supply the demand must 
occupy an extensive district of country. 
Their hostilities often brought on a scarcity 
of provisions, which led to famine, fright- 
ful suffering, and death. Some of the tribes 
indulged in the horrid banquet of human 
flesh. 

Throughout the continent, with some rare 
exceptions, the woman was the slave of the 
man : she performed all the menial offices, 
bore the burdens, tilled the ground, and in 
many cases was not counted worthy to eat 
or speak before the other sex. Polygamy 
was by no means uncommon, though often 



checked by the difficulty of procuring, or the 
hardship of supporting, more than one wife. 
In general tlie American Indians seem to 
have entertained the idea of a Great Spirit, 
a Master of Life, in short a Creator ; and of 
an Evil Spirit, holding divided empire over 
nature with the other. Many of them had 
priests, prophets, sorcerers, in whose super- 
natural powers they put trust ; and most, if 
not all, appear to have believed in a future 
state. The Algonquin nations believed in 
the existence of a Supreme Creator, the 
Kacha Manito, or Good Spirit; of Malcha 
Manito, or Evil Spirit ; and of inferior spirits. 
They soughUto obtain the favor of these by 
certain cei^emonies, and sometimes by sacri- 
fices and offerings. They had some notions 
of a future life, in which the good should 
spend their time in hunting and mirth, and 
the bad grunt and sweat in hard labor. 
They had sorcerers whose spells were highly 
esteemed for the cure of diseases and for 
luck in their enterprises ; the medicine-bags 
or charms were carefully worn about the per- 
son or hung up in the lodge. For the cure 
of diseases, thc}^ practiced bleeding, used the 
steam bath, employed various herbs and 
roots, and trusted much to the efficiency of 
songs, dances, and other ceremonies performed 
under the direction of the medicine men. 

The aboriginal population of the territory 
of the United States, instead of merging into 
the European stock that settled among them, 
have wasted away, and become almost extinct 
east of the Mississippi. Wars with the 
whites, too often provoked by the cupidity 
and rascality of the latter ; the gradual de- 
struction of the game on which they depended 
for subsistence ; and the vices taught them 
by intercourse with civilization, — these causes 
combined to lessen their numbers, until the 
numerous tribes that once occupied all the 
openings in the great primitive American 
forest have wholly died out, or have dwin- 
dled to a few miserable individuals. 

The region between the Atlantic and the 
Piocky Mountains, and between the Gulf of 
Mexico and Hudson's Bay, seems to have 
been divided among five great nations or 
families of tribes— the Algonquin, or Chip- 
pewa; the Huron, or Wyandot; the Flori- 
dian ; the Sioux, or Hahcotah ; and the Paw- 
nee. Each of these families comprised many 



IND 



424 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



independent and often hostile tribes ; which, 
however, are proved to have spoken cognate 
dialects, and therefore to have sprung from a 
common stock. 

The leading tribes of New York— the Mo- 
hawks, Senecas, Cayugas, Oneidas, Ononda- 
gas (all belonging to the Huron flimily), to 
whom were afterward added the Tuscaroras 
from North Carolina — were banded in a pow- 
erful confederacy, known as the Five Nations 
or Iroquois. [See Six Nations.] The Mo- 
hawks, the leaders of these Romans of the 
new world, — as they have been called on ac- 
count of their warlike spirit and extensive 
conquests, — removed to Canadti in 1776, and 
were followed by a portion of the Cayugas. 
These once powerful nations have diminished 
to an insignificant band. 

The Algonquin race once possessed all the 
country between the Tennessee and Roanoke, 
and the St. Lawrence and the lakes, and even 
much farther north ; with the exception of 
the comparatively small enclosed tract inhab- 
ited by the Huron nations. The Indians of 
New England were of this race, as were the 
Chippewas, or Ojibwas, Ottawas, Potawata- 
niies, Sacs and Foxes, Shawnees, Kickapoos, 
Miamis, and Lenni Lenapes, or Delawares. 

The Sioux, or Dahcotahs, occupying the 
country between the upper Missouri and the 
upper Mississippi, are one of the most pow- 
erful nations yet remaining. There are many 
other tribes that belong to this stock ; as the 
Winnebagoes, Osages, Crows, Blackfeet, &c. 
The Pawnees, Camanches, and other tribes 
of the Pawnee family are well mounted, and 
nomadic in their life, following the buffalo in 
his annual migrations from north to south, 
and in his continual roamings in search of new 
pastures. The mounted Apache hordes are 
warlike and powerful, and are rarely at peace. 
An extensive tract of country, west of Ar- 
kansas, has been set apart by the United 
States for the permanent residence of the 
various tribes of Indians that have been 
removed from the states. The principal of 
these are the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, 
Osages, Chickasaws, Potawatamies and Chip- 
pewas, Pawnees, Seminoles, Sacs and Foxes, 
Shawnees and Senecas, and Delawares. The 
Cherokees are the most civilized ; the Creeks 
and Choctaws come next. Under the guid- 
ance of missionaries, who have settled among 



them, and with the sanction and assistance 
of the commissioner of Indian affairs, they 
have established regular governments, legis- 
latures, judicial officers, churches, schools, 
newspapers, &c. ; have introduced the manu- 
facture of agricultural implements, cloth, and 
most articles of ordinary farm and domestic 
use; cultivate the land with a considerable 
amount of skill; rear horses and cattle; 
build houses ; and export maize, cotton, 
hides, &c. By the treaty of removal and 
settlement, the federal government furnishes 
them with blacksmiths, wheelwrights, and 
some other mechanics, and at their first set- 
tlement gave them a stock of cattle, &c. 
Many of the tribes possess slaves. The 
Seminoles were exceeding!}' loath to depart 
from their old homes in the glades of 
Florida, and fought desperately a-gainst the 
removal. 

The North American Indians were distin- 
guished for a quick understanding, a reten- 
tive memory, and a stoicism which would 
have excited the envy of the philosophers of 
ancient Greece. The desire for revenge was 
to an Indian one of the most powerful in- 
citements to action. He knew nothing of 
the principle that leads a Christian to return 
good for evil. He rarely if ever forgot an 
injury. As an exception to this, however, 
the following anecdote appears worthy to be 
related. An Indian, having wandered far 
from his comrades, found himself near a 
white man's dwelling, foot-worn and thirsty. 
The owner of the house was standing at the 
door. The Indian begged a morsel of food 
and a cup of water, to sustain his sinking 
frame. " Begone ! dog of an Indian ! " was 
the surly reply. Some years after this the 
Englishman, on a hunting excursion, lost 
himself in the forest. At the moment of 
despair, he perceived an Indian wigwam, and 
having applied for shelter, was welcomed 
with ready hospitality. The Indian host 
busied himself in making every arrangement 
for the comfort of his guest. His horse was 
fed and cared for, a supper was provided, 
and a bed of soft skins invited him to repose 
his weary limbs. In the morning, when the 
white man signified his desire to depart, the 
Indian offered to be his guide. Having con- 
ducted him to the outskirts of the forest, the 
Indian pointed out his path. The English- 



IND 



HISTORY AND. BIOGRAPHY. 



425 



man thanked him, and was about to go. "Stay 
yet a moment," said the Indian ; " I see that 
you do not know me, — but I know you well. 
Some ten years since, a poor Indian came to 
your door, and asked you to give him a mor- 
sel of bread and a cup of water. You re- 
fused him. I am that red man. I swore to 
be revenged. Am I not? Now go your 
ways, and forget not to tell your white breth- 
ren that there is at least one Indian who 
can practice what they preach." 

The Indians were noted for their bravery. 
In war they seldom gave quarter, and pris- 
oners were generally tortured, and burnt at 
the stake. It was the pride of a vanquished 
warrior or chieftain to endure these tortures 
without a murmur, and to perish singing 
with an unfaltering voice his triumphant 
death-song, in which he recounted his previ- 
ous exploits, the number of foes that had 
fallen beneath his hatchet and whose scalps 
adorned his wigwam, and rejoiced at the 
prospect of reaching those Elysian fields of 
after life, where through eternity the immor- 
tal huntsman chased undying game. 

The traditions of the Iroquois abound with 
touching tales of the injustice they sustained 
from the whites, from their first settling in 
the country. " We and our tribes," they say, 
"lived in peace and harmony with each other 
before the white people came into this 
country ; our council house extended far 
to the north and the south. In the middle 
of it we could meet from all parts to smoke 
the pipe of peace together. When the white 
men arrived in the south we received them 
as friends ; we did the same when they came 
in the east. We knew not but the Great 
Spirit had sent them to us for some good 
purpose, and therefore we thought they must 
be a good people. We were mistaken. The 
whites will not rest contented until they shall 
have destroyed the last of us, and made us 
disappear entirely from the face of the earth." 

Menandon, an Oneida chief, who was a 
Christian, lived to be a hundred and twenty 
years old, long surviving the minister 
through whose teachings he had been con- 
verted. Just before he died, he said, " I am 
an aged hemlock. The winds of one hun- 
dred years have whistled through my 
branches. I am dead at top [referring to his 
blindness]. AVhy I yet live, the Good Spirit 



only knows. Pray to Jesus that I may wait 
my appointed time to die ; and when I die, 
lay me by the side of my minister and father, 
that I may go up with him to the great resur- 
rection." 

The Indians have shown instances of strong 
sentiment. Schoolcraft relates that a noble- 
minded girl, named Oolaita, being attached 
to a young chief of her own tribe, was com- 
manded by her parents to marry an old war- 
rior, renowned for his wisdom and influence 
in the nation. She left her father's house 
while the marriage- feast was preparing, and 
throwing herself from an awful precipice, 
was dashed to pieces. A Sioux Helen caused 
a division of that nation. Ozalapaila, the wife 
of one of the chiefs, having been carried off 
by another leading warrior of the same tribe, 
and the husband and brothers of the woman 
having been slain in the attempt to recover 
her, the quarrel gradually extended from the 
friends of the two parties to the whole nation, 
and ended in a fierce civil war. 

Drunkenness has been a great curse to the 
race. An Indian who had been brought up 
in Minisink, near the Delaware water-gap, to 
whom the German inhabitants of that neigh- 
borhood had given the name of Cornelius 
Rosenbaum, told Mr. Heckewelder that he 
had once, when under the influence of strong 
liquor, killed the best Indian friend he had, 
fancying him to be his worst avowed enemy. 
He said that the deception was complete, and 
that the face of his friend presented to his 
intoxicated eyes all the features of the man 
with whom he was in a state of hostility. It 
is impossible to express the horror with 
which he was struck when he awoke from 
that delusion; he was so shocked, that he 
resolved from that moment never more to 
taste the maddening poison, of which he was 
convinced the devil was the inventor ; for it 
could only be the evil spirit that made him 
see his enemy when his friend was before ' 
him, and produced so strong a delusion on 
his bewildered senses that he actually killed 
him. From that time until his death, which 
happened thirty years afterward, he never 
drank a drop of ardent spirits, which he 
always called " the devil's blood," and was 
firmly persuaded that the devil, or some of 
his inferior spirits, had a hand in prepar- 
ing it. 



IND 



426 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



INGOUR, a river rising in the Caucasus, 
and falling into the Black Sea. Omar Pacha, 
marching to the relief of Kars, crossed this 
river with 10,000 men, Nov. Gtli, 1855, and 
attacked the Russians, 12,000 strong, en- 
camped on the left bank, who after a struggle 
retreated with the loss of 400 men. Kars, 
however, was not saved. 

INKERMANN, Battle op. The Russians 
sallied from Sebastopol, and attacked the 
British at Inkermann, before daybreak, Nov. 
5th, 1854. The British fought desperately, 
but being far outnumbered by the attacking 
force, were only saved by the arrival of a 
French division. The contest was most 
bloody. Sir George Cathcart was among the 
British slain. 

INNSPRUCK, or Innsbruck, the capital of 
the Tyrol, situated on the Inn. Population, 
13,000. The valley in which it stands was 
the scene of several of the events that took 
place during the heroic resistance made by 
the Tyrolese to the French and Bavarians in 
1809. 

INQUISITION. The Inquisition, or Holy 
Office, as it is called, was an institution of the 
Catholic church, established in Spain, Portu- 
gal, Italy, and other Romanist countries, to 
try persons accused of holding opinions con- 
.trary to those received by the church. The 
members of this jurisdiction were called in- 
quisitors, because, without any proof of a 
person's guilt, they seized him upon common 
report, and investigated his conduct, they 
themselves deciding upon his guilt or inno- 
cence. 

There is some controversy about the origin 
of the Inquisition, but it is allowed that Pope 
Innocent III. first gave rise to the Holy Office. 
While this man was at the head of the Cath- 
olic church, the Albigenses of France, who 
refused to embrace the monstrous doctrines of 
the Roman Catholic church, were persecuted 
and hunted like wild beasts. It was in the 
beginning of the thirteenth century, that Pope 
Innocent sent Pierre de Castelman, Archdea- 
con of Maguelonne, and Rainier, another 
priest, to stir up a spirit of zeal and persecu- 
tion against the heretics. Dominic, a famous 
Spaniard, founder of the order of Preachers, 
fell in with the messengers of the pope in the 
year 1206, and labored, with energy, to put 
an end to the heresy, as any opinion diflFerent 



from the doctrines of the church was called. 
These priests inquired into the conduct of the 
princes, and other men in powei", toward the 
heretics, and fi'om the scrutiny to which they 
subjected suspected persons were called in- 
quisitors. They had no court and no decisive 
authority, being mere spies of the pope. St. 
Dominic is said to have founded the first reg- 
ular tribunal at Toulouse. Innocent III. sig- 
nified his approbation, and authorized the 
establishment in the year 1215. Gregory IX. 
gave the institution into the hands of the 
Dominicans. 

So cruel were the proceedings of the Inqui- 
sition, that even Catholics endeavored to pre- 
vent its establishment in different countries; 
but Spain, a country famous for its devotion 
to the Catholic religion, and for its ignorance, 
became its chosen seat. The Spanish Inqui- 
sition is always spoken of with horror and 
indignation. In Spain it was first introduced 
in 1478. The first inquisitor-general and the 
first court were constituted in 1481. The 
kings of Castile, before they were crowned, 
took an oath that they, as well as their sub- 
jects, should be under the power of the Holy 
Office, as it was impiously called. The in- 
quisitors received their power from the pope's 
mouth, or by means of letters, and he alone 
had power to remove them from office. 

Nothing could be more horrible than the 
proceedings of the inquisitors. Without be- 
ing permitted to know who accused him, a 
man was suddenly seized ; his dearest friends 
abandoned him at once, none daring to speak 
to him. From the midst of the luxuries of 
life, he was huri'ied to a loathsome dungeon. 
Upon the slightest pretense, the torture was 
applied, and many an innocent person, in the 
pangs of death, was forced to accuse himself. 
The very advocate who plead for them was in 
terror of the Inquisitioaj,and completely in its 
power; the slightest sentence he uttered, 
which could possibly be turned against him, 
was enough to place him also in danger of life. 

There were two classes of punishments, the 
ecclesiastical or religious punishments, and 
the civil. The ecclesiastical punishments 
were excommunication, loss of a Christian 
burial in consecrated ground, and loss of all 
right to hold offices. As civil punishments, 
the inquisitors disinherited the children of the 
criminal; that is, declared that if their father 



INQ 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



427 



died a, heretic, they, although Catholics, 
should not hold any of his property. They 
also pronounced the sentence of infamy, which 
deprived a man of all his property, of all right 
to hold an office, and of all power, even over 
his children and servants. Criminals were 
also imprisoned. They incurred the ban, or 
curse, by which they lost all the rights of a 
human being, were driven out of all society, 
and might be falsely accused, beaten, and 
robbed, without any hope of getting redress. 
In fact, if any lawyer defended them against 
an accusation, he was pronounced infamous 
and deprived of office. 

The last and most frightful punishment 
was that of being burned alive, sometimes 
with an iron gag in the mouth, which pre- 
vented the agonized sufferer from uttering an 
intelligible cry. Often, however, while burn- 
ing, they were left at libertj^ to speak, and 
supplicated for mercy in a manner which 
would have moved any but the hardest-hearted 
to pity ; and yet the pitiless inquisitors dared 
to say that their actions found favor in the 
eyes of Heaven. 

The tortures to which the inquisitors put 
the accused, to make them confess their guilt, 
were di'eadful. The tortures were of five 
kinds. First, their being threatened with the 
torture; second, their being carried to the 
place of torture; third, their being stripped 
and bound ; fourth, their being hoisted on the 
rack; fifth, squassation, in which the limbs 
were all disjointed. 

Squassation was thus performed. The pris- 
oner's hands being tied behind his back, heavy 
weights were attached to his feet, and he was 
hoisted up by a rope, until his head touched 
the pulley. Hanging in this awful situation 
for some time, his linrbs and joints became 
stretched frightfully; and when suddenly let 
to fall, the fall being checked by the rope be- 
fore he touched the ground, all his limbs were 
disjointed. The horrible pain he now felt 
was increased by the immense weight hanging 
at his feet. The Inquisition inflicted squassa- 
tion, when determined on, once, twice, or even 
three times in the space of an hour. What 
could the poor wretch enjoy of life, if he 
gained his liberty at length? 

When we examine farther into the annals 
of the Inquisition, humanity shudders. Lovely 
and innocent women had their delicate frames 



torn to pieces by the racks of these monsters, 
because they refused to acknowledge that as 
the true religion which sanctioned such enor- 
mities. Such were the torments inflicted upon 
Jane Bohorques and her attendant, a young 
Protestant girl. They were afterward burnt 
at the auto dafc^ or act of faith. 

These acts of faith, when a large number of 
the condemned were often collected to suffer 
at once, were always held upon festival days. 
The procession issued from the halls of the 
Inquisition, the Dominican friars, with the 
standard of their order, coming first. On one 
side their flag had the picture of Saint Domi- 
nic, on the other the motto, "Justice and 
Mercy" ! After these came the penitents, all 
in sleeveless black coats, with lighted wax 
tapers, and barefooted. Those who had nar- 
rowly escaped burning, followed next in order, 
with flames pointing downward painted on 
their coats. 'The relapsed came next, with 
habits covered with flames pointing upward. 
Lastly marched those who were peculiar ene- 
mies to the Romish doctrines; their habits 
were covered with flames, pointing upward, 
and on their breasts they bore a likeness of 
themselves, in the act of being devoured by 
wild beasts and serpents. 

At Lisbon, the place where they were 
burned was the Ribera, containing as many, 
stakes as there were condemned criminals, 
surrounded with furze. The stakes of the 
professed, as they were called, were about four 
yards high, with a seat for the prisoner upon 
a board, within a yard of the top. The nega- 
tive and relapsed prisoners were first strangled 
and burned ; the professed then ascended the 
ladder with a Jesuit upon each side, who ex- 
horted them to confess their sins and return 
to the Romish church. If they refused, the 
priests descended the ladder, and the execu- 
tioner chained them to the stake. After an 
interval the priests again ascended, and if the 
prisoners proved still obstinate, they were 
forsaken, and the spectators called out, "Let 
the dogs' beards be made ! " The operation 
alluded to was performed by thrusting poles, 
having flaming bunches of furze at the end, 
against the faces of the criminals. These were 
generally held against them until their faces 
were burnt to a coal, the whole proceeding 
eliciting shouts of approbation and joy. 

After this the furze at the foot of the stake 



INQ 



428 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



was fired, and, in general reached no higher 
than the knees of the condemned, so that they 
were hterally roasted to death. In a cahn 
they might die in half an hour; in a high 
wind seldom under two hours. 

In ancient times, the Spaniards thought the 
entertainment afforded by the horrid spectacle 
of an auto dafe, equal to that derived from a 
bull-fight or a dance. In honor of Elizabeth, 
the new queen, daughter of Henry II. of 
France, a girl of thirteen, one was held in 
1560, in which, not content with burning some 
human beings, they consumed a few effigies. 

Napoleon abolished this terrible Inquisi- 
tion, and this just exercise of power should be 
remembered when many of his crimes are 
brought to view. When Ferdinand was re- 
stored, by the success of Napoleon's opponents, 
to the Spanish throne, he re-established it. 
The Cortes swept it away in^ 1820. There 
never was another institution of such dreadful 
crueltj^ nor one in which the laws of religion 
and mercy were so daringly defied, under pre- 
tense, too, of vindicating morality and pure 
piety. 

If the Inquisition, in modern days, was less 

bloody than formerly, we are to attribute it, 

not to the spirit of the institution, but to the 

increase of light, which will finally, we trust, 

. put an end to all abuses. 



IONIA, a district of Asia Minor, peopled by 
a migration from Attica about B.C. 1044. Ionia 
was divided into twelve small states, which 
formed a celebrated confederacy often spoken 
of by the ancients. These states were Priene, 
Miletus, Colophon, Clazomence, Ephesus, Le- 
bedos, Teos, Erythrje, Phocaea, Smyrna, and 
the capitals of Samos and Chios. After they 
had enjoyed, for some time, their freedom and 
independence, they were made tributary to 
the power of Lydia by Croesus. The Atheni- 
ans assisted them to shake off the yoke of the 
Asiatic monarchs, but they soon forgot their 
duty and relation to their mother country, 
and joined Xerxes when he invaded Greece. 
They were delivered from the Persian yoke 
by Alexander, and finally were reduced by 
the Romans under Sylla. Smyrna, unchanged 
in name, and prosperous in commerce, alone 
remains, and is the most important city in 
Asia Minor. 

IONIAN ISLANDS, the collective name of 
a group west of Greece, comprising Cephalo- 
nia (the ancient Cephallcnia), Corfu (Corcy- 
ra), Santa Maura fLcucas), Zante (Zakyn- 
thos), Cerigo (Cythera), Ithaca, and Paxo. 
They were long a republic under English 
" protection," but were re-united to Greece on 
the accession of the present king, George I. 
Population, 227,000. Corfu is their capital. 




.ii0Mi/a 



IOWA has an area of 50,914 square miles; 
population in 18G0, 074,948- Her domain hes 
in the embrace of the two largest rivers of our 
country, navigable far beyond her limits. The 
interior is traversed by lesser, but noble and 



often navigable rivers, the De5 Moines, Iowa, 
Red Cedar, Boyer, Nodaway, Nishnabotna, 
&c. Heavy timber groves skirt the numerous 
streams, and frequent clumps dot the land- 
scape on every hand, like islands in the prai- 



lOW 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



429 



rie sea. The face of the country is a rolling 
prairie, fertile and virgin, varied with the 
luxuriant river valleys and much prized tim- 
ber lands. Valuable lead mines occur in the 
neighborhood of Dubuque ; coal is largely dif- 
fused through the state; extensive beds of 
gypsum are found in Webster county ; and 
iron and copper have been discovered to some 
extent. Wheat and corn are the staple pro- 
ductions of Iowa; tobacco is grown in the 
western section to some extent; the soil is 
well adapted for any of the productions com- 
mon to the temperate zone, especially to rais- 
ing fruit. 

Until 1832 Iowa was a wilderness, in the 
hands of the Indians. The wave of emigra- 
tion broke across the Mississippi, upon its 
smiling valleys and prairies ; in 1838 it was 
organized as a territory; and in 1846 it be- 
came a sovereign state and member of the 
Union. By the constitution, every white 
male citizen of the United States, twenty -one 
years old (idiotic, insane, or infamous persons 
excepted), who has resided in the state six 
months, and in the county twenty days, has 
the right of suffrage. The sessions of the 
general assembly are biennial : the senators 
are chosen for four years, one-half biennially, 
and the representatives for two years. The 
governor is elected biennially. The judicial 
power is vested in a supreme court, consisting 
of a chief-justice and two associates, chosen 
by the general assembly for six years ; in 
district courts, the judges of which are elected 
for five years by the people of the respective 
districts ; and in justices of the peace. Lib- 
eral support has been provided for common 
schools and academies. The Iowa State Uni- 
versity is located at Iowa City ; normal schools 
have been provided ; common schools nurture 
the youth of every hamlet ; and a deaf-mute 
asylum, and an institution for the blind, both 
at Iowa City, care for those unfortunate 
classes. In this matter of education the 
Hawkeye state is surpassed by none of her 
sisters in the great North-west. 

Demoine City (formerly called Fort Des 
Moines) is the capital of Iowa. A frontier 
fort was erected here at an early day. The 
town was laid out in 1846, and in 1856, the 
year it was made the capital, had some 2,500 
inhabitants. Iowa City, the former seat of 
government, was laid out in 1839, and in 



1856 had 5,500 inhabitants. Davenport is 
built on the broad bottom land of the Missis- 
sippi, opposite Rock Island ; tasteful dwellings 
extending up the beautiful bluffs, and into the 
prairie beyond; population in 1853, 4,500. 
Burlington, called the oldest town in the 
state, stands lower down the Mississippi. 
As an instance of the rapid growth of Iowa, 
shared by all her towns and hamlets, we may 
say that in 1850 Burlington had 2,000 dwell- 
ers: in 1856 its population was 16,000, and 
thrift and wealth had gained proportionally. 
Dubuque; on the Mississippi, in the heart of 
the great lead region, is one of the largest and 
finest towns in the state, standing on a natu- 
ral terrace, bounded on the west by a range 
of high bluffs, whose summits command a 
landscape of varied beauty. Dubuque had 
its name from M. Dubuque, a Frenchman 
who obtained a grant from the Spanish gov- 
ernment for mining lead here. It was the 
first European settlement in Iowa, dating to 
1786. The population in 1860 was 13,000. 
Keokuk, at the mouth of the fertile valley of 
the Des Moines, is another of the progressive 
cities of Iowa, with a population of over 
10,000. 

IPSUS, Battle of. Seleucus was con- 
firmed upon his throne by the defeat and 
death of Antigonus in this contest, B.C. 301. 
On the one side were Antigonus and his son ; 
on the other Seleucus, Ptolemy, Lysimachus, 
and Cassander. The former led into the 
field an army of above 70,000- foot and 10,000 
horse, with 75 elephants. The latter's forces 
consisted of 64,000 infantry, besides 10,500 
horse, 400 elephants, and 120 armed chariots. 
IRELAND, the second in size of the Brit- 
ish islands, has an area of 32,508 square 
miles; population in 1861, 5,764,543. The 
surface of Ireland is less rugged than that of 
Scotland, and more varied and undulating 
than that of England. Its freshness and ver- 
dure have gained it the poetical name of the 
Emerald Isle. Its ancient name was Erin, 
and by the Romans it was known as Hiber- 
nia. It is divided into four provinces, Ulster, 
Leinster, Connaught, and Munster, which 
are subdivided into thirty-two counties. The 
executive government is administered by a 
viceroy, whose official title is lord lieutenant 
general and general governor of Ireland. 
The judiciary is similar to that of England. 



IRE 



I 



430 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



There are two ecclesiastical provinces, whose 
primates are the Archbishop of Armagh and 
the Archbishop of Dublm. There are ten 
suflfragan bishops. The Roman Catholic dig- 
nitaries are the four archbishops of Armagh, 
DubUn, Cashel, and Tuam, with twenty-five 
bishops. 

Dublin, the metropolis of Ireland, is situa- 
ted on both sides of the Liffey, as it enters 
Dublin Bay. It is a beautiful city ; the pub- 
lic buildings are of stone, and few cities con- 
tain an equal number of magnificent edifices. 
The University of Dublin, or Trinity College, 
founded by Queen Elizabeth in 1593, is a 
well endowed institution. Population of Dub- 
Hn in 1861, 249, V83. Cork, the second city 
of Ireland, situated on the Lee, with a popu- 
lation in 1851 of 167,450, is a large and 
flourishing place, and was built by the Danes 
in the sixth century. After the revolution 
of 1688 it was occupied by James II. ; it was 
taken by Marlborough in 1690. The harbor 
of Cork is one of the noblest in the world. 
Belfast (population in 1851, 125,491) is the 
chief town in the province of Ulster, and the 
principal place of trade in Ireland. Linens, 
damasks, diapers, and cottons are actively 
manufactured. The town had its origin in 
the early part of the seventeenth century. 
Limerick, on the Shannon, had in 1851, 
53,448 inhabitants. It is a place of great 
antiquity, supposed by some to be the Regia 
of PtolerajBus, and was a place of some note 
in the fifth century when visited by St. 
Patrick. 

There are no serpents or other venomous 
reptiles in Ireland; St. Patrick is said to 
have driven them all into the sea. At the 
lake of Killarney, the peasants still preserve 
the following ludicrous tradition. When the 
labors of St. Patrick were drawing to a close, 
there was one enormous serpent \vlio sturdily 
refused to emigrate, and bafl[ied the attempts 
of the good saint for a long time. He haunted 
the romantic shores of Killarne}', and was so 
well pleased with his place of residence, that 
he never contemplated the prospect of re- 
moving without a deep sigh. At length St. 
Patrick, having procured a large oaken chest, 
with nine strong bolts to secure its lid, took 
it on his shoulder one fine sunshiny morning. 



morrow to ye ! " said the saint. " Bad luck 
to ye ! " replied the serpent. " Not so, my 
fi-iend," replied the good saint ; ' you speak 
unwisely ; I'm your friend. To prove which, 
haven't I brought you over this beautiful 
house as a shelter to you ? So be ai.sy, my 
darlint." But the serpent, being a cunning 
reptile, understood what blarney meant, as 
well as the saint himself Still, not wishing 
to affront his apparently friendly visitor, he. 
said, by way of excuse, that the chest was not 
large enough for him. St. Patrick assured 
him that it would accommodate him very 
well. " Just get into it, my darlint, and see 
how aisy you'll be." The serpent thought to 
cheat the samt; he whipped into the chest, 
but left an inch or two of his tail hanging out 
over the edge. "I told you so," said he; 
"there's not room for the whole of me." 
"Take care of your tail, my darlint! " cried 
the saint, as he whacked the lid down on the 
serpent. In an instant the tail disappeared, 
and St. Patrick proceeded to shoot all the 
bolts. He then took the chest on his shoul- 
ders. " Let me out ! " cried the serpent. 
"Aisy," cried the saint; "I'll let you out to- 
morrow." So saying, he threw the box into 
the waters of the lake, to the bottom of which 
it sank to rise no more. But forever after- 
ward, the fishermen affirmed that they heard 
the voice of the poor cozened reptile eagerly 
inquiring, " Is to-morrow come yet ? Is to- 
morrow come yet ? " 

The early history of Ireland is involved in 
great obscurity, and it is impossible to distin- 
guish fact from fiction in the talcs of its early 
historians. Some of them trace the line of 
ancient kings to antediluvian time, and one 
commences his annals with the creation of 
Adam, and has a chapter recounting the inva- 
sions of Ireland before the deluge. Accord- 
ing to one legend, fifty women and three men 
under the lead of Banba, a daughter of Cain, 
took possession of Ireland before the flood. 
They lived in the country forty years, until a 
plague came upon them and destroyed the 
whole colony in a single week. Others assert 
that three Spanish fishermen, having acci- 
dentally discovered Ireland, went home for 
their wives, and on their return to the island 
were overtaken by the deluge and drowned. 



and trudged over to Killarney, where he According to a third authority, Bith, a son 
found the serpent basking in the sun, " Good of Noah, having been denied admission to th- 

IRE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



431 



ark, forsook the God of his father, and with 
several others had recourse to an idol. The 
idol could not tell them when the deluge 
would take place; but, following its advice, 
they built a ship and put to sea. After 
having been tossed for seven years and a 
quarter, through adventures as various as 
those of Ulysses or Eneas, they landed at 
Cork. The party consisted of three men 
and fifty women. The former divided the 
latter among them, and settled in different 
parts of the island. Two of the men died, 
and their wives came to the third, who fled 
before them out of Leinster, leaving his favor- 
ite wife to die of grief These things hap- 
pened six days before the deluge. The 
learned and reverend historian makes the 
following judicious remarks: "The reader 
must observe that I do not give down these 
invasions or occupations as true history. I 
have recounted them here, merely because I 
found them mentioned in ancient books ; and, 
moreover, I can not conceive how our anti- 
quaries could have obtained these accounts 
of persons that arrived in Ireland before the 
flood, if it were not from those aerial demons 
who were their family followers in pagan 
times, or unless they had found them en- 
graved upon some rocks, that remained after 
the flood had subsided. I do not, however, 
insist that there- might not have existed, at 
the time of St. Patrick's coming to Ireland, 
some very old and venerable man, who had 
lived through many centuries before that 
time, and that this man gave that apostle an 
account both of everything he remembered 
himself and of all the traditions he had re- 
ceived from his ancestors concerning the past 
ages. I do think that there was some such 
kind of personage in those times, who had 
lived more than three hundred years, and 
who related many ancient traditions to St. 
Patrick." 

The same writer (Dr. Geoffrey Keating) 
accounts for the absence of serpents in Ire- 
land by a legend of high antiquity, the scene 
of which is in Egypt. A serpent chanced to 
. bite Gaedal NiuFs son while he was swim- 
ming, and his life was endangered thereby. 
Niul followed the advice of his household and 
brought the boy to Moses without delay, who 
prayed to God and touched the wound with 
his rod, and it was immediately healed. He 



then affirmed that no venomous creature 
should have power in any country wherein 
the posterity of that youth should dwell. 
"And this prophecy has been fulfilled in the 
isle of Crete or Candia, where some of his 
posterity remain, in which island, as in Ire- 
land, no venomous serpents can exist; for 
although, according to some authors, we have 
had some serpents in Ireland before St. Pat- 
rick's time, I am yet of opinion that they 
were not venomous. I am likewise inclined 
to think that infernal demons are meant by 
those serpents spoken of in the life of St. 
Patrick." 

It is supposed that the Phoenicians reached 
Ireland in their voyagings. The Irish are of 
Celtic descent. Th^ island suffered from in- 
cui-sions of the Danes. Brian Boiroimhe, a 
valiant and renowned prince, defeated them 
at Clontarf in 1039, and was assassinated in 
his tent the same night, while in the act of 
prayer. Strongbow (the surname of the Earl 
of Pembroke), at the request of Dermot 
McMorrogh, a dethroned king of Leinster, 
invaded Ireland in 11G9 ; a great part of the 
island was soon conquered by the Enghsh, 
who by degrees became masters of the whole 
country, though rebellions were frequent. 
A parliament was summoned at Dublin, May 
1st, 1536, which declared Henry VIII. the 
supreme head on earth of the church of Ire- 
land, and annulled the papal power. Every 
person who refused to take the oath of su- 
premacy, was declared guilty of high treason. 
But, to resist the royal usurpations, confed- 
eracies were formed, and the reformation was 
rendered so odious to the Irish that it made 
slow progress among them. Though the 
liturgy of the church of England was per- 
formed for the first time on Easter Sunday, 
1551, the bulk .pf the nation still adhered 
steadfostly to their ancient feith, and the 
cause of the Komish religion became the 
cause of the nation. The attempts to force a 
people to renounce the faith which they had 
received from St. Patrick, and to receive a 
new system of religion with an English ritual, 
naturally became blended with the national 
prejudices against English oppression. A 
general system of rebellion to shake off the 
English yoke was organized in Ireland about 
1596 ; the most formidable of the rebel chiefs 
was O'Neil, who, disdaining the title of Earl 



IRE 



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432 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



of Tyrone, had assumed the rank and appel- 
lation of King of Ulster, and received a sup- 
ply of arms and ammunition from Spain. 
This rebellion was finally terminated by the 
submission of O'Neil. 

The conduct of James I. in 1001 estranged 
the aifections of the Irish, and, during the 
reign of Charles I., a rebellion broke out 
which deluged the country in blood. The 
Catholics plotted the extirpation of the Eng- 
lish. Parliament sent Cromwell into the 
island, and his unsparing measures reduced 
it to obedience; twenty thousand Irishmen 
were sold as slaves, and forty thousand entered 
into foreign service to escape from tyranny at 
home. 

On the death of the great protector, Rich- 
ard Cromwell confirmed his brother Henry 
in the government of Ireland, by the new 
title of lord lieutenant. Henry exerted him- 



the Catholic religion, once more rebelled. 
The French favored them, but only a small 
French force ever landed, and they surren- 
dered to the superior army of Cornwallis. 
The insurgents, being excluded from all quar- 
ters, fled, and were pursued with great 
slaughter. On the 1st of January, 1801, 
the union of Great Britain with Ireland was 
eftected. The political disabilities of the 
Catholics were removed in 1829, but still the 
condition of Ireland was unhappy. 

One cause of the distresses of Ireland 
was absenteeism, the absence in England of 
great landed proprietors, whose estates were 
underlet by rapacious agents that ground the 
poor tenants without mercy. In spite of 
religious intolerance and civil disqualifica- 
tions ; of statutes which rendered commerce 
a crime, and laws which made industry penal ; 
of abuses of power under William, and of 



self with vigor to support the tottering taxes quadrupled under the last of the Stuarts 
authority of his brother ; but, after the abdi- I and the first of the Brunswicks, — still some- 
cation of Richard, Charles II. was proclaimed thing like a counterpoise was found to balance 
with every manifestation of joy in all the these political evils, in the home residence of 



great towns of Ireland. On the accession of 
James II. to the throne of England, the Duke 
of Ormond gave place in the government of 
Ireland to the Earl of Clarendon. The cruel 
Earl of Tyrconnel was appointed commander- 
in-chief of the army, and made independent 
of the lord lieutenant. This, and other pro- 
ceedings in favor of the Catholics, alarmed 
the Protestant part of the kingdom, and most 
of the traders, and those whose fortunes 
were transferable, fled from the country. 
The distracted state of this unhappy king- 
dom, at the period of the revolution in 1688, 
can hardly be described. The Protestants in 
the north proclaimed William and Mary. 
James, who had sailed from Brest, with a 
large armament, landed at Kinsale, in March, 
1689. He was opposed by an English army 
commanded by William in person. A dread- 
ful civil war took place, but at length the 
battle of the Boyne, on the 1st of July, 1690, 
decided the fate of James, who fled to France. 
The Irish subjects outlawed for the rebellion 
of 1688, amounted to 300,978, and their Irish 
possessions comprised 1,600,000 acres. In 
1796 the injured Irish, denied the enjoyments 
of their dearest rights, and condemned to 
political disability on account of professing 



the educated gentry, and in the political 
bustle and activity of an Irish parliament. 
As soon as the positive calamities of war and 
confiscation ceased ; as soon as an approach 
was made to European habits and policy, and 
industry was permitted to find a scope and a 
reward for its exertions, — the nation made a 
sudden and a rapid progress in civilization 
and comfort, simply through the efliciency of 
its own resources, and the demands of its 
own market. It was in vain that the talis- 
manic words 'Irishmen' and 'Papist' were 
employed to arm passion and prejudice against 
the country ; it was in vain that commercial 
jealousy threw shackles round its infant man- 
ufactures. In spite of these and many other 
obstacles, the moral strength of a country 
always distinguished for the natural endow- 
ments of its population, rose superior to the 
cruel pressure of its political inflictions ; and 
the domestic activity and intellectual improve- 
ment of the people — slow and limited as 
they appear, when compared with the advan- 
ces of the sister kingdom — proceeded with a 
rapidity little short of miraculous, under so 
stultifying a system of legislation and gov- 
ernment. It was then that the light of 
national genius concentrated its long scattered 



IRE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



433 



rays to a point, and shining steadily from its 
proper focus, threw out those inextinguisha- 
ble sparks of moral lustre, 

" which are wont to give 

Light to a world, and make a nation live." 
It was then that the powerful collision of 
active, ardent, and energetic minds produced 
that brilliant burst of talent which, for some- 
thing more than a century, flung over the 
political darkness of the land a splendor to 
which her struggles and her misfortunes 
served only to give a stronger relief and more 
brilliant effect. It was then that, after ages 
of mental depression, the Irish intellect broke 
out, like the Irish rebellion, "threescore 
thousand strong," when none expected or 
were prepared for the splendid irruption. 
The old mart of learning was re-opened to 
the erudite of Europe, as in those times when, 
if a sage was missing, it was said " emandatus 
est ad dmijilmam in Hibernia ;"" and the 
rich stream of native humor, which, like a 
caverned river, had hitherto " kept the noise- 
less tenor of its way," darkened by impending 
shadows, now rushed forth with the rapidity 
of a torrent, pure, sparkling, and abundant, 
at the first vent afforded to its progress. 

The legislative union with Great Britain 
has been very unpopular with Irish patriots, 
■<ind from 1829 to 1847 a great movement, 
headed by Daniel O'Oonnell, agitated for its 
repeal. In 1847 and the two successive years, 
a disease blighted the potato crop, and the 
twin curses of pestilence and famine brooded 
over the hapless island. Revolution was the 
cry on the continent, and an abortive insur- 
rection was planned in Ireland. The leaders. 
Smith O'Brien, John Mitchell, Thomas Fran- 
cis Meagher, Terence McManus, and others, 
were sentenced to death ; a fate commuted 
by the crown to transportation, from which 
they have all escaped or have been pardoned. 

By an act of 1849, a commission for the 
sale of encumbered estates was appointed, 
whose operations have been highly benefi- 
cial, and promise much improvement in the 
social condition of the Irish people. Large 
domains have been transferred from bankrupt 
proprietors, who groaned under irredeemable 
mortgages and had no capital to employ labor, 
to the hands of competent and progressive 
landlords, of whom a large proportion are 
skillful cultivators from England and Scot- 



i 



28 



land. The tendency will be to lessen the 
evil of absenteeism, and thus do away with 
the middle-men, who have formed one stand- 
ing and regular Irish grievance. It was the 
common method in Ireland to extort the last 
farthing which the tenant was willing to give 
for land rather than cjuit it, and the machinery 
by which such a practice wag carried into effect, 
was that of the middle-man. He gave high 
prices, that he might obtain higher from the 
occupant; more was paid by the actual 
occupant than was consistent with the pres- 
ervation of the land ; it was injured, ran out, 
and the most shocking consequences ensued 
from it. There was little manufacture in 
Ireland ; the price of labor was low ; the 
demand for labor irregular. If a poor man 
was driven, by distress of rent, from his 
potato garden, he had no other resource ; all 
was lost ; he would do the impossible (as the 
French say) to retain it— 'subscribe any bond, 
and promise any rent. The middle-man had 
no character to lose ; and he knew when he 
took up the occupation that it was one with 
which pity had nothing to do. On he drove, 
and backward the poor peasant receded, 
losing something at every step, till he came 
to the very brink of despair ; and then he 
recoiled and murdered his oppressor, and was 
a White Boy, or a Right Boy ; and the soldier 
shot him, and the judge hanged him. 

IREN.'EUS, St., was a native of Asia 
Minor, and a pupil of Polycarp. He is sup- 
posed to have come to Gaul, while a young 
man, and died at Lyons, of whose church he 
was bishop, about the close of the second 
century. 

IRETON, Henry, the son-in-law of Crom- 
well, and a distinguished parliamentary gen- 
eral, was lord deputy of Ireland during the 
commonwealth. He died at Limerick in 1651, 
aged forty-one. 

IRON MASK. The Man in the Iron Mask 
was the most singular prisoner ever confined 
within the walls of the Bastile ; notwith- 
standing all the curiosity and conjecture that 
have been employed to ascertain his quality 
and pedigree, nothing authentic has trans- 
pired to the present time. In 1698 he was 
brought from the island of St. Marguerite by 
Mons. de St. Mars, the newly appointed gov- 
ernor of the Bastile ; he was attended with 
the greatest respect, maintained a sumptuous 



IRQ 



434 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA 



table, and had every possible indulgence 
shown him until the time of his death, Nov. 
19th, 1Y03. This mysterious prisoner, on 
his removal to the Bastile, was carried in a 
litter, accompanied by several men on horse- 
back, who had orders to put him to death, 
if he made the slightest attempt to show his 
face or otherwise discover himself. His face 
was concealed with a mask of black velvet, 
with springs of steel or whalebone, which 
were so constructed that he could eat with- 
out taking it off. A physician of the Bastile, 
who had often attended him, said he had 
never seen his face, though he had frequently 
examined his tongue and other parts of his 
body ; but added that he was admirably well 
made, that his skin was brown, his voice in- 
teresting, that he was very accomplished, 
read much, played on the guitar, and had an 
exquisite taste for lace and fine linen. 

The pains taken in his concealment show 
that he was a person of considerable quality 
and importance, and from the following cir- 
cumstances it appears singular that he was 
never discovered. Whilst at St. Marguerite, 
he one day wrote something with his knife 
on a silver plate, which he threw from the 
window toward a boat lying near the tower. 
A fisherman took up tlie plate and brought it 
to the governor, who, with great astonish- 
ment, asked the man if he had read the writ- 
ing or showed it to any one, and, although 
the fisherman answered in the negative, kept 
him in confinement until he was perfectly 
satisfied, after which he dismissed him, say- 
ing, " It is lucky for you that you can not 
read." The Abbe Papon says : " In the year 
1778 I had the curiosity to visit the apart- 
ment of this unfortunate prisoner : it looks 
toward the sea. I found in the citadel an 
officer in the independent company there, 
seventy-nine years of age. He told me that 
his father had often related to him that a 
young lad, a barber, having seen one day 
something white floating on the water, took 
it up ; it was a very fine shirt, written almost 
all over. He carried it to Mons. de St. Mars, 
who, having looked at some parts of the 
writing, asked the lad, with an appearance 
of anxiety, if he had not had the curiosity to 
read it ? He assured him he had not ; but 
two days afterward the boy was found dead 
in his bed." 



Immediately after the prisoner's death, 
his apparel, linen, clothes, mattresses, and 
everything that had been used by him, were 
burnt; the walls of his room were scraped, 
the floor was taken up, and every precautimi 
used that no trace of him might be left be- 
hind. When he was on the road from St. 
Marguerite to his last residence, Mons. de St. 
Mars, was overheard to reply to a question 
of the prisoner, relative to any design against 
his life : " No, prince, your life is in safety ; 
you must only allow yourself to be conduct- 
ed." A prisoner told M. la Grange Chancel 
that he was lo.dged, with other prisoners, in 
the room immediately over this celebrated 
captive, and found means of speaking to him 
by the vents of the chimney; but he refused 
to inform them who he was, alleging that it 
would cost him his own life, as well as the 
lives of those to whom the secret might be 
revealed. 

Various have been the individuals supposed 
to have been the masked prisoner : the Due 
de Beaufort; the Count de Vermandois, 
natural son to Louis XIV. by the Duchess 
de la Valliere; the Duke of Monmouth, 
natural son of Charles II. of England ; Gero- 
lami Magni, minister of the Duke of Modena ; 
the offspring of a secret marriage between 
Anne of Austria and Cardinal Mazarin, &c., 
&c. Voltaire says that the secret was known 
to Monsieur de Chamillard, and that the son- 
in-law of that minister conjured him on his 
death-bed to tell the name of the man with 
the mask ; but he replied it was a state 
secret, which he had sworn he would never 
divulge. 

The supposition now generally received is 
that this imfortunate person was the twin 
brother of Louis XIV., born eight hours after 
this monarch, and the unhappy victim of 
superstition and cruelty. Louis XIII., being 
weak enough to give credit to the prediction 
of some impostors, that if the queen should 
be delivered of twins, the kingdom would be 
involved in civil war, ordered the birth of 
this prince to be kept a profound secret, and 
had him privately educated in the country 
as the illegitimate son of a nobleman ; but 
on the accession of Louis XIV., the young 
man gave indications of having discovered 
his parentage. His brother being informed 
' of this, ordered him to be imprisoned for 



IRQ 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



435 



life, and to wear a mask in order to prevent 
his being recognized. 

ISABELLA OF Castile was born in 1450. 
Civil dissensions made her the heiress and 
successor of her brother Henry, whose 
daughter Joanna was set aside. Of the 
many suitors for her hand, the King of Por- 
tugal, the Due de Guienne, brother of Louis 
XI. of France, the Duke of Clarence, brother 
of Edward lY. of England, and Don Ferdi- 
nand, the heir of Arragon, she chose the lat- 
ter, and was united to him in 1474. By this 
match nearly the whole Christian dominions 
of Spain were united ,in one monarchy. It 
was through the generous patronage of Isa- 
bella that Columbus v\^as enabled to set sail 
on that momentous voyage from which he 
landed upon the strand of a virgin hemi- 
sphere. Isabella died in 1504. 

ISMAIL, a strongly fortified town in Rus- 
sia, in Bessarabia, on the north side of the 
Danube, thirty-three miles from the Black 
Sea. It is memorable for its siege, in 1790, 
by the Russians under Suwarrow. It was 
taken by a terrible assault, on the 23d of De- 
cember. Of the Turks 30,000 were massa- 
cred in cold blood; 6,000 women were 
butchered, and the town was fired. The 
Russians lost 5,000 men on the day of cap- 
ture, and more than twice that number in 
previous operations. 

ISSUS, Battle of, the second great defeat 
of Darius by Alexander, 333 b.c. The queen 
and family of the Persian monarch were 
taken by the Macedonians. 

ITALY. The present kingdom was formed 
by the adhesion of one part of the country 
after another to the government of Yictor 
Emanuel. This movement commenced even 
before the peace of Yilla Franca, which was 
finally signed at Zurich, Nov. 10, 1859. Tus- 
cany, on the 15 th of the previous August, 
had declared for the new kingdom ; Modena 
on the 20th, Parma Sept. 3d. The first 
Italian parliament met at Turin, Feb. 18, 
1861, and on the 28th enacted the new title 
of King of Italy. The British government 
recognized the new' Kingdom in March. In 
1864, Florence was made the capital instead 
of Turin. The area of the kingdom of Italy 
is 98,075 square miles, and its population, 
in 1862, was 21,776,953. 

Italy has borne, at different periods, the 



different names of Saturnia, ^notria, Hespe- 
ria, Ausonia, Tyrrhenia. It has been called 
the garden of Europe; and the panegyric 
which Pliny bestows upon it does not seei^ 
in any degree exaggerated. The ancient 
inhabitants called themselves Aborigines, 
offspring of the soil, and the country was 
soon after peopled by colonies from Greece. 
Italy has been the mother of arts as well as 
of arms, and the immortal monuments which 
remain of the eloquence and poetical genius 
of its inhabitants, are universally known. 
The early part of the history of this coun- 
try, is, however, involved in the greatest 
obscurity. The first light thrown on this 
land of darkness was by the settlement of 
Greek colonies in the south, where, eventu- 
ally, a large tract of country was called 
Magna GnBcia. The early history of Italy 
is linked with the annals of Rome. 

Italy continued subject to one power, for 
more than eight hundred years, until the 
fifth century, when the Goths crossed the 
barriers of the Alps. Toward a.d. 560 
the Longobards entered the north of Italy, 
took Milan and Pavia, and founded a kingdom 
which continued during two centuries, until 
overthrown by Charlemagne. After his 
death Italy belonged to his successors on 
the imperial throne, but their tenure was 
precarious ; the great barons laboring to as- 
sert their independence, and the popes to 
extend their temporal dominion. The sub- 
sequent history is little more than a succes- 
sion of military struggles, of little interest, 
until 960, when Otho I. repaired, in person, 
to the north of Italy, granted municipal 
rights to the cities, and improved the interior 
government in general. The whole was 
united to the German empire ; but from this 
compact fresh feuds and commotions fol- 
lowed : the Italian nobility were jealous of 
their privileges ; conspiracies were formed, 
detected, and suppressed, and no constant 
allegiance was exhibited to the German gov- 
ernment, or the magistracy put into authority 
by it. A series of wars continued for several 
ages. In the fourteenth century, Italy was 
divided into the kingdom of Naples, the es- 
tates of the Church, Tuscany, Parma, and 
Lombardy, the Genoese and the Yenetian 
territories, and other petty states. For two 
centuries the Yenetians and Genoese were 



ITA 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the most considerable commercial people in 
Europe. Venice, in particular, possesse'd 
large foreign colonies ; and, in 11 94, she took 
^Constantinople and held in sovereignty por- 
tions of what now constitutes Turkey in Eu- 
rope and Greece. The foundation of the 
temporal power of the popes was laid about 
1 1)80, by Matilda, Countess of Tuscany, who 
bequeathed a large portion of her dominions 
to Gregory VII. After that time the popes 
successively made great acquisitions of terri- 
tory : but, in 1798, Rome was taken by Ber- 
thier, and Bonaparte annexed the papal 
dominions to France. They were, however, 
restored in 1814. Napoleon made many 
changes in the states of Italy, but after his 
fall the former condition was restored. [See 
Naples, Sardinia, Tuscany, &c.] 

ITURBIDE, Augustus, was born in 1784. 
When Mexico threw off the Spanish yoke, 
he was the commander of the royal army in 



the north. He declared for the independence 
of the Mexican people, and the Spaniards 
being driven forth, succeeded in making 
himself emperor in 1822. Anarchy made his 
rule not quite imperial; he abdicated in 
March, 1823, his divorced empire promising 
him an affluent alimony, and he agreeing to 
dwell in Italy. Unsatisfied ambition led him 
back to Mexico in 1824; the congress de- 
clared him an outlaw, and he was shot a few 
days after his arrival. 

IVRY, or YvRES, Battle of, between 
Henry IV. of France, aided by his chief 
nobility, and the generals of the Catholic 
league, over whom the' king gained a signal 
victory. This success enabled Henry to 
blockade Paris, and reduce that capital to 
the last extremity by famine ; but the Duke 
of Pai'ma, by orders of Philip of Spain, 
marched to the relief of the league, and 
obliged the king to raise the blocki^de. 



I 



J. 



JACKSON, AxuKEw, was the seventh 
president of the United States. His ances- 
tors were of the Presbyterian faith, and 
among the Scotch emigrants to the province 
of Ulster in Ireland, under the policy of James 
T., who stocked the confiscated estates of the 
Irish with colonists from England and Scot- 
land. Hugh Jackson, the grandfather of 
Andrew, was a linen-draper near Carrickfer- 
gus ; his four sons w^ere reputable farmers, 
and the youngest of them, Andrew, married 
Elizabeth Hutchinson, by w^hom he had in 
Ireland two sons, Hugh and Robert. To im- 
prove his condition, he emigrated to America, 
in company with several of his neighbors, in 
1765, and settled on Waxhaw Creek, just 
within the limits of North Carolina, where 
others of his countrymen had formed a set- 
tlement and reared a meeting-house. At a 
later period, Samuel, a son of another of the 
I'rothers, came over, and became a citizen of 
Philadelphia. 

On this plantation, in Mecklenburg county, 
N. C, Andrew Jackson saw the light, March 



15th, 1767, only five days before the eyes of 
his father were closed in death. A few weeks 
after, the widow, with her oi*phan boys and 
new-born babe, removed into South Carolina 
and made her home at another point on the 
Waxhaw. There was spent the infancy and 
early youth of the future hero. The lone 
mother's means were slender, but she longed 
to see her youngest son a minister of the 
gospel, and he was early placed in a neigh- 
boring academy. He was making fair prog- 
ress in his studies, when the Revolution 
broke out, and South Carolina soon became 
a theatre of war. His elder brother, Hugh, 
lost his life in the fatigues of service against 
the foe. A battle was fought at Waxhaw 
settlement in May, 1780, in which 113 Ameri- 
icans were killed and 150 wounded. Wax- 
haw meeting-house was converted into a tem- 
porary hospital, and there the wounded were 
borne. The mangled corpses of slaughtered 
patriots recalled to the youth that looked 
upon them, the tales of British cruelty and 
wrong he had so often heard from his mother, 



JAG 



TSTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



437 




JACKSON AT THE HEKMITAGE. 



as she related scenes of tj'rnnny in Ireland, 
from which his father had tied to find an 
asylum in the Carolinas. 

In the summer of 1T80, then a boy of little 
more than thirteen, he shouldered a musket, 
and with his brother Robert joined a corps 
of volunteers, attached to Gen. Sumter's 
brigade. An action took place August 6th, 
1780, at a place called Hanging Rock, be- 
tween the Americans and British soldiers 
aided by Tories. Davie's corps, in ■which the 
young Jacksons fought, distinguished itself 
and suffered heavy loss ; but the brothers 
were unhurt. 

For several months the region between the 
Great Pedee and Saluda rivers was the stage 
of hot warfare. Andrew and Robert were 
too young to mingle in all the dangers and 
hardships of partisan life. The settlers about 
the Waxhaw were firm republicans by birth 
and spirit, and were special marks for British 
hate. Mrs. Jackson retired with her sons 



« 



into North Carolina for some time. In 1781 
both of the boys were captured by a party 
of dragoons. Andrew was ordered by a Tory 
officer to clean his muddy boots ; the boj^-sol- 
dier proudly refused, and parried with his 
left arm a sword-stroke murderouslj'^ aimed 
at his head. His hand was wounded, and he 
bore the scar for life. Robert was ordered to 
perform the same menial office, and upon a 
refusal as prompt as his brother's, the brutal 
major gave him a sword-cut upon the head, 
from the effect of which he never recovered. 
With other prisoners, the youths were con- 
fined some time in Camden, where they suf- 
fered severely, from their undressed wounds, 
from ill treatment, and from the small pox. 
which raged among the prisoners. Their 
mother hurried to Camden ; by an exchange 
of prisoners, her sons were yielded to her, 
hardly more than mere wrecks of their former 
selves. With five released neighbors, the 
widow and her boys started for their home 
\C 



438 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



on the Waxhaw. Por the companj^ there 
were but two horses. Mrs. Jackson rode one, 
without saddle or bridle, and on the other 
the weak and wounded Robert was borne. 
Andrew, not yet recovered from the small- 
pox, barefooted and half-naked, trudged on 
toot the weary way of forty miles. Two 
hours before reaching home, a heavy rain 
drenched the party, and the disease left the 
skin of the boys to pervade their systems. 
Robert lived but two days ; for a fortnight 
Andrew was delirious with a raging fever, 
and lingered upon the brink of death. Not 
long after his recovery, his noble mother 
died from a fever contracted on the prison- 
ships at Charleston, whither she had gone to 
nurse and tend the victims who were there 
suffering and dying. 

Andrew Jackson was thus left alone on 
the earth. For some time he was wayward 
and dissolute in his habits, till suddenly 
changing his course of life, he commenced 
the study of law, at Salisbury, N. C. This 
was in the winter of 1784, in his eighteenth 
year ; in little more than two years he was 
licensed to practice. Without asking, he 
received from the governor the appointment 
nf solicitor for the western district, embracing 
I lie present state of Tennessee. In the spring 
of 1788, then just of man's age, he crossed 
the mountains to take up his abode. The 
country was wild and sparsely settled, the 
white man having to struggle boldly and 
bloodily with the fierce savage. Jackson 
was engaged in several expeditions against 
the Indians ; his bravery attracted their notice, 
and they gave him the names of Sharp Knife 
and Pointed Arrow. 

After dwelling awhile at Jonesborough, he 
determined to make Nashville his home, and 
there boarded in the pleasant family of Mrs. 
Donelson, the widow of Col. Donelson, an 
emigrant from Virginia. Rachel, the daugh- 
ter of Mrs. Donelson, was celebrated for her 
beauty and afRibility. She was then in the 
bloom of early womanhood. She had been 
wedded to Captain Robards, a dissolute and 
lirutal man, and had sought sanctuary from 
his cruel treatment under her mother's roof 
Alarmed by a rumor that he was coming to 
Nashville, she left there in the spring of 
1791, with the family of a friend, and went 
down the river to Natchez. Jackson accom- 

J 



panied the party as a protector against the 
dangers of the journey. When he returned 
to Nashville he learned that Capt. Robards 
had applied to the legislature of Virginia 
for a divorce, and was credibly informed 
that the prayer had been granted. He at 
once hastened to Natchez with the welcome 
tidings. He had admired Rachel Donelson 
before ; and now that she was free to marry, 
and love for her was not illicit, his regard at 
once warmed into ardent afi'ection. His suit 
was accepted; in the autumn they were 
married. In December, 1793, Jackson was 
startled to learn that the Virginia legislature 
did not grant a divorce, but only authorized 
a suit to be brought in a Kentucky court. 
That suit had just terminated and the divorce 
had been granted. In January, 1794, Jackson 
was again regulai'ly married. His conduct 
was ever singularly delicate and chivalrous 
toward woman, and when partisan rancor 
tried to asperse him, those who were familiar 
with the circumstances of this case, vindi- 
cated his conduct as perfectly honoi'able and 
virtuous. 

He now applied himself assiduously to his 
profession. The prodigal debtors, with whom 
he came in contact in the collection of debts, 
clubbed together to di'ive him from the coun- 
try. He flinched not, and their animosity 
brought upon hnn several personal encoun- 
ters, in which he was uniformly victorious. 
His nerve, strength, and agility were qualities 
to win him the liking of the hardy frontiers- 
men of Tennessee, and after a.ssisting in 1796 
to form a state constitution, he was chosen 
the first representative of the new common- 
wealth in Congress He served one session, 
and then, having been chosen senator by 
the legislature, took that seat Nov. 22d, 
1797. Unambitious of political distinction, 
he resigned his seat in the senate after one 
session, went back to Tennessee, and was 
made judge of the supreme court of the state, 
a post which he held some six years. 

For some years, he tasted the retirement 
which he had so long desired, devoting 
his time to the pursuits of agriculture. In 
1802 he had been appointed major-general of 
the militia of Tennessee. When the war 

I with Great Britain came in 1812, he was 
called into the field. The expedition against 

■ the Creeks, who had been stirred to hostility 

\C 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



439 



by emissaries in the interest of England, was 
conducted by him with eminent success. In 
May, 1814, he received a commission as major- 
general in the regular army. The threatened 
descent of the British upon Louisiana soon 
drew his attention to that quarter ; the meas- 
ures which through his energy were adopted 
for resistance and defense, were crowned with 
victory upon the field of Chalmette, Jan. 8th, 
1815, when backwoods marksmen and tough 
cotton-bales proved more than a match for 
veterans who had been victorious in the 
Peninsula and the great fight of Waterloo. 

Gen. Jackson took his seat in the senate of 
the United States, as senator from Tennessee, 
in December, 1823. He was a prominent can- 
didate for the presidency in 1824, and in 
1828 and 1832 was elected to that high office. 
His administration was marked by a fierce 
contest with the United States bank. At the 
close of his second term, he retired to his 
favorite residence, at the Hermitage in Ten- 
nessee, where he passed the remnant of his 
days. He died on the 8th of June, 1845. 
His countrymen, throughout the land, joined 
in testimonials of respect to his memory. 

JACKSON, James, an officer in our Revo- 
lutionary army, was born in England in 1757, 
and settled in Georgia in 1772. He was 
engaged in the attack on Savannah, when but 
nineteen years old, and a few years afterward 
was chosen brigade-major in the Georgia 
militia. After the close of the war, through- 
out which he displayed great gallantry and 
prudence, he commenced the practice of law, 
and in 1783 he became a member of the legis- 
lature. In 1788 he was chosen governor of 
Georgia, but modestly declined the honor on 
account of his youth and inexperience. He 
held the post, however, from 1798 to 1801. 
He was afterward chosen United States sena- 
tor, and died in Washington, March 19th, 
1806. 

JACOBINS. The Jacobin club originated 
in 1789, from a secret association of about 
forty gentlemen and men of letters, who had 
united to discuss and disseminate political 
and other opinions ; they were called Jaco- 
bins because they met in the hall of the 
Jacobin friars at Paris. The club became 
numerous and popular ; fraternal societies 
were founded in all the principal towns of the 
kingdom ; and the share of the Jacobins in 



the ensuing revolution need not be told here. 
The club law of Oct. 16th, 1794, gave the 
death-blow to the Jacobin club. 

JACQUARD, Marie Joseph, the inventor 
of the celebrated loom, was born at Lyons 
in 1752, and died in 1834. 

JAFFA, anciently Joppa, a seaport of 
Syria, twelve leagues north-west of Jerusa- 
lem ; population 4,000. It was taken by 
Bonaparte in 1799. His soldiers suffered 
terribly here from the plague. 

JAMAICA is the largest and most import- 
ant of the West India islands belonging to 
Great Britain. It is about 150 miles long, 
and 40 broad. It is less fertile than some 
others of the West Indies, but is a rich and 
valuable country. It is subject to earth- 
quakes. Sugar, rum, molasses, indigo, coffee, 
pimento, and ginger are the most valuable 
articles of export. The present population 
IS about 380,000, of whom 15,000 are whites. 
The island was discovered by Columbus, May 
3d, 1494. In 1655 it was taken from the 
Spanish by the English under the command 
of Admiral Penn and General Venables. 
In 1795 a war commenced between the 
Maroons, the runaway slaves of the Spanish 
settlers, and the white inhabitants ; the bar- 
barous expedient of using bloodhounds being 
resorted to, for the purpose of tracing the 
mountain haunts of the negroes, they were 
at last compelled to surrender at discretion. 

Spanish Town, or Santiago de la Vega, is 
the seat of the colonial legislature. Kings- 
ton is the largest town in the island ; popula- 
tion over 35,000. Port Royal, once the 
capital, has been often and severely smitten 
by earthquakes, hurricanes, and flames. 

JAMES I., King of Scotland, was born in 
1394. At the age of eleven years, he was 
sent to France, that he might escape the 
danger to which he was exposed from the 
ambition of his uncle, the Duke of Albany ; 
but, falling into the hands of the English, he 
and his retinue were confined in England, 
where, however, the young prince received an 
excellent education. His talents were of a 
high order. Washington Irving has given an 
interesting account of him in the Sketch 
Book, which we condense. 

I visited the ancient keep of the castle 
[at Windsor], where James I. of Scotland, the 
oride and theme of Scottish poets and histo- 



JAM 



440 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



rians, was for many years of his youth 
detained a prisoner of state. It is a large 
gray tower, that has stood tlic brunt of ages, 
and is still in good preservation. It stands on 
a mound which elevates it above other parts 
of the castle, and a great flight of steps lead 
into the interior. In the armory, which is a 
Gothic hall, furnished with weapons of vari- 
ous kinds and ages, I was shown a coat of 
armor hanging against the wall, which I was 
told had once belonged to James. From 
hence I was conducted up a staircase to a 
suite of apartments of faded magnificence, 
hung with storied tapestry, which formed 
his prison, and the scene of that passionate 
and fanciful amour, which has woven into the 
web of his story the magical hues of poetry 
and fiction. 

The whole history of this amiable but 
unfortunate prince is highly romantic. The 
intelligence of his capture, coming in the 
train of many sorrows and disasters, proved 
fatal to his unhappy father. The news, we 
are told, was brought to him while at supper, 
and did so overwhelm him with grief, that he 
was almost ready to give up the ghost into 
the hands of the servants that attended him. 
But being carried into his bed-chamber, he 
abstained from all food, and in three days 
died of hunger and grief at Rothesay. 

James was detained in captivity above 
eigl\teen years ; but, though deprived of per- 
sonal liberty, he was treated with the respect 
due to his rank. He was well taught, we are 
told, to fight with the sword, to joust, to 
tourney, to wrestle, to sing and dance ; he 
was an expert mediciner, right crafty in 
playing both of lute and harp, and sundry 
other instruments of music, and was expert 
in gi'ammar, oratory, and poetry. 

In prison he wrote " The King's Quhair " 
(Book). The subject of the poem is his love 
for the Lady Jane Beaufort, daughter of the 
Earl of Somerset, and a princess of the blood 
royal of England, of whom he became enam- 
ored in the course of his captivity. His 
passion for the Lady Jane, as it was the solace 
of his captivity, so it fiicilitated his release, 
it being imagined by the court that a con- 
nection with the blood royal of England 
would attach him to its own interests. He 
was ultimate^ restored to his liberty and 
crown, having previously espoused the Lady 



JAM 



Jane, who accompanied him to Scotland, and 
made him a most tender and devoted wife. 

lie found his kingdom in great confusion, 
the feudal chieftains having taken advantage 
of the troubles and irregularities of a long 
interregnum, to strengthen themselves in 
their possessions, and place themselves above 
the power of the laws. James sought to 
found the basis of his power in the affections 
of his people. He attached the lower orders 
to him by the reformation of abuses, the 
temperate and equable administration of jus- 
tice, the encouragement of the arts of peace, 
and the promotion of everything that could 
diffuse comfort, competency, and innocent 
enjoyment through the humblest ranks of 
society. He mingled occasionally among the 
common people in disguise ; visited their 
firesides ; entered into their cares, their pur- 
suits, and their amusements ; informed himself 
of the mechanical arts, and how they could 
be best patronized and improved ; and was 
thus an all-pervading spirit, watching with a 
benevolent eye over the meanest of his sub- 
jects. Having in this generous manner made 
himself strong in the hearts of the common 
people, he turned himself to curb the power 
of the factious nobility ; to strip them of 
those dangerous immunities which they had 
usurped ; to punish such as had been guilty 
of flagrant offenses ; and to bring the whole 
into proper obedience to the crown. For 
some time they bore this with outward sub- 
mission, but with secret impatience and 
broodmg resentment. A conspiracy was at 
length formed against his life, at the head of 
which was his own uncle, Robert Stewart, 
Earl of Athol, who, being too old himself for 
the perpetration of the deed of blood, insti- 
gated his grandson. Sir Robert Stewart, 
together with Sir Robert Graham, and others 
of less note, to commit the deed. They broke 
into his bed-chamber at the Dominican con- 
vent near Perth, where he was residing, and 
barbarously murdered him by oft-repeated 
wounds. His faithful queen, rushing to 
throw her tender body between him and the 
sword, was twice wounded in the ineffectual 
attempts to shield him from the assassin; 
and it was not until she had been forcibly 
torn from his person, that the murder was 
accomplished. 

This tragedy was acted Feb. 20th, 1437. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



441 



I 



■When the footsteps of the ruthless assassins 
were heard approaching the door of the royal 
apartment, Catharine Douglas, one of the 
queen's ladies, secured it for a moment, by 
thrusting her arm through the staple, and 
sustaining, with unwavering fortitude, the 
shocks of the assailants, till her arm was 
broken and the door forced. 

The sentiments with which Mr. Irving con- 
cludes his sketch of James, are best conveyed 
in his own beautiful language. " Others may 
dwell on the illustrious deeds of James as a 
warrior and a legislator ; but I have delight- 
ed to view him merely as the companion of 
his fellow-men, the benefactor of the human 
race, stooping from his high estate to sow the 
sweet flowers of poetry and song in the paths 
of common life. He was the first to cultivate 
the vigorous and hardy plant of Scottish 
genius, which has since been so prolific of the 
most wholesome and highly flavored fruit. 
He carried with him into the sterner regions 
of the noith, all the fertilizing arts of south- 
ern refinement. He did everything in his 
power to win his countrymen to the gay, the 
elegant, and gentle arts, which soften and 
refine the character of a people, and wreathe 
a grace round the loftiness of a proud and 
warlike spirit. • He wrote many poems, which, 
unfortunately for the fullness of his fame, are 
now lost to the world ; one which is still pre- 
served, called 'Christ's Kirk of the Green,' 
shows how diligently he had made himself 
acquainted with the rustic sports and pas- 
times which constitute such a source of kind 
and social feeling among the Scottish peas- 
antry, and with what simple and happy humor 
he could enter into their enjo3-ments. He 
contributed greatly to improve the national 
music ; and traces of his tender sentiment and 
elegant taste are said to exist in those witch- 
ing airs still piped among the wild mountains 
and lonely glens of Scotland. He has thus 
connected his imige with whatever is most 
gracious and endearing in the national char- 
acter ; he has embalmed his memory in song, 
and floated his name down to after ages in the 
rich streani of Scottish melody. The recol- 
lection of these things was kindling at my 
heart, as I paced the silent scene of his im- 
prisonment. I have visited Vaucluse with as 
much enthusiasm as a pilgrim would visit the 
shrine at Loretto ; but I have never felt inore 

J 



poetical devotion than when contemplating 
the old tower and the little garden at Wind- 
sor, and musing over the romantic loves of 
the Lady Jane and the royal poet of Scot- 
land." 

JAMES VI. of Scotland and I. of England. 
[See Stuart, House of. J 

JAMES II. of England. [See Stuaut.] 

JANE, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, 
born in 1482, became mother of the emi)crors 
Charles V. and Ferdinand I. The death of 
her husband, Philip, Archduke of Austria, 
affected her reason; she became insane in 
1506, and remained so to her death, 1555, 
forty -nine years. 

JANIZARIES. These formidable foot- 
soldiers, at first the guards of the Ottoman 
monarchs, and for a long time the arbiters of 
their fate, were finallj' broken up in 182G, the 
date of their last rebellion, when three thou- 
sand of them were slain. They were estab- 
lished by Amurath I., and originally consisted 
of the finest Christian slaves, educated in the 
Mohammedan religion and arm.s. When first 
formed, this new militia was consecrated in 
the presence of the sultan, by a dervish, who, 
standing in the front of their ranks, stretched 
the sleeve of his gown over the head of the 
foremost soldier, and delivered his blessing 
in these words: "Let them be called Janiza- 
ries [yingi cheri, or new soldiers] ; may their 
countenances be ever bright, their hand vic- 
torious, their swords keen ; may their spear 
alw'ays hang over the heads of their enemies ; 
and, wheresoever they go, may they return 
with a white face." White and Mack face 
are common and proverbial expressions of 
praise and reproach in the Turkish language. 

JANUS, a deity believed by the Romans 
to have the double office of opening and shut- 
ting the gate of heaven. He was represented 
with two faces. His temple at Rome was built 
in the form of a square, and was opened in 
time of war, and shut in time of peace. It 
was shut only twice in seven centuries; in 
the reigns of Numa and Augustus. 

JAPAN, an empire to the east of China, 
composed of a great number of islands. 
The principal are NipHon, Kioosioo, and Sit- 
kokf The Japanese have nominally two 
emperors; one is the supreme pontiff", and 
oracle of religion, and the other a secular 
emperor, who is invested with absolute au- 
AP 



4-42 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



thoritj-. The latter's residence is at Jeddo, a 
large city, the capital of the empire, in the 
island of Niphon. The Japanese are enter- 
prising, hardy, and enlightened. The soil is 
fertile, and agriculture has attained great per- 
fection. The silks, cottons, porcelain, lack- 
ered wares, &c., are in high repute. The area 
of the Japanese empire is estimated by some 
at 100,000, and by others at 260,000 square 
miles. Of its population j;here is no more 
certain knowledge, some calling it 25,000,000, 
and others carrying it to double that amount. 
The jealous restrictions upon intercourse 
with foreigners have preserved this insular 
empire a& a terra incognita. The Dutch 
have long been allowed to trade at the port 
of Nagasaki. In 1019 ambassadors are said 
to have come from Japan to do homage to 
Pope Paul as the head of the church, for their 
master had been won to the Christian faith 
by the preaching of Jesuit missionaries. The 
ambition of the Jesuits, and the intrigues of 
the jealous Dutch, caused the expulsion of 
the former in 1622. Commodore Perry, with 
an American squadron dispatched for the 
purpose, visited Japan in 18.53 and 1854, and 
concluded a commercial treaty, by which a 
few ports are partially opened to American 
ships. The British obtained similar conces- 
sions in October, 1854, 

JASPER, William, was distinguished for 
gallantry in the Revolutionary war. June 
28th, 1776, in the celebrated attack of Sir 
Peter Parker on Fort Moultrie, he replaced, 
in the midst of an iron rain, the American 
tiag after it was shot away by a cannon-ball. 
He, with the aid of Sergeant Newton, way- 
laid, surprised, and captured a British guard 
of eight men, releasing an American of the 
name of Jones, whom they were conducting 
to certain death at Savannah, This extraor- 
dinaiy exploit was -performed within about 
two miles from the British lines. Brave Ser- 
geant Jasper was killed in the attack on 
Savannah, Oct, 9th, 1779. 

JAVA, a large island in the eastern seas, 
642 miles long, and 128 broad. In 1849 the 
population amounted to 9,560,000, of whom 
not more than 20,000 were of European de- 
scent. Java was discovered by the Portu- 
guese in 1510. But the Dutch obtained their 
possessions, and the island was divided be- 
tween them and the native princes. There 

J. 



are many volcanic peaks. The island is ex- 
ceedingly fertile, producing rice, cotton, coffee' 
pepper, sugar, drugs of all kinds, and various 
fruits. The coffee of this island is renowned. 
There are also mines of gold, rubies, diamonds, 
and emeralds. In 1811 the island was taken 
by the British, but it was restored by the 
treaty of Paris in 1814. The natives are 
much oppressed, and have several times re- 
volted. The Dutch now have the sovereignty 
of all the island. Batavia, a citj'^ and seaport 
on the north coast near the western end, is 
the capital of all the Dutch East Indies : Ion. 
106= 54' E. ; lat, 6= 12' S. Population 
118,000. The Dutch founded the city in 
1619, and after being taken by the British in 
1811, it was restored to the Dutch in 1816. 
The bay would be good if it were easily ac- 
cessible. The old town is built on a low 
marshy foundation, at the junction of small 
rivers, and some of the canals in the streets 
contain stagnant water. Hence originates the 
intermittent fever, so frequently fatal to stran- 
gers, A new town has arisen on the eleva- 
ted ground fartlicr inland. Batavia once had 
an immense trade, and the name of Queen of 
the East, but the British have outrivaled the 
Dutch in the traffic of the Indies, and Bata- 
via has declined according!}-. The quarter 
of the native population is exceedingly mean, 
while the European houses are neat rather 
than elegant. 

JAY, John, an American statesman and 
jurist, was born of Huguenot ancestry, in the 
city of New York, Dec. 1st, 1745, o.s., and 
was educated at King's (now Columbia) Col- 
lege. In 1768 he was admitted to practice 
law, and in 1774 was chosen a delegate to 
the first provincial congress which met at 
Philadelphia, Two years afterward he was 
chosen president of Congress. In 1778 he 
was chosen chief-justice of New York, the 
constitution of which he had been instru- 
mental in framing. The next year he was 
sent on a mission to Spain, to procure aid and 
a recognition of our independence. In 1782 
he was one of the commissioners appointed to 
negotiate a treaty of peace with Great Britain, 
On his return, Mr. Jay was placed at the 
head of the department for foreign affairs, in 
which office he continued until appointed 
chief-justice of the United States. In 1794 
he was sent as envoy extraordinary to Great 
\Y 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



443 




MOXTICELLO. 



Britain, and on his return the next j'ear en- 
tered on the duties of office of governor of 
the state of New York, to which he had been 
elected during his absence. From this station 
he retired to private Hfe in 1801. He died 
May 17th, 1829. Our country has no purer 
patriot than John Jay in her Hst of worthies. 

JEFFERSON, Tiiojias. The family of 
Jefferson were among the early emigrants 
from Great Britain. Thomas, the third pres- 
ident of the United States of America, was 
born at Shadwell, Virginia, April 2d, 1743, 
o.s. His father, Peter Jefferson, a man of 
some distinction in the colony, died in 1757, 
leaving a widow (who lived until 1776) with 
two sons and six daughters. Of the hand- 
some paternal estate, Thomas, the eldest 
child, received the lands he called Monticello, 
on which he resided when not in public life. 
He spent two years at William and Mary's 
College, and then commenced the study of 
the law, which he was admitted to practice in 
1767. 

By birth Mr. Jefferson belonged to the 
aristocracy of Virginia ; by nature he was a 
republican ; and he espoused with all his 
might the popular cause against the encroach- 
ments of Britain. In 1769 he took his seat 
in the general assembly of Virginia, which 



the governor of Virginia dissolved. Mr. 
Jefferson, before that event, had made an 
effort for the emancipation of the slaves of 
Virginia. He was then elected to fill the 
place of Peyton Randolph in Congress, and 
assumed his seat in that body, June 21st, 1775. 
He was one of the committee appointed to 
draw up a declaration of independence, and 
that document, with few alterations, was his 
own composition. His seat in Congress he 
resigned, because he felt that he could be 
more useful in organizing the republican 
government of Virginia. Among the laws 
proposed by him, and adopted by the com- 
monwealth, were those prohibiting the future 
importation of slaves ; for abolishing primo- 
geniture, and providing for the equal parti- 
tion of inheritances ; fOr establishing religious 
freedom ; and for a system of general educa- 
tion ; which last, however, was never carried 
into practice in the state. June 1st, 1779, 
he was chosen governor of Virginia, but after 
two years he resigned, being of opinion that 
a military man would be better suited for the 
emergencies of the times. 

Mr. Jefferson was the author of our pres- 
ent system of coins and decimals, proposing 
it in 1784; another scheme was favored by 
Robert Morris. On the 5th of July, 1784, 



JEF 



444 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Mr. Jefferson sailed for Paris, having been 
appointed by Congress a third commissioner 
to negotiate treaties of commerce with other 
nations, Mr. Adams and Dr. Franklin being 
the other two. He was actively engaged un- 
til 1789, when he returned to the United 
States and was appointed secretary of state. 
Dec. 1st, 1790, he resigned this office, and 
lived in retirement until 1797, when he was 
chosen vice-president of the United States. 
In 1801 he was chosen president. He filled 
the office of chief magistrate for eight years, 
when he retired to his seat at Monticello, 
where he died on the 4th of July, 1826, the 
same day» on which Mr. Adams expired. 

Mr. Jefferson made himself known as an 
author in 1781, by his "Notes on Virginia." 
In private life he was hospitable, and pleasing 
in his manners; in public, the unyielding, 
sagacious and talented leader of the Repub- 
lican party. A monument of his regard for 
education remains in the university estab- 
lished at Charlottesville, in which he filled 
the office of rector for some years. In a pri- 
vate memorandum, he desired that a small 
granite obelisk might be raised above his 
ashes, with this inscription : 

Here was buried 
Tho.mas Jeffekson, 

Author of the Declaration of Independence, 

Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, 

and 

Father of the University of Virginia. 

In January, 1772, he married Mrs. Martha 
Skelton, a young widow, the daughter of Mr. 
John Wayles. She died in 1782, leaving 
three daughters, one of whom died young; 
one married John W. Eppes, and the other 
Gov. Thos. M. Randolph, both of Virginia. 
Mrs. Randolph survived her father. 

The following sketch of Mr. Jefferson's per- 
sonal appearance and habits is condensed 
from Randall's painstaking biography. His 
appearance was engaging. His face, though 
angular, and far from beautiful, beamed with 
intelligence, with benevolence, and with the 
cheerful vivacity of a happy, hopeful spirit. 
His complexion was ruddy, and delicately 
fair ; his reddish chestnut hair luxuriant and 
silken. His full, deep-set eyes, the prevail- 
ing color of which was a light hazel, were 
peculiarly expressive. He stood six feet two 
and a half inches in height, and though very 



slim at this period, his form was erect and 
sinewy, and his movements displayed elasti- 
city and vigor. He was an expert musician, 
a fine dancer, a dashing rider, and there was 
no manly exercise in which he could not play 
well his part. His manners were .unusually 
graceful, but simple and cordial. His con- 
versation already possessed no inconsiderable 
share of that charm which, in after years, 
was so much extolled by friends, and to which 
enemies attributed so seductive an influence 
in moulding the young and the wavering lo 
his political views. There were a frankness, 
earnestness, and cordialitj^ in its tone ; a deep 
sympathy with humanit}^ ; a confidence in 
man, and a sanguine hopefulness in his des- 
tiny, — winning irresistibly upon the feelings, 
not only of the ordinary hearer, but of those 
grave men whose commerce with the world 
had perhaps led them to form less glowing 
estimates of it. Mr. Jefferson's temper was 
gentle, kindly, and forgiving. If it naturally 
had anything of that warmth which is the 
usual concomitant of affections and sympa- 
thies so ardent, — and it no doubt had, — it had 
been subjugated by habitual control. Yet, 
under its even placidity, there were not want- 
ing those indications of calm self-reliance and 
courage which all instinctively recognize and 
respect. There is not an instance on record 
of his having been engaged in a personal 
rencontre, or his having sulTered a personal 
indignity. Possessing the accomplishments, 
he avoided the vices, of the young Virginia 
gentry of the day, and a class of habits which, 
if not vices themselves, were too often made 
the preludes to them. "He never gambled. 
To avoid importunities to games which were 
generally accompanied with betting, he never 
learned to distinguish one card from another ; 
he was moderate in the enjoyments of the 
table; to strong drinks he had an aversion 
which rarely yielded to any circumstances ; 
his mouth was unpolluted by oaths or tobac- 



)! Though he 



of enjoying 



•the 



victory of a favorite horse," and the " death 
of the fox," he never put but one horse in 
training to run ; never ran but a single race ; 
and he very rarely joined in the pleasant 
excitement of the chase : he knew it to be 
too pleasant for the aspiring student. With 
such qualities of mind and character, with the 
favor of powerful friends and relatives, and 



JEF 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



445 



even of viceroyalty to urge him onward, Mr. 
Jefferson was not a young man to be lightly 
regarded by the young or old of either sex. 

Of his singular precision, down to minute 
details, and his habit of careful observation, 
Randall gives many instances. Never was 
there a more methodical man, from great 
matters down to the merest seeming trifles ; 
never so diligent a recorder of them ! In his 
garden book, for example, the times of plant- 
ing, sprouting, coming to the table, or ripen- 
ing of his multitude of esculents are severally 
noted ; the plots of ground containing them, 
the rows of plants, and sometimes the sepa- 
I'ate plants in each row, are numbered ; dia- 
grams, as neatly drawn as engravings, present 
the ditTerent plots or beds collectively to the 
eye, and display their annual rotations. Mete- 
orological observations, recorded punctually 
at three different periods of the day, extend 
through a long course of years, and through 
some of the busiest ones of his life. The 
pocket account-books include the minutest 
items of his daily expenditure, down to two 
or three pennies paid for a shoestring, or 
tossed into a beggar's hat in Paris ; and we 
think we remember one or two entries of a 
single penny, to make the inexorable cash- 
book balance exactly ! The object of the 
disbursement is generally specified. Account- 
books kept thus present a curious historj'' of 
a man's life ; and Mr. Jefferson's tell where 
he went, and what he bought, every day for 
thirty years. When he is away from home, 
his monthly expenses are often tabularized, 
so as to separately exhibit the aggregate 
expenditure for each principal article ; as for 
meat, bread, wine, &c. ; and this is habitually 
done where official position required him to 
keep an extensive estabhshment. He maKes 
memoranda of minute economical facts of 
every description. Those in regard to farm- 
ing and gardening are innumerable. Even 
household details do not escape his attention. 
We often find how much of this or that it will 
take to supply the wants of a person or fam- 
ily ; how much oil will supply a lamp for a 
certain number of hours; comparative cost 

I of lamps and candles, &c., &c. 
In everything pertaining to natural history, 
we have a series of almost microscopic obser- 
vations. We will name one, which, in what 
may be termed the department of economico- 



natural histor}^ (a department in which he 
seems to have specially delighted), exhibits 
something which it is hard, at the first blush, 
to define. This is a table beautifully drawn up, 
giving the average earliest and latest appear- 
ance of thirty-seven varieties of vegetables in 
the Washington market during the whole 
eight years of his presidency ! To think of 
a leader of a great civil revolution, the 
founder of a new party and creed, the 
statesman engaged in the pressing cares of a 
nation, watching with a green-grocer's assi- 
duity, and recording with more than a green- 
grocer's precision, the first and last appear- 
ance of radishes, squashes, cabbages, and 
cauliflowers in the market, suggests a curious 
train of reflection. 

He observed the rule of entermg informa- 
tion under appropriate heads, m regard to all 
facts thought worthy of record. Thus his 
agricultural observations are ultimately ar- 
ranged under seventeen general heads, and 
these divided into upward of fifty subdivisions. 
Everything, even to his expense accounts, has 
a paged index, made by himself. We look in 
vain for an illegibly scrawled word or figure ; 
though we find him on one occasion making 
all his entries, for two or three months, with 
his left hand, owing to a broken wrist. 

JEFFREY, Francis. This brilliant re- 
viewer was the son of a respectable Scottish 
attorney, born at Edinburgh in 1772, and 
educated at Glasgow and Oxford. He was 
called to the Edinburgh bar in 1794, and 
remained several j^ears an advocate with little 
practice. He was one of the band of youth 
who sat at the feet of Dugald Stewart, and 
whose first incentives to distinction in the 
more difficult paths of knowledge, as well as 
their almost universal adoption of the liberal 
school of politics, were in some degree attrib- 
utable to the teachings of that distinguished 
man. Among them were Brougham and 
Horner. One day early in 1802, in the eighth 
or ninth story, or flat, then the elevated resi- 
dence of Jeffrey, he was visited by Horner 
and Sydney Smith, the latter a young curate 
temporarily resident in Edinburgh, preach- 
ing, teaching, and joking with a flow of wit, 
humanity, and sense, that fascinated every- 
body. Smith started the notion of the "Ed- 
inburgh Review," and was immediately voted 
its editor by the two Scotchmen, The pro- 



JEF 



446 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



joct was communicated to others of the 
literary knot, among others Henry Brougham, 
then as brilliant and erratic as his subsequent 
life has shown him. The project hung fire 
at first ; those who promised to contribute 
were slow at fulfilling : Jeffrey had nearly 
finished four articles, Horner had partly writ- 
ten four, and more than half the number was 
printed; and yet well nigh the other half 
had still to be written. The memorable 
'blue and yellow' at last appeared in No- 
vember, after a somewhat tedious gestation 
of ten months. Sydney Smith was the only 
one who had promptly done his task: as 
early as April he had completed more than 
half of what he contributed, while nobody 
else had put pen to paper ; and shortly after 
the number appeared, he was probably not 
sony to be summoned, with his easy pen and 
cheerful wit, to London, abandoning the 
cares of editorship to Jeffrey. To this place 
of honor Jeffrey's articles in the first number 
proved his right. Under his management 
the "Edinburgh Review" at once became a 
new power in literature. The freshness, 
originality, boldness, and independence of its 
criticisms, on literature, science, and govern- 
ment, and the beauty, brilliancj'^, and strength 
which characterized its contents, gave it a 
splendid success. Nothing of the kind had 
ever been : it opened a new era in criticism. 
It was also famous as a political journal, and 
did powerful battle for the liberal school of 
English politics, for the Whigs against Tory- 
ism. So much was its power feared that 
in 1809 the " Quarterly Review " was started 
in London by the Tories as a necessity 
against it. 

Of course mistakes were made. Jeffrey's 
memorable criticism upon Wordsworth, com- 
mencing " This will never do," was contra- 
dicted by time. The Edinburgh reviewers at 
the outset were young men, and their sallies 
could not but be blemished with some indis- 
cretions. The influence of the review upon 
the literature of England was sound and 
healthy. As a biographer of Jeffrey has 
said: "Nothing could be conceived more 
charming than the earnest, playful, delight- 
ful way in which his comments adorned and 
enriched the poets he admired. Hogarth 
is not happier in Charles Lamb's company, 
than is the homely vigor and genius of Crabbe 



under Jeffrey's friendly leaning ; he returned 
fancy for fancy to Moore's exuberance, and 
sparkled with a wit as keen ; he ' tamed his 
wild heart' to the loving thqughtfulness of 
Rogers, his scholarly enthusiasm, his pure 
and vivid pictures ; with the fiery energy and 
passionate exuberance of Byron, his bright, 
courageous spirit broke into earnest sympa- 
th}' ; for the clear and stirring strains of 
Campbell he had an ever lively and liberal 
response ; and Scott, in the midst of many 
temptations to an exercise of severity, never 
ceased to awaken the romance and generosity 
of his nature." Mr. Jeffrey was both editor 
and contributor to the review, poetry and 
elegant literature being his chosen field. 

Not only did he distinguish himself in let- 
tere ; he acquired a brilliant reputation in 
his profession. In 1821 and 1822 he was 
chosen lord rector of the university of Glas- 
gOM^ ; and in 1829, being elected dean of the 
faculty of advocates, he resigned his editor- 
ship, deeming that position properly incom- 
patible with his new one as the head of a 
great law corporation. The Whigs coming 
into power the following year, he was made 
lord advocate, the first office under the crown 
in Scotland, and sat for a time in parliament. 
Although in this new sphere he was both 
useful and able, it was not his natural 
element, and he gladly accepted in 1834 a 
promotion to the Scottish bench, as one of 
the judges of the court of sessions. This 
was in his sixty-second year, and for nearh* 
sixteen years he continued the chief orna- 
ment of the court in which he sat. From 
this appointment he gained the title of lord, 
by which he was thereafter commonly known. 
He died in January, 1 850, after a short ill- 
ness, a genial, kindly man to the last, and 
was universally regretted. His was a youth 
of enterprise, a manhood of brilliant success, 
and 'honor, love, obedience, troops of friends' 
encircled his later years. 

Lord Jeffrey was twice married. His 
second wife, a grand-niece of the noted John 
Wilkes, was born in America, and he crossed 
the Atlantic in 1813 to be wedded to her. 
She survived him not quite four months. 

JEFFREYS, George, Baron Wem, was 
born at Acton in Denbighshire, in 1648. He 
was not regularly admitted to the bar, but 
being at Kingston assizes in the j'car of the 



JEF 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



447 



plague, 1666, when there were scarcely any 
barristers present, he was permitted to plead, 
and from that time continued to do so, with- 
out having his title questioned. In 1683 he 
was made chief-justice of the king's bench. 
At the accession of James II., he was created 
Baron JetFreys of Wem, in the county of 
Salop. On the suppression of the Duke of 
Monmouth's rebellion, he was sent to try the 
prisoners in the west, where he committed 
the most shocking cruelties, for which, at his 
return, he was constituted lord chancellor of 
England. Macaulay has thus searchingly 
sketched the character of this notorious 
judge. 

He was a man of quick and vigorous parts, 
but constitutionally prone to insolence and 
to the angry passions. When just emerging 
from boyhood, he had risen into practice at 
the Old Bailey bar, a bar where advocates 
have always used a license of tongue un- 
known in Westminster Hall. Here, during 
many years, his chief business was to exam- 
ine and cross-examine the most hardened 
miscreants of a great capital. Daily con- 
flicts with prostitutes and thieves called out 
and exercised his powers so effectually that 
he became the most consummate bully ever 
known in his profession. All tenderness for 
the feelings of others, all self-respect, all 
sense of the becoming, were obliterated from 
his mind. He acquired a boundless com- 
mand of the rhetoric in which the vulgar 
express hatred and contempt. The profusion 
of maledictions and vituperative epithets 
which composed his vocabulary could hardly 
have been rivaled in the fish-market or the 
bear-garden. His countenance and his voice 
must always have been unamiable ; but these 
natural advantages — for such he seems to 
have thought them— he had improved to such 
a degree that there were few who, in his 
paroxysms of rage, could see or hear him 
without emotion. Impudence and ferocity 
sat upon his brow. The glare of his eyes 
had a fascination for the unhappy victim on 
whom they were fixed; yet his brow and 
eye were said to be less terrible than the 
savage lines of his mouth. His yell of fury, 
as was said by one who had often heard it, 
sounded like the thunder of the judgment 
day. These qualifications he carried, while 
still a young man, from the bar to the bench. 



He early became common sergeant, and then 
recorder of London. As judge at the city 
sessions he exhibited the same propensities 
which afterward, in a higher post, gained for 
him an unenviable immortality. Already 
might be remarked in him the most odious 
vice which is incident to human nature, a 
delight in misery merely as misery. There 
was a fiendish exultation in the way in which 
he pronounced sentence on offenders. Their 
weeping and imploring seemed to titillate 
him voluptuously : and he loved to scare 
them into fits by dilatmg with luxuriant am- 
plification on all the details of what they 
were to suffer. Thus, when he had an op- 
portunity of ordering an unlucky adventu- 
ress to be whipped at the cart's tail, "Hang- 
man," he would exclaim, " I charge you to pay 
particular attention to this lady ! Scourge 
her soundly, man ! Scourge her till the 
blood runs down ! It is Christmas ; a cold 
time for madam to strip in ! See that you 
warm her shoulders thoroughly ! " He was 
hardly less facetious when he passed judg- 
ment on Ludowick Muggleton, the drunken 
tailor who fancied himself a prophet. " Im- 
pudent rogue!" roared Jeffreys, "thou shalt 
have an easy, easy, easy punishment ! " One 
part of this easy punishment was the pillory, 
in which the wretched fanatic was almost 
killed with brickbats. 

The nature of Jeffreys had been hardened 
to that temper which tyrants require in their 
worst implements. He had hitherto looked 
for professional advancement to the corpora- 
tion of London. He had therefore professed 
himself a Roundhead, and had always ap- 
peared to be in a higher state of exhilaration 
when he explained to popish priests that 
they were to be cut down alive, and were to 
see their own bodies burned, than when he 
passed ordinary sentences of death. But, as 
soon as he had got all that the city could 
give, he made haste to sell his forehead of 
brass and his tongue of venom to the court. 
The renegade soon found a patron in the ob- 
durate and revengeful James, but was always 
regarded with scorn and disgust by Charles, 
whose faults, great as they were, had no 
affinity with insolence and cruelty. " That 
man," said the king, "has no learning, no 
sense, no manners, and more impudence than 
ten carted street- walkers." Work was to be 



JEF 



448 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



done, however, which could be trusted to no 
man who reverenced law or was sensible of 
shame ; and thus Jeffreys, at an age at which 
a barrister thinks himself fortunate if he is 
employed to lead an important cause, was 
made chief-justice of the king's bench. 

His enemies could not deny that he pos- 
sessed some of the qualities of a great judge. 
His legal knowledge, indeed, was merely such 
as he had picked up in practice of no very 
high kind ; but he had one of those happily 
constituted intellects which, across labyrinths 
of sophistry and through masses of immate- 
rial facts, go straight to the true point. Of 
his intellect, however, he seldom had the full 
use. Even in civil causes his malevolent and 
despotic temper perpetually disordered his 
judgment. To enter his court was to enter 
the den of a wild beast, which none could 
tame, and which was as likely to be roused 
to rage by caresses as by attacks. He fre- 
quently poured forth on plaintiffs and defen- 
dants, barristers and attorneys, witnesses 
and jurymen, torrents of frantic abuse, 
intermixed with oaths and curses. His looks 
and tones had inspired terror when he was 
merely a young advocate struggling into 
practice. Now that he was at the head of 
the most formidable tribunal in the realm, 
there were few indeed who did not tremble 
before him. Even when he was sober, his 
violence was sufficiently frightful; but, in 
general, his reason was overclouded, and his 
evil passions stimulated by the fumes of in- 
toxication. His evenings were ording-rily 
given to revelry. People who saw him only 
over his bottle would have supposed him to 
be a man gross indeed, sottish, and addicted 
to low company and low merriment, but 
social and good-humored. He was constantly 
surrounded on such occasions by buffoons, 
selected for the most part from among the 
vilest pettifoggers who practiced before him. 
These men bantered and abused each other 
for his entertainment. He joined in their 
ribald talk, sang catches with them, and, 
when his head grew hot, hugged and kissed 
them in an ecstasy of drunken fondness. 
But, though wine at first seemed to soften 
his heart, the eifect a few hours later was 
very different. He often came to the judg- 
ment seat, having kept the court waiting 
long, and yet having but half slept off" his 



debauch, his cheeks on fire, his eyes staring 
like those of a maniac. When he was in 
this state, his boon companions of the pre- 
ceding night, if they were wise, kept out of 
his way, for the recollection of the familiarity 
to which he had admitted them inflamed his 
malignity, and he was sure to take every 
opportunity of overwhelming them with exe- 
cration and mvective. Not the least odious 
of his many odious peculiarities was the 
pleasure which he took in publicly brow- 
beating and mortifying those whom, in his fits 
of maudlin tenderness, he had encouraged to 
presume on his favor. 

When the Prince of Orange arrived, and 
James had abandoned his kingdom, Jeffreys, 
knowing his unpopularity, endeavored to 
escape in disguise. There was true retribu- 
tion in his detection. A scrivener at Wap- 
ping, whose trade was to furnish the sea- 
faring men there with money at high interest, 
had some time before lent a sum on bottomry. 
The debtor applied to equity for relief against 
his own bond, and the case came before 
Jeffreys. The counsel for the borrower, 
having little else to say, said that the lender 
was a Trimmer. The chancellor instantly 
fired. "A Trimmer! where is he? Let me 
see him. I have heard of that kind of mon- 
ster. What is it made like ? " The unfor- 
tunate creditor was forced to stand forth. 
The chancellor glared fiercely on him, stormed 
at him, and sent him away half dead with 
fright. " While I live," the poor man said, 
as he tottered out of the court, " I shall never 
forget that terrible countenance." And now 
the day of retribution had arrived. The 
Trimmer was walking through Wapping, 
when he saw a face al the window of an ale- 
house. The eye-brows had been shaved 
away ; the dress was that of a common sailor 
from Newcastle, and was black with coal 
dust ; but there was no mistaking the savage 
mouth and eye of Jeffreys. The alarm was 
given. In a moment the house was sur- 
rounded by hundreds of people shaking 
bludgeons and bellowing curses. The fugi- 
tive's life was saved by a company of the 
train-bands, and he was carried before the 
lord mayor. 

The mayor was a simple man who had 
passed his whole life in obscurity, and was 
bewildered by finding himself an important 



JEF 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



449 



actor in a mighty revolution. The events of 
the last twenty -four hours, and the perilous 
state of the city which was under his charge, 
had disordered his mind and his body. When 
the great man, at whose frown, a few days 
before, the whole kingdom had trembled, was 
dragged into the justice room begrimed with 
ashes, half dead with fright, and followed by 
a raging multitude, the agitation of the un- 
fortunate mayor rose to the height. He fell 
into fits, and was carried to his bed, whence 
he never rose. Meanwhile the throng without 
was constantly becoming more numerous and 
more savage. Jeffreys begged to be sent to 
prison. An order to that efiFect was procured 
from the Lords, who were sitting at White- 
hall, and he was conveyed in a carriage to the 
Tower. Two regiments of militia were drawn 
out to escort him, and found the duty a diffi- 
cult one. It was repeatedly necessary for them 
to form,* as if for the purpose of repelling a 
charge of cavalry, and to present a forest of 
pikes to the mob. The thousands who were 
disappointed of their revenge pursued the 
coach, with howls of rage, to the gate of the 
Tower, brandishing cudgels, and holdmg up 
halters full in the prisoner's view. The 
wretched man, meantime, was in convulsions 
of terror. He wrung his hands; he looked 
wildly out, sometimes at one window, some- 
times at the other, and was heard even above 
the tumult crying, " Keep them off, gentle- 
men ! for God's sake, keep them off!" At 
length, having suffered far more than the bit- 
terness of death, he was safely lodged in the 
fortress, where some of his most illustrious 
victims had passed their last days, and where 
his own life was destined to close in unspeak- 
able ignominy, and horror, April 18th, 1789. 

JEMMAPPES, Battle of, in Flanders. In 
this obstinate contest, Nov. 5 th, 1792, Gen. 
Dumouriez, with 40,000 French, defeated 
28,000 Austrians strongly intrenched. 

JENA, a town of Saxe- Weimar, containing 
a famous university, and 6,500 inhabitants, 
and memorable for the hard-fought battle be- 
tween the French and Prussians, on the 14th 
of October, 1806. Napoleon headed the 
French troops, and the Duke of Brunswick 
the Prussians. The battle was sanguinary in 
the extreme; 250,000 or 300,000 men, of 
which the two armies were composed, with 
700 or 800 pieces of artillery, scattered death 



29 



JER 



in every direction, and exhibited one of the 
most awful scenes recorded in history. The 
result was decisive in favor of the French. 
The Duke of Brunswick was mortally wound- 
ed. The power of Prussia was crushed, and 
Napoleon entered Berlin. 

JENNER, Edwakd, the discoverer of vac- 
cination, was born at Berkeley in Gloucester- 
shire, May 17th, 1749, and bred to the profes- 
sion of medicine. His celebrated discovery 
was made in 1798, but was incredulously re- 
ceived. Parliament at last voted him £ 1 0, 000. 
Jenner died Jan. 26th, 1823. Napoleon val- 
ued Dr. Jenner's discovery so highly that he 
released a large number of English prisoners 
at his request. 

JEROME, or Hieronymus, was born of 
Christian parents, in Dalraatia. He was 
deeply immersed in the theological controver- 
sies of the day, and his works were volumin- 
ous. He excelled all his contemporaries in 
erudition. His translation of the Scriptures 
into Latin is known as the Vulgate. Jerome 
died in 420, at the age of ninety. 

JEROME OF Prague, a Bohemian reformer, 
was the scholar of Wickliflfe and John Huss, 
and began to publish their doctrines. In 1415 
he was examined before the council of Con- 
stance, when Huss was in prison. He con- 
trived, however, to escape, but was taken, 
delivered into the hands of a magistrate, and 
burned. May 30th, 1416. 

JERUSALEM, a celebrated city of Pales- 
tine. Its environs are barren and mountain- 
ous, and the town is irregularly built. The 
number of inhabitants is 25,000, about one- 
half bemg Mohammedans, and a sixth Jews. 
There are many Roman and Greek convents 
in the city. The Church of the Holy Sepul- 
chre has been an object of veneration and 
curiosity for fifteen centuries. The Mosque 
of Omar, on the site of the ancient Temple, is 
splendid edifice. 

Melchisedek is called the founder of Jerusa- 
lem. It was a long time in the hands of the 
Jebusites, from whom King David took it 
Solomon built the temple on Mount Moriah, 
After his death Sesostris, King of Egypt, took 
the city, and plundered it, during Rehoboam's 
reign. In short, it was five times taken. Its 
most memorable siege was that by Titus, a.d. 
70, when the city and the temple were entirely 
destroyed; 1,110,000 persons are said to have 



450 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



perished, and 97,000 to have been made pris- 
oners, and afterward either sold as slaves, or 
wantonly exposed, for the sport of their cruel 
victors, to the fury of wild beasts. 

Mihuan, the historian of the Jews, elo- 
quently describes the destruction of the tem- 
ple. An appalling spectacle to the Roman, 
what was it to the Jew ? The whole summit 
of the hill which commanded the city blazed 
like a volcano. One after another the build- 
ings fell in, with a tremendous crash, and 
were swallowed up in the fiery abyss. The 
roofs of cedar were like sheets of flame ; the 
gilded pinnacles shone like spikes of red light ; 
the gate towers sent up tall columns of flame 
and smoke. The neighboring hills were 
lighted up ; and dark groups of people were 
seen watching in horrible anxiety the progress 
of the destruction : the walls and heights of 
the upper city w^ere crowded with faces, some 
pale with the agony of despair, others scowling 
unavailing vengeance. The shouts of the Ro- 
man soldiery, as they ran to and fro, and the 
bowlings of the insurgents who were perishing 
in the flames, mingled with the roaring of the 
conflagration and the thundering sound of 
falling timbers. The echoes of the mountains 
replied, or brought back the shrieks of the 
people on the heights : all along the walls re- 
sounded screams and wailings ; men who were 
expiring with famine, rallied their remaining 
strength to utter a cry of anguish and desola- 
tion. The slaughter within was even more 
dreadful than the spectacle from without. 
Men and women, old and young, insurgents 
and priests, those who fought and those who 
entreated mercy, were hewn down in indis- 
criminate carnage. The number of the slain 
exceeded that of the slayers. The legionaries 
had to clamber over heaps of dead, to carry 
on the work of extermination. John, at the 
head of some of his troops, cut his way 
through, first into the outer court of the tem- 
ple, afterward into the upper city. Some of 
the priests upon the roof wrenched off the 
gilded spikes with their sockets of lead, and 
used them as missiles against the Romans 
below. Afterward they fled to a part of the 
wall about fourteen feet wide ; they were soon 
summoned to surrender; but two of them, 
Mair, son of Belgo, and Joseph, son of Delia, 
plunged headlong into the flames! 

The Emperor Adrian began to rebuild the 



city, sixty years after its destruction. During 
the decay of the Byzantine empire the city 
fell into the hands of the Mohammedans. In 
the seventh and eighth centuries, the Crusad- 
ers contended fiercely for the possession of 
Jerusalem, and it was taken by the host which 
Godfrey of Bouillon headed, the 15th of July, 
1099. The Christians founded a kingdom 
there, which was ended by the Turks in 1187. 
[See Crusades.] Jerusalem was taken by the 
French under Bonaparte, in February, 1799. 
JESUITS. The religious order of the Jes- 
uits was founded by a military gentleman of 
Biscay named Ignatius Loyola. The order 
at first was sometimes called Loyolists, and 
sometimes Inighists, froni the founder's Span- 
ish name, Inigo de Cyuipuscoa. Ignatius 
assembled at Rome ten of his companions, 
chosen, for the most part, from the university 
of Paris, in the year 1538. He submitted the 
plan of his institution, which he said was 
inspired by divinity, to Pope Paul III. A 
committee appointed by that pontiff to exam- 
ine the character of the institution, declared 
it inimical to the interests of the church, as 
well as unnecessary. The opposition to the 
establishment of the order was overcome by 
a promise, in addition to the three vows of 
poverty, celibacy, and monastic obedience, to 
take an oath of implicit submission to the 
pope, agreeing to go whithersoever he should 
direct, and to claim nothing for support from 
the holy see. In the very charter, however, 
by which the followers of Ignatius bound 
themselves to the interests of the pope, they 
agreed blindly to dbey their general. The 
pope finally confirmed the institution by a 
bull, or decree, in the year 1540. The founder 
of the order of Jesuits being originally a rude 
soldier, it has been supposed he was a mere 
tool in the hands of artful men, and that he 
was not in reality the author of the writings 
which bear his name. The order was con- 
firmed under the title of the " Company of 
Jesus." It is said that when the little band 
who formed the germ of this great order, 
were deliberating what answer they should 
return to those who were continually ques- 
tioning them as to their calling and institute, 
Ignatius, ever full of military ideas, said : " . 
our general is no other than Jesus Christ ; 
his cross is our standard ; his law, even in ' 
its counsels, our rule: his name our chief 



JES 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



451 



consolation and our only hope; let us tell 
men the simple truth, that we are the little 
battalion of Jesus Christ" Such is the origin 
of the title 'Society of Jesus,' which has 
been shortened into the name of Jesuits. 

At first the number of members was lim- 
ited to sixty, but this restriction was removed, 
and the Jesuits multiplied rapidly. In the 
year 1710, the order had 24 professed houses ; 
59 houses of probation ; 340 residences ; G12 
colleges; 200 missions; 150 seminaries and 
boarding schools; and consisted of 19,998 
Jesuits. The code of laws by which the 
Jesuits were governed was perfected by La}^- 
ner and Aquaviva, who succeeded Loyola as 
general of the order, and were possessed of 
even more talent than their predecessor. 

Many causes contributed to insure the suc- 
cess of the institution. The Jesuits were 
required to be more active than other monks, 
having little to do with the usual monastic 
functions. They were soldiers devoted to the 
service of God and the pope. They cultivated 
the acquaintance of the great, and were deeply 
imbued with the spirit of intrigue. Loyola 
made the government of the institution 
purely monarchical. The general was chosen 
for life by deputies from the different prov- 
inces. His power was absolute, and no case 
and no individual were exempt from it. The 
general had a despotic power over the mem- 
bers of the institution ; a much greater power 
than the head of any monastic order had ever 
before exercised. The Jesuits were not only 
obliged to obey their general in outward 
observances, but to him they submitted the 
direction of their minds. Each novice was 
obliged, every six months, to manifest his 
conscience to his superior or to some one 
appointed by him ; and these novices were 
closely watched by others of the order, who 
were directed to give notice to the general of 
anything important. The heads of the sev- 
eral houses were obliged to transmit frequent 
reports of the character and conduct of the 
departments over which they presided, to the 
superior, and these reports were carefully 
kept and arranged, that the general might 
refer at once to the account of particular 
houses at any period. The provincials and 
heads of departments of the order transmitted 
full and minute accounts of the civil state 



of the respective countries in which they 
resided. 

The education of youth was an object which 
the Jesuits were particularly anxious to pro- 
mote and direct^; and the business of educa- 
tion was soon almost entirely conducted by 
them. In spite of their vow of poverty, they 
contrived to amass vast possessions, and in 
the East and West Indies carried on a very 
lucrative commerce. They were the con- 
fessors to monarchs and men of rank, and 
the influence they acquired was very great. 
They sought to acquire and enlarge property, 
and in South America, being possessed of 
wealthy dominions, they ruled over some 
hundred thousand subjects, as monarchs. 
They favored the passions of mankind by 
sanctioning unbridled license of manners, 
through the moral code they taught. Regu- 
lar and severe in their own habits, they were 
enabled to make a selfish use of the irregu- 
larities they countenanced. 

They were not unacquainted with the per- 
suasive power of the, tortures of the inquisi- 
tion, in making proselytes. One of their 
most noted missionaries was Francis Xavier, 
called the apostle of India. He sailed for the 
Portuguese settlements in India, in 1542, and 
soon spread the doctrines of the Romish 
church over the continent and surrounding 
islands. It is not our intention to detail the 
proceeding of the Jesuits in the process of mak- 
ing foreign proselj^tes, nor the controversies 
to which it gave rise. They were accused of 
making compromises with some sects, permit- 
ting them to retain profane customs and im- 
proper rites, in consideration of their publicly 
embracing the doctrines of the Romish church. 
«As we have before hinted, it is quite prob- 
able that as many converts were made by 
terror as by mildness, since the Jesuits were 
willing to do anything to maintain a show of 
success. 

They took possession of the fertile South 
American province of Paraguay, in the sev- 
enteenth century, and labored to disseminate 
military arts and improvements among the 
Indians. They introduced the comforts of 
civilization among the inhabitants, and thus 
in the first place gained their affection and 
esteem. Proceeding in this manner, they 
gradually strengthened their influence so 



JES 



■152 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OT 



that a few priests readily ruled some hundred 
thousand Indians. But these priests did not 
maintain the purity of conduct which they 
had given reason at first to suppose would be 
their constant guide in all their actions. 
They soon manifested schemes of the most 
daring ambition and most insatiable avarice. 
They yearly sent home to the European Jes- 
uits, immense quantities of gold, which they 
procured principally from Paraguay. They 
armed the Indians, and excited them to hatred 
against the Spaniards and Portuguese, evi- 
dently showing their intentions of making a 
separate sovereignty of Paraguay. In 1750 
the courts of Madrid and Lisbon entered into 
a treaty for fixing the boundaries of their 
respective possessions in South America. 
When this treaty came to be executed in the 
year 1752, the Jesuits opposed it, and animated 
the Indians strenuously to resist the Portu- 
guese and Spaniards, in the war w^hich fol- 
lowed. The disgrace of the Jesuits at the 
Portuguese court originated in their conduct 
on this occasion. 

In France the intrigues and the seditious 
writings of the Jesuits caused them to be ex- 
pelled by several parliaments, and denounced 
as corrupters of youth and enemies of govern- 
ment. The Sorbonne issued a decree in 1554, 
by which they condemned the institution, as 
being calculated rather for the ruin than the 
edification of the faithful. Louis XIII. again 
countenanced them, and Cardinal Richelieu 
and Louis XIV. showed them favor. In the 
reign of the latter monarch, they obtained the 
revocation of the edict of Nantes in favor of 
the Protestants. They had gained an almost 
complete triumph over their enemies, the 
Jansenists, when, among other things, their 
refusal to administer the sacrament to the 
Jansenists, created a turn of the tide against 
them which ended in their dissolution. 

The Jesuits were tried before the grand 
chamber of the parliament of Paris, and lost 
their case, which grew out of a desire to 
compound their debts, when, having carried 
on great commerce in Martinico, they had 
sustained heavy losses by war. An examin- 
ation into their own books only proved the 
charges against them. Professing poverty, 
they were found to possess riches ; pretend- 
ing to moderation and justice, they were 
convicted of inculcating principles which 



endangered the well being of the king and 
realm. 

The Jesuits were expelled from England 
in 1604; from Portugal in 1759; from France 
in 1764; from Spain in 1767; and their 
society was abolished by Pope Clement XFN^, 
in 1773. Had they adhered to the principles 
they professed, in the outset, and merely 
aimed at civilizing and converting savages, 
and increasing knowledge at home, the insti- 
tution would have been as justly celebrated, 
as it is now denounced for ambition, avarice, 
cruelty, and corruption. 

The order was restored by Pius VIT. in 
1814, and has since been tolerated in various 
countries. It has a secret and extensive 
existence. 

Macaulay has glowingly sketched the char- 
acter of this wonderful religious corps. In 
the sixteenth century, the pontificate, exposed 
to new dangers more formidable than had ever 
before threatened it, was saved by a new relig- 
ious order, which was animated by intense 
enthusiasm and organized with exquisite skill. 
"When the Jesuits came to the rescue of the 
papacy, they found it in extreme peril ; but 
from that moment the tide of battle turned. 
Protestantism, which had, during the whole 
generation, carried all before it, was stopped 
in its progress, and rapidly beaten back from 
the foot of the Alps to the shores of the Baltic. 
Before the order had existed a hundred years, 
it had filled the whole world with memorials 
of great things done and suffered for the faith. 
No religious community could produce a list 
of men so variously distinguished ; none had 
extended its operations over so vast a space ; 
yet in none had there ever been such perfect 
unity of feeling and action. There was no 
region of the globe, no walk of speculative or 
of active life, in which Jesuits were not to be 
found. They guided the counsels of kings. 
They deciphered Latin inscriptions. They 
observed the motions of Jupiter's satellites. 
They published whole libraries, controversy, 
casuistry, history, treatises on optics, Alcaic 
odes, editions of the fathers, madrigals, cate- 
chisms, and lampoons. The liberal education 
of youth passed almost entirely into their 
hands, and was conducted by them with con- 
spicuous ability. They appear to have dis- 
covered the precise point to which intellectual 
culture can be carried without risk of intel- 



JES 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



iectual emancipation. Enmity itself was com- 
pelled to own that, in the art of managing and 
forming the tender mind, they had no equals. 
Meanwhile they assiduously and successfully 
cultivated the eloquence of the pulpit. With 
still greater assiduity and still greater success 
they applied themselves to the ministry of the 
confessional. Throughout Catholic Europe 
the secrets of every government and of almost 
every family of note were in their keeping. 
They glided from one Protestant country to 
another under innumerable disguises, as gay 
cavaliers, as simple rustics, as Puritan j 
preachers. They wandered to countries which 
neither mercantile avidity nor liberal curiosity 
had ever impelled any stranger to explore. 
They were to be found in the garb of manda- 
rins, superintending the observatory at Pekin. 
They were to be found, spade in hand, teach- 
ing the rudiments of agriculture to the sav- 
ages of Paraguay. Yet, whatever might be 
their residence, whatever might be their em- 
ployment, their spirit was the same, entire 
devotion to the common cause, implicit obe- 
dience to the central authority. None of them 
had chosen his dwelling-place or his avocation 
for himself. Whether the Jesuit should live 
under the arctic circle or the equator ; wheth- 
er he should pass his life in arranging gems 
and collating manuscripts at the Vatican, or 
in persuading naked barbarians in the south- 
ern hemisphere not to eat each other, — were 
matters which he left with profound submis- 
sion to the decision of others. If he was 
wanted at Lima, he was on the Atlantic in 
the next fleet. If he was wanted at Bagdad, 
he was toiling through the desert with the 
next caravan. If his ministry was needed in 
some country where his life was more insecure 
than that of a wolf; where it was a crime to 
harbor him ; where the heads and quarters of 
his brethren, fixed in the public places, showed 
him what he had to expect, — he went without 
remonstrance or hesitation to his doom. Nor 
is this heroic spirit yet extinct. When, in 
our own time, a new and terrible pestilence 
passed round the globe ; when, in some great 
cities, fear had dissolved all the ties which 
hold society together ; when the secular clergy 
had deserted their flocks ; when medical suc- 
cor was not to be purchased by gold ; when 
the strongest natural affections had yielded to 
love of life, — even then the Jesuit was found 



by the pallet which bishop and curate, physi- 
cian and nurse, father and mother, had de- 
serted, bending over infected lips to catch the 
faint accents of confession, and holding up to 
the last, before the expiring penitent, the im- 
age of the expiring Redeemer. 

But with the admirable energy, disinterest- 
edness, and self-devotion which were charac- 
teristic of the society, great vices were min- 
gled It was alleged, and not without found- 
ation, that the ardent public spirit which made 
the Jesuit regardless of his ease, of his liberty, 
and of his life, made him also regardless of 
truth and of mercy ; that no means which 
could promote the interest of his religion 
seemed to him unlawful, and that by the in- 
terest of his religion he too often meant the 
interest of his society. It was alleged that, 
in the most atrocious plots recorded in history, 
his agency could be distinctly traced ; that, 
constant only in attachment to the fraternity 
to which he belonged, he was in some coun- 
tries the most dangerous enemy of freedom, 
and in others the most dangerous enemy of 
order. The mighty victories which he boasted 
that he had achieved in the cause of the 
church were, in the judgment of many illus- 
trious members of that church, rather appai'- 
ent than real. He had, indeed, labored with 
a wonderful show of success to reduce the 
world under her laws, but he had done so by 
relaxing her laws to suit the temper of the 
world. Instead of toiling to elevate human 
nature to the noble standard fixed by divine 
precept and example, he had lowered the 
standard till it was beneath the average level 
of human nature. He gloried in multitudes 
of converts who had been baptized in the re- 
mote regions of the east ; but it was repoi'ted 
that from some of these converts the facts on 
which the whole theology of the gospel de- 
pends had been cunningly concealed, and that 
others were permitted to avoid persecution by 
bowing down before the images of false gods, 
while internally repeating Paters and Aves. 
Nor was it only in heathen countries that such 
arts were said to be practiced. It was not 
strange that people of all ranks, and especially 
of the highest ranks, crowded to the confes- 
sionals in the Jesuit temples, for from those 
confessionals none went discontented away. 
There the priest was all things to all men. 
If he had to deal with a mind truly devout, 



JES 



I 



454 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



he spoke in the saintly tone of the primitive 
fathers ; but with that very large part of man- 
kind who have religion enough to make them 
uneasy when they do wrong, and not religion 
enough to keep them from doing wrong, he 
followed a very different system. Since he 
could not reclaim them from guilt, it was his 
business to save them from remorse. He had 
at his command an immense dispensary of 
anodynes for wounded consciences. In the 
books of casuistry which had been written by 
his brethren, and printed with the approbation 
of his superiors, were to be found doctrines 
consolatory to transgressors of every class. 
There the bankrupt was taught how he might, 
without sin, secrete his goods from his credit- 
ors. The servant was taught how he might, 
without sin, run off with his master's plate. 
The pander was assured that a ChHstian man 
might innocently earn his living by carrying 
letters and messages between married women 
and their gallants. The high-spirited and 
punctilious gentlemen of France were gratified 
by a decision in favor of dueling. The Ital- 
ians, accustomed to darker and baser modes 
of vengeance, were glad to learn that they 
might, without any crime, shoot at their ene- 
mies from behind hedges. To deceit was 
given a license sufficient to destroy the whole 
value of human contracts and of human testi- 
mony. In truth, if society continued to hold 
together, if life and property enjoyed any se- 
curity, it was because common sense and com- 
mon humanity restrained men from doing 
what the society of Jesus assured them they 
might with a safe conscience do. 

So strangely were good and evil intermixed 
in the character of these celebrated brethren ; 
and the intermixture was the secret of their 
gigantic power. That power could never have 
belonged to mere hypocrites. It could never 
have belonged to rigid moralists. It was to 
be attained only by men sincerely enthusiastic 
in the pursuit of a great end, and at the same 
time unscrupulous as to the choice of means. 

JEWS. Abraham received the name of 
Hebrew from the Canaanites among whom he 
dwelt. The derivation of the word is uncer- 
tain. Its signification before the time of 
Jacob, or Israel, is unknown, but it appears 
to have been applied afterward exclusively 
to the posterity of Jacob, and to have been 
synonymous with Israelites. After the Bab- 



ylonish captivity the appellation was changed 
to Jews. Their history begins, of course, 
with Abraham. 

After the call of Abraham, he went at first 
to Canaan, which God had promised to his 
posterity, taking with him Sarah his wife, and 
Lot, the son of his brother, and here led a 
wandering life, removing in search of pasture 
with his flocks, from place to place, and dwell- 
ing with his famil}' in tents. By the bounty 
of the Lord, his wealth increased, and he be- 
came rich in flocks, in gold, and in silver. 
Under Isaac and Jacob, the Hebrews still 
formed a great nomadic family, without chang- 
ing their habits and manners. Jacob had 
twelve sons, from whom sprang the twelve 
tribes of the Hebrew people. These were 
Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Dan, Judah, Naphtali, 
Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and 
Benjamin. Joseph, having been sold to some 
wandering merchants by his jealous brethren, 
was taken to Egypt, and rose to a high rank 
at the court of Pharaoh. This led to the en)- 
igration of his father's family to Egypt, about 
1700 B.C. During the lifetime of Joseph, the 
Hebrews were well treated, but after his death 
a tyrannical king filled the throne, and the 
persecutions they endured threatened to an- 
nihilate the nation. God raised up a deliverer 
in the person of Moses, and the childi'en of 
Israel, having left the land of Egypt, were 
conducted over the bed of the Red Sea, and 
afterward providentiallj' preserved in the des- 
ert. At Sinai, the Lord promulgated his laws 
from the summit of that awful mountain. Not- 
withstanding tlie blessings which had been 
heaped upon them, the Hebrews murmured, 
and became idolatrous, and were in conse- 
quence punished for their sins. The various 
nations inimical to the Hebrews were repulsed 
with loss. Moses havingdiod on Mount Nebo, 
before the entrance nito the promised land, 
his place was filled by the warlike Joshua. 
The waters retired before the bearers of the 
ark, and the people crossed the Jordan in 
safety. The walls of the city of Jericho were 
destroyed by the Lord, and the inhabitants 
slain by the Israelites. The period of the 
judges abounded in heroic exploits of individ- 
ual valor, among which those of Samson are 
the most celebrated. At length, about 1095 
B.C., the monarchy was established, Saul being 
the first king. Saul achieved some brilliant 



JEW 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



455 



victories, but as he became disregardful o''the 
counsels of the prophet Samuel, the latter pri- 
vately anointed David, the son of Jesse, a val- 
orous youth, whose fame eclipsed that of Saul. 
The reign of David extended from 1055 to 1015. 
It was rendered brilliant by victories over the 
Jebusites, Philistines, Amalekites, Idumoeans, 
Moabites, Ammonites, and Zeba, but unhappy 
by the domestic misfortunes and crimes which 
embittered the heart of King David. Under 
Solomon, his son, whose reign extended from 
1015 to 975, the nation attained a high degree 
of splendor and consequence, while his stern 
strength and pure integrity sank under the 
corrupting influence of wealth and luxury. 
Toward the latter part of his reign, Solomon, 
enervated by the pleasures of his seraglio, and 
enthralled by female favorites, permitted the 
worship of false gods, and forsook Ilim to 
whom he owed his glory. The revolt of the 
ten tribes under Jeroboam took place, while 
Rehoboam succeeded to the government of 
Judah and Benjamin. The ten tribes formed 
the kingdom of Israel, the latter that of Judah. 
Sichem at first, and afterward Samaria, was 
the capital of Israel, and Jerusalem that of 
Judah. The contest between the two states 
was furious, and not unequal. In general the 
kingdom of Judah preserved the worship of 
the true God, while that of Israel was idola- 
trous. The kingdom of Israel existed two 
hundred and fifty-four years after the separa- 
tion, under nineteen kings, whose authority 
was gained and lost by violent revolutions. 
Shalmaneser, King of Assyria, ended the king- 
dom, and carried the people captive into Asia, 
B.C. 721. 

The kingdom of Judah existed under 
twenty kings of the house of David, until 
587 B.C., when Nebuchadnezzar took Jerusa- 
lem, and carried away the inhabitants cap- 
tive. During the captivity flourished Daniel, 
Jeremiah, and other prophets, who were 
commissioned by God to inform the Hebrew 
people of the fate which awaited them. From 
the time of the captivity they are more often 
known under the name of Jews. Their cap- 
tivity was terminated by Cyrus, King of 
Persia, who published an edict permitting all 
the Jews to return to their country, and to 
rebuild the temple of Jerusalem, 536 b.c. 
They placed the foundations of the temple ; 



but the Samaritans, inveterate enemies of the 
Jews, procured a suspension of their opera- 
tions. Nevertheless, Darius, informed of the 
edict of Cyrus, permitted the completion of 
tJie temple. The Jews labored with such 
spirit, that, four years after, the walls of 
Jerusalem were rebuilt, and their worship 
re-established. Nehemiah, being chosen gov- 
ernor of Judea, neglected no exertions to 
maintain the public observance of the laws 
of God. Esther, a Jewish maiden, having 
found favor in the eyes of Ahasuerus, King 
of Persia, this monarch confirmed the immu- 
nities of the Jews, preserved them from 
massacre, and severely punished their im- 
placable enemies. 

In the time of the high-priest Onias, Seleu- 
cus. King of Syria, sent Heliodorus to seize 
all the gold of the temple. He came to Jeru- 
salem and entered the temple, intending to 
obey the royal command. It was in vain 
that the high -priest represented to him that 
the treasures were deposites, destined for the 
support of the fatherless and widows. The 
legend runs that Heliodorus turned a deaf 
ear to his remonstrances, and was already on 
the threshold of the treasury, when he be- 
held a white horse, richly caparisoned, whose 
rider wore a terrible aspect, with armor of 
gold. At the same time Heliodorus was at- 
tacked by two young men of surpassing 
beaut}'-, and would have been slain, but for 
the interposition of Onias, who implored the 
pardon of the Almighty, and offered up a 
sacrifice to appease his wrath. 

Antiochus Epiphanes, or the Illustrious, 
the successor of Seleucus, an impious prince, 
deprived Onias of the sacerdotal ofiice, and 
sold it to the highest bidder. He entered 
Jerusalem with a powerful army, and killed 
or enslaved 80,000 men. He had the bold- 
ness to enter the temple, and to bear away 
the altar and golden table, the golden candle- 
stick, the precious vessels, and all the money 
that the treasury contained, and even under- 
took to abolish the religion of the Jews, for- 
bidding them, on pain of death, to maintain 
their worship, and erecting the statute of 
Jupiter Olympius on the altar of the temple. 
The Jews were forced to attend the profane 
sacrifices, and compelled to eat the flesh of 
animals prohibited by their law. Under this 



JEW 



456 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



persecution many of the Jews yielded, but 
there were some who remained firm, in the 
midst of martyrdom. 

Judas Maccabfeus raised the standard of 
revolt, and rendered his name formidable to 
the enemies of the Jews, for, having collected 
an army of six thousand men, he performed 
prodigies of valor in defense of the religion 
and liberties of their fathers. He conquered 
and killed Apollonius, governor of Samaria, 
and the general of the Syrian army. Every- 
where victory crowned his efforts, till the 
valiant leader fell in battle, after slaying 
many of his enemies. Jonathan and Simon, 
his brothers, emulated his glory. Afterward 
the Jews came under the rule of Rome. The 
Jews refused to recognize Jesus Christ, who 
was born in the reign of Herod, King of the 
Jews, as the Messiah. Christ foretold the 
destruction of Jerusalem, which was taken 
by Titus,. A. D. 70, after a siege of unparalleled 
horror. This was the signal of the complete 
dispersion of the Jews, in fulfillment of the 
divine warning. 

Their history in the middle ages is a tale 
of suffering. They were early dealers in, 
money, and from kings and nobles they en- 
dured exactions that it must have required 
heavy usury to repay. To enumerate the 
cruelties put upon them, or barely mention 
the many massacres in which they perished, 
would exhaust a goodly volume. They were 
banished from England in 1290 by Edward 
I., and were shut out thenceforth till the time 
of Cromwell. From France they were several 
times driven, and as often recalled to be plun- 
dered again ; they were finally expelled by 
Charles VI. In Spain their sufferings were 
greater even than elsewhere. For them the 
hungry fires of the mquisition were lit, and 
in 1492 Ferdinand and Isabella ordered them 
to depart from Spain within four months. 
Eight hundred thousand men, women, and 
children were thus driven forth from home. 
Multitudes perished. Portugal was the re- 
fuge of many, who had gold to purchase the 
liberty of tarrying there. The Portuguese 
monarch had cruel compassian upon them ; 
his treaty with Spain forbade him to allow 
the Jews a permanent residence in his realm, 
and he thought to save some by making them 
Christians. With a promise of ships to bear 
them away, he beguiled them to gather at 

JO 



Lisbon. There the orders were that the 
childi-'en should be torn from their parents, 
that they might be nurtured in the bosom 
of the true church. A scene of anguish fol- 
lowed. Many a father slew his son, rather 
than abandon him ; and many a mother, pre- 
tending Christianity that she might not be 
exiled from a daughter, soon betrayed her 
insincerity, and was murdered by the tor- 
tures of the inquisition; Throughout Europe 
it was believed that in their rites the Jews 
crucified children, and whenever a distemper 
raged, the cry was that they had poisoned 
the wells and streams. Any such rumor 
was the watchword for their butchery, the 
plucking of their eyes or teeth, the extirpa- 
tion of their homes, and the seizure of their 
estates. In modern times, these atrocities 
have ceased, but yet the Jew is too often the 
object of an unjust loathing, if not hatred. 

JOAN OF ARC (Jeanne d'Akc), called 
the Maid of Orleans, was born of low parent- 
age at Domremy, a village on tlie borders 
of Lorraine. When the affairs of France 
were in a deplorable state, and the city of 
Orleans AA^as so closely besieged by the Duke 
of Bedford that its fall appeared inevitable, 
Joan claimed to have received a divine com- 
mission to expel the invaders. At this time, 
a belief in supernatural endoAvments was by 
no means uncommon, and, far from being 
confined to the lower classes, pervaded the 
minds of the loftiest and most pretending. 
Joan, on being introduced to Charles VII., 
offered to raise the siege of Orleans, and con- 
duct her prince to Rheims, there to be 
crowned with the usual solemnities; at the 
same time demanding for herself a conse- 
crated sword Avhich had long hung suspended 
in the church of St. Catharine. Her request 
was granted, and she fulfilled her promises, 
entered Orleans Avith supplies in triumph, 
and appeared, clad in a splendid suit of ar- 
mor, at the coronation of Charles, Avhich 
took place in the cathedral of Rheims. The 
gallant maid, her mission done, now sought 
J retire into private life, but she was urged 
to stay. She yielded to the general wish 
with fatal facility, fatal, because, having 
been taken with the garrison of Compiegne, 
she was, to the disgrace of Bedford and the 
English, condemned to death as a witch, and 
burned at the stake, in the market-place of 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



467 



Rouen, May 30th, 1431. She was never a 
servant, as English wi'iters have represented, 
and was a lovely girl of eighteen when she 
first sought an audience of Charles. An 
authentic portrait, yet extant, shows that 
she possessed a face and figure of exquisite 
loveliness ; a countenance to which a beam- 
ing eye, and a tender expression of melan- 
choly, imparted an interest which rendered 
her fascination irresistible. She led the 
French to victory, but never' stained her 
hand with bloodshed. 

JOHN, King of England. [See Planta- 

GENET.]' 

JOHNSON, Samuel, LL. D., one of the 
most eminent literary men of the eighteenth 
century in England, was born at 'Lichfield, 
in Staifordshire, in 1709, and was the son 
of a bookseller. He entered Pembroke Col- 
lege, Oxford, at the age of nineteen, but his 
father's losses compelled him to leave without 
taking a degree. For some years after leav- 
ing college, he was unsettled in his views, 
which, however, chiefly turned to literature. 
In 1735 he married Mrs. Porter, a mercer's 
widow of twice his own age ; he describes 
the aff;iir as a "love match on both sides." 
In 1737 he came to London in company with 
David Garrick, who had been one of his pu- 
pils, to seek his fortune. Here he supported 
himself by his pen, his first publication in 
London being a poem in imitation of one 
of Juvenal's satires. He was for many 
years a contributor to the Oentleman^s 
Magazine. In 1747 he issued his plans for 
an English dictionary, a work which, when | 
published, fully equaled the high expectations 
which had been formed of it. His periodical 
papers, "The Rambler" and "The Idler," 
displayed the talents of the author in a fevor- 
able light. The moderate success of the 
tragedy of "Irene" convinced Dr. John- 
son that be was incapable of producing 
dramas which would reflect honor on his 
pen. His fine romance of " Rasselas " was 
written in the evenings of one week to de- 
fray his mother's funeral expenses. In 1702 
he received a government pension of £300 a 
year. He published some political pamph- 
lets against the revolted colonists of America, 
»which, however, do not display very great 
argumentative powers. His last undertak- 
ing, " Lives of the Poets," was completed in 



1781. He died December 13 th, 1784, and 
was interred in Westminster Abbey, where 
a statute is erected to his meniory. 

His biography, by his intimate friend Bos- 
well, is one of the best works of the kind 
ever written, and still continues to enjoy 
high popularity. Boswell said to Madame 
d'Arblay : "Yes, madam; you must give me 
some of your choice little notes of the doc 
tor's ; we have seen him long enough upon 
stilts ; I want to show him in a new light. 
Grave Sam, and great Sam, and solemn Sam, 
and learned Sam — all these he has appeared 
over and over. Now I want to entwine a 
wreath of the graces across his brow ; I want 
to show him as gay Sam, agreeable Sam, 
pleasant Sam; so you must help me with 
some of his beautiful billets to yourself" 

JONES, JXcois, born in Delaware, 1770, 
entered the navy at the age of twenty -nine. 
He commanded the Wasp at the capture of 
the British brig Frolic, Oct. 18th, 1812. The 
next day the Wasp and her prize were taken 
by the Poictiers, a British seventy-four, and 
carried into Bermuda. Commodore Jones 
died at Philadelphia, August 3d, 1850. 

JONES, John Paul, was a younger son 
of a gardener who dwelt at Arbigland, on 
Solway Frith, in Scotland. He was born 
July 6th, 1747, and when but a boy of twelve 
was apprenticed to a shipping merchant of 
White Haven, the principal port of the Sol- 
way. He made several voyages to Virginia ; 
then his master was unfortunate in business ; 
and at the age of sixteen he was left to con- 
trol himself. Several White Haven vessels 
were engaged in the slave-trade ; young Paul 
got the berth of third mate in one of them ; 
at nineteen he had advanced to be first mate 
of the Two Friends, one of the largest White 
Haven vessels in the traffic. Then he was 
engaged for a time in the West India trade ; 
finally he left Scotland forever, and abandoned 
sea for shore. When the Revolution broke 
out he was living in poverty near Fredericks- 
burg, Va. He at once offered Congress his 
services in the navy then to be formed ; and 
about this time, from reasons ever unknown, 
he added 'Jones' to his patronymic. He 
was commissioned as lieutenant, first on the 
list, in December, 1775, and was appointed to 
the Alfred, a clumsy merchantman that had 
been altered into a frigate of thirty guns. It 



JON 



458 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



was the flagship of the small fleet of Com- 
modore Hopkins ; and on a bright morning, 
early in February, 1776, as the connnodore 
came on board, Lieut. Jones with his own 
liands hoisted the first American ensign ever 
displayed on a man-of-war. It was of yellow 
silk, bearing the figure of a pine-tree, and 
the significant device of a rattlesnake, with 
the ominous words, " Don't tread on me ! " 

The gallantry, fearlessness, and value of 
Jones soon became proverbial, and early in 
August he was rewarded with a captain's 
commission. In 1777 he was put in com- 
mand of the Ranger (a ship of eighteen guns 
just built for the service at Portsmouth, 
N. H.), hoisted the new flag of the stars and 
stripes, and sailed for France. The next 
spring he took the first of his famous cruises 
along the British coast, and made an unsuc- 
cessful attempt to burn the town of White 
Haven ; for this his excuse was a desire to 
avenge some of the wanton burnings in Amer- 
ica, and to teach the British " that not all 
their boasted navy could protect their own 
coasts ; " but the attempt can not be justified. 
He visited the scenes of his boyhood, boldly 
anchored in the Solway at noon, and landed 
with a small party, intending to make a pris- 
oner of the Earl of Selkirk, the benefoctor of 
his father. But he was foiled by the noble- 
man's absence. Against his earnest remon- 
strances, the men insisted upon plundering 
the mansion of its plate. When the prizes 
were sold at Brest, Jones bought the silver 
and restored it, accompanied by an extrava- 
gant letter, to Lady Selkirk. His return to 
France was marked by a hot contest with the 
English sloop Drake off Carrickfergus, in 
which the Ranger was victorious. In expec- 
tation of the command of a larger vessel, 
Jones relinquished the Ranger. After gall- 
ing delay, the Due de Duras, an old and 
unseaworthy ship of forty guns, was fitted 
out for him ; in compliment to Dr. Franklin 
he named her Bon Homme RicJiard. More 
delay intervened, but at last, the 14th of 
August, 1779, he left L'Orient with a squad- 
ron of seven sail, for another cruise off the 
British coast. A heavy storm scattered the 
little fleet, but the Bon Homme Richard and 
the frigate Alliance, with two smaller vessels, 
after taking some prizes off the English and 
Irish shores, came together at Cape Wrath, 



a northern point of Scotland. They spread 
terror along the eastern coast, and late in the 
afternoon of the 16th of September, the four 
vessels lay in the Frith of Forth, v/ithin sight 
of Edinburgh castle. Jones's intention was 
to seize the shipping at Leith, to menace the 
town with the torch, and obtain a heavy 
ransom "toward the reimbursement which 
Britain owed to the much injured citizens of 
the United States." Wild alarm spread along 
the threatened coast. Early the next morn- 
ing the Bon Homme Richard was seen stand- 
ing toward Kirkcaldy, on the northern shore. 
In an agony of fear the people gazed at her, and 
the odd minister of the place, kneeling on the 
beach, thus wrestled with the Lord : " Now, 
dear Laird, dinna ye think it a shame for ye 
to send this vile piret to rob our folk o' Kirk- 
caldy, for ye ken they're poor enow already, 
and hae naething to spare. The wa' the 
ween blaw^s, he'll be here in a jiffie, and wha 
kens what he may do ? He's nae too good for 
ony thing. Mickle's the mischief he's dune 
already. He'll burn their hooses, tak' their 
very claes, and tirl them to the sark ; and, 
waes me ! wha kens but the bluidy villain 
may tak' their lives ! The puir weemen are 
maist frightened out o' their wits, and the 
bairns skirling after them. I canna thol't 
it ! I hae been lang a faithfu' servant to ye, 
Laird ; but gin ye dinna turn the ween aboot, 
and blaw the scoundrel out o' our gate, I'll na 
staur a fit, but wuU just sit here till the tide 
comes. Sae, tak' yere wull o't." 

The wind veered, and Jones was forced to 
put to sea. A week later he fell in with a 
fleet of Baltic merchantmen, convoyed by 
the new ship Serapis, forty-four guns, and 
the Countess of Scarborough, twenty guns. 
Landais, the treacherous captain of the Alli- 
ance, who had caused Jones much trouble 
during the cruise, disobeyed all signals, and 
held his ship aloof The Vengeance followed 
this cowardly example ; while the Pallas, the 
other small vessel, engaged the Countess of 
Scarborough. The Bon Homme Richard and 
the Serapis battled together. Such another 
sea-fight as this of the 23d of September, 1779, 
off Flamborough Head, has never been seen. 
The breeze almost died away ; and at twilight 
the ships were not within reach of each other's ^ 
guns. They were so close to the shore that 
crowds of eager watchers gathered to witness 



JON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



459 



the spectacle. For a little while the curtain 
of night mantled them ; then a full, bright 
moon came up, and the terrible struggle 
began. The fire of the Serapis made large 
havoc in the rotten timbers of the Richard, 
but in a few minutes the latter ran into her 
antagonist, the spars and rigging of both were 
entangled, and the great guns were almost 
useless. Jones was repulsed in a trial to 
board. His flag was hidden by the smoke. 
Pearson, captain of the Serapis, cried out, 
" Has your ship struck?" "I have not yet 
begun to fight," was the answer. 

The ships yawned apart for a moment, and 
then lay broadside to broadside, the mvizzles of 
the guns touching. Jones lashed his ship to 
the Serapis, and in this fierce embrace the 
awful cannonade went on. The fight raged 
with fiendish fury ; the crew of the Richard 
suffered terrible loss, and their ship leaked 
badly. To add to their danger, the treach- 
erous Alliance now came up and poured 
broadside after broadside into them. There 
could be no mistake or excuse for this dread- 
ful villainy ; the moonlight was bright, the 
position of the combatants clear. The cour- 
age of Jones did not falter, although his 
position was so critical, and his ship was 
slowly sinking. The hand-grenades of his 
marines set the Serapis on fire. Capt. Pear- 
son had not the obstinacy of his foe, though 
he had fought with great bravery, and at last 
he surrendered to his really weaker enemy. 
" It is painful," he said to Jones, in a surly 
manner, " to deliver up my sword to a man 
who has fought with a halter around his 
neck." Jones preserved his temper, and 
courteously replied, as he returned the wea- 
pon, " Sir, you have fought like a hero ; and 
I make no doubt but your sovereign will 
reward you in the most ample manner." He 
said rightly ; George IH. knighted Pearson 
for the bravery he here displayed. When 
Jones heard of this, he remarked, "Well, he 
deserves it ; and if I fall in with him again, 
I will make a lord of him ! " 

The battle had raged three hours. Flames 
were now rapidly devouring both vessels. 
The Bon Homme Richard was damaged past 
recovery. The flames were extinguished on 
the Serapis, prisoners and men were all 
transferred to her, and the shattered wreck of 
the Richard went down beneath the billows. 



The merchantmen under convoy had escaped, 
through the criminal conduct of the com- 
manders of the Alliance and the Vengeance ; 
but the Countess of Scarborough had yielded 
to the Pallas after an hour's fight, notwith- 
standing th6 nefarious Landais had fired into 
the latter, as he did into the Richard. After 
tossing about on the North Sea for ten days, 
Jones ran into the Texel with his little squad- 
ron and prizes, only a few hours before eleven 
British ships of war that had been sent after 
him appeared in the ofting. His brilliant 
exploit excited great admiration at Amster- 
dam, and afterward at Paris. The French 
king gave him a sword of honor and a cross 
of the military order of merit. The Amer- 
ican congress, eight years later, voted him a 
gold medal. 

After the conclusion of peace, Jones, rest- 
less, and longing for action and adventure, 
accepted the post of rear-admiral in the Rus- 
sian navy in 1788, and was employed against 
the Turks on the Black Sea. He soon, how- 
ever, fell into disfavor with Potemkin, the 
favorite of Catharine, was granted leave of 
absence, and never recalled nito service. He 
died of dropsy in the chest, July 18th, 1792, 
at Paris, aged ordy forty-five. His grave is 
unknown. He was a man of dauntless 
courage, and of great service to his adopted 
country. Among his most marked traits, an 
overweening vanity was conspicuous. 

JONES, Sir William, a poet, statesman, 
and oriental scholar, born in London, 1746, 
died in Hindostan, April 27th, 1794, aged 
forty-seven. His attainments in law and 
general science were profound and varied. 
As a linguist he has never been surpassed : he 
was the master of twenty-eight languages, 
and his knowledge extended over the litera- 
ture and antiquities of which they were the 
key. 

JONSON, Ben, was the postliumous son 
of a clergyman in Westminster, where he 
was born in 1574, about a month after his 
father's decease. His family was originally 
from Scotland, whence his grandfather re- 
moved to Carlisle, in the reign of Henry VIII. 
Benjamin received his education under the 
learned Camden, at Westminster school ; and 
had made extrordinary progress in his stud- 
ies, when his mother, who had married a 
bricklayer for her second husband, took him 



JON 



460 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



away to work under his step-father. From 
this humble employment he escaped, by en- 
listing as a soldier in the army, then serving 
in the Netherlands against the Spaniards. 
An exploit which he here performed, of kill- 
ing an enemy in a single combat, gave him 
room to boast ever after of a degree of cour- 
age which has not often been found in alli- 
ance with poetical distinction. 

On his return, Jonson entered himself at 
St. John's College, Cambridge, which he was 
shortly obliged to quit, from the scanty state 
of his finances. He turned his thoughts to 
the stage, and applied for employment at the 
theatres ; but his talents as an actor could 
only procure for him admission at an obscure 
playhouse in the suburbs. Here he had the 
misfortune to kill a fellow-actor in a duel, for 
which he was thrown into prison. The state 
of mind to which he was here brought, gave 
the advantage to a Popish priest in convert- 
ing him to the Catholic faith, under which 
religion he continued for twelve years. 

After his liberation from prison, he mar- 
ried, and applied in earnest to writing for the 
stage, in which he appears to have already 
made several attempts. His comedy of 
"Every Man in his Humor," the first of his 
acknowledged pieces, was performed with 
applause in 1596 ; after which he continued 
to furnish a play yearly, till his time was 
occupied by the composition of the masques 
and other entertainments by which the ac- 
cession of James was celebrated. Dryden, 
in his " Essay on Dramatic Poetry," speaks 
of him as the "most learned and judicious 
writer which any theatre ever had." 

In 161 G he published a folio volume of his 
works, which procured for " him a grant from 
his majesty of the salarj'^ of poet-laureate for 
life, though he did not take possession of the 
post till three years after. Jonson was re- 
duced to necessitous circumstances in the 
latter part of his life, though he obtained 
from Charles I. an advance of his salary as 
laureate. He died in 1637 at the age of 
sixty -three, being at that time considered as 
at the head of English poetry. He was in- 
terred in Westminster Abbey, where an 
inscription was placed over his grave, famili- 
arly expressive of the reputation he had ac- 
quired among his countrymen : " rare Ben 
Jonson." Six months after his death, a col- 



lection of poems to his honor, by a number 
of the most eminent writei'S and scholars in 
the nation, was published, with the title of 
"Jonsonius Virbius ; or the Memory of Ben 
Jonson, revived by the Friends of the 
Muses." 

We subjoin his beautiful epitaph on the 
Countess of Pembroke, sister to Sir Philip 
Sidney. 

" Underneath this marble herse 
Lies the subject of all verse, 
Sidney's sister, Pembroke's mother ; 
Death, ere thou hast slain another 
Learn'd, and fair, and good as she. 
Time shall throw his dart at thee." 

JOSEPH II., Emperor of Germany, son 
of Francis I. and Maria Theresa, and brother 
of Marie Antoinette, was born in 1741. His 
father died in 1705, but he did not really 
reign till the death of his mother in 1780, 
when he became King of Hungarj'^ and Bo- 
hemia. Joseph made his reign conspicuous 
by his designs for the good of his subjects. 
He aimed at the most extensive and import- 
ant reformations, but was not aware of the 
strength of those prejudices and evils which 
presented themselves in his path at the very 
outset, and continued to obstruct it through- 
out the whole of his career. The education 
of Joseph had been carefully attended to, and 
at the age of nineteen he was married to 
Isabella, infanta of Parma. In 1764 he was 
crowned King of the Romans. The death 
of his first wife, whom he loved with more 
than usual fondness, was a severe blow to 
him, but in 1765 he married the sister of the 
Elector of Bavaria. It was in this year that 
he ascended the throne, without encountering 
the slightest opposition. Having always 
displayed a military ambition, he was now 
happy in remodeling his armies jjnd perfect- 
ing their discipline, not restricting his refor- 
mation to the armj'-, but making it felt in all 
the departments of government. After hav- 
ing returned from a tour through his own 
dominions, and through Prussia, Italy, France, 
and Russia, he set apart one day in each 
week for hearing the complaints and petitions 
of all, even the meanest of his subjects. "It 
behooves me," said he, "to do justice; and 
it is my invariable intention to render it to 
all the world, without respect of persons." 
It is a pity that he forgot this maxim when 
he accepted the invitation of the royal anat- 



JOS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



461 



omists, and assisted in the dismemberment 
of Poland, in 1772. Joseph encouraged the 
liberty of the press, and even permitted 
strictures to be made on his own conduct and 
measures, provided they were not couched 
in the language of coarse pasquinade. "If," 
said he, "they be founded in justice, we 
shall profit by them ; if not, we shall disre- 
gard them." 

Many curious adventures are said to have 
occurred to the emperor, when, as was his 
custom, he drove about in the garb of a pri- 
vate citizen. One day, as he was riding thus 
alone, he was accosted familiarly by a soldier, 
who mistook him for a man of the middle class, 
and asked the emperor to give hnn a ride. 
"Willingly," exclaimed Joseph; "jump in, 
comrade, for I am in something of a hurry." 
The soldier sprang into the cabriolet, and 
sovereign and subject sat side by side on the 
same seat. The soldier was loquacious. 
" Come, comrade ! " said he, slapping the 
emperor familiarly on the back; "are you 
good at guessing?" "Perhaps I am," re- 
plied Joseph; "try me." "Well, then, my 
boy, conjure up your wits, and guess what I 
had for breakfast this morning." "Sour 
krout." " Come, none of that I try again, 
comrade." " Perhaps a Westphalia ham," 
said the emperor, willing to humor his com- 
panion. " Better than that ! " exclaimed the 
soldier. " Sausages from Bologna, and Hock- 
heimer from the Rhine?" "Better than 
that! d'ye give it up?" "T do." "Open 
your eyes and ears then," said the soldier 
bluntly ; "I had a pheasant, by Jove ! shot 
in the Emperor Joe's park, ha ! ha ! " When 
the exultation of the soldier had subsided, 
Joseph said quietly: "I want to try your 
skill in guessing, comrade. See if you can 
name the rank I hold." "You're a — no — 
hang it ! you're not smart enough for a cor- 
net." " Better than that," said the emperor. 
" A lieutenant ? " " Better than that." " A 
captain?" "Better than that." "A ma- 
jor?" "Better than that." "General?" 
"Better than that." The soldier was now 
fearfully agitated ; he had doffed his hat, and 
sat bareheaded ; he could hardly articulate. 
" Pardon me, your excellency ; you are field- 
marshal." "Better than that," replied Jo- 
seph. " Lord help me ! " cried the soldier, 



out of the cabriolet, and kneeled for pardon 
in the mud. The emperor often laughed 
over it heartily, and the soldier received a 
mark of favor which he could not forget. 

On another occasion, Joseph, turning a 
corner shortly, ran the wheel of his vehicle 
against an old woman's fruit-stall, and upset 
it, scattering the good things in every direc- 
tion. The ragged urchins m the immediate 
vicinity fell upon the temptmg fruit, and has- 
tily gathering it, ate it, mud and all. As 
soon as the old woman gained her feet, she 
gave utterance to a volley of abuse, and the 
emperor was glad to escape and permit the 
predatory youths of the suburbs to take 
their share of the vituperative epithets of 
the enraged fruit-seller. As soon as he had 
reached his palace, Joseph dispatched some 
of his officers to make reparation to the old 
woman. Surrounded by a group of men in 
splendid uniforms, the old lady was terrified 
when thej' informed her that the driver of 
the cabriolet was her emperor. Indistinct 
ideas of halters and executioners were flitting 
across her mind, when she was awakened to 
the reality bj^ the sight of a purse full of 
gold pieces, which the officers threw upon her 
table. She opened her lips to bless the em- 
peror, but his messengers had put spurs to 
their horses, and were seen galloping off in 
the distance. " I. think," said the emperor, 
"she has no reason to complain ; for she has 
been amply paid, and has had the pleasure 
of abusing me unmercifully, while I heard 
her with the patience of a saint." 

Various events occurred to disturb the 
tranquillity of Joseph during his reign, and 
he died on the 20th of February, 1790. 

JOSEPHINE (Rose Tascher de la Page- 
rie) was born in Martinique, June 24th, 
1763, and married at an early age to Viscount 
Beauharnais, who was executed in the reign 
of terror. Josephine married Bonaparte in 
1796. She lived to see Napoleon raised to 
the zenith of his power, and then hurled 
from the summit he had gained. But at that 
hour of affliction the affectionate Josephine 
had no longer a right to be near the man she 
adored, for he had divorced her to marry 
Maria Louisa, from motives of policy and in 
hope of an heir. Josephine retired to her 
beautiful seat of Malmaison with the title 



you're the emperor 1 " He threw himself I of empress-queen-dowager. She was called 

JOS 



462 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the star of Napoleon ; and his better destiny 
forsook him when he cast off his amiable and 
lovely wife. She died May 29th, 1814, her 
last words being, "Z'z/e de JSlbe — Najjo- 
leon ! " The poor mourned in her a faithful 
friend, the artists of the capital a kind and 
munificent patron, and the lovers of Napoleon 
the peerless woman who had graced his 
throne in the brightest moments of his 
career. Truly did the emperor say, "If I 
win battles, Josephine wins hearts." 

JOSEPHUS, Flavius, a Jewish historian, 
born A.D. 37. He signalized himself by sup- 



doos throw themselves on the ground and 
are crushed by the progress of the car. 
More than a million devotees seek this shrine 
annually, many of whom leave their bones 
whitening on the adjoining ways. 

JUGURTHA, son of Mastanabal, murdered 
Hiempsal, the son of his uncle Micipsa, and 
exiled Adherbal, the brother of Hiempsal, to 
seat himself on the throne of Numidia. 
Adherbal supplicated the aid of the Romans, 
but the gold of Jugurtha procured a decision 
in his favor. Adherbal, who surrendered to 
the usurper, was inhumanly murdered, and 



porting a siege of forty seven days against the Roman people breathing vengeance 



Vespasian and Titus in a town of Judea. 
The city was finally taken by treachery, and 
thousands of the inhabitants were slain, the 
number of captives being only 1,200. Jose- 
phus saved his life by flying into a cave, and 
finally surrendered to Vespasian, who gave 
him his liberty, and treated him with great 
favor. Josephus was present at the siege 
of Jerusalem. He died a.d. 93, in the fifty- 
sixth year of his age. 

JOtlRDAN, Jean Baptiste, born in 1762, 
was a general of the French revolution, and 
became a marshal of the empire. He won 
the day at Fleurus, but he lost the battle of 
Vittoria. He died in 1833. 

JUBA, the second of that name, was the 
son of Juba I. of Numidia, and was among 
the captives led to Rome to grace the triumph 
of the victorious Cgesar. He gained the 
hearts of the Romans by the courteousness 
of his manners, and Augustus rewarded his 
fidelity by giving him in marriage Cleopatra, 
the daughter of xintony and Cleopatra, and 
conferring upon him the title of King of 
Mauritania and making him master of all the 
territories which his father once possessed. 
His popularity was so great that the Athe- 
nians raised a statue to him, and the Ethio- 
pians worshiped him as a divinity. He died 
A.D. 23. 

JUGGERNAUT (lord of the world), a 
celebrated temple in Hindostan, on the coast 
of Orissa. The idol is a shapeless stone, 
with a hideous black face, diamonds for eyes, 
and crimson jaws yawning open. This is 
the representative of Vishnu, the preserver 
of the world. On days of festival, the idol 
is placed on a tower, sixty feet high, moving 
on wheels, beneath which the blinded Hin- 



against the murderer, the senate were con- 
strained to declare war -upon him. The 
Jugurthine war required an immense expen- 
diture of blood and treasure, but Jugurtha 
was finally defeated by Marius, and starved 
to death in a Roman prison, 106 B.C. Then 
Numidia became a Roman province. 

JULIAN the Apostate (Flavius Claudia- 
Nus), son of Julius Constans, the brother of 
Constanti.ie the Great, was born at Constan- 
tinople. The massacre which attended the 
elevation to the throne of Constans, son of 
Constantino the Great, nearlj' proved fatal to 
Julian and his brother Gallus. The two 
brothers were privately educated together, 
and taught the doctrines of the Christian 
religion. Gallus received the instructions of 
his teachers with deference and submission ; 
but Julian fed his dislike for Christianity 
by secretly cherishing a desire to become one 
of the votaries of paganism. He was banished 
to rule over Gaul, with the title of Cassar, by 
Constans, and there he showed himself worthy 
of the imperial dignity by his prudence, valor, 
and the numerous victories he obtained over 
the enemies of Rome in Gaul and Germany. 
His mildness, as well as his condescension, 
gained him the hearts of his soldiers; and 
when Constans, to whom Julian became an 
object of suspicion, ordered him to send part 
of his forces to the east, the army immediately 
mutinied, and promised eternal fidelity to 
their leader, refusing to obey the order of Con- 
stans. They even compelled Julian, by 
threats and entreaties, to accept the title of 
emperor, and the death of Constans, which 
soon after happened, left him sole master of 
the Roman empire, a.d. 361. 

His immediate disavowal of the doctrines o*" 



JUL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



468 




TEMPLE OF JUPITER OLYMPIUS AT ATHENS. 



Christianity procured Julian the title of the 
Apostate. His change of religious opinion 
was attributed to the austerity with which he 
had been taught the doctrines of Christianity, 
or, according to others, to the literary conver- 
sation and persuasive eloquence of some of the 
Athenian philosophers. After he had made 
his public entry into Constantinople, he de- 
termined to continue the Persian war, and 
check those barbarians, who had for sixty 
years derided the indolence of the Roman em- 
perors. Having crossed the Tigris, he burned 
his fleet and boldly advanced into the enemy's 
country. He defeated the Persian forces, but 
died of a wound received in battle, a.d. 363, 
aged thirty -three years. 

JUNIUS. From 1769 to 1772 a series of 
political letters appeared in Woodfall's Public 
Advertiser, at Lc.don, that by their force of 
invective, their keenness of sarcasm, and the 
clear, brilliant style in which they were 
couched, produced a powerful impression, and 



they have since taken a place among the stan- 
dard works in our language. Every effort 
that coHld be devised by the government, or 
prompted by private indignation, was made to 
discover their writei', but the authorship re- 
mains an unsolved mystery to this day. Per- 
haps they have been most generally ascribed 
to Sir Philip Francis ; but they have also been 
plausibly assigned to Lord George Sackville, 
Edmund Burke, John Wilkes, William Gerard 
Hamilton (commonly called Single-speech 
Hamilton), Mr. Dunning (afterward Lord Ash- 
burton), Gen. Charles Lee, the Duke of Port- 
land, Mr. Adair, Rev. J. Rosenhagen, John 
Roberts, Charles Lloyd, Samuel Dyer, Hugh 
Boyd, Home Tooke, Lord Chatham, Dr. Fran- 
cis Glover, John Lewis De Solme, Rev. James 
Wilmot, Gibbon the historian, Suett the com- 
edian, the Earl of Chesterfield, Daniel Wray, 
Earl Temple, Sir Robert Rich, Gov. Pownall, 
&c. "I am the depositary of my own secret, 
and it shall perish with me," said Junius. 



JTT>f 



4b'4: 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



JUPITER, in mythology, the son of Rhea mind having sifted the various philosophies 
and Saturn, was concealed from his ftither, of the Greeks, and wrote many treatises in 
who devoured his offspring, and brought up defense of the faith upon which he settled. He 



in Crete, where he was nursed by the nympl 
Amalthea. He forced Saturn to surrender to 
him the empire of the world, which he shared 
among his brothers, giving the ocean to Nep- 
tune, and hell to Pluto, remaining himself 
master of the heavens; he was called the 
father of gods and men. The giants, descended 
from his uncle Titan, made war upon him, 
but were defeated. He gave Juno, his wife 
and sister, ample cause for jealousj'', and from 
the multiplicity of his intrigues was almost 
literally the father of his people. He was 
generally represented with thunderbolts in 
his hand, the eagle at his side, his flowing 
hair encircled with a diadem. His figure was 
majestic, and a long beard added to the im- 
posing aspect of his lofty countenance. Bulls, 
in preference to other animals, were sacrificed 
to him. 

JUNOT, Andoche, was born in 1771. At 
the siege of Toulon in 1794, Lieut. Bonaparte 
was dictating a dispatch on a drumhead to a 
sergeant of artillery : a ball struck the ground 
hard by, scattering the dirt all about. " Very 
lucky," gayly cried the sergeant, not flinch- 
ing; "we need no sand.*" His bearing im- 
pressed the lieutenant to say, "What can I 
do for you?" "Everything!" said the ser- 
geant,; "you can change my worsted shoul- 
der-knot into an epaulette." The lieutenant 
did more than this. Sergeant Junot. became 
a marshal of the empire and Duke of Abran- 
tes. He died in 1813. 

JUSTIN MARTYR was born of pagan 
parents in Samaria about the beginning of the 
second century. While yet a young man he 
was converted to Christianity, his 



suffered martyrdom in the reign of Marcus 
Antoninus, about a.d. 165. 

JUSTINIAN I., surnamed the Great, Em- 
peror of the East, celebrated as a lawgiver, 
was born in 483, of an obscure family. He 
shared the fortune of his uncle, Justin I., who, 
from a lowly station, was raised to the throne. 
Justinian flattered the people and the senate, 
and, in 527, on the death of his uncle, was 
proclaimed emperor. He gained great victo- 
ries, and enacted admirable laws, but he loaded 
his subjects with taxes, and was severe to 
strangers, while the crimes of his own serv- 
ants went impunished. He died in 565, in 
the eighty -third year of his age. The digest 
of the Roman law, known as the Justinian 
code, is the great glory of his reign. 

JUVENAL, Decius Junius, flourished at 
Rome in the latter half of the first century. 
He was sent to Egypt by Domitian, who 
dreaded his satire, but returned under Trajan, 
in the eighty-second year of his age. His 
sixteen satires are powerful and caustic. 

JUXON, William, an English prelate, was 
born at Chichester, in 1582. In 1635 he was 
advanced to the post of lord high treasurer, 
which no churchman had held since the reign 
of Henry VII. This office he resigned in 
1041, when it was admitted by all parties that 
he had conducted himself without reproach. 
After attending his royal master, Charles I., 
during his imprisonment in the Isle of Wight, 
and on the scaflbld, he went into retirement ; 
but at the restoration he was made Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury, and had the satisfaction 
of placing the crown on the head of Charles 
IL He died June 4th, 1663. 



JUX 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



405 



K. 



KALMUCKS, a branch of the Mongol race, 
of great antiquity. Their tribes are scattered. 
In 1759 a part of them, consisting of eighteen 
hundred famihes, settled on the Volga, and 
placed themselves under the protection of the 
Russian government, to w^hom they paid vol- 
untary allegiance. Others are settled in dif- 
ferent parts. Many of them are Mohammed- 
ans. Their personal appearance is far from 
pleasing, and their habits are extremely rude. 

KAMES. Henry Home (1696-1782), a 
Scotch lawyer and judge, — in which latter 
capacity, according to the custom of the coun- 
try, he took a title as Lord Kames, — was con- 
spicuous in the brilliant literary society of 
Edinburgh, and wrote several metaphysical 
and ethical treatises, the best of which is 
"The Elements of Criticism." 

KANE, Elisha Kent, was born at Phila- 
delphia, Feb. 3d, 1 820. The most remarkable 
trait of his boyhood was a love for feats of 
daring and difHculty. He resorted to the 
University of Virginia for a collegiate educa- 
tion, but was arrested midway in the course 
by startling manifestations of the disease 
which finally ended his life. For a long time 
his life was despaired of by his familj^ and 
when he recovered it was only to be informed 
that he might at any moment fall as suddenly 
as from a musket-shot. He was now in his 
eighteenth year, and about to commence the 
serious business of life with the knowledge 
that he had in his system a fatal disease which 
might suddenly terminate his earthly career 
at a moment's warning, and which was sure 
to be always a source of pain and suffering. 
His father said to him, "Elisha, if you must 
die, die in the harness," and he resolved to 
act in conformity with the advice, which was, 
in reality, a matter of necessity, for inaction 
was more injurious to him than constant ex- 
posure to dangers, and he found that the only 
way to combat with his enemy was to keep 
himself incessantly employed. There is the 
best authority for the opinion, according to 
his biographer, that his ailments had alwavs 
in them a preponderating character of neuro- 
pathic disturbance. Even when he was com- 



paratively free from the acute form of rheu- 
matic disorder, his nerves were tingling and 
rioting with irritation. But in the midst of 
this nervous rioting he was calm, sedate, 
serious, and thoughtful. His friends believing 
that his disease rendered him unfit for the 
profession of an engineer, for which he had 
been preparing, he began the study of medi- 
cine. In his twenty-first year he was elected 
resident physician in the Pennsylvania Hos- 
pital. He attended strictly to his duties for 
six months, while he was laboring under so 
severe an attack of cardiac disease as to be 
unable to sleep in a horizontal position, and 
never closing his eyes at night without the 
feeling that the chances were against his ever 
opening them again in this world. He dis- 
tinguished himself by his inaugural thesis on 
"Kyestein," which attracted attention even 
among the savans of Europe. His father, be- 
ing satisfied that the routine of a phj^sician's 
life would be fatal to his son's constitution, 
obtained for him, without his knowledge, an 
appointment as a surgeon in the navy. He 
was greatly indisposed to the place, and the 
position he held on shipboard was always 
odious to him. His aversion to a sea life 
amounted to detestation ; but he yielded to 
his father's wishes, and after his examination 
prepared himself cheerfully for his new duties. 
He was appointed upon the diplomatic 
staff as surgeon to the first American embassy 
to China in 1843, when Mr. Cushing was 
sent out as commissioner. On the voyage 
out he had the advantage of stopping at 
Madeira and Rio Janeiro, at which latter place 
he improved his time by making an ascent of 
the eastern Andes, which rear their fantastic 
forms on the coast of Brazil. The notes 
which he made of this exploration were un- 
happily lost while he was traveling on the 
Nile. On the voyage from Rio to Bombay he 
employed himself assiduously in the study 
of navigation and modern languages. When 
the frigate arrived at Bombay, Mr. Cushing, 
who had gone out overland, intending to 
come on board at that port, had not come. 
Dr. Kane directly began to visit the caves of 



30 



KAN 



466 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Elephanta, and every other object of interest 
in the neighborbood, and then started on an 
elephant hunt in the island of Ceylon. 

They reached Canton in July, 1844. Kane 
soon tired of the sluggishness of diplomacy 
in the celestial empire, and, obtaining leave 
of absence, set off to explore the Philippine 
Islands, vs^hich he effected mainly on foot. 
He was the first man who descended into the 
crater of Tael ; lowered more than a hundred 
feet by a bamboo rope from the overhanging 
cliff, and clambering down some seven hund- 
red more through the scorife, he made a topo- 
graphical sketch of the interior of this great 
volcanoe, collected a bottle of sulphurous 
acid from the very mouth of the crater ; and, 
although he was drawn up almost senseless, 
he brought with him his portrait of this 
hideous cavern, and the specimens which it 
afforded. The natives were much outraged 
at this impious invasion of the dwelling place 
of their deity, so that his life was also in peril 
from them. 

After the departure of the embassy for 
home, he remained at Canton to establish 
himself as a physician ; but, at the end of 
six months, he was brought down with the 
rice fever, and came near dying, recovering 
only after a long illness. He returned home 
overland. Before he reached Philadelphia, 
he had ascended the Himalayas, and triangu- 
lated Greece, on foot ; he had visited Ceylon, 
the Upper Nile, and all the mythologic region 
of Egypt, traversing the route and making 
the acquaintance of the learned Lepsius, who 
was then prosecuting his archasological re- 
searches. He twice narrowly escaped death ; 
once in a skirmish with the Bedouins, in 
which he was wounded in the leg, and then 
from an attack of plague. 

Dr. Kane would have resigned his post in 
the navy, had not honor forbidden this in 
view of the impending war with Mexico. He 
was ordered to the frigate United States, 
bound for the coast of Africa. Here he vis- 
ited the slave factories, from Cape Mount to 
the river Bonny, and, through the infamous 
Da Souza, got access to the barracoons of 
Dahomey, and contracted, besides, the coast 
fever, from the effects of which he never 
wholly recovered. He. came home invalided. 
Believing that his constitution was broken, 
and his health rapidly going, he called upon 



President Polk, and demanded an opportu- 
nity for active service that might crowd the 
little remnant of his life with achievements 
in keeping with his ambition. He was 
charged with dispatches to Gen. Scott, of great 
moment and urgency, which must be carried 
through a region occupied by the enemy. 
Landed at Vera Cruz, he asked for an escort 
to convey him to the capital, but the officer 
in command had no troopers to spare : he 
must wait, or he must accept, instead, a band 
of ruffian Mexicans called the spy company, 
who had taken to the business of treason and 
trickery for a livelihood. He accepted them, 
and went forward. Near Puebla his troops 
encountered a body of Mexicans escorting a 
number of distinguished officers to Orizaba, 
among whom w^ere Gen. Gaona, governor of 
Puebla, his son .Maximilian, and Gen. Tore- 
jon, who commanded the brilliant charge of 
horse at Buena Vista. The surprise was 
mutual, but the spy company had the advan- 
tage of the ground. At the first instant of 
the discovery, and before the rascals fully 
comprehended their involvement, the doctor 
shouted in Spanish, "Bravo! the capital 
adventure! colonel, form your line for the 
charge!" And down they went upon the 
enemy ; Kane and his gallant Kentucky 
charger ahead. Understanding the princi- 
ple that sends a tallow candle through a 
plank, and that the momentum of a body is 
its weight multiplied by its velocity, he 
dashed through the opposing force, and turn- 
ing to engage after breaking their line, he 
found himself fairly surrounded, and two of 
the enemy giving him their special attention. 
One of these was disposed of in an instant 
by rearing his horse, who, with a blow of his 
fore-foot, floored his man ; and wheeling sud- 
denly, the doctor gave the other a sword 
wound, which opened the external iliac 
artery, and put him hors de combat. This 
subject of the doctor's military surgery was 
the young Maximilian. The brief melee ter- 
minated with a cry from the Mexicans, " We 
surrender." Two of the officers made a dash 
for an escape : the doctor pursued them, but 
soon gave up the chase. When he returned, 
he found the ruffians preparing to massacre 
the prisoners. As he galloped past the 
young officer whom he had wounded, he 
heard him cry, " Senor, save my father." A 



'KAN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



467 



group of the guerilla guards were dashing 
upon the Mexicans, huddled together, with 
their lances in rest. He threw himself be- 
fore them ; one of them transfixed his horse, 
another gave him a severe wound in the 
groin. He killed the first lieutenant, wounded 
the second lieutenant, and blew a part of the 
colonel's beard off with the last charge of his 
six-shooter ; then grappling with them and 
using his fists, he brought the party to terms. 
The lives of the prisoners were saved, and the 
doctor received their swords. As soon as 
General Gaona could reach his son, who lay 
at a little distance from the scene of the last 
struggle, the doctor found him sitting by 
him, receiving his last adieu. Shifting the 
soldier and resuming the surgeon, he secured 
the artery, and put the wounded man in a 
condition to travel. The ambulance got up for 
the occasion contained at once the wounded 
Maximilian, the wounded second lieutenant, 
and the man that had prepared them for slow 
traveling, himself on his litter, from the lance 
wound received in defense of his prisoners ! 
When they reached Puebla, the doctor's 
wound proved the worst in the party. He was 
taken to the government house, but the old 
general, in gratitude for his generous services, 
had him conveyed to his own house. General 
Childs, the American commander at Puebla, 
hearing of the generosity of his prisoner, dis- 
charged him without making any terms, and 
the old general became the principal nurse 
of his captor and benefactor, dividing his 
attentions between him and his son, who lay 
wounded in an adjoining room. This illness 
of our hero was long and doubtful, and he 
was reported dead to his friends at home. 

After the war was ended, he was sent to 
the Mediterranean in the store-ship Supply, 
and, while on this voyage, was seized with an 
attack of tetanus, the most terrible of all dis- 
orders, when, to use his own expression, his 
body felt as though it was composed of fiddle- 
strings, and a host of devils were tuning him 
up. He had not the faintest hope of recov- 
ering from this disorder, but he did, and 
returned to Norfolk, not quite dead, in Sep- 
tember, 1849. After a brief rest at home, he 
was employed in the coast survey. 

He was bathing in the tepid waters of the 
Gulf of Mexico, on the 12th of Ma}^, 1850, 
when he received his telegraphic order to 



proceed forthwith to New York, for duty upon 
the Arctic expedition. In nine days from 
that date he was beyond the limits of the 
United States on his dismal voyage to the 
polar seas. Of this first American expedi- 
tion in search of Franklin, he was the sur- 
geon, naturalist, and historian. It returned, 
after an absence of sixteen months, for nine 
of which it had been fast in the ice, without 
accomplishing the generous object for which 
it had gone. The commander of this expedi- 
tion. Lieutenant De Haven, had never even 
heard of Doctor Kane until they met for the 
first time in the navy yard at Brooklyn, the 
day before they set sail. When he took the 
measure of the man upon whom the health 
of himself and crew must depend, he felt a 
misgiving that he was not the right man 
for the place ; if there had been time, he 
would have requested the department to ex- 
change him for some more promising person. 
He made up his mind to send the feeble-look- 
ing little doctor back as soon as he got to 
Greenland, if he should hold out so long. 
The doctor was as usual sea-sick. When 
they touched at Whale-fish Island, after hav- 
ing been thirty-one days at sea, an English 
transport ship was found there, in which De 
Haven benevolently proposed to send the 
doctor home as an invalid. The doctor looked 
at the commanding officer in blank dismay, 
and firmly said, "I won't go." De Haven 
soon knew him better. 

Immediately after his return, Kane set 
about organizing a second expedition. Of 
this he was the commander. He left New 
York, in the Advance, a brig of 120 tons, 
May 30th, 1853, his destination being the 
highest point attainable through the north- 
ward of Baffin's Bay, in search of Sir John 
Franklin. He found a temperature of lOO-' 
below the freezing point, and verified by 
actual sight the fact of an open sea in this 
frigid region, which had long been ques- 
tioned. The farthest point attained was a 
precipitous headland, named Cape Independ- 
ence, in lat. 81" 22' N., and long. 65^ 35' W. 
From it the western coast was seen stretching 
to the north, with an iceless horizon, and a 
heavy swell rolling on witli white caps. Two 
islands on the eastern threshold of this sea 
were named after Sir John Franklin and his 
companion, Captain Crozier. On the west. 



KAN 



468 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the coast was observed to be mountainous, 
and the farthest distinctly sighted point was 
a lofty mountain, estimated to be in lat. 82° 
30', and long. 66= west (approximate), which 
Dr. Kane proposed to name after Sir Edward 
Parry, who, " as he has carried his name to 
the most northern latitude yet reached, 
should have in this, the highest known north- 
ern land, a recognition of his pre-eminent 
position among Arctic explorers." 

The winter of 1854 passed with many 
trials, and in the following summer it be- 
came necessary to abandon the brig and 
retreat. On the 17th of May, Dr. Kane com- 
menced his return in sledge-boats. On the 
6th of August, in eighty-three days after 
leaving the ship, through many perils and 
escapes, he arrived at Upernavik, where the 
Danish authorities gave him a cordial wel- 
come. He returned to New York on the 1 1th 
of October, 1855, after an absence of thirty 
months. Anxiety had begun to be felt for 
the safety of his party, and in the spring an 
expedition had been sent out for its relief, 
under command of Lieut. Hartstene. Kane 
and Hartstene fell in with each other, Sept. 
18th, and returned to New York together. 
The thrill of delight which greeted the for- 
mer's appearance was saddened by the low 
state of his health. He visited England, 
hoping to be recuperated by the journey. 
Lady Franklin had hoped he might lead yet 
one more party upon the search which her 
devoted heart could not yet give over. But 
Kane's strength sank lower and lower. A 
resort to the mild clime of Cuba was of no 
avail. He died at Havana, Feb. 16th, 1857. 
Dr. Kane was five feet six inches in height, 
and in his best health weighed about one 
hundred and thirty-five pounds. His com- 
plexion was fair, and his hair soft and silken, 
of a dark chestnut color. His eyes were dark 
gray, but lustrous, with a wild light, when 
his feelings were excited ; and when he was in 
the torrent-tide of enraptured action, the 
light beamed from them like flashing scime- 
tars, and in an impassioned moment they 
gleamed frightfully. In company, when the 
talk ran glib, and everybody would be heard, 
he was silent, but terse and elastic as a steel 
spring under pressure. He had a way of 
looking attentive, docile, and as interested as 
a child's fresh wonder ; but no one would 



mistake the expression for the admiration of 
inexperience or incapacity ; yet it cheated 
many a talker into a self-complaisance that 
lost him the opportunity of learning something 
of the man he wanted to know. Idle curi- 
osity never made anything of him, and he did 
nothing at gossip ; but inquiry with an aim 
was never disappointed. 

His biographer, Dr. Elder, asked him once, 
after his return from his last Arctic expedi- 
tion, " for the best proved instance that he 
knew of the soul's power over the body ; an 
instance that might push the hard-baked 
philosophy of materialism to the conscious- 
ness of its own idiocy." He paused a mo- 
ment, and then said with a spring, " The soul 
can lift the body out of its boots, sir. When 
our captain was dying, — I say dying, I have 
seen scurvy enough to know, — every old scar 
in his body was a running ulcer. If con- 
science festers under its wounds correspond- 
ingly, hell is not hard to understand. I 
never saw a case so bad that either lived or 
died. Men die of it usually long before they 
are so ill as he was. There was trouble 
aboard ; there might be mutiny. So soon as 
the breath was out of his body we might be at 
each others' throats. I felt that he owed even 
the repose of dying to the service. I went 
down to his bunk, and shouted in his ear, 
' Mutiny, captain, mutiny ! ' He shook off the 
cadaveric stupor: 'Set me up,' he said, 'and 
order these fellows before me.' He heard the 
complaint, ordered punishment, and from 
that hour convalesced. Keep that man awake 
with danger, and he wouldn't die of anything 
until his duty was done." 

Kane was a Christian gentleman. Dr. 
Elder makes a declaration which few biogra- 
phers can make : " Bless the memory of the 
man for the happiness I have this day, in 
declaring that I have not been obliged to 
suppress a letter or a line for the sake of his 
fame." His brief life was crowded with 
action and adventure. He visited India^ 
Africa, Europe, South America, the islands 
of the Pacific, and twice penetrated the Arc- 
tic region to the highest latitudes attained by 
civilized man. He encountered the extrcmest 
perils of sea and land, in every climate of the 
globe; he discharged in turn the severest 
duties of the soldier and the seaman ; attached 
to the United States navy as a surgeon, he 



KAN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



469 



nevertheless engaged at one time in the coast 
survey of the tropical ocean, and in a month 
or two we find him exploring the frigid zone; 
and all the while that his personal experien- 
ces had the character of romantic adventure, 
he was pushing them in the spirit of scientific 
and philanthropic enterprise, while suffering 
from an organic disease which might snap 
his thread of life at any moment. 

KANSAS was organized as a territory of 
the United States in 1854. It includes a 
vast tract of country, stretching west to the 
crests of the Rocky Mountains ; but its rich- 
est part lies along the western boundary of 
Missouri, and thence westward for a hundred 
and fifty miles. This district is watered by 
the Missouri, the Kansas and its tributaries, 
and by the many headwaters of the Osage 
and the Arkansas; it is a prairie country, 
the timber being chiefly confined to the banks 
of the streams ; though these are so numer- 
ous that the unwooded tracts are seldom more 
than five miles across. The prairies are all 
rolling, and in some spots hilly. The soil is 
a rich, black loam. Coal crops out on many 
of the water-courses, and may be found to be 
abundant. The climate of Eastern Kansas 
resembles that of Kentucky and Missouri: 
it is warm in summer, and in winter mild, 
with now and then a few severe frosty and 
stormy days and nights. The wet season is 
in May and June, when the rivers fill, and 
some overflow their banks. The fall is the 
dryest season of the year. Snow in winter 
rarely exceeds two or three inches in depth, 
and soon disappears. The greater part of 
the territory is salubrious, being high and 
dry. The low, marshy grounds form but a 
small portion of Kansas, and consequently 
there is but little danger from malaria. 

The face of the country is a continual suc- 
cession of undulating ridges and valleys. In 
the western section, there is every variety of 
soil and aspect, and the scenei-y rises to great 
sublimity and grandeur. There are spark- 
ling streams and placid lakes, and an amount 
of water-power surpassing that of any settled 
portion of the United States. 

The area is 114,793 square miles. 

Kansas is a portifl#>s!^he great tract of 
country ceded to the United States by France 
in 1803, known as the Louisiiana purchase, 
and including also the* states of Louisiana, 



Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Minnesota, 
and the Indian and Nebraska territories. 
After the adoption of the policy of Indian 
removals, the domain of Kansas, except a 
small part reserved for the original inhabit- 
ants, was set apart as the abode of bands 
who had been removed from their ancient 
hunting grounds east of the Mississippi. 
Here were placed the Wyandots, the Pota- 
watomies, the Kickapoos, the Shawnees, and 
other tribes, the smoke of whose wigwams 
once wreathed among the forests and prairies 
north-west of the Ohio. Some of these In- 
dians became partly civilized, had farms, and 
lived much in the fashion of the poorer 
class of Western settlers. They had been 
induced to remove hither by the promise that 
this should be their permanent home. But 
the overland emigration to Oregon and Cali- 
fornia, passing directly through their terri- 
tory, made its value known; the tide of 
emigration reached the border; the fine 
country was seen with greedy eyes ; and the 
necessity of a communication with the Pa- 
cific shore, and of a settled country along the 
road, gave a plausible excuse for a speedy 
occupation. Treaties were concluded witli 
several of the Indian tribes, by which large 
tracts were opened to settlers ; and in May, 
1854, the territories of Kansas and Nebraska 
were organized by act of Congress. The 
violent contest that sprang up between pro- 
slavery men and the friends of free labor to 
obtain the shaping of the destiny and institu- 
tions of this fertile empire, impelled an un- 
precedented tide of emigrants over the bor- 
ders, while it led to many cruel wrongs and 
unhappy disorders. Civil war desolated the 
infant settlements, and the blood of freemen 
was poured upon the soil. 

In 1858 gold was discovered at Pike's Peak, 
among the mountains in the western section 
of the territory. A large emigration rushed 
thither the next spring. Multitudes re- 
turned disappointed, penniless, and starving. 
The final result of the Kansas struggle was, 
that it was admitted to the Union as a free 
state, Jan. 29, 1861. Its capital is Topeka, 
and its population in 1860 was 107,206. 

Leavenworth, on the Missouri, three miles 
below Fort Leavenworth, is the largest town 
in Kansas; it contains 10,000 inhabitants. 
Lawrence has 5,000 inhabitants. 



I 



KAN 



470 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



KANT, Immanuel, a distinguished meta- 
physician, was born at Konigsberg, in Prus- 
sia, April 21st, 1724, and tliere resided during 
his long and tranquil life, dying Feb. 24th, 
1804. 

KARS, a town of Turkish Armenia, re- 
nowned for its defense by Gen. Williams with 
15,000 Turks, three months' provisions, and 
three days' ammunition, against the Russian 
general MouraviefF with an army of 40,000 
infantry and 10,000 cavalry, from June 18th 
to Nov. 25th, 1855. The sufferings of the 
garrison were very great from cholera and 
want of food. On the 29 th of September, 
the Russians assaulted, four times gaining 
the redoubt, and being as often driven back. 
Their loss was above 6,000; that of the 
garrison 800. They continued the siege, and 
on the 25th of November famine compelled 
the garrison to capitulate. The British gov- 
ernment made the gallant defender a baronet, 
with the title, Sir William Fenwick Williams 
of Kars. 

KATSBACH, a river of Silesia, near which 
a battle was fought Aug. 26th, 1813, between 
the Prussians under Blucher and the French 
under Macdonald. This was a part of the 
groat conflict known as the battle of Dresden. 

KAUFMAN, Angelica, an eminent French 
female painter; died 1807, aged sixty-seven. 

KAUNITZ, Wencelaus Anthony, Prince 
of, a great statesman of Austria, and the able 
counselor of Maria Theresa, born in 1711, 
died in 1794. 

KEAN, Edmund, one of the greatest trage- 
dians that ever trod the English stage, was 
born in London, 1787. He came upon the 
boards while yet a lad, and his promise in 
elocution attracting the attention of Dr. Drury, 
that gentleman placed him at Eton, where he 
remained three years. After various provin- 
cial appearances, he made his debut as Shy- 
lock, at Drury Lane, Jan. 26th, 1814. The 
house was thin, but enough were present to 
render a verdict of fame, which crowded 
audiences thereafter stamped with approval. 
Kean visited America in 1820, and again soon 
after. The career of this meteor in the dra- 
matic firmament was marked by many errors 
and weaknesses. The same impulsiveness in 
which they often originated, was the spring 
to profuse charities and large-hearted benevo- 
lence. He died in England, May 15th, 1833. 



His son, Charles Kean, inherited a large share 
of his talents, while endowed with more 
prudence and stability. 

KEATS, John, was born in London, Oct. 
29th, 1796, and in youth was apprenticed to 
a surgeon. The seeds of consumption were 
in his frame, and when "Endymion," his 
first poem, was savagely cut up in the Quar- 
terly lieview, such was the agony of the 
sensitive poet that he ruptured a blood vessel 
in the lungs. The disease progressed apace ; 
it was not to be checked by the warm Italian 
clime to which he resorted; the poet "felt 
the daisies already growing over him," and 
died at Rome, Dec. 27th, 1820. 

KEITH, James, a field-marshal in the Rus- 
sian service, was born in Scotland, in 1696. 
In 1715 he joined the Pretender, and was 
wounded at the battle of Sheriff-muir, but 
made his escape to France. From Paris he 
went to Spain, and obtained a command in 
the Irish brigade ; but, on accompanying the 
Spanish embassy to Russia, he entered into 
the service of that state, was promoted to the 
rank of lieutenant-general, and invested with 
the order of the Black Eagle. By his skill ■ 
Oczagon was taken ; and, in the war with 
Sweden, he materially contributed to the 
victory of Wilmanstrand, and the taking of 
Aland. He had, afterward, a share in raising 
Elizabeth to the throne; but, not being 
rewarded according to his services, he. left 
Petersburg for Prussia, where the king made 
him governor of Berlin, and field-marshaL 
He was killed at the battle of Ilochkirchen, 
Oct. 14th, 1758. Such was the esteem he won, 
even from opponents, that Count Daun and 
Count Lacy, the Austrian commanders, wept 
at the sight of his lifeless remains, and ordered 
their burial with military honors. 

KELLERMANN, Francis Christophbb, 
Duke of Valmy, a general of the French revo- 
lution, was born at Strasburg, in 1735. His 
victory at Valmy, over the Austrians and 
Prussians, Sept. 20th, 1792, was the fir-st of 
the series of victories the French were des- 
tined to win. After. the fall of Napoleon, 
Kellermann made his peace with the restored 
dynasty, and died in 1820. 

KEMBLE, John "P6ilip, was born in Lan- 
cashire, 1 757. He came of a theatrical family : 
Roger, his father, was a country manager; 
Sarah, his sister, was Mrs. Siddons, than. 



KEM 



I 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



471 



which need more be said of her ? Charles and 
Stephen, his brothers, were actors well liked. 
John, in his classic rendering of characters in 
tragedy, approached the greatness of his sis- 
ter. He died at Lausanne, Feb. 26th, 1823, 
of a paralytic attack 

KENT, James, one of Amefica's greatest 
jurists, was a native of Duchess county, N. Y., 
und born July 31st, 1763. He graduated at 



Yale College in 1781, and, entering upon the 
stud)' and practice of law, rose step by step, 
till in 1814 he was appointed chancellor of 
his native state. Attaining the age of sixty 
in 1823, a constitutional pi'ovision demanded 
his withdrawal from the chair he had adorned 
by his industry and decisions. He was after- 
ward law professor in Columbia College, and 
died in 1847. 




KENTUCKY has an area of 87,680 square 
miles ; population in 1860, 1,155, f581, inolud- 
ing 225,483 slaves. In the east the country is 
rugged and hilly ; the acclivities soften as 
you go westward, till they merge into almost 
a level plain along the Cumberland, Tennes- 
see, and Mississippi Rivers. The greater 
portion of Kentucky is unsurpassed for fer- 
tility, but the region watered by the Lick- 
ing, Kentucky, and Salt Rivers, is the garden 
of the state, exceeding in beauty of scenery 
and richness of soil, abounding with fine 
springs and streams, and sustaining the 
largest proportion of the wealth, population, 
and improvement. A substratum of lime- 
stone underlies all Kentucky, and as a conse- 
quence there are many large caverns, sinks, 
and subterranean waters. Some of the caves 
are of wonderful dimensions, as the Mammoth 
cave, in Edmonson country, whose magnifi- 
cent avenues have been explored many miles, 
and still stretch into mysterious gloom for 
unknown spaces beyond. Streams flow 
through its recesses, and in their dark 
depths eyeless fish are found : what need of 



eyes in waters over which broods the black- 
ness of an eternal night ! 

The mineral resources of Kentucky have 
not yet been fully explored. Iron, ore, bitu- 
minous coal, and lime are frequent. Salt is 
cheaply made from the salt springs of the 
Kanawha region. These springs were called 
licks by the early settlers, since they were 
favorite resorts of the deer and other animals, 
who were fond of licking the saline efflores- 
cences so abundant around them. The same 
name was applied to the sulphureted foun- 
tains that occur. Kentucky has made some 
advance in manufactures : bagging, bale-rope, 
and cordage are extensively made ; the 
Bourbon whiskey is largely distilled from 
rye. Agriculture is the most prevalent 
occupation, and maize, wheat, hemp, and 
tobacco are the great staples. Cattle, horses, 
sheep, and swine are bred in great numbers. 

Kentucky was originally a part of Vir- 
ginia. Permanent settlements were begun 
within its limits in 1774. The border war- 
fare with the Indians, in which the lives of 
the pioneers were often lost, gained it the 



KEN 



472 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



dreary name of 'the dark and bloody 
ground.' These dangers and trials sank 
gradually under the steady stream of immi- 
gration, and in 1792 Kentucky took her 
place in the Union. The present constitution 
was ratified in 1850. A normal school has 
been established at Lexington. The state 
institutions for the relief of the unfortunate 
consist of lunatic asylums at Lexington and 
Hopkinsville, a deaf-mute asylum at Danville, 
and a school for the blind at Louisville. 

Kentucky sought to remain " neutral " in 
the rebellion, but was in fact on the side of 
the South. Bishop Polk fortified Columbus, 
Sept. 1861, on which Grant with a Union 
force instantly seized Paducah, and " neutral- 
ity" was at an end. The battle of Mill 
Spring, Jan. 19, 1862, gave the Unionists the 
command of eastern Kentucky, and the fall 
of Forts Henry and Donelson (Feb. 6 and 16, 
1862,) forced Johnston to evacuate the cen- 
ter of the state and Polk the west of it at 
once; and the rebels after that time never 
did more than make incursions into it, secretly 
raise men and means among their numerous 
sympathizers within it, and use their aid in 
obtaining information. 

Frankfort, the capital, on the right bank 
of the Kentucky liiver, surrounded by a pic- 
turesque amphitheatre of hills, had in 1853, 
5,000 inhabitants. The beautiful town of 
Lexington is the oldest of the state. A party 
of hunters while encamped here first heard 
of the commencement of the Revolution at 
Lexington and Concord ; hence the name ; 
population in 1853, 12,000. The largest 
town in Kentucky is Louisville, founded in 
1778, and christened two j^ears after in honor 
of Louis XVL, the ally of America. Its 
commerce and manufoctures are extensive, 
and in 1860 it had 68,033 inhabitants. Cov- 
ington, Newport, and Maysville are other 
thriving towns. 

KIDD, Robert, was sent out with an 
armed vessel to put down piracy, but the 
adage, ' set a rogue to catch a rogue,' did not 
work well, for he turned pirate himself He 
was arrested at Boston, in 1699 sent to Eng- 
land, and there hung in 1701. The legends 
of treasures Kidd and his comrades buried 
and sunk along the New England coast or in 
the Hudson, have not died out even yet. 



KLE 



KILLICRANKIE, Battle of, fought in 
Scotland July 17th, 1689, between the forces 
of William HL, and the adherents of James 
H., commanded by Graham of Claverhouse, 
who fell in the moment of victory. 

KING, RuFUS, a distinguished American 
diplomatist, orator, and statesman, born at 
Scarborough, Maine, in 1755, and was gradu- 
ated at Harvard College, in 1777; after 
which he studied law under Theophilus Par- 
sons of Newburyport. After having served 
a short time in the army, he commenced the 
practice of his profession, and obtained a 
seat in the congress of 1784. In 1787 he 
went from Massachusetts to the convention 
assembled for the purpose of framing a con- 
stitution, and in 1788 removed to New York 
city. The next year he was elected a mem- 
ber of the New York legislature, and chosen 
senator of the United States. In the spring 
of 1796, Mr. King was appointed by Washing- 
ton minister plenipotentiary to the court of 
St. James, and continued in the discharge 
of the duties of his oflSce until 1803, when 
he returned to this country. From 1813 to 
1825 he was again in the federal senate. He 
was sent by Mr. Adams minister to England^ 
once more, but failing health compelled him 
to return. He died April 29th, 1827, in the 
seventy -third year of his age. 

KING'S EVIL, supposed to be cured by 
the touch of the kings of England. This 
vulgar credulity had in the time of Charles 
II. arisen to such a height, that, in fourteen 
years, 92,107 persons were touched; and, 
according to Wiseman, the king's physician, 
they were nearly all cured ! The first who 
touched for it was Edward the Confessor, 
1 058. The practice was dropped by George I. 

KLEBER, Jean Baptiste, a celebrated 
French general, born at Strasburg, in 1754. 
In the Austrian army he served against the 
Turks, and rose to the rank of lieutenant. 
He next enrolled himself under the banners 
of the French republic, and although he 
openly expressed his detestation of the policy 
of the revolutionary government, he experi- 
enced the favor of the directory, who were 
loath to part with so able a soldier. Of the 
nature of his command in Egypt, and the 
manner of his death, June 14th, 1800, we 
have already spoken. [See Egypt.] 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



473 



KLOPSTOCK, Frkdekick, an eminent 
German poet, author of " The Messiah," born 
1724, died 1803, aged seventy -nine. 

KNELLER, Sir Godfrey, born at Lubeck 
about 1 648, was a famous portrait painter in 
England in the days of the second Charles 
and James, and WilHam III. He died in 
1723. 

KNIGHTHOOD, Orders of. We have 
else^vhere given an account of the rise and 
decHne of Chivalry, of the manner in which 
Tournaments were conducted, with sketches 
of the most famous orders, such as those of 
the Garter and the Bath, the Templars, and 
the knights of Malta. It will not be inap- 
propriate, here, briefly to review the other 
important orders which gave a lustre to the 
institution of knighthood. 

As regards those knights who, without any 
other addition, are thus styled, they are of 
the greatest antiquity. For according to the 
custom of the Romans (a gowned nation), 
who bestowed on each entering upon man's 
estate a virile gown, the Germans bestowed 
upon their young men, when Qt to handle 
arms, armor and weapons. Tacitus speaks 
of this custom : " The manner was not for 
any one to take arms in hand, before the 
state allowed him as sufficient for martial 
service. And then in the very assembly of 
counsell either some one of the princes, or' 
the father of the yoilng man, or one of his 
kins folke, furnish him with a shield and a 
javelin. This with them standeth instead 
of a virile gown ; this is the first honor done 
to youth ; before this they seeme to be but 
part of a private house, but now within a 
while members of the commonweale." Hence 
the origin of knights, or, as they are termed 
in the German language, hiechts; which 
was the simple form of creating a knight, 
used also in former times by the Lombards, 
the Franks, and the English, who are de- 
scended from the Germans. 

Paulus Diaconus says that among the 
Lombards, "It is the custom for the king's 
son not to dine with his father, unless he 
have previously received arms from some 
foreign king." It is also recorded in the 
annals of the French nation, that the kings 
of the Fi'anks gave arms to their sons and 
others, and girded them with a sword. . King 
Alfred of England, when he dubbed his 



nephew Athelstane a knight, gave him a 
scarlet mantle set with precious stones, and 
a Saxon sword with a golden scabbard. In 
the course of time, the English, before the 
arrival of the Normans, received their 
knightly arms with religious ceremonies. 
Ingulphus says : "He that was to be conse- 
crated unto lawful warfare, should the eve- 
ning before, with a contrite heart, make 
confession of his sins unto the bishop, abbot, 
monk, or priest, and being absolved, give 
himself to prayer, and lodge all night in the 
church, and on his going to hear divine ser- 
vice the next day, to offer his sword upon 
the altar: and after the gospel, the priest 
was to put the sword, being previously 
blessed, upon the knight's neck, with his 
benediction, and thus after he had heard 
mass again, or received the sacrament, he 
became a lawful knight." This custom did 
not become absolute among the Normans. 

Kings were afterward accustomed to send 
their sons to neighboring courts to receive 
the honors of knighthood. Thus Henry II. 
sent to David, King of Soots ; and Malcolm, 
King of Scots, to Henry II. ; and Edward I. 
of England to the King of Castile. It was 
at this time also that to the sword and girdle, 
already in use, gilt spurs were added as an 
extra ornament, whence to this day knights 
are called in Latin Equitcs aiirate. Moreover, 
they had the privilege of wearing and using 
a signet. 

In the succeeding age, knights were cre- 
ated from their wealth. Concerning the 
creation of kn-ghts. Matthew Florilegus, in 
the time of Edward L, has written as fol- 
lows : " The king for to augment and make 
goodly show of his expedition into Scotland, 
caused public proclamation to be made 
throughout England, that whosoever were 
to be made knights by hereditary succession, 
and had wherewith to maintain that degree, 
should present themselves in Westminster, 
at the feast of Whitsuntide, there to receive 
every one the ornaments of a knight (saving 
the equipage or furniture that belongeth to 
horses) out of the king's wardrobe. When 
as therefore there flocked thither to the num- 
ber of three hundred gallant youths, the 
sons of earls, barons, *and knights, purple 
liveries, fine silk scarfs, robes most richly 
embroidered with gold, were plentifully be- 



KNI 



474 



COTTA(}E CYCLOPEDIA OP 



stowed among them, according as was befit- 
ting each one : and because the king's palace 
(large though it were) was ' streited ' of room 
for so great a multitude assembled, they cut 
down the apple-trees about the n-ew temple 
in London, laid the walls along, and there set 
up pavilions and tents, wherein these noble 
young gallants might array and set out 
themselves one by one in their gorgeous and 
golden garments. All the night long also, 
these foresaid youths, as many as the place 
would receive, watched and prayed in the 
said temple. But the Prince of Wales, by 
coumiandment of the king his father, held 
his wake, together with the principal and 
goodliest men of this company, within the 
church of AVestminster. Now such sound 
was there of trumpets, so loud a noise of 
minstrelsy, so mighty an applause and cry 
of those that for joy shouted, that the chant- 
ing of the convent could not be heard from 
one side of the quire to the other. 

"Well, the morrow after, the king dubbed 
his son knight, and gave him the girdle of 
knighthood m his own palace, and there- 
with bestowed upon him the duchy of Aqui- 
taine. The prince then, thus created knight, 
went directly into Westminster church for to 
grace with the like glorious dignity his peers 
and companions. But so great was the press 
of people thronging from the high altar, that 
two knights were thronged to death, and 
very maijy of them fainted, and were ready 
to swoon ; yea, although every one of them 
had three soldiers at least to lead and pro- 
tect him : the prince himself, by reason of 
the multitude pressing upon him, having 
divided the people by means of steeds of ser- 
vice, no otherwise than upon the high altar 
girt his foresaid companions with the orders 
of knighthood." 

At present, a person on whom the title of 
knight is conferred, kneels down, when the 
king, with his drawn sword, slightly taps him 
on the shoulder, saying to him in French, 
'■^Sois chevalier au nom de Dieu^'' that is, 
" Be thou a knight in the name of God ; " 
afterward his majesty adds, '•'■ Avancez^ elier^- 
alier^'''' "Arise, sir knight." 

The honor of knighthood was formerly so 
highly and sacredly prized that if anything 
was promised on the faith and honor of a 
knight, it was always performed in the most 



scrupulous and punctilious manner, at what- 
ever risk it was undertaken. When a knight 
was disgraced for having offended the laws, 
and sentenced to suffer death, he was first 
despoiled of his ensigns of knighthood, by 
taking off his military girdle, taking away 
his sword, cutting his spurs oft' with a hatchet ; 
his gauntlets or gloves were then torn from 
him, and the escutcheon of his arms reversed. 

The first account (according to Sir William 
Segar) that we have of ceremonies in making 
a knight in England, was in the year 506. 
A stage was erected in some cathedral, or spa- 
cious place near it, to which the gentleman 
was conducted to receive the honor of knight- 
hood. Being seated on a chair decorated with 
green silk, it was demanded of him if he were 
of good constitution, and able to undergo the 
fatigue required of a soldier; also, whether 
he was a man of good morals, and what cred- 
ible witnesses he could produce to affirm the 
same. 

Then the bishop, or chief prelate of the 
church, administered the following oath: 
"Sir, you that desire to receive the honor of 
knighthood, swear, before God and this holy 
book, that you will not fight against his maj- 
esty, that now bestoweth the honor of knight- 
hood upon you ; you shall also swear to main- 
tain and defend all ladies, gentlemen, widows, 
and orphans ; and you shall shun no adven- 
ture of your person in any way where you 
shall happen to be." 

The oath being taken, two lords led him to 
the king, who drew his sword, and laid it upon 
his head, saying, "God and Saint George [or 
whatever other saint the king pleased to name] 
make thee a good knight." After this, seven 
ladies dressed in white, came and girt a sword 
to his side, and four knights put on his spurs. 
These ceremonies being over, the queen took 
him by the right hand, and a duchess by the 
left, and led him to a rich seat, placed on an 
ascent, where they seated him, the king sit- 
ting on his right hand, and the queen on his 
left. Then the lords and ladies sat down upon 
other seats, three descents under the king; 
and being all thus seated, they were enter- 
tained with a delicate collation ; and so the 
ceremony ended. 

If any knight absented himself dishonorably 
from his king's service, leaving his colors, go- 
ing over to the enemy, betraying castles, forts, 



KNI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



475 



&c., for such crimes he was apprehended, and 
caused to be armed, and then seated on a 
scaffold erected in the church; where, after 
the king had sung some funeral psalms, as 
though he had been dead, they first took off 
the knight's helmet to show his face, then his 
military girdle, broke his sword, cut off his 
spurs from his heels with a hatchet, pulled off 
his gauntlets, and afterward his whole armor, 
and then reversed his coat of arms. After 
this the heralds cried out, " This is a disloyal 
miscreant," and, with many other ignoble 
ceremonies, he was thrown down the stage 
with a rope. 

The Knights of the Thistle is a Scotch or- 
der. As to the origin of this ancient order, 
John Lesly, Bishop of Ross, in his "History 
of Scotland," says it took its beginning from 
a bright cross in heaven, like that whereon 
St. Andrew the apostle suffered martyrdom, 
which appeared to Achaius, King of Scots, 
and Hungus, King of the Picts, the night be- 
fore the battle was fought betwixt them and 
Athelstane, King of England, as they were on 
their knees at prayer; when St. Andrew, 
their tutelary saint, is said also to have ap- 
peared, and promised to these kings that they 
should always be victorious when that sign 
appeared. These kings prevailing over Ath- 
elstane in battle the next day, they went in 
solemn procession, barefooted, to the kirk of 
St. Andrew, to return thanks to God and his 
apostle for their victory, vowing that they 
and their posterity would ever wear the figure 
of that cross in their ensigns and banners. 
The place where this battle was fought retains 
to this day the name of Athelstane's Ford, in 
Northumberland. James V. of Scotland, in 
1534, received the order of the Golden Fleece 
from the Emperor Charles V. ; as also that of 
St. Michael from Francis I. of France, in 1535, 
and that of the Garter in 1536, from He«ry 
VIII. of England ; and in memory of the re- 
ception of these orders, keeping open court, 
he solemnized the several feasts of St. Andrew, 
the Golden Fleece, St. Michael, and St. George 
of England, that the several princes might 
know how much he honored their orders. 
He set the arms of the princes (encircled with 
their orders) over the gates of his palace at 
Linlithgow, with the order of St. Andrew. 
About the time of the reformation this order 
was scarcely used, the knights then being so 



zealous for the reformed religion, that they 
left their order ; and it was not resumed till 
the reign of James VII. (II. of England), who 
created eight knights, and for their better 
regulation, signed a body of statutes, and ap- 
pointed the royal chapel at Holyrood to be 
the chapel of the order, as it still continues. 
Queen Anne restored this order to its ancient 
magnificence. 

The order of Knights of St. Patrick was 
instituted by George III., Feb. 5th, 1783, con- 
sisting of the sovereign, a grand master, a 
prince of the blood royal, thirteen knights, 
and seven officers. The first investiture of 
knights of this order was performed the 11th 
of March, 1783, with much ceremony. Motto, 
Quis separabit ? " Who shall part us ? " 

The order of Knights of St. Michael and St. 
George was instituted April 27th, 1818, for 
the united states of the Ionian Islands, and 
for the ancient sovereignty of Malta and its 
dependencies, consisting of eight knights- 
grand-crosses, twelve knights-commanders, 
and twenty-ibur knights, exclusive of British 
subjects holding high and confidential employ 
in the Ionian Islands, and in the government 
of Malta and its dependencies. Motto, Aus- 
picium melioris mvi. Ribbon, red with blue 
edges. 

The order of knights bachelors is ihe most 
ancient, though the lowest, in England. It 
was accounted the first of all military dignity, 
and the foundation of all honors. The word 
bachelor was added by Henry III., and the 
order so styled, because this title of honor 
dies with the person to whom it is given, and 
descends not to his posterity. 

We must not omit some account of the 
Knights of the Round Table. Arthur, King 
of the Britons, succeeded his father, Uthur 
Pendragon, who was brother to Aurelius Am- 
brosius, the third son of Constantine. Uthur 
married Igren, Duchess of Cornwall, by whom 
he had this son Arthur (born at Tindagal in 
Cornwall), who was the eleventh king of Eng- 
land from the departure of the Romans, and 
was crowned about the year 506. King Ar- 
thur, having expelled the Saxons from Eng- 
land, conquered Norway, Scotland, and the 
greatest part of France, where he was crowned 
at Paris ; and, returning home, lived with such 
splendor, that many princes and knights came 
from all parts to his court, to give proof of 



KNI 



476 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



their valor in tlie exercise of arms. Upon 
this he erected a fraternity of knights, which 
consisted of four "and twenty, of whom he was 
chief; and to avoid controversies about pre- 
cedency, he caused a round table to be made, 
from which they were denominated Knights 
of the Round Table. The said table, accord- 
ing to tradition, hangs up in the castle of 
Winchester, where they used to meet; the 
time of their meeting was at AVhitsuntide. 

None were admitted but those who gave 
sufficient proofs of their valor and dexterity 
in arms. They were to be always well armed 
for horse or foot ; " they were to protect and 
defend widows, maidens, and children, relieve 
the distressed, maintain the Christian faith, 
contribute to the church ; to protect pilgrims, 
advance honor, and suppress vice; to bury 
soldiers that wanted sepulchres; to ransom 
captives, deliver prisoners, and administer to 
the cure of wounded soldiers, hurt in the ser- 
vice of their country ; to record all noble en- 
terprises, that the fame thereof may ever live 
to their honor and the renown of the noble 
order." Upon any complaint made to the 
king, of injury or oppression, one of these 
knights, whom the king should appoint, was 
to revenge the same. If any foreign knight 
came to court, with desire to show his prow- 
ess, some one of these knights was to be ready 
in arms to answer him. If any lady, gentle- 
woman, or other oppressed and injured person 
did present a petition, declaring the same, 
whether the injury was done here, or beyond 
sea, he or she should be graciously heard, 
and, without delay, one or more knights 
should be sent to take revenge. Every knight, 
for the advancement of chivalry, should be 
ready to inform and instruct young lords and 
gentlemen in the exercises of arms. According 
to Guillim, there was no robe or habit pre- 
scribed unto these knights, nor could he find 
with what ceremony they were made, neither 
what offices belonged to the said order, except 
a register to record their noble enterprises. 

In June, 1757, the Empress-Queen of Ger- 
many instituted the Military Order of Maria 
Theresa, which was at first composed of an 
unlimited number of knights, divided into 
two classes ; the first of which wear the badge 
of the order pendent to a broad striped wa- 
tered ribbon, of which two-fifths are black 
and three-fifths yellow, sash ways over the 



right shoulder, and a cross or star embroid- 
ered in silver on the left breast of their outer 
garment. The second class wear the badge 
pendent to a narrow striped ribbon at the 
button-hole. This order continued from its 
first institution until the year 1705, when the 
emperor added an intermediate class, styled 
knights-commanders, who wear the ribbon 
sashways, but without any star on the outer 
garment. The badge of the order is a cross 
of gold, enameled white, edged with gold ; on 
the centre are the arms of Austria encircled 
with the word fortitudine, and on the reverse 
is a cipher of the letters M. T. F. (Maria The- 
resa Fundator) in gold, on an enameled 
ground. This order is conferred on military 
men only. 

The Ladies' Order in Honor of the Cross is 
another German order. A conflagration which 
happened at the emperor's palace in the year 
1068, was the occasion of the foundation of 
this order. The badge of the order is a golden 
medal chased and pierced ; in the centre the 
imperial eagle, over all a cross surmounted 
with the letters I. H. S., and a small cross over 
the H., with this motto, Salus et Gloria, 
" Safety and Glory." 

Eleonora di Gonzaga, widow of the Emperor 
Ferdinand III., instituted the order of Ladies 
Slaves to Virtue in 1602, and declared herself 
sovereign of it. The number that compose it 
is limited to thirty, all to be of the Romish 
religion, and of the best nobility. The badge 
worn by the ladies of this order is a golden 
sun, encircled with a chaplet of laurel, enam- 
eled green, with this motto over it. Sola ubi- 
que triuinphat. It is worn pendent at the 
breast to a small chain of gold, or a plain 
narrow black ribbon. 

The order of the Bear was instituted at the 
abbey of St. Gall, in Switzerland, by the Em- 
peror Frederick II., in the year 1213. St. 
Ursus,' being the patron of it, communicated 
the name to the same ; it flourished from its 
institution until the revolution by which the 
house of Austria lost the Swiss cantons, when 
it was abolished. ' The collar was a gold chain 
interlaced with oak leaves, from which hung 
the figure of a black bear on a medallion. 

The order of the Elephant is a Danish order 
of great celebrity. It was instituted by 
Christian I., on the marriage of his son John 
with Christina of Saxony, in the year 1478, 



KNI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



477 



since which time it has subsisted without in- 
terruption or degradation. It is now conferred 
only on princes of the blood, foreign princes, 
or noblemen of the first rank. The knights 
of it are addressed by the title of excellency. 
On ordinary occasions they wear the badge of 
the order pendent to a sky-blue watered rib- 
bon, worn sashways over the right shoulder, 
and a star of eight points embroidered in sil- 
ver on the left side of their outer garments. 
But on days of ceremony they wear it pendent 
to a collar of gold composed of elephants and 
towers. The badge is an elephant, on his 
back a castle enameled, and on the side of the 
elephant a cross of Danebrog in diamonds. 

The order of the Holj^ Ghost was the most 
illustrious order of knighthood in France. Tt 
was instituted by Henry III., in the year 1579, 
on Whitsunday, the festival on which he was 
born in the jea.r 1551, elected King of Poland 
in 1573, and called to the throne of France in 
the year 1574. The number of persons that 
composed it was limited by the statutes to one 
hundred, exclusive of the sovereign or grand- 
master. Of these, four cardinals, five prelates, 
the chancellor, the master of the ceremonies, 
the treasurer, the register, and the provost, 
were styled commanders, without being con- 
sidered as knights, though they usually wore 
the badges of the order. All were to profess 
the Eoman Catholic religion ; and the knights 
were to prove the nobility of their descent for 
a hundred years and upward ; but no proofs 
of this kind were required of the commanders, 
whose ofiices or honors were commonly sold 
at a I'egulated price. The King of France 
was sovereign or grand-master of it ; and by 
the statutes this office was inalienably annexed 
to the crown, but he could not exercise its 
functions until after his coronation, when he 
was installed, with much ceremony, as sover- 
eign of the order. To be a knight of it, it was 
necessary, for all except princes of the blood, 
to have attained the age of thirty-three, and 
to have been admitted into the order of St. 
Michael, into which even the princes must 
enter at sixteen years old. The dauphin only 
was excepted from this rule, he being received 
into both orders on the day of his birth. The 
commanders were not knights of the order of 
St. Michael, and here arises the difference be- 
tween their styles and titles and those by 
which the knights were distinguished; the 



knights being called Chevaliers des Ordre^ 
du Boy ; and the commanders, if ecclesiastics, 
Commandeur de V Ordre du St. E&piift ; if 
laymen, Commandeur des Ordres du Boy. 

The Eoyal and Military Order of St. Louis 
was instituted by Louis XIV. in the year 
1G93, and by the statutes of it the office of 
the sovereign or grand-master was annexed 
to the crown. It was conferred on naval and 
military officers, who had distinguished them- 
selves in the service at any age or at any 
time ; but, unless they had done so, they did 
not obtain it until they had served five and 
twenty years as commissioned officers : after 
that period, they expected it as a matter of 
right, more than of favor ; hence it happened 
that the number of knights was great and 
unlimited. In this order were three classes ; 
the first of forty knights, who were styled 
Chevaliers Grand Croix. They wore a flame- 
colored watered ribbon sashways, to which 
was pendent a cross of eight points, enameled 
white, edged with gold; in the angles four 
fleurs de lis, and on the middle a circle, 
within which on one side was the image of 
St. Louis in armor, with the royal mantle 
over it, holding in his left hand a crown of 
thorns, and in his right hand a crown of 
laurel, and the three passion nails, all proper, 
with this inscription, Ludovicus Magnus in- 
stihii anno 1693; on the reverse a sword 
erect, the point through a chaplet of laurel, 
bound with a white ribbon, enameled with 
this motto, Bellicoi mrtutis prcemium : fee- 
sides which they wore, embroidered on the 
left side of their outer garment, a gold star 
of eight points with fleurs de lis at the angles 
and the figures of St. Louis, with the motto 
on the centre. The second class were eighty 
in number, and were styled Chevaliers com- 
mandeurs, &c. These wore the ribbon and 
badge in the same manner as the knights of 
the former class, but had no star embroidered 
on their outer garment. The third class was 
not limited to any number, and the knights 
of it were styled simply Chevaliers de r Ordre 
Boyale et Militaire de St. Louis. These wore 
the badge of the order pendent to a flame- 
colored watered ribbon, at the button-hole 
of their outer garment. The knights of the 
first class had pensions of from four to six 
thousand livres a year, and when a vacancy 
happened among them, it was filled by the 



KNI 



478 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



next seniority of the second class. The i the holy sepulchre, to relieve and protect 
knights of the second class had pensions of 1 pilgrims. The patriarch of Jerusalem was 



from fhree to four thousand livres a year, and 
the vacancies that happened among them 
were filled up by the king, from among the 
most favored and deserving of the third class. 
The knights of the third class had no pen- 
sions of right, but it fi-equently happened 
that the poorest and the most distinguished 
of them obtained small pecuniary favors, 
which they termed gratification. It was not 
necessary to be of a noble family to be ad- 
mitted into this order ; nor did it ennoble the 
family of the person who obtained it, though 



appointed their grand-master, with power 
for conferring the order, and receiving the 
vow made by the knights, which was of 
chastity, poverty, and obedience. Their 
habit was white, and on their breast a gold 
cross potence, cantoned with four crosses of 
the same without enamel, pendent to a 
black ribbon. They wore the cross of yellow 
embroidery on the left side of their robe. 
When the city of Jerusalem was taken by the 
Saracens, the knights retired to Italy, and 
settled at Pemgia, and were afterward united 



it gave him the privileges of the noblesse^ and i to the knights of St. John of Jerusalem. [See 



if there were three knights of it, in regular 
succession, in a plebeian family, it ennobled 
all the branches of it. All knights of this 
order must be Roman Catholics. 

The knights of the order of Bourbon were 
sometimes called knights of the Thistle, and 
knights of Our Lady. They were in number 



Malta, Knights of.] 

The Polish order of the White Eagle was 
first instituted in the year 1325, by Uladis- 
laus V. ; but, having soon fallen into disuse, it 
lay in oblivion till the year 1705, when Au- 
gustus, Elector of Saxony and King of Po- 
land, revived it as an instrument to attach 



twenty-six, were instituted by Louis the i to his own interest and person several of the 



Good, Duke of Bourbon, m honor of the Virgin 
Mary, in the year 1370, and became extinct 
soon after. Their motto was Allans^ and on 
their collar was the word Esperance. 

The order of the Death's Head was first 
instituted by the Duke of Wurtemburg, in the 
year 1G52, and both sexes were equally ad- 
mitted to it; but, having soon fallen into 
disuse, it was revived again in the year 1709, 
by Louise Elizabeth, widow of Philip, Duke 
of Saxe Mersburg, and daughter of the orig- 
inal founder. The badge of this order is a 
death's-head, enameled white, surmounted 
with a cross pattee black ; above the cross 
pattee another cross composed of five large 
jewels, by which it hangs to a black ribbon 
edged with white, and on the ribbon these 
words. Memento Mori, worn at the breast. 
But on the death of any of the order, the 
survivors wear the badge pendent to a black 
ribbon over a white one, on which is the 
name of the deceased. 

Some of the orders of knighthood in Pales- 
tine and other parts of Asia were very cele- 
brated. The order of the Holy Sepulchre in 
Jerusalem, accordmg to Favin, was instituted 
by Baldwin I., King of Jerusalem, who made 
the regular canons (which then resided in a 
convent adjoining to the holy sepulchre) 
knights of the said order ; they were to guard 



Polish nobility, who, he feared, were inclined 
to Stanislaus, his competitor. Motto, Pro 
fide, rege, lege. 

Alphonso Henriquez, King of Portugal, 
instituted the order of the Wing of St. Mi- 
chael in the year 1 1 65, in commemoration of 
a victory obtained by him over the Moors, 
whom he imagined he overcame by the 
direct interposition of St. Michael, who, ac- 
cording to the legend, appeared fighting in 
the king's right wing. 

The order of St. George in Rome was insti- 
tuted, according to some, by Pope Alexander 
VI., in the year 1496, or, according to Mi- 
chaeli, by Pope Paul III., to encourage naval 
men to defend the coast of the Adriatic against 
pirates. The badge of it was a cross of gold 
within a cii'cle of the same, like an open 
crown. 

The order of St. Peter and St. Paul was 
instituted by Leo X. in the year 1520, to 
defend the sea-coasts of his territories against 
the Turks who threatened them. 

The order of the Black Eagle was instituted 
by Frederick I. of Prussia, at his coronation 
in the year 1701. By the statutes of it, the 
number of knights, exclusive of the prin- 
ces of the blood, is limited to thirty, who 
must all be admitted into the order of 
Generosity previous to their receiving this, 



KNI 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



479 



unless they be sovereign princes ; the knights 
to prove their nobility by sixteen descents. 
The kings of Prussia are perpetual grand- 
masters of it. There belong to it a chan- 
cellor, who is also a knight, a master of the 
ceremonies, and a treasurer. The ensign of 
the order is a gold cross of eight points enam- 
eled blue, having at each angle a spread 
eagle enameled black, and charged with a 
cipher of the letters F. R. This each knight 
wears commonly pendent to a broad orange 
ribbon, worn sashways over the left shoulder, 
and a silver star embroidered on the left side of 
their outer garment, whereon is an escutcheon 
containing a spread eagle, holding in one 
claw a chaplet of laurel, and in the other a 
thunderbolt, with this motto in gold letters 
round it, Suum cuique. The king chose the 
Black Eagle, being the arms of Prussia, and 
the color of the ribbon, on account of his 
mother, a Princess of Orange. 

First among the Russian orders is that of 
St. Andrew. Peter the Great instituted this 
order in the year 1698, and chose for its 
patron St. Andrew (on account of this apos- 
tle's having been, according to tradition, the 
founder of Christianity among the Musco- 
yites). His motive for instituting this order 
was to animate his nobles and chief ofBcers 
in their wars against the Turks ; and he con- 
ferred it on those who had signalized them- 
selves in his service. 

The order of the Sword in Cyprus was 
instituted by Guy de Lusignan, about the 
end of the twelfth century, soon after he had 
acquired the kingdom of Cyprus by purchase 
from Richard Cosur de Lion. This order was 
on its institution conferred on three hundred 
barons, who were then created : it continued 
to flourish until it became extinct on the 
Turks conquering the island of Cyprus. Mot- 
to, Securitas regni. 

The most celebrated Spanish order was the 
Order of the Golden Fleece. This order was 



country, which was the fleece ; and this em- 
blem might have been the more agreeable to 
him from the figure it made in the heroic ages 
of the world, when the Argonautic expedi- 
tion was undertaken for it. The order con- 
sisted of thirty-one knights, including the 
sovereign, who were of the first families in 
the Low Countries. The knights wore a 
scarlet cloak lined with ermine, with a collar 
opened, and the duke's cipher, in the form of 
a B, to signify Burgundy, together with flints 
striking fire, with the motto ^'^ Ante ferity 
quam flamma micat." At the end of the 
collar hung a golden fleece, with this device, 
'■'■ Pretium non vile laborum" When the 
Netherlands fell to Spain, the king of that 
country was grand-master, and the order be- 
came common to all the princes of the house 
of Austria, as being descended from Mary 
of Burgundy, daughter of Charles the Bold, 
last duke of that country. 

The order of St. Mark was conferred by th« 
Doge of Venice, tind by the senate, upon 
persons of eminent quality, or such as had 
deserved well of the state. In the year 828, 
the body of St. Mark was removed from Alex- 
andria in Egypt (where it was buried) to the 
city of Venice. This saint was taken for their 
tutelar saint and guardian. His picture was 
anciently painted upon their ensigns and 
banners. Motto, Fax tibi, Marce Evangelista 
Mens. 

The title of knight was sometimes given to 
women also. As an instance (the first we 
read of), it was conferred on the women who 
preserved the city of Tortosa from falling 
into the hands of the Moors in 1149, by their 
stout resistance to the attacks of the besieged, 
by which means the Moors were forced to 
raise the siege. Large immunities and favors 
were bestowed upon them and their descend- 
ants for their heroism on this occasion. 

KNOX, John, the celebrated Scotch re- 
former, was born in 1505, at Gilford, in the 



instituted at Bruges, in Flanders, the 10th of i county of East Lothian. Though bred a 



January, 1429 (the day of his marriage with 
his third wife, Isabella of Portugal), by Philip, 
Duke of Burgundy. The occasion of its 
institution is a subject of controversy among 
antiquaries: but it appears most probable, 
that, having determined to institute an order 
of knighthood, he chose for the badge of it 



friar, he early embraced the doctrines of the 
Reformation. He became tutor to some 
young gentlemen whom he carefully brought 
up in Protestant principles. Notwithstand- 
ing his life was sought by Cardinal Beaton, 
and his successor. Archbishop Hamilton, 
Knox went on propagating the new doctrines ; 



the material of the staple manufactories of his i and, in 1547, preached publicly at St. An- 

KNO 



480 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



drews ; but that place being taken the same 
year by the French, he was carried off with 
the garrison. In 1549 he recovered his Hb- 
erty, and landed in England, where he was 
appointed chaplain to Edward VI. On the 
accession of Mary, he went to Geneva and 
thence to Frankfort, where he took part with 
the English exiles who opposed the use of the 
liturgy;, but their adversaries prevailing, 
Knox returned to Geneva, and soon after went 
to Scotland. While engaged in the ministry, 
he received' an invitation to return to Geneva, 
with which he complied ; and, in his absence, 
the bishops passed sentence of death on him 
for heresy. In 1558 he printed " The First 
Blast of the Trumpet against the Monstrous 
Regiment of Women," intended as an attack 
upon Mary of England and his own sovereign ; 
but it had afterward the eifect of provoking 
Queen Elizabeth and her ministers against 
the author. The year following he returned 
to his own country, where he rendered the 
Reformation triumphant. In 1567 he preach- 
ed the sermon at the coronation of James 
VI. He died at Leith, Nov. 24th, 1572. 

KNOX, Henky, was born at Boston, July 
25th, 1750. He was a bookseller before the 
Revolution, but volunteered and served at 
Bunker Hill. Throughout the war he had 
command of the artillery department, and 
distinguished himself by his bravery, par- 
ticularly at Yorktown, after which he was 
created major-general by Congress. As sec- 
retary of war, he served eleven years. His 
death took place Oct. 25th, 1806, at Thomas- 
ton, Maine. 

KORAN. The Koran, or Alcoran (Al Ko- 
ran), of Mahomet was written about a.d. 
610. Its general aim was to unite the pro- 
fessors of idolatry and the Jews and Chris- 
tians in the worship of one God (whose unity 
was the chief point inculcated), under certain 
laws and ceremonies, exacting obedience to 
Mahomet as the prophet. It was written in 
the Koreish Arabic, and this language, which 
possesses every fine quality, was said to be 
that of paradise. Mahomet asserted that 
the Koran was revealed to him during a 
period of twenty-three years, by the angel 
Gabriel. The style of this volume is beau- 
tiful, fluent, and concise, and where the 
majesty and attributes of God are described, 
it is sublime and magnificent. Mahomet 



admitted the divine mission both of Moses 
and Jesus Christ. The leading article of faith 
which he preached, is compounded of an 
eternal truth and a necessary fiction, namely, 
that there is only one God, and that Mahomet 
is the apostle of God. The Koran was trans- 
lated into Latin in 1143, and into English 
and other European languages about 1763, 
et seq. It is a rhapsody of three thousand 
verses, divided into one hundred and four- 
teen sections. 

KORNER, Theodore, a celebrated Ger- 
man poet, born in 1791. Feeble and sickly 
during his early youth, he roamed the garden 
and forest in pursuit of health, and was not 
prematurely doomed to study. His earliest 
instructions were received at Freyburg, but 
he afterward went to Leipzig, which imprudent 
conduct compelled him to quit. The month 
of August, 1811, the date of Kiirner's arrival 
at Vienna, commenced the most important era 
of his life. Shielded by the purity of his prin- 
ciples and the strength of his religious con- 
victions, he was uninfluenced by the fascinat- 
ing allurements of that gaj^est and most light- 
hearted of cities ; nor did he for a moment for- 
get that the improvement of his literary taste, 
and the development of his moral character, 
was a primary object in his visit to Vienna. 
The brilliant talents which then encircled the 
Viennese theatres with a halo of brightness, 
fired the imagination of Korner, and he re- 
solved to appear publicly as a candidate for the 
dramatic laurel. Sixteen pieces, of different 
kinds, composed or finished in the space of 
fifteen months, and the greater part performed 
with a success which far exceeded the expect- 
ations of the youthful poet, were, together with 
a few fugitive poems, the first fruits of his resi- 
dence in a world which was completely litera- 
ry, as well as the earliest proofs of his talent for 
easy versification. On the first representa- 
tion of one of his tragedies, the audience 
demanded the appearance of the author, an 
honor to poetic talent rarely accorded in 
Vienna. Cherished afid admired by the 
public, he was soon made the dramatic poet 
of the court. This appointment secured his 
worldly fortune, and, as if to fill his happiness 
to the brim, he was inspired by an ardent 
passion for a worthy object, and no dark 
shadow fell upon the tide of his affections. 

Such was the enviable situation of Korner, 



KOR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



■iSl 



when, at the commencement of the year 1813, 
Prussia called upon her sons to win back for 
her the priceless guerdon of her national in- 
dependence. This appeal found an echo in 
the bosom of the poet. From this moment, 
all his thoughts, all his affections, turned on 
the liberation of his country, to whose service 
he devoted his person and his pen, and to 
whom he was ready to sacrifice his life, his 
fortune, and his prospect of glory and love. 
As soon as he had resolved to fight for the 
emancipation of Germany, warmed with that 
enthusiasm which has ever been repaid with 
victory, he wrote thus to his father: "The 
Prussian eagle, extending his pinions, awakes 
in every bosom a hope of national liberty. 
At this moment, when the stars of fate are 
pouring down on me a flood of brightness, 
when all the fascinating joys of life are within 
my reach, — at this moment, I swear to God 
that it is a noble sentiment which animates 
me ; a firm belief that no sacrifice is too great 
for the greatest of blessings, the liberty of our 
beloved country. I feel compelled to rush 
into the fury of the tempest. Shall I, far 
from the path of my victorious brethren, 
send them hymns and songs inspired by a 
safe and cowardly enthusiasm ? " 

He set out from Vienna on the 15th of 
March, and at Breslau was admitted into the 
corps of volunteers commanded by Lutzow, 
whose care had formed the band that bore his 
name. Youth distinguished by the high tone 
of their sentiments, and the finish of their 
education ; officers already known by honor- 
able services; men of high rank and reputa- 
tion, filled with a patriotic and religious en- 
thusiasm, — had assembled in crowds beneath 
tlie banners of Lutzow, burning to avenge 
the humiliation of Prussia. A few days after 
the admission of Korner, the affecting and 
inspiring ceremony of the consecration of 
Lutzow' s corps took place in the village 
church. 

Ardent, brave, and devoted to his military 
duties, Korner avoided no fatigues and perils, 
but, on the contrary, was only wearied with 
inaction. He rose, by degrees, to the post 
of adjutant to Lutzow, and owed this ad- 
vancement only to the intrepidity and intelli- 
gence which he displayed on every occasion. 



Still, poetry and song occupied his leisure 
moments; but instead of being his recrea- 
tions, they had become his arms: his lyre 
was no less formidable than his sword. The 
events of the day, his personal emotions, and 
the patriotism of his country are displayed 
in his verses. 

On the 26th of August, the corps of Lutzow 
confi'onted the French at Kitzen. During an 
hour's halt in a forest, Korner composed his 
famous "Sword Song." At break of day he 
wrote it in his portfolio, and was reading it 
to a friend, when the signal for attack was 
given. The enemy, althoi^h superior in 
point of numbers, made but a brief resistance. 
Korner showed himself fiercely eager in the 
pursuit. Of a shower of balls which the 
French artillerists poured upon the Prussians, 
but three took effect, and one of these carried 
to the bosom of the poet, at the age of twenty- 
two, that glorious death which he had so 
poetically prophesied and so religiously de- 
sired. His mortal remains were interred by 
the wayside, at the foot of an oak, the tree 
whose leaves were employed by the ancient 
Romans to form their civic crowns. 

KOSCIUSKO, TiiADDEUs, a Polish general, 
was born of a respectable family of Lithuania, 
in 1756, and was educated at the military 
school of Warsaw, after which he went to 
France, and next to America, where he served 
as aid-de-camp to Washington. On his re- 
turn home he was made major-general, and 
distinguished himself in the war of 1792 
against the forces of the royal thieves who 
had divided Poland among themselves. Two 
years afterward the Poles again took up arms, 
and were headed by Kosciusko ; but all his 
exertions were fruitless, and he was made 
prisoner by the Russians. Catharine threw 
him into a dungeon ; Paul released him, and 
tendered him his own sword, which the illus- 
trious patriot declined : " I no longer need a 
sword, for I have no longer a country." 
Kosciusko visited America a second time, 
but, in 1798, returned to France, where he 
settled^ Bonaparte vainly endeavored to pro- 
cure his services. His death was occasioned 
by a fall with his horse down a precipice, in 
the vicinity of Vevay, Switzerland, Oct. 16th, 
1817. 



KOS 



31 



482 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



LABOR. Some account of the wages 
which labor received in England in the olden 
time may not be uninteresting. The wages 
of sundry workmen were first fixed by act of 
parliament, 25th Edward III., 1352. Hay- 
makers had but one penny a day ; a mower 
of meadows 5d. per day, or Gel an acre. 
Reapers of corn, in the first week of August, 
2(1, in the second 5d., per day, and so till the 
end of August, ^thout meat, drink, or other 
allowance, finding their own tools. A master 
carpenter M. a day, other carpenters 2d. per 
day ; a master mason 4(Z. per day, other ma- 
sons 3(Z. per day, and their servants Ud. per 
day. By the 34th Edward III, 1361, chief 
masters of carpenters and masons, 4:d. a day, 
and the others 'dd. or 2d. as they are worth ; 
13th Richard IT., 1389, the wages of a bailiff" 
of husbandry 13s. Ad. per year, and his cloth- 
ing once a year at most; the carter lOs. ; 
shepherd 10s. ; oxherd Gs. 8d. ; cowherd (3s. 
8d. ; swineherd 6s. ; a woman laborer 6s. ; 
driver of plough 7s. From this up to the 
time of 23d Henry VI., the price of labor was 
fixed by the justices by proclamation. In 
time of harvest, a mower Ad. a day ; without 
meat and drink 6d. ; reaper or carter 8d. a 
day ; without meat and drink 5d. ; woman 
laborer, and other laborers, 2d. a day ; with- 
out meat and drink Hd. per day. By the 
nth Henry VII., 1496, there was a like rate 
of wages, only with a little advance ; as, for 
instance, a free mason, master carpenter, 
rough mason, bricklayer, master tiler, plumb- 
er, glazier, carver, joiner, was allowed from 
Easter to Michaelmas to take Gd. a day, with- 
out meat and drink, or with meat and drink 
4(Z. ; from Michaelmas to Easter to abate Id. 
A master having under him six men was 
allowed Id. a day extra. By the 6th Henry 
VIII., 1515, the wages of shipwrights were 
fixed as follows: a master ship -carpenter, 
taking charge of the work, having men under 
him, 5d. a day in the summer season, with 
meat and drink ; other ship-carpenter, called 
a hewer, Ad. ; an able clincher, M. ; holder, 
2d. ; master caulker, Ad. ; a mean caulker, 
dd. ; a day laborer, by the tide. Ad. 

L 



LA FAYETTE, Gilbert Mottier, Marquis 
de, was born at Chavagnac, near Brionde, in 
Auvergne, Sept. 6th, 1757. He was educated 
at Paris, appointed an oflBcer in the guards 
of honor, and, at the age of sixteen, married 
the daughter of the Duke de Noailles. In 
1777 he left France secretly, lest his gener- 
ous scheme should be thwarted, and hastened 
to America, arriving at Charleston, S. C, to 
wield his sword in behalf of liberty. He 
received a command in the continental army, 
and raised and equipped a body of men at his 
own expense. The gallant actions which he 
performed will forever live in the annals of 
our country. In 1779 he returned to France, 
for the purpose of assisting the cause of 
America, and materially influenced the treaty 
which was then concluded with France. He 
returned and assumed the command of a body 
of 2,000 men, whose equipments were fur- 
nished partly at his own expense. After 
displaying chivalric gallantry, as at York- 
town, the young marquis once more set sail 
for his native country. In 1784 he complied 
with the various urgent entreaties to visit 
this country, and was everywhere received 
with the most touching marks of gratitude 
and esteem. During the French revolution 
he appeared the warm and consistent friend 
of liberty, but the enemy of licentiousness, 
and, as commander-in-chief of the national 
guard of Paris, saved the lives of the royal 
family at Versailles. He organized the club 
of Feuillans, in opposition to the infamous 
Jacobin club, the members of which he open- 
ly denounced. He was appointed, in 1792, 
one of the major-generals of the French 
armies, and vainly endeavored to save the 
king. His exertions in the cause of human- 
ity procured his denunciation before the bar 
of the assembly; a price was set upon his 
head, and he was compelled to fly from 
France. But he was taken by the Austrians, 
and confined in the castle of Olniutz, until 
Aug. 27th, 1797, when he was released. La 
Fayette opposed the usurpations of Napoleon, 
whose conciliatory offers he refused without 
a single exception. In 1824, he was once 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



483 



more the guest of the American nation. He 
landed at New York in August, and passed 
triumphantly through each of the states, 
being received everywhere with every demon- 
stration of delight. The war-worn veterans 
of the Revolution hailed his return to the 
scenes of his earliest exploits, and there was 
not one dissentient voice in the acclamations 
which welcomed him. Sept. 7th, 1825, the 
frigate Brandy wine restored him to his coun- 
try. In the December following, Congress 
granted him $200,000, and a township of 
land. During the French revolution of 1830, 
La Fayette was appointed general-in-chief of 
the national guards, an office which he re- 
signed in December. The death of this great 
man was duly noticed both in France and 
this country. A political opponent, once out 
of the arena, was to La Fayette no longer 
anything but a friend ; the circle of those 
admitted to share his private hospitality was 
so ample that it comprised the partisans of 
nearly every doctrine, and almost the natives 
of every clime; but no feeling Vas ever 
wounded, nor even a prejudice assailed, with- 
in its sacred limits. It was, doubtless, to 
this admirable feature in his private charac- 
ter that he owed much of the affectionate 
esteem with which every party regarded him, 
and which turned Paris — frivolous, volatile 
Paris — into a city of mourning at his death. 
He died May 21st, 1834, at the age of seventy- 
seven, of a malignant fever, occasioned by 
walking bareheaded at the funeral of M. Du- 
long, a member of the chamber of deputies'. 

LAMB, Charles, one of the quaintest hu- 
morists in modern literature, and the author 
of the genial and delightful " Essays of Elia," 
was a school-mate of Coleridge at Christ's 
Hospital. His life was passed as a clerk in 
the East India House, London. Crown OfiBce 
Row in the Inner Temple was "the place of 
his kindly engender," Feb. 18th, 1775. He 
died at Enfield, in September, 1835. 

LANGDON, John, an American patriot, 
born at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1739, was 
bred up to the business of a merchant, and 
early entered into the cause of the colonies. 
In 1775 he took his seat in the general con- 
gress; in 1776 was appointed navy agent; in 
1777 was speaker of the assembly of New 
Hampshire, and in 1785 president of the 
senate. He was afterward a senator in Con- 



gress, and governor of New Hampshire. He 
died Sept. 18th, 1819. 

LANNES, John, marshal of France, and 
Duke of Montebello, was born in 1769, and 
in 1792 entered the army as sergeant-major. 
In Italy, Egypt, and Austria he raised him- 
self in the estimation of Napoleon, and was 
created by him marshal of the empire. At 
the battle of Esslingen, May 22d, 1809, he 
lost both his legs by a cannon-ball, and ex- 
pired a few days after. 

LAOCOON. This exquisite piece of sculp- 
ture, one of the triumphs of Grecian art, was 
modeled by Agesander, Athenodorus, and 
Polydorus, all of Rhodes, and of great em- 
inence as statuaries. It represents the death 
of the Trojan hero, Laocoon, priest of Nep- 
tune, and his two sons, in the folds of two 
monstrous serpents, as described by Virgil in 
the second book of the jEneid. It was dis- 
covered in 1506 in the Sette Sale near Rome, 
and purchased by Pope Julius II. It is now 
in the Vatican. 

LA PEROUSE, John Francis Galaup de, 
a French navigator, born in Languedoc, in 
1741, who, after making a suc^ssful voyage 
of discovery, was probably wrecked on one of 
the New Hebrides, in 1788. 

LA PLACE, Pierre Simon, Marquis de, 
born near Honfleur in March, 1749, died at 
Paris, May 5th, 1827. He ranks among the 
greatest of mathematicians. The " Mecan- 
ique Celeste " is the monument of his mind's 
might. 

LATIMER, Hugh, was born at Thurcaston, 
in Leicestershire, about 1470, the son of a 
respectable yeoman. He was bred in the 
Romish faith, but was led to change his 
views by Thomas Bilney, a strenuous advo- 
cate of the doctrines of Luther. Being an 
admired preacher, his influence was of great 
importance, and in consequence he soon 
became obnoxious to the papal party. The 
martyrdom of Bilney, at Norwich, served 
only to animate Latimer, who had the courage 
to write a letter of remonstrance to the king, 
on the evil of prohibiting the use of the Bible 
in England. Henry VIIL took this in good 
part, and presented the writer to the living 
of West Kington, in Wiltshire ; but this only 
redoubled the malice of his enemies, who 
were still more provoked at his elevation, in 
1535, to the bishopric of Worcester; for 



LAT 



48i 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



which he was indebted to thergood offices of 
Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell. Of his 
plain dealing, the following circumstance is a 
proof It was then the custom for the bish- 
ops to make presents, on new year's day, to 
the king, and among the rest Latimer waited 
at court with his gift, which, instead of a 
purse of gold, was a New Testament, having 
the leaf turned down at a passage denouncing 
the ruling passion of the king. Henry, 
however, was not offended by this bluntness ; 
and when, some time afterward, Latimer was 
called before him to account for a sermon 
which he had preached at court, he justified 
it so honestly that the monarch dismissed 
him with a smile. 

But after the fall of Cromwell, his adversa- 
ries prevailed, and he was sent to the Tower 
for speaking against some measures of the 
king ; and there he remained for the rest of 
Henry's reign. On the accession of Edward, 
he was released ; but though he was now in 
favor at court, no arguments could induce 
him to resume the episcopal function. He 
resided with Cranmer at Lambeth ; and 
when Mary amended the throne, "Father 
Latimer," as he was generally called, was 
cited to appear before the privy-council, by 
whom he was sent to the Tower. On passing 
through Smithfield, he said, "This place has 
long groaned for me ; " but he was not sacri- 
ficed there, the triumphant party ordering 
him to be conveyed to Oxford, with his 
friends, Ridley and Cranmer. There, after a 
mock conference and degradation, Latimer 
and Ridley were brought to the stake, Oct. 
16th, 1555. On coming to the spot, Latimer 
said to his companion, " Be of good comfort, 
master Ridley, and play the man ; we shall 
this day light such a candle, by God's grace, 
in England as, I trust, shall never be put 
out." 

LATINUS, a son of Fannus, by Marcia, and 
king of the Aborigines in Italy, who were 
called from him Latini. He married Amata, 
by whom he had a son and a daughter. The 
son died in his infancy, and the daughter, 
Lavinia, was secretly promised in marriage 
by her mother to Turnus, king of the Rutuli, 
one of her most powerful admirers. The 
gods opposed this union, and the oracle 
declared that Lavinia must become the wife 
of a foreign prince. The arrival of iEneas in 



Italy seemed favorable to this prediction, and 
Latinus, by offering his daughter to the for- 
eign prince, and making him his friend and 
ally, seemed to have fulfilled the commands 
of the oracle. Turnus, however, disapprov- 
ing of the conduct of Latinus, claimed Lavi- 
nia as his lawful wife, and prepared to 
support his cause by arms, ^neas took up 
arms in his own defense, and Latium was 
the seat of war. After mutual losses, it was 
agreed that the quarrel should be decided by 
the two rivals, and Latinus promised his 
daughter to the conqueror. -iEneas obtained 
the victory, and married Lavinia. Latinus 
soon after died, and was succeeded by his 
son-in-law about 900 B.C. 

LAUD, William, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, and a favorite minister of Charles I., was 
born at Reading in 1573. Of all the prelates 
of the time Laud departed farthest from the 
principles of the reformation, and drew near- 
est to Rome. His passion for ceremonies ; 
his reverence for holidays, vigils, and sacred 
places ; hiS ill-concealed dislike of the mar- 
riage of ecclesiastics ; the ardent and not 
altogether disinterested zeal with which he 
asserted the claims of the clergy to the rev- 
erence of the laity, — would have made him an 
object of aversion to the Puritans, even if he 
had used only legal and gentle means for the 
attainment of his ends. But his understand- 
ing was narrow, and his commerce with the 
world had been small. He was by nature 
rash, irritable, quick to feel for his own dig- 
nity, slow to sympathize with the sufferings 
of others, and prone to the error, common in 
superstitious men, of mistaking his own 
peevish and malignant moods for emotions of 
pious zeal. Under his direction every corner 
of the realm was subjected to a constant and 
minute inspection. Every little congrega- 
tion of separatists was tracked out and broken 
up. Even the devotions of private families 
could not escape the vigilance of his spies. 
Such fear did his rigor inspire, that the 
deadly hatred of the church, which festered 
in innumerable bosoms, was generally dis- 
guised under an outward show of conformity. 
On the very eve of troubles fatal to himself 
and to his order, the bishops of several exten- 
sive dioceses were able to report to him that 
not a single dissenter was to be found within 
their jurisdiction. His attempt to force the 



LAU 



HISTOEY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



485 



liturgy upon Scotland hurried on the storm 
already muttering. Laud did not escape. 
Like Strafford, he was attainted, and on the 
10th of January, 1644^5, he was beheaded 
on Tower Hill. 

LAURENS, Henry, was born at Charles- 
ton, S. C, in 1724. He was a merchant, and 
amassed an ample fortune by his industry. 
He was in London at the breaking out of 
the revolutionary troubles, but returned to 
America in 1774. In 1776 he took his seat 
in Congress, of which body he was president 
until 1778. In 1779 he was appointed minis- 
ter plenipotentiary of the United States to 
Holland, but on his way was captured by the 
British and confined fourteen months in the 
Tower. He died Dec. 2d, 1792, at nearly 
seventy years of age. 

LAURENS,, John, lieutenant-colonel, son 
of the preceding, was educated in England, 
and joined the American army in 1777. In 
1780 he was sent as a special minister to 
France ; by his boldness in presenting to the 
king a memorial at the levee, he received a 
definite answer to his application for a loan, 
and it was satisfactorily arranged. His first 
essay in arms was at Brandywine. At the 
battle of Germantown he exhibited prodigies 
of valor, in attempting to expel the enemy 
from Chew's house, and was severely wound- 
ed. He was engaged at Monmouth, and 
greatly increased his* reputation at Rhode 
Island. At Coosahatchie, defending the pass 
with a handful of men, against the whole 
force of Provost, he was again wounded, and 
was probably indebted for his life to the gal- 
lantry of Captain Wigg, who gave him his 
horse to carry him from the field, when inca- 
pable of moving, his own having been shot 
under him. He headed the light infantry, 
and was among the first to mount the British 
lines at Savannah ; displayed the greatest 
activity and courage during the siege of 
Charleston ; entered, with the forlorn hope, 
the British redoubt carried by storm at York- 
town, and received with his own hand, the 
sword of the commander; by indefatigable 
activity thwarted every effort of the British 
garrison in Charleston, confining them, for 
upward of twelve months, to the narrow 
limits of the city and neck, except when, 
under protection of their shipping, they 
indulged in distant predatory expeditions ; 



and, unhappily, at the very close of the war, 
too careless by exposing himself in a trifling 
skirmish, near Combahee, sealed his devotion 
to his country by death, Aug. 27th, 1781, at 
the early age of twenty-nine. 

LAV ALETTE, Marie Chamans, Count de, 
was born in Paris, in 1709, of obscure 
parents ; notwithstanding which he received 
a good education, became the aid-de-camp of 
Bonaparte,* and was intrusted with several 
important offices, besides being made a peer 
of France. In 1815, on the restoration of 
the Bourbons, he was tried, and condemned 
to death for high treason; but. the day 
before the execution, his heroic wife, who 
was permitted to visit him for a final farewell, 
changed clothes with him in prison, and the 
count passed the guard unnoticed, and entered 
the sedan-chair with his daughter. He found 
means to escape to Munich, but the govern- 
ment had the inhumanity to detain the count- 
ess in prison, which harshness deprived her 
of reason. Her husband was pardoned, and 
returned to France in 1821. Madame Lava- 
lette was a niece of Josephine's first husband. 

LAVATER, John Gaspak, the great phys- 
iognomist, was born at Zurich in 1741, and 
was pastor of the chief church of that city. 
When Zurich in 1801 was taken by the 
French under Massena, Lavater was mortally 
wounded. 

LAWRENCE, James, was born at Burling- 
ton, N. J., in 1781. In 1798 he entered the 
navy as a midshipman, and, for his services 
in the Tripolitan war, was made first lieuten- 
ant. Feb. 24th, 1813, Lawrence, in command 
of the Hornet, took the British brig-of-war 
Peacock, after an action of fifteen minutes. 
June 1st, 1813, he sailed out of Boston har- 
bor, in command of the frigate Chesapeake, to 
accept the challenge of Captain Brooke of the 
Shannon. The result might have been easily 
foretold. The Chesapeake was an inferior 
vessel, and her crew shipped upon the spur 
of the moment; while the Shannon was a 
fine vessel, well manned, with a crew in 
perfect training. Lawrence was mortally 
wounded, but survived the action four days. 
His last words, before he was carried below, 
were, "Don't give up the ship!" The flag 
of the Chesapeake was not hauled down until 
almost all her officers were killed or wounded. 

LAWRENCE, Sir Thomas, an eminent 



LAW 



486 



C0TTA(;3 CYCLOPEDIA OP 



portrait painter, born at Bristol, May 4th, 
1769, died in London, Jan. 9th, 1830. 

LED YARD, John, a celebrated American 
traveler, born at Groton, Connecticut, in 
1Y51. At the age of nineteen he entered 
Dartmouth College, for the purpose of acquir- 
nig the information necessary for his becom- 
ing a missionary among the Indians. He 
acquired knowledge with great facility, but 
poverty forced his withdrawal from college. 
So ardent a desire did he have for travel, that 
he shipped as a sailor, went to Gibraltar, 
enlisted there, procured his discharge, and 
returned home in one year. He crossed the 
Atlantic again, working his passage to Ply- 
mouth, and thence begging his way to Lon- 
don, where he became acquainted with Capt. 
Cook, whom he accompanied in his last and 
fatal voyage. In 1782 he returned to 
Connecticut. Having formed a plan of mak- 
ing the tour of the globe on foot, departing 
from London to the eastward, he went as far 
as Irkutsk, where he was arrested, by an 
order from the empress, as a French spy, and 
conducted to the borders of Poland, and 
there liberated, with an intimation that his 
presence in the dominions of the czarina was 
so little desirable, that a repetition of his 
visit would produce a warrant for his execu- 
tion. He reached London, after an absence 
of fifteen months, in a destitute condition, at 
the age of thirty-seven. He immediately 
accepted a proposal to travel into the interior 
of Africa, on behalf of the African associa- 
tion. When Sir Joseph Banks first mentioned 
the enterprise to him, and asked him how 
soon he could set out, " To-morrow morning," 
was the reply . He was taken ill at Cairo, 
and died Jan. 17th, 1789. 

His uncle. Col. William Ledyard, com- 
manded Fort Griswold when captured by the 
British, Sept. 6tli, 1781, and was murdered 
by the British officer to whom he delivered his 
sword. 

LEE, Arthur, brother of Richard Henry, 
was born in Virginia, Dec. 20th, 1740. He 
was educated in England at Eton, took the 
degree of M. D. at Edinburgh, and commenced 
the practice of medicine in Virginia. Aftcr- 
w (i'd he returned to England, and studied 
law at the Temple. He was a secret agent of 
our government at London and Paris, associ- 
ated with Deane and Franklin, and, on the 



return of Franklin to America, became the 
sole agent of Massachusetts. In 1777 he was 
appointed by Congress commissioner to 
Spain, and he was subsequently employed in 
Prussia. He returned to America in 1780, 
and the next year he was chosen to the 
assembly, from which he went to Congress. 
He was called to the board of treasury, of 
which he continued to be a member from 
1784 to 1789. He died at his farm, Dec. 12th, 
1792. 

LEE, Charles, was a native of North 
Wales, the son of a general in the British 
army, in which at the age of eleven he also 
held a commission. He came to America in 
1756, and distinguished himself in the war 
with the French. For a time he dwelt among 
the Mohawks, who made him a chief, with 
the apt name of Boiling Water. After this 
he served as a colonel under Burgoyne in 
Portugal. Several pamphlets that he wrote 
in opposition to the ministry demolished the 
hope of promotion which his exploits had 
earned, and he entered the Polish army as 
aid to Poniatowski, just then elected king. 
On one occasion he was sent to accompany 
the Polish ambassador to Constantinople. 
The diplomatic gentleman traveled too slowly 
for him ; so he dashed ahead. When on the 
frontiers of Turkey, he came near perishing 
with cold and hunger, among the Bulgarian 
mountains ; and, after his ai-rival at Constan- 
tinople, he was very near being buried in the 
ruins of his house by an earthquake. He 
became a major-general. " I flatter myself," 
said he, " that a little more practice will make 
me a good soldier," and he tried a severe 
campaign in the Russian service. After this 
he led a wandering life through the south 
of Europe, troubled with gout, rheumatism, 
and the effects of "a Hungarian fever," and 
pestered with a temper more cynical and 
irascible than ever, embroiling him in many 
rencontres, in one of which he slew his an- 
tagonist, and lost two of his fingers. The 
irony and sarcasm that he vented upon the 
British ministry through the journals, gained 
him a reputation sufficient for a conjecture 
that perchance he was the mysterious Junius. 
He had early espoused the cause of the colo- 
nies, and in 1773 he came again to America, 
where his military renown and his dashing 
manner made him a welcome acquisition to 



LEE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



487 



the patriot cause, and alarmed even the 
British ministry. Purchasing an estate in 
Virginia he was often a guest at Mount Ver- 
non. When war broke out, Lee was one of 
the first major-generals commissioned. He 
was taken prisoner, and remained some time 
in the hands of the British, but was released 
Oct. 17th, 1777. At the battle of Monmouth 
he permitted his command to retreat, and 
was reproached by Washington, to whom he 
used disrespectful language. He was tried 
by a court-martial, and sentenced to a year's 
suspension, Aug. 12th, 1778. He died Oct. 
2d, 1782. He was an able oflScer, but proud 
and ambitious. 

LEE, Francis LionTFOOT, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was a brother 
of Richard Henry, and born at Stratford, 
Va., Oct. 14th, 1734. He was educated at 
home. He was elected to the house of bur- 
gesses in 1765, and continued a delegate 
therein till 1775, when he was sent to Con- 
gress. He retired to private life in 1779, 
and died in xVpril, 1797. 

LEE, Henky, was born in Virginia, Jan. 
29th, 1756, and was graduated at Princeton 
College in his eighteenth year. In 1776 he 
obtained the command of a troop of the Vir- 
ginia light horse, and in 1777 joined the 
main army under Washington. His conduct 
throughout the whole revolutionary struggle 
merits the highest praise. Ever in the front 
of danger, he performed several daring feats 
which have been rarely equaled. After the 
termination of the war, he was alternately a 
member of Congress, and of the assembly 
of his state, of which he was governor for 
three successive years. He died in 1818. 

LEE, EicuARD Henry, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born at 
Stratford, Westmoreland county, Va., in 1732, 
but was bred in England, where he received a 
finished education. He returned home at 
nineteen, and, till the age of twenty-five, 
busied himself in literary and philosophical 
studies. Then he was chosen to the house 
of burgesses, where he won himself a high 
position as a talented debater and a patriotic 
legislator. He was appointed, in 1764, to 
draw up an address to the king, and brought 
forth a masterly state paper; and in 1765 he 
assisted Patrick Henry's resolutions against 



the stamp act with great zeal. He was a 
member of the continental congress, 1774- 
1780 and 1784-1787; and he has been styled 
the Cicero of the famous congress of 1776, 
so graceful and efiective was his oratory. 
June 7th, 1776, he moved "that these united 
colonies are, and of right ought to be, free 
and independent states ; that they are ab- 
solved from all allegiance to the British 
crown ; and that all political connection be- 
tween them and the state of Great Britain is, 
and ought to be, dissolved ; " supporting the 
measure with one of his most eloquent 
speeches. In 1784 he was chosen president 
of Congress ; and from 1789 to 1792 he was 
senator from Virginia. He died June 19th, 
1794. 

LEGENDRE, Adrian Marie, an illustrious 
mathematician of France, born in Paris, 
1751, died there Jan. 16th, 1833. 

LEIBNITZ, Godfrey William, born at 
Leipsic, July 3d, 1646, died at Hanover, 
Nov. 14th, 1716. He was the great rival of 
Newton in science. 

LEIPSIC (Leipzig), the second city in 
Saxony, founded in the tenth century, and 
now containing 79,000 inhabitants. It is 
famous for its fairs, is the centre of the Ger- 
man book-trade, and is also distinguished by 
its university. Here was fought an import- 
ant battle between the allies and the French, 
Oct. 16th, 17th, and 18th, 1813. Napoleon 
with 160,000 men contended against 240,000 
Austrians, Russians, and Prussians. Against 
such odds he might have conquered, had not, 
at a critical moment, his Saxon allies gone 
over to the enemy. Of 80,000 men left dead 
on the field, more than half were French. 
Gustavus Adolphus won a great victory over 
Tilly, on the plain of Leipsic, Sept. 7th, 
1631. 

LENTULUS, a celebrated family at Rome, 
which produced many great men in the 
commonwealth. Publius Lentulus Sura 
joined Cataline's conspiracy, was convicted, 
imprisoned, and afterward executed. 

LEO. There have been twelve popes of 
this name. The greatest was Leo X. (Gio- 
vanni de Medici), born at Florence in 1475, 
being the second son of Lorenzo de Medici. 
At the age of thirteen he was made a car- 
dinal. He succeeded Julius II. in 1513, and 



LEO 



488 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



assumed the name of Leo. He was a patron 
of literature, and particularly encouraged 
the study of the Greek language. He de- 
sired to complete the church of St. Peter, 
and the sale of indulgences to raise the 
money swelled the wave that soon broke in 
the Reformation. He died in 1521. 

LEONIDAS, a celebrated king of Sparta, 
sent by his countrymen to oppose Xerxes. 
When the Persian monarch demanded his 
arms, Leonidas answered, "Come and take 
them!" With his three hundred Spartans, 
and a few auxiliaries, he defended the pass 
of Thermopylas against the whole Persian 
army, 480 B.C. He died surrounded by 
heaps of slain enemies. 

LEPANTO, Gulf of, a narrow sea between 
the northern coast of the Peloponnesus and 
the mainland of Greece ; anciently the Gulf 
of Corinth. The famous sea fight of Le- 
panto, between the Turks and Spaniards, in 
which Cervantes lost his hand, was fought 
Oct. 7th, 1571. The Turks, being at anchor 
in the gulf, and hearing that the Christians 
were bearing down upon them from Corfu, 
reinforced their fleet, which consisted of 250 
galleys, 70 frigates and brigantines. The 
Christian fleet consisted of 210 galleys, 28 
transports, and 6 galeapes, furnished with 
heavy artillery, commanded by Don John of 
Austria (natural son of Charles V.), includ- 
ing the Spanish squadron furnished by 
Philip II., the Venetian, with the flower 
of the nobility of Venice, and the pope's 
galleys. The two ibrces engaged with all 
the ancient and modern weapons of attack 
and defense, arrows, javelins, grappling-irons, 
cannon, muskets, pikes, and swords. They 
fought hand to hand, as most of the galleys 
grappled together. Don John of Austria 
and Veniero, the Venetian commander, at- 
tacked the Ottoihan admiral AH, and having 
taken him and his gallej^, immediately struck 
off his head, and placed it on the top of his 
own flag. The Turks lost upward of 150 
vessels. Their loss in killed was about 
15,000; as many more were made prisoners, 
and 5,000 Christian slaves were set at liberty. 
The Christians are said to have lost about 
5,000 men. The battle lasted from six in 
the morning till evening, when the approach- 
ing darkness, and the roughness of the sea, 
compelled the victors to put into the nearest 



haven, whence they dispatched couriers to 
all Christian courts, with the news of the 
triumph. The Christians gave no quarter in 
the heat of the fight. 

LEPIDUS, Marcus iEjiiLius, one of the 
triumvirs with Augustus and Antony. He 
was sent against Brutus and Cassius, and 
some time after leagued with Mark Antony, 
who had gained the heai'ts of his soldiers by 
artifice, and their commander by address. 
He received Africa as his portion in the di- 
vision of the empire ; but his indolence soon 
rendered him despicable in the eyes of his 
soldiers and of his colleagues, and Augustus, 
who was well acquainted with the unpopu- 
larity of Lepidus, went to his camp, and 
obliged him to resign the power to which he 
was entitled as triumvir. After this degrad- 
ing event, he sunk into obscurity, and re- 
tired, by order of Augustus, to Cerceii, a 
small town of the coast of Latium, where he 
ended his days, b.c. 13, forgotten as soon as 
he had fallen. 

LESSING, GoTTuoLD Ephkaim, was born 
in Upper Lusatia, 1729. As a dramatist and 
a critic on the fine arts, he held a high rank 
in German literature. His death occurred at 
Wolfenbiittel in 1781. 

LEUCTRA, a village of Boeotia, famous 
for the victory which Epaminondas, the The- 
ban general, here obtained over the superior 
force of Cleombrotus, King of Sparta, b.c. 
371. From that time the Spai'tans lost the 
ascendency which they had for centuries held 
in Greece. 

LEWIS, Francis, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, was born at Llandaif, 
in the south of Wales, March, 1713. His 
education was finished at Westminster, and 
he entered a mercantile house in London. 
At the age of twenty-one, he came to Amer- 
ica. He became an active politician, espoused 
the cause of liberty, and was elected a dele- 
gate from New York to the continental con- 
gress in 1775. He suffered the loss of much 
property on Long Island during the war. He 
died Dec. 30th, 1803. 

LEWIS AND CLARKE. In 1804, Capt. 
Meriwether Lewis and Lieut. William Clarke, 
with a party of twenty-eight men, were dis- 
patched by government to explore the north- 
western territory between the Mississippi and 
the Pacific. It was the first expedition of 



LEW 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



489 



the kind undertaken. They crossed the 
Rocky Mountains and reached the mouth of 
the Columbia, their observations and surveys 
being eminently successful, and furnishing 
the first reliable details of that vast region. 
The expedition was absent two years and 
three months. 

LEXINGTON, a town of Massachusetts, 
eleven miles north-west of Boston, where the 
struggle for liberty was commenced, April 
19th, 1775. Gen. Gage dispatched a force of 
900 men on the night of the 18th to seize a 
magazine of military stores that the patriots 
had gathered at Concord. The expedition had 
been planned and prepared with great secresy, 
yet wind of it had blown, and as the British 
stealthily crept forth on their nocturnal 
march, the booming of alarm guns and the 
clang of village bells told that the country 
was rising. Lieut. Col. Smith sent back for 
re-enforcements, and pushed Major Pitcairne 
forward with six companies to secure the 
bridges at Concord. He advanced rapidly, 
capturing every one that he met or overtook. 
When a little more than a mile from Lexing- 
ton, a horseman was too quick for him, and 
galloped into the village with the cry that the 
redcoats were coming. When the British 
came marching up the road, between four and 
five in the gray morning, seventy or eighty 
yeomen were mustered in military array 
on the green near the meeting-house. It was 
a part of the ' constitutional army,' pledged 
to resist by force any open hostility of British 
troops. Besides these, there were a number 
of lookers on, armed and unarmed. The 
major rode forward, brandishing his sword, 
and shouted, as his men advanced at double 
quick time, "Disperse, ye villains ! Lay down 
your arms, ye rebels, and disperse." The 
yeomanry stood their ground. A scene of 
confusion ensued, with firing on both sides : 
by which party commenced it is not certain. 
Eight of the patriots were killed, ten wounded, 
and all put to flight. The British formed on 
the common, discharged a volley, and gave 
three cheers ; Col. Smith came up ; the whole 
force pushed on for Concord. There they did 
the work for which they had been detailed, 
so far as they could, for many of the stores 
had been removed. The militia were not 
strong enough to oppose them, but the minute- 
men were hurrying in from every quarter. 



About ten o'clock a squad ventured to dis- 
lodge the British from the north bridge. As 
they came near, the British fired, killing 
two ; a skirmish ensued, and the enemy re- 
treated from the bridge. About noon, the 
jaded troops commenced their march for Bos- 
ton. The country was astir. All along the 
road, from the cover of trees, sheds, houses, 
fences, rustic marksmen dealt a deadly retali- 
ation, and a long line of killed, wounded, or 
fatigued marked the way. 

At Lexington they were joined by 900 
more troops, sent out from Boston, under 
Lord Percy. These brought two cannon 
with them, and the country people were now 
kept more at bay. They still fired upon the 
troops, however, with terrible havoc. The 
regulars, as the English troops were called, 
scrambled into Charlestown at sunset. Sixty- 
five of their number had been killed, one 
hundred and eighty wounded, and twenty- 
eight made prisoners. Of the provincials, 
forty-nine were killed, thirty-nine wounded 
and missing. There were never more than 
three or four hundred of the lattei; fighting at 
one time, and these fought as they pleased, 
without order. The regulars were obliged 
to keep in the main road ; but the militia, 
knowing every inch of the country, flanked 
them, and fired upon them at all the corners. 
The British, maddened by the galling fire, 
burned many dwellings in their retreat. 

Bancroft eloquently narrates the effects pro- 
duced by this conflict. Darkness closed upon 
the country and upon the town, but it was no 
night for sleep. Heralds on swift relays of 
horses transmitted the war-message from hand 
to hand, till village repeated it to village ; the 
sea to the backwoods ; the plains to the high- 
lands ; and it was never suffered to droop, till it 
had been borne north, and south, and east, and 
west throughout the land. It spread over the 
bays that receive the Saco and the Penobscot. 
Its loud reveille broke the rest of the trap- 
pers of New Hampshire, and ringing like 
bugle-notes from peak to peak, overleaped the 
Greea Mountains, swept onward to Montreal 
and descended the ocean river, till the re- 
sponses were echoed from the cliffs of Quebec. 
The hills along the Hudson told to one another 
the tale. As the summons hurried to the 
south, it was one day at New York ; in one 
more at Philadelphia ; the next it lighted a 



LEX 



490 



COTTACE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



watchfire at Baltimore ; thence it waked an 
answer at Annapolis. Crossing the Potomac 
near Mount Vernon, it was sent forward 
without a halt to Williamsburg. It traversed 
the Dismal Swamp to Nansemond along the 
roiito of the first emigrants to North Carolina. 
It moved onward and still onward through 
boundless groves of evergreen to Ncwbern 
and to Wilmington. " For God's sake, for- 
ward it by night and by day," wrote Corne- 
lius Harnett by the express which sped for 
Brunswick. Patriots of South Carolina 
caught up its tones at the border, and dis- 
patched it to Charleston, and through pines 
and palmettoes and moss-clad live oaks, 
still further to the south, till it resounded 
among the New England settlements be- 
yond the Savannah. Hillsborough and tiie 
Mecklenburg districts of North Carolina rose 
in triumph, now that their wearisome un- 
certainty had its end. The Blue Kidge 
took up the voice and made it heard from 
one end to the other of the valley of Vir- 
ginia. The Alleghanies, as they listened, 
opened thoir barriers, that the 'loud call' 
might pass through to the hardy riflemen on 
the Holston, the Watauga, and the French 
Broad. Ever renewing its strength, powerful 
enough even to create a commonwealth, it 
breathed its inspiring word to the first set- 
tlers of Kentucky ; so that hunters who made 
their halt-in the matchless valley of the Elk- 
horn, commemorated the nineteenth day of 
April by naming their encampment Lexington. 

With one impulse the colonies sprung to 
arms; with one spirit they pledged them- 
selves to each other "to be ready for the 
extreme event." With one heart, the conti- 
nent cried " Liberty or Death." 

The first measure of the Massachusetts 
committee of safety, after the dawn of the 
20th of April, was a circular to the several 
towns in Massachusetts. " We conjure you," 
they wrote, "by all that is dear, by all that 
is saCred, — we beg and entreat, as you will 
answer it to your country, to your con- 
sciences, and above all, to God himself, that 
you will hasten and encourage by all possible 
means the enlistment of men to form the 
army ; and send them forward to headquar- 
ters at Cambridge with that expedition which 
the vast importance and instant urgency of 
the affair demands." 



LEX 



The people of Massachusetts had not waited 
for the call. The country people, as soon as 
they heard the cry of innocent blood from the 
ground, snatched their firelocks from the 
walls ; and wives, and mothers, and sisters 
took part in preparing the men of their house- 
holds to go forth to the war. The farmers 
rushed to " the camp of liberty," often with 
nothing but the clothes on their backs, with- 
out a day's provisions, and many without a 
farthing in their pockets. Their country was 
in danger ; their brethren were slaughtered ; 
their arms alone employed their attention. 
On their way the inhabitants gladly opened 
their hospitable doors, and all things were in 
common. For the first night of the siege, 
Prescott of Pepperell with his Middlesex 
minute-men kept the watch over the entrance 
to Boston, and while Gage was di-iven foi 
safety to fortify the town at all points, the 
Americans already talked of nothing but 
driving him and his regiments into the sea. 

At the same time the committee by letter 
gave the story of the preceding day to New 
Hampshire and Connecticut, whose assistance 
they entreated. "We shall be glad," they 
wrote, " that our brethren who come to our 
aid may be supplied with military stores and 
provisions, as we have none of either, more 
than is absolutely necessary for ourselves." 
And without stores, or cannon, or supplies 
even of powder, or of money, Massachusetts 
by its congress, on the 22d of April, resolved 
unanimously that a New England army of 
thirty thousand men should be raised, and 
established its own proportion at thirteen 
thousand six hundred. The term of enlist- 
ment was fixed for the last day of December. 

Long before this summons the ferries over 
the Merrimack were crowded by men from 
New Hampshire. "We go," said they, "to 
the assistance of our brethren." By one 
o'clock of the 20th, upward of sixty men of 
Nottingham assembled at the meeting-house 
with arms and equipments, under Cilley and 
Dearborn; before two they were joined by 
bands, from Deerfield and Epsom ; and they • 
set out together for Cambridge. At dusk 
they reached Haverhill ferry, a distance of 
twenty-seven miles, having run rather than 
marched; they halted in Andover only for 
refreshments, and, traversing fifty-five miles 

less than twenty hours, by sunrise of the 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



491 



21st paraded on Cambridge common. Thus 
in three days two thousand men volunteered 
in New Hampshire. 

Tn Connecticut, Trumbull, the governor, 
sent out writs to convene the legislature of 
the colony at Hartford on the Wednesday 
following the battle. Meantime the people 
could not be restrained. On the morning of 
the 20th, Israel Putnam, of Pomft-et, in leather 
frock and apron, was assisting hired men to 
build a stone wall on his farm, when he heard 
the cry from Lexington. Leaving them to 
continue their task, he set off instantly to 
rouse the militia officers of the nearest towns. 
On his return, he found hundreds who had 
mustered and chosen him their leader. Issu- 
ing orders for them to follow, he himself 
pushed forward without changing the checked 
shirt he had worn in the field, and reached 
Cambridge at sunrise the next morning, hav- 
ing ridden the same horse a hundred miles 
within eighteen hours. 

From Wethersfield, a hundred young vol- 
unteers marched for Boston on the 22d, well 
armed and in high spirits. From the neigh- 
boring towns, men of the lai-gest estates, and 
the most esteemed for character, seized their 
firelocks and followed. By the second night, 
several thousands from the colony were on 
their way. Some fixed on their standards 
and drums the colony arms, and round it in 
letters of gold, the motto, that God who 
brought over their fathers would sustain the 
sons. In New Haven, Benedict Arnold, 
captain of a volunteer company, agreed with 
his men to march the next morning for Bos- 
ton. "Wait for proper orders," was the 
advice of Wooster ; but the self-willed com- 
mander, brooking no delay, extorted supplies 
from the committee of the town, and on the 
29th reached the American headquarters 
with his company. There was scarcely a 
town in Connecticut that was not represented 
among the besiegers. 

The nearest towns of Rhode Island were in 
motion before the British had finished their 
retreat. At the instance of Hopkins and 
others, Wanton, the governor, though himself 
inclined to the royal side, called an assembly. 
Its members were all of one mind ; and when 
Wanton, with several of the council, showed 
hesitation, they resolved, if necessary, to 



proceed alone. The council yielded, and 
confirmed the unanimous vote of the assem- 
bly which authorized raising an army of 
fifteen hundred men. " The colony of Rhode 
Island," wrote Bowler, the speaker, to the 
Massachusetts congress, " is firm and deter- 
mined ; and a greater unanimity in the lower 
house scarce ever prevailed." Companies of 
the men of Rhode Island preceded this early 
message. 

The conviction of Massachusetts gained the 
cheering confidence that springs from sympa- 
thy, now that New Hampshire and Connecti- 
cut and Rhode Island had come to its support. 
The New England volunteei-s were men of 
substantial worth, of whom almost every one 
represented a household. The members of 
the several companies were well known to 
each other, as to brothers, kindred, and 
townsmen; known to all the old men who 
remained at home, and to all the matrons 
and maidens. They were sure to be remem- 
bered weekly in the exercises of the congre- 
gations ; and morning and evening, in the 
usual family devotions, they were commended 
with fervent piety to the protection of Heav- 
en. Every young soldier lived and acted, as 
it were, under the keen observation of all 
those among whom he had grown up, and 
was sure that his conduct would occupy the 
tongues of his village companions while he 
was in the field, and perhaps be remembered 
his life long. The camp of liberty was a 
gathering in arms of schoolmates, neighbors, 
and friends ; and Boston was beleaguered 
round from Roxbury to Chelsea by an unor- 
ganized, fluctuating mass of men, each with 
his own musket and his little store of car- 
tridges, and such provisions as he brought 
with him, or as were sent after him, or were 
contributed by the people round about. 

The British officers, from the sense of their 
own weakness, and from fear of the American 
marksmen, dared not order a sally. Their 
confinement was the more irksome, for it 
came of a sudden before their magazines had 
been filled, and was followed by "an imme- 
diate stop to supplies of every kind." The 
troops, in consequence, suffered severely from 
unwholesome diet ; and their commanders 
fretted with bitter mortification. They had 
scoffed at the Americans as cowards, who 



LEX 



492 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



would run at their sight ; and they had saved 
themselves from destruction only by the 
rapidity of tlfeir retreat. 

Men are prone to fail in equity toward 
those whom their pride regards as their 
inferiors. The Americans, slowly provoked 
and long-suffering, treated the prisoners with 
.tenderness, and nursed the wounded as though 
they had been members of their own families. 
They even invited Gage to send out British 
surgeons for their relief. Yet Percy could 
degrade himself so far as to calumniate the 
countrymen who gave him chase, and offici- 
ally lend himself to the folsehood that ■" the 
rebels scalped and cut off the ears of some 
of the wounded who fell into their hands." 
He should have respected the name which he 
bore, famed as it is in history and in song ; 
and he should have respected the men before 
whom he fled. The falsehood brings dis- 
honor on its voucher; the people whom he 
reviled were among the mildest and most 
compassionate of their race. 

LIBERIA. In 1821 the American Colo- 
nization Society established a colony of eman- 
cipated slaves on ihe western coast of Africa, 
east of Sierra Leone. The settlement in 
1847 became the republic of Liberia. Its 
area is about 24,000 square miles, and its 
population in 1863 was 422,000. Its institu- 
tions are modeled on those of the United 
States. Whites are not admitted to citizen- 
ship. Monrovia is the capital. 

LIBRARIES. The first public library of 
which we have any certain account in history, 
was founded at Athens, by Pisistratus, 544 
B.C. The first private library known was 
that of Aristotle, 334 b.c. The great library 
at Alexandria was founded by Ptolemy Phil- 
udclphus, 284 b.c, and was nearly destroyed 
when Julius Caesar set fire to the city, 47 
B.C., four hundred thousand valuable MSS. 
being lost. On its ruins a second collection 
was gathered, consisting of seven hundred 
thousand volumes. This was totally destroy- 
ed by the Saracens, who heated the water of 
their baths for six months, by burning books 
instead of wood, under orders from the Caliph 
Omar in 642. The early Chinese literature 
suffered a similar loss, the Emperor Chee- 
whang-tee ordering all writings to be de- 
stroyed, that everything might begin anew 
from his reign. Pope Gregory I. burned the 1 



LIB 



library of the Palatine Apollo, desiring to 
confine the clergy to the study of the Scrip- 
tures, From that time all ancient learning 
not sanctioned by the authority of the church, 
has been emphatically distinguished as pro- 
fane, in opposition to sacred. 

The first public library in Italy was found- 
ed by Nicholas Niccoli, one of the great 
restorers of learning. At his death, he left 
his library for the use of the public, a.d. 
1436. Cosmo de Medici enriched it, after 
the death of Niccoli, with the invaluable 
Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Chaldaic, and Indian 
MSS. Among the great libraries of Europe 
are the following : That of the Vatican, at 
Rome, founded by Pope Nicholas V. in 1446 ; 
improved by Sixtus V., 1588; it contains 
150,000 volumes, and 40,000 manuscripts. 
The Imperial Library of Vienna, founded by 
Frederick III., 1440, and by Maximilian I., 
1500 ; one of the most choice existing. The 
Imperial library of Paris, founded b}'^ Francis 
L about 1520; it contains 900,000 volumes, 
and 84,000 manuscripts. The Escurial, at 
Madrid, commenced with the fotmdation of 
that sumptuous palace, by Philip II. in 15G2 ; 
the Spaniards regard it as matchless. The 
libi'ary of Florence, by Cosmo de Medici, 
1560, of great value in illustrated and illumi- 
nated works. The library of the University 
of Munich contains 400,000 volumes, and 
10,000 manuscripts ; and that of Gottingen, 
800,000 volumes, and 6,000 manu.scripts. 
The Imperial Library at St. Petersburgh was 
founded in 1714, but it consists principally of 
the spoils of Poland. 

Richard de Bury, chancellor and high 
treasurer of England, so early as 1341, raised 
the first private library in Europe. He pur- 
chased thirty or forty volumes of the Abbot 
of St. Albans for fifty pounds weight of sil- 
ver. The following are among the principal 
libraries in England : The Bodleian, at Ox- 
ford, founded 40 Eliz., 1598 ; opened in 1602 ; 
this library contains nearly 400,000 volumes, 
and upward of 30,000 manuscripts. The 
Cottonian Library, founded by Sir Robert 
Cotton, about 1600; appropriated to the 
public, 13 Will. III., 1701 ; partly destroyed 
by fire, 1731 ; removed to the British 
Museum, 1753. The Radcliffeian, at Oxford, 
founded by the will of Dr. Radcliffe, who 
left £40,000 to the university, 1714; opened, 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



493 



1749. The library at Cambridge, 1720, when 
George I. gave £5,000 to purchase Dr. Moore's 
collection. The library of the Royal Institu- 
tion, in 1803. That of the London Institu- 
tion, of Sion College, &c., and the great 
library of the British Museum, containing 
above 562,000 volumes and 100,000 manu- 
scripts, including the Cottonian, the liarleian, 
and other collections. The library of the 
University of Dublin, and the Advocates' 
Library in Edinburgh, are among the most 
extensive and valuable in Ireland and Scot- 
land. 

The Astor Library, New York, contains 
120,000 books; the Boston City Public Li- 
brary, 112,000; the Congressional Library 
at Washington, 85,000 ; the Boston Athe- 
•naeum Library, 80,000 ; the New York Mer- 
cantile Library, 64,000 ; and the New York 
State Library at Albany is somewhat larger. 
Of college libraries in the United States, the 
largest are :— -Harvard University. 140,000: 
Yale College, 64,000; Brown University, 
34,000 ; Dartmouth College, 32,000. 

LINCOLN, Abkaham, sixteenth President 
of the United States, was born in Hardin 
Co., Ky., Feb. 12, 1809, of poor parents, 
in a rude, log cabin. When he was eight 
years old they removed to Indiana. All the 
school education of his life, did not exceed 
one year. But his character was moulded 
by a noble, christian mother. He said of her, 
after her death, with tears in his eyes, " All 
that I am or hope to be, I owe to my angel 
mother." He early became a reader, devour- 
mg every book he could find. When 21 
years old he engaged in flat boating to New 
Orleans. Removing to Illinois he was em- 
ployed in a store, where he earned the sou- 
briquet oi "Honest Abe." In 1832 he was 
Capt. of a company in the Black Hawk War. 
He then studied law, was Mem. of the Leg- 
islature 1834-40, Mem. of Congress 1846, 
and a successful lawyer in Springfield, 111. 
In 1858 he had his great contest for the U. 
S. Senatorship with Mr. Douglas. Though 
defeated by the unfoir apportionment of the 
legislative districts, yet he fought the " Little 
Giant" with such wonderful power as to 
surprise the nation. Who is this lUinois 
lawyer coping with the ablest, most adroit 
debater of the West with a fairness, mag- 
nanimity and skill rarely if ever equaled, 



became the question. In liis speeches dur- 
ing this contest, there are passages as noble 
and sublime as ever fell from the lips of 
statesmen. Evincing such clear comprehen- 
sion of the designs of the Slave power, ex- 
posing the sophistries of its friends with such 
marvelous skill, putting the claims of man- 
hood and liberty in such luminous state- 
ment, he in this contest prepared the way for 
his nomination for the Presidency. He was 
elected President in 1860, defeating Mr. 
Douglas. The southern leaders then hast- 
ened their treasonable plans. The plotters 
in Mr. Buchanan's Cabinet constrained and 
fettered hiin, and with congressional conspir- 
ators in Washington, were in constant com- 
munication with their respective States, urg- 
ing on the work of national destruction. 
Floyd, Sec. of War, had the national arms 
transferred from northern armories to south- 
ern arsenals. Toucey, Sec. of the Navy, had 
sent away beyond call, all but two of the 
vessels of war. Howell Cobb, Sec. of the 
Navy, resigned on the plea that the finances 
of the country were hopelessly embarrassed. 
So. Carolina led off in secession, followed at 
once by other States. Forts and arsenals 
were seized in the South, a -southern confed- 
eracy formed, and thus the most fearful and 
criminal rebellion was inaugurated that ever 
imperiled a nation. Washington was full 
of treason. The governmental departments 
were crowded with it. Loyalty was derided 
and dishonored. Southern sympathizers 
were scattered over the whole North, and 
those who loved the Union were oppressed 
with terrible apprehensions. Such was the 
condition of the country when, Feb. 11, '61, 
Mr. Lincoln started from his home in Spring- 
field, 111., for Washington. He had watched 
the coming storm, and he asked as he bade 
adieu to his fellow citizens, their prayers to 
Almighty God, that he might have wisdom 
and help to see the right path and pursue it. 
Those prayers were answered. He guided the 
ship of State safely through the angriest storm 
that ever demanded a brave and good pilot. 
He issued his emancipation proclamation 
Sept. 22, '62, thus disenthralling 4,000,000 
slaves, and executing his own words of 1858, 
that "this government cannot endure per- 
manently half slave and half free." He 
called over a million men to arms, and thus 



LIN 



494 

the republic was vindicated, against the 
fiercest, foulest conspiracy of which history 
has any record. 

Mr. Lincoln, reelected President, entered 
upon his second term March, '05. In April 
the confederate armies surrendered and the 
Rebellion was ended. In company with Gen. 
Grant, he walked unarmed the streets of 
Richmond, late the capital of the confederate 
government. But only a few days after, and 
in the height of the nation's triumph and 
joy, having saved his countrj^, he fell a vic- 
tim to the long nursed and remorseless hate 
of its foes. As a chief part of the plot to 
destroy the heads of the government, he was 
assassinated at Ford's Theatre, April 14, '05, 
by John Wilkes Booth. 

Mr. Lincoln had unsurpassed fitness for 
the task he had to execute. Without any 
thing like brilliancy of genius, without 
breadth of learning or literary accomplish- 
ments, he had that perfect balance of thor- 
oughly sound faculties, which give an almost 
infallible judgment. This, combined with 
great calmness of temper, inflexible firmness 
of will, supreme moral purpose, intense pa- 
triotism, made up just that character which 
fitted him, as the same faculties fitted Wash- 
ington, for the salvation of his country in a 
period of stupendous responsibility and 
frightful peril. No man ever had a greater 
trust, and no man ever discharged one with 
more illustrious success or purer renown. 

He was the least pretentious of men. He 
never even professed his determination to do 
his duty. Samson like he could rend a lion, 
and tell neither father nor mother of it. No 
thought of self, no sensitiveness for his own 
good name, ever seemed to enter his mind. 
An intense, all-comprehensive patriotism was 
the constant and sole stimulus of all his pub- 
lic exertions. A public trust was to him a 
sacred thing. Sublimer moral courage, more 
resolute devotion to duty, more conscien- 
tious patriotism, cannot be found in history, 
than he displayed in the greatest emergen- 
cies that ever befell a people. 

In every city and town o. prominence, 
services in sympathy with his funeral solem- 
nities at Washington, were held, and the 
great heart of the Republic throbbed with 
pain and lamentation. Then the martyred 
President was borne to his final resting place 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



in Springfield, 111., with demonstrations of 
love, gratitude and veneration, all along the 
journey of a 1000 miles, such as no statesman 
or emperor ever received. " Never was such 
a funeral given to a national ruler. He was a 
statesman without a statesman's craftiness, 
a politician without a politician's meannesses, 
a great man without a great man's vices, a 
philanthropist without a philanthropist's im- 
practicable dreams, a christian without pre- 
tensions, a ruler without the pride of place 
and power, an ambitious man without self- 
ishness, and a successful man without van- 
ity. Humble man of the backwoods — boat- 
man, ax-man, hired laborer, clerk, surveyor, 
captain, legislator, lawyer, debater, orator, 
politician, statesman, President, saviour of 
the republic, emancipator of a race, true 
christian, true man,'' — this is the summary 
of the pure, patriotic life and grand work of 
Abraham Lincoln. 

LINCOLN, Benjamin, born at Hingham, 
Mass., Jan. 13th, 1733, 0. S., was major gen- 
eral of the provincial militia, and in Feb., 
1777, received the same rank in the continent- 
al forces. At Saratoga, he was wounded in 
the leg. At Yorktown, he distinguished him- 
self, as he had done throughout the whole 
Revolutionary struggle. He afterward com- 
manded the militia which quelled Shay's re- 
bellion. In 1787, he was elected Lt. Gov. of 
Mass., and from 1789 till near his death, in 
1810, was collector of customs in Boston. 

LINNiEUS, (Carl Von Linne,) the great 
naturalist, was a native of Sweden. He ex- 
celled chiefly in botany, and raised entomol- 
ogy to the rank of a science. He died Jan. 
10th, 1778, aged 71. 

LIVERPOOL, Robert Banks Jenkinsox, 
Earl of, premier of England, 1812-1827. 

LIVINGSTON, BRocKnoLST, sonofAYiil- 
iam. Gov. of New Jersey, was born in the 
city of New York, Nov. 25, 1757, and served 
with great distinction under Schuyler, and 
Arnold. He was admitted to the bar in 1 783, 
became judge of the supreme court of New 
York in 1802, judge of the supreme court of 
the IT. States in 1807, and died Mar. 18, 1823. 
LIVINGSTON, PniLip, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, born at Albany, 
Jan. loth, 1716, became a successful mer- 
chant in New York, after graduating at Yale 
Coll. He was a Mem. of the colonial assem- 



LIV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



49.3 



bly in 1759, chairman of the legislature in 
1770, Mem. of the Continental Congress 
1774-8, and died at York, Pa., June 12, 1778. 

LIVINGSTON, Robert R., born m New 
York city, Nov. 27, 1746, was graduated at 
King's Coll. m 1765. Asa lawyer he won a 
very high reputation, was Mem. of the first 
general congress, was one of the committee 
to draw up the Declaration of Independence, 
m 1780 was Sec. of foreign affairs; for sev- 
eral years chancellor of N. York, and 1801-5 
minister to France. He died Mar. 26, 1813. 

LIVY. Titus Livius Patavinus, the illus- 
trius historian, was born at Patavium, (now 
Padua) B. c. 59. The greater part of his life 
was spent in Rome, where he died a. d. 18. 

LOCKE, John, born in 1632, was edu- 
cated at Westminster and Christ Church, 
Oxford. This eminent philosopher was a 
prominent defender of civil and religious lib- 
erty. The most celebrated of his works is 
"An Essay Concerning Human Understand- 
ing." He died in 1704. 

LODI, a town in Austrian Italy. One of 
Napoleon's most daring exploits was per- 
formed here. May 10, 1796, by forcing the 
passage of the bridge over the Adda, though 
defended by 10,000 Austrians. He always 
spoke of it as "that terrible passage of the 
bridge of Lodi." 

LOMBARDS, also called Longobardi, (long- 
beards) was originally a Scandinavian tribe. 
About the middle of the sixth century, their 
king, Alboin, conquered all upper Italj^ and 
a part of middle Italy. Desiderius, the last 
king, was conquered A. d. 774, by Charle- 
magne, who subverted their kingdom in Italy. 
Lombardy belonged to the Austrian empire 
until 1859, when it was united with Italy. 

The iron crown of Lombardy takes its 
name from the narrow iron band within it. 
The outer circlet consists of six equal pieces 
of beaten gold, united by hinges and set with 
large rubies, emeralds and sapphires, on a 
ground of blue gold enamel. Within the 
circlet is the iron crown, without a speck of 
rust, though it has been exposed more than 
1500 years. 

LONDON, the metropolis of England 
and the British Empire, is situated on 
the Thames, about 50 miles from the sea. 
Its population in 1861, was 2,803,034, 
having doubled in about forty years. Its 



2,800 streets, if put together, would extend 
3,000 miles in length. As a compact mass 
of houses, the metropolis may be considered 
a parallelogram about six miles in length by 
three and a half in width, thus coverino- an 
area of twenty -one square miles. AVith the 
suburbs included in the census returns, it 
comprised an area of 122 square miles. 

London includes the cities and liberties of 
London and Westminster, the boroughs of 
Southwark, Marylebone, Finsbury, Tower 
Hamlets, and Lambeth, and a number of 
suburban parishes and precincts on all sides 
of these central portions. The City proper 
is that space which lay within the ancient 
walls and liberties, and is divided from West- 
minster by Temple Bar. The streets are for 
the most part narrow and inconvenient, for 
in old walled towns space was precious. 
Just outside of the eastern limit of the city 
is the Tower, once the royal residence, then 
for centuries the Bastile of England, and the 
scene of many a historic tragedy, and now 
little else than an armory and curiosity-shop. 
In the City is St. Paul's, in whose crypt the 
great admiral and the great general, Nelson 
and Wellington, are buried side by side. 

The city and liberty of Westminster copi- 
mences at Temple Bar, and extends to Ken- 
sington and Chelsea. Here is Westminster 
Abbey, where lie the ashes of some of Eng- 
land's greatest men, whether in letters, in 
war, or in counsel. Over the way is the 
palace of Westminster, in which parliament 
meets. In this quarter is St. James's Pal- 
ace, a dingy pile of brick, where kings and 
queens once dwelt, and where the court 
is yet held. Back of it is St. James's Park, 
at whose west end is Buckingham Palace, the 
town residence of Victoria. Still beyond is 
Hyde Park, and the fashionable section of 
London, known as the West End. Our limits 
would not allow even a meagre catalogue of 
the spots and buildings in London that have 
historic or other interest. We can barely 
notice the most important incidents in its 
annals. 

London fortified by the Romans, 50. 
Walled, and a palace built, 306. Made a 
bishopric, 514. Repaired by Alfred, 884. 
Greatly damaged by fire, 798, 982, 1086, and 
1130. Tower built by William I., 107& 
Houses of timber thatched with straw, but to 



LON 



496 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



prevent fire, ordered to be built with stone, 
and covered with slates, 1192, but the order 
not observed. Awful fire at London Bridge, 
then covered with buildings ; 3,000 persons 
were drowned in the Thames, 1212. A char- 
ter by King John to the Londoners to choose 
a mayor out of their own body annually 
(this office formerly was for life), to elect and 
remove their sheriffs at pleasure, and their 
common-councilmen annuallj^, 1215. A com- 
mon hunt first appointed, 122G. Aldermen 
first appointed, 1242. The houses still thatch- 
ed with straw, Cheapside lay out of the city, 
1246. All built of wood, 1300. Terrible pes- 
tilence, in which 50,000 citizens die, 1348 to 
1357. Privileges taken away, but restored on 
submission, 1366. The first lord maj^or sworn 
at Westminster that went by water, and the 
lord mayor's show instituted, 1453. A sheriff 
fined £50 for kneeling too near the lord mayor, 
when at prayers in St. Paul's cathedral, 1486. 
Streets first paved, 1533. The Thames water 
first conveyed into the city, 1580. The city 
yet chiefly built of wood, and in every respect 
very irregular, 1600. Plague sweeps off 
30,578 persons, 1602. The New River 
brought to London, 1613. The lord mayor 
and sheriffs arrested at the suit of two pre- 
tended sheriffs, April 24th, 1652. Great 
plague, in which 68,596 persons perish. The 
Great Fire broke out near the Monument and 
burnt three days and three nights, dcstroj'- 
ing 13,200 houses, the city gates, Guildhall, 
&c., eighty-nine churches, amongst which 
was St. Paul's cathedral, and laying waste 
400 streets ; the ruins covered 436 acres, and 
the conflagration was only checked by blow- 
ing up buildings, Sept. 2d, 1666. Streets 
first lit by lamps, 1682. Pilkington and 
Shute, the city sheriffs, sent prisoners to the 
Tower, for continuing a poll after the lord 
mayor had adjourned it, 1682. The charter 
of the city declared forfeited to the crown, 
June 12th, 1682. Privileges taken away, but 
restored, 1688. Built a new mansion house, 
1737. Furnished and inhabited the same, 
1753. Repaired London bridge, 1758, when 
government granted them £15,000, and per- 
mitted them to pull down the gates, 1760. 
Began Blackfriars bridge, Oct. 31st, 1760. 
The common council ordered to wear blue 
mazarine gowns, Sept. 14th, 1761. Lost the 
cause against the dissenters serving sheriff-;. 



July 5th, 1762. The city remonstrated on 
the king's paying no attention to their peti- 
tion for a redress of grievances, and were cen- 
sured, March, 1770. Brass Crosby, Esq., 
lord mayor, and Alderman Oliver, sent to the 
Tower by the house of commons, for commit- 
ting their messenger, March, 1771. The 
common councilmen discontinued the wear- 
ing of their mazarine gowns in court, in 
1775. The city abandoned to the mercy of 
Lord George Gordon's 'no-popery' mob, 
June 2d to 7th, 1780. Gas-lights used in 
London, August, 1807; Pall Mall lit in 
1809 ; and the city generally lighted in 1814. 
Thames Tunnel opened, March 25th, 1843. 
Great Chartist demonstration, April 10th, 
1848. 

LONG ISLAND, Battle of. The Brit- 
ish attacked the Americans at Brooklyn, 
L. L, Aug. 26th, 1776, and after a severe 
conflict, in which the raw levies of the latter 
fought well, drove them into their intrench- 
ments. Washington, fearing lest the plan 
included an attack on New York, could send 
but few re-enforcements. Gen. Sullivan and 
Lord Stirling were made prisoners. Gen. 
Howe preferred regular approaches to a 
bloody assault, and on the 28th, under cover 
of a dense fog, the Americans retreated over 
the river to New York. In the battle 5,000 
Americans were beset by more than twice as 
many British. The loss of the former in all 
was nearly 2,000: the latter acknowledged 
380 killed and wounded. The Hessians, here 
first introduced on the field, plied the bayonet 
with sanguinary fury. 

LONGINUS, an eminent Greek philoso- 
pher and rhetorician, the teacher of Zenobia, 
put to death by the Roman emperor Aure- 
lian, A.D. 273. 

LORETTO. At this village, in Italy, there 
is shown the Casa Santa, or Holy House, in 
which it is pretended the Virgin Mary lived 
at Nazareth. According to the legend, it was 
carried by angels into Dalmatia from Galilee 
in 1291, and next brought here. The famous 
lady of Loretto stands upon an altar, holding 
the infant Jesus in her arms, and is surround- 
ed with gold lamps, whose glare conceals her 
face. She is clothed with a cloth of gold, set 
off with jewels, with which the child, though 
in a shirt, is covered also. Loretto was tajien 
by the French in 1796, and the holy image 



LOR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



497 



carried to France ; but it was brought back 
with pious pomp, and welcomed with the dis- 
charge of cannon and the ringing of bells, 
borne in procession to the holy house on a rich 
frame, resting on the shoulders of eight bish- 
ops, Jan. 5th, 1803. 

LOUDON, Gideon Ernest, an Austrian 
general, was born at Tootzen, in Livonia, in 
1716, of a family that originally came from 
Scotland. He displayed great talents in the 
seven years' war, and was made a major- 
general, and invested with the order of Maria 
Theresa. In 1757 he contributed to the 
victory of Hochkircheh, and afterward gained 
that of Kunersdorf. He next defeated the 
Prussians at Landshut, and made himself 
master of Glatz. On the conclusion of the 
peace, he was created a baron of the empire ; 
in 1766 nominated an aulic counselor; and 
in 1778 made field-marshal. He next com- 
manded against the Turks, and in 1789 took 
Belgrade. He died July 14th, 1790. His 
modesty was proverbial. The Duke of 
Aremberg, being once asked by the empress 
at a court party where Loudon was, an- 
swered: "There he is, as usual, behind the 
door, quite ashamed of possessing so much 
merit." 

LOUIS IX. of France, commonly called 
St. Louis, was the son of Louis VIIL, and was 
born in 1215. Being an infant at the time 
of his father's death, the regency was con- 
fided to Blanche of Castile, the queen-dow- 
ager. Scarcely had Louis attained the age 
of twenty-one years, and taken the reins of 
government into his own hands, when Henry 
III. of England demanded the provinces 
which Louis VIII. had promised to restore. 
A tender was made of Poitou, and part of 
Normandy ; but Henry was resolved to try 
the issue of a battle, and his army was de- 
feated on the banks of the Charente. In 
1248 Louis undertook a crusade to the holy 
land, and landed in Egypt. Damietta was 
abandoned by the Saracens on the approach 
of his troops, who advanced to Cairo, in full 
confidence of success. But famine, the 
sword, and disease so wasted his forces that 
he fell, with all his nobility, into the hands 
of the enemy. His ransom was the city of 
Damietta, and 400,000 francs. Louis re- 
mained five years in Palestine, repaired the 
fortifications of some cities, and ransomed 



32 



nearly twelve hundred prisoners ; but, on the 
news of his mother's death, he returned 
promptly to France, and employed himself 
in securing the enjoyment of peace and jus- 
tice. His piety caused him to build many 
churches and hospitals, and his subjects 
blessed a reign which appeared as peaceful 
as it was happy, when ill news from Palestine 
roused the enterprising spirit of the king, 
and another crusade was determined upon. 
He departed with his three sons, but instead 
of going directly to Palestine, landed at 
Tunis, and commenced the siege of that 
place. The heat of the climate and the 
plague thinned the ranks of the army ; Louis 
lost one of his sons, and died himself at the 
age of fifty-five years, after a reign of forty- 
four. He was placed among the saints by 
Pope Boniface VIII. 

LOUIS XI. of France, the son of Charles 
VII., was born in 1423. In 1440 he put 
himself at the head of a faction against the 
king his father, and when unsuccessful fled 
to the court of Burgundy. His father's 
death took place July 1st, 1461, and Louis 
was crowned August 15th. His arbitrary 
measures against the nobility engaged the 
principal persons of the kingdom in a com- 
pact to which they gave the name of League 
of the Public Good. The Duke of Berri, 
the king's brother, the Dukes of Bretagne 
and Bourbon, and the Count of Charolais, 
Charles the Bold, afterward Duke of Bur- 
gundy, were the chiefs of this party. The 
king, who marched to defend Paris, engaged 
them July 2d, 1465, without much advan- 
tage ; but he broke up the league by a peace 
concluded in October following, at Conflans, 
in which he agreed to give Normandy to 
his brother, and to cede some territories to 
Burgundy. Louis, however, did not keep 
his pledges ; his brother was soon poisoned, 
and it was thought that Louis was the author 
of the atrocious deed. Charles the Bold of 
Burgundy determined to revenge the death 
of his friend, but he fell, in the midst of bril- 
liant projects, in a battle with the Swiss. 
Louis passed his last years in the chateau 
of Plessis-les-Tours, a prey to the horrors of a 
guilty conscience, and died there in 1483. 
Atrocious executions, tyranny, and sinister 
intrigues had stained his reign: yet Pope 
Paul II. bestowed upon him the title of 



LOU 



498 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Most Christian King. In his last illness, it 
is chronicled, he drank the warm blood of 
infonts, in hope of restoring his wasted 
strength. His intrigues engendering a ne- 
cessit)^ for speedy intelligence, he established 
post-houses throughout France in 1470, the 
first institutions of the kind in Europe. 

LOUIS XII., born in 1462, the son of 
Charles, Duke of Orleans, and Mary of Cleves, 
succeeded to the throne of France in 1498. 
In early life his temper had been violent, but 
he bravely resolved that the King of France 
would not revenge the injuries of the Duke 
of Orleans. He attempted the conquest of 
Genoa, Naples, and Milan : the issue proved 
unfortunate. In his war against the Span- 
iards he was equally unsuccessful. His army 
won the field of Ravenna, but Gaston de 
Foix, his nephew and great general, was 
slain. When courtiers congratulated the 
king, he said, "I wish my enemies such tri- 
umphs." Henry VIII. of England, having 
waged a successful war on the French terri- 
tory, suddenly broke with his allies, and 
made peace with Louis. In the midst of his 
preparations to recover the loss he had sus- 
tained in Italy, Louis died in 1515. Louis 
married in 1473, Jeanne, daughter of Louis 
XI. He repudiated her upon his accession, 
in order to wed Anne of Bretagne, the widow 
of his predecessor, Charles VIII. The latter 
died in 1514, and he married some three 
months before his death, Mary, sister of 
Henry VIII. of England, afterward wife of 
the Duke of Suffolk, and grandmother of 
Lady Jane Grey. 

LOUIS XIIL, born in IGOl, succeeded his 
father, Henry IV., in 1610, the state being 
placed under the regency of his mother, 
Mary de Medicis. In 1611 Sully retired 
from the court, and was succeeded by an 
Italian, Concini, Marshal d'Ancre, who ob- 
tained an unlimited swaJ^ He supported 
"Mary de Medicis in all her prodigal meas- 
ures ; but his unpopular career was termin- 
ated by Louis through an assassin, and the 
queen-mother was exiled to Blois. Richelieu 
reconciled the queen and Louis, and in 1624 
was put at the head of the administration. 
He died in 1642, and his death was soon 
followed by that of Louis, who survived the 
cardinal only a few months. Louis married 
Anne of Austria in 1615. The louis-d'or 



(now called the napoleon) was first struck in 
his reign. 

LOUIS XIV., son of the preceding, born 
Sept. 5th, 1638, ascended the throne in 1643, 
under the regency of his mother, Anne of 
Austria, who chose Cardinal Mazarin as her 
minister. In the war against Spain and 
Austria, the Duke d'Enghien (after'ward so 
gloriously known as Conde) and Marshal 
Turenne were victorious in Germany and the 
Netherlands. By the peace of Westphalia, 
in 1648, France gained Alsace, and Sundgau, 
Brisach, and the right to garrison Phillips- 
burg. In the same year began the civil war 
of the Frondeurs, against Mazarin, who was 
relieved by the great Prince of Conde. In 
1650 Conde formed an independent party, 
but was arrested and imprisoned, and in 

1652 was defeated by the royalists, under 
Turenne, at the battle of St. Antoine. In 

1653 Conde joined the Spaniards, the war 
against whom was vigorously carried on by 
Turenne. By the peace of the Pyrenees, in 
1659, Louis gained Roussillon and Confians, 
a great acquisition of territory; and in 1660 
he received Maria Theresa, daughter of Philip 
IV., in marriage. In 1661 Mazarin died, and 
Louis took upon himself the affairs of gov- 
ernment, appointing Colbert his minister of 
finance, under whom the arts, commerce, and 
manufactures greatly flourished. On the 
death of Philip IV. of Spain, Louis began 
the career of those conquests which acquired 
him the title of Great. By virtue of his 
marriage with the infanta, he laid claim fo 
Cambresis, Franche-Comte, Luxemburg, and 
a great part of the Spanish Netherlands, and 
entered Flanders at the head of an army of 
35,000 men. However, the triple alliance of 
England, Sweden, and Holland compelled the 
French monarch to renounce all but Flan- 
ders, and to conclude the treaty of Aix-la- 
Chapelle, in 1668. Louvois now became 
minister of war; and in 1670 Louis effected 
the dissolution of the triple alliance; pen- 
sioned off the English king ; overran great 
part of Holland, and compelled the Elector 
of Brandenburg to conclude a treaty of neu- 
trality in 1673. In 1674 Louis, being aban- 
doned by his former allies, formed a league 
with Sweden, and resolved to humble the 
republic of Holland. He made a sham at- 
tack on Bommel by sea ; but the Prince of 



LOU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



499 



Conde being compelled to retreat with his 
army, the united provinces were lost to 
France. William of Orange was the great 
leader of the Dutch armies. 

In 1675 Turenne perished before Salzbach. 
At length, a treaty was signed at Nimeguen, 
in 1678, whereby all the provinces wrested 
from the Dutch were restored, and Louis 
gained Franche-Comte, Dunkirk, and part of 
Flanders. In 1681 the chambers of reunion 
were erected; and in 1684 Louis seized 
Strasburg, Luxemburg, and Deux-Ponts. In 
the same year Louis sent a fleet against 
Genoa; and in the following year he bom- 
barded Tripoli and Tunis. In 1685 he re- 
voked the edict of Nantes, and the Protest- 
ants were compelled to fly the kingdom for 
safety. In 1688 he took possession of Avig- 
non and the palatinate of the Rhine, which 
he devastated in the following year. When 
William of Orange became King of England, 
the fortune of Louis turned on the decline. 
Louvois died in 1691, and in 1692 the French 
fleet was destroyed by the British at La 
Hogue. The French were, however, victo- 
rious in Spain and the Netherlands, under 
Vendome and Luxemburg. 

In 1696 Louis concluded the peace of Turin 
with Savoy ; and in the following year the 
peace of Ryswick was concluded, whereby 
Louis restored his conquests made after the 
death of Charles II. of Spain. In 1700 the 
war of the Spanish succession commenced, 
when Louis declared for Philip of Anjou, his 
grandson, in opposition to Charles, Archduke 
of Austria, who was supported by the Euro- 
pean confederates. War was declared against 
France; the French were defeated at Blen- 
heim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, and Malplaquet, 
and Prince Eugene was everywhere triumph- 
ant. Louis sued for peace in vain, till a 
change in the English cabinet gave a new 
turn to the politics of Europe; and in 1713 
the peace of Utrecht was concluded, followed 
by that of Radstadt, between Marshal Villars 
and Prince Eugene, when Louis ceded his 
possessions in America to England, and his 
Italian dominions to Austria and Savoy. In 
1715 Louis died, in the seventy -second year 
)f his reign, at the age of seventy-seven. 

After the death of Maria Theresa, Louis 
irivately married Madame de Maintenon. The 
ibility of such statesmen as Colbert developed 



the resources of France, in this reign, but the 
long and costly wars had a terrible harvest of 
corruption and impoverishment. 

LOUIS XV., the son of the Duke of Bur- 
gundy and Maria Adelaide of Savoy, was only 
five years of age at the death of the preceding 
monarch, his great-grandfiUher, and was 
placed under the regency of the Duke of Or- 
leans. In 1726 the regency of Cardinal Fleury 
commenced, on whose death Louis took on 
himself the management of public affairs, and 
declared war against Germany and Hungary. 
After a life spent in the greatest voluptuous- 
ness, he died, an object of general odium, in 
1774 His queen was Maria Leczenski, daugh- 
ter of Stanislaus of Poland. 

LOUIS XYI. was the second son of the 
dauphin (son of Louis XV.) and Maria Jose- 
pha of Saxony, daughter of Frederick Augus- 
tus of Poland. He was born in 1754, and 
succeeded his grandfather. Amiable, but 
timid, he had to bear the brunt of the crimes 
of his ancestors, and was guillotined Jan. 21st, 
1793. [See France and Marie Antoinette.] 

LOUIS PHILIPPE, King of the French, 
was the eldest son of Philippe Joseph, Duke 
of Orleans, cousin of Louis XVI., and knoM-n 
to the world by the sobriquet of Philippe 
Egalite. His mother was Marie, daughter of 
the Duke of Penthievre, and he was born in 
Paris, Oct. 6th, 1773. His education was in- 
trusted to Madame de Genlis. In 1792, being 
then Due de Chartres, he was commander of 
a troop of dragoons under Kellermann, making 
his first campaign, and distinguishing himself 
against the Austrians at Valmy and Jem- 
mappes. In April, 1793, he was summoned 
with Gen. Dumouriez before the committee of 
public safety, which interfered with a scheme 
Dumouriez had nursed, for raising the young 
duke to the French throne. Both fled, and 
with difficulty escaped to Austria, whence the 
duke made his way in disguise to Switzerland, 
to join his sister and Madame de Genlis. The 
course of Egalite made his children hated by 
the French royalists. At Zurich, his daugh- 
ter, being recognized in the public square, 
was openly insulted by an emigrant, who 
rudely tore away a part of the poor girl's dress 
with his spur. Instead of granting protection, 
the authorities bade them move on. After 
more insults and sufferings, the ladies sought 
refuse, under assumed names, in a convent 



LOU 



500 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



near Bremgarten, and Louis Philippe became 
a solitary wanderer. After many straits of 
indigence, and some curious experiences for a 
future king, he obtained a professorship n the 
college at Reichenau. His pay was $258 a 
year, and he taught history, geography, math- 
ematics, and the English language. None 
but the director of the institution was aware 
of the teacher's rank. In this quiet retreat he 
received news of his father's death by the 
guillotine : he threw up his professorship, and 
retired to Bremgarten. He carried with him 
an honorable testimonial of the services he 
had rendered at the academy, and was justly 
proud of the document when he sat upon the 
throne of France, reputed the wisest monarch 
of his time. 

Melancholy, and weary of his fate, the exile 
pined to quit Europe, and in a new world "to 
forget the greatness and the sufferings which 
had been the companions of his youth." But 
he was literally without a farthing. A friend 
wrote on his behalf to Mr. Morris, who had 
been ambassador to France from the United 
States, had been acquainted with Egalite, and 
was then at Hamburg, about to return to 
his native country. Mr. Morris answered 
promptly and kindly, offering the prince a free 
passage to America, and his services after 
arrival there ; and he transmitted an order for 
£100 to defray the expenses of the journey to 
Hamburg. Louis Philippe accepted this 
friendship in the spirit in which it was offered. 

On the 10th of March, 1795, Louis Philippe 
left Bremgarten, and, traveling still incognito, 
reached Hamburg at the end of the month. 
He missed his kind friend, who was employed 
upon diplomatic Inisiness in Germany. Some 
months must go before Mr. Morris could return 
to Hamburg, and these the young adven- 
turer resolved to employ in exploring North- 
ern Europe, an undertaking beset with diffi- 
culties unknown to the tourist of to-day. 
From Denmark he crossed to Sweden, and 
thence passed into Norway, making excursions 
that were remembered long afterward, to the 
iron and copper mines of that country. The 
northwardjourney did not end even here : the 
traveler was not content until he had advanced 
some degrees beyond the arctic circle. Re- 
turning southward, he traversed on foot the 
desert which separates the Northei'n Ocean 
from the river Tornea. Fifteen days were 



occypied in the journey, during which no 
other nourishment than the milk and flesh of 
the reindeer could be procured. 

Upon his return from this expedition Louis 
Philippe received the gratifying intelligence 
that the French directory were prepared to 
grant liberty to his brothers, who had been 
kept close prisoners since their father's death, 
upon condition that the Duke of Orleans with 
them would consent to banishment from Eu- 
rope. The consent was given as soon as 
asked, and on the 24:th of October, 1796, 
Louis Philippe landed in Philadelphia. It 
was not until the 7th of February following 
that, after a cruel and protracted separation, 
the three brothers met in the same city. 
They soon heard, to their dismay, that their 
mother too had been expelled from her native 
land. Concluding that she would be sent to 
Cayenne, they determined to reach that colony 
before her, and were on their way, when they 
learned that Spain was her destination. This 
rendered necessary an alteration of their 
plans : they would go to Havana, and thence 
sail direct to Europe. Their route was to 
New Orleans by the Ohio and Mississippi. 
The winter had set in severely, and the dan- 
ger and difficulty of the expedition were fear- 
ful. On the Oliio the cold was so bitter that 
the cider and milk were congealed in the cabin 
of the boat, although it was heated by a large 
fire, and by the presence of seven or eight 
passengers. Four of the boatmen, disabled 
by cold and fatigue, gave way, and the piinces 
took their place. Where the Ohio falls into 
the Mississippi, matters were even worse ; for 
the travelers, having no boatmen with them 
who knew the river, were obliged, in spite of 
the cold, to keep watch themselves by day 
and night. For three hundred leagues, at 
one part of their course, they met with but 
three habitations. After many hardships, 
from which two of the three adventurers never 
thoroughly recovered. New Orleans waf 
reached at last, whence they embarked for 
Cuba on board an American vessel under a 
Spanish flag. The devoted young men 
reached Cuba, to be immediately expelled by 
the captain-general. Orders had been received 
to deny them hospitality. They proceeded to 
the Bahamas, thence to Halifax ; and by the 
kindness of the Duke of Kent (the father of 
Queen Victoria), then governor of Nova Scotia, 



LOU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



501 



they were enabled finally to set sail for Eng- 
land. They reached London on the 15th of 
February, 1800. 

Their destination, however, was Spain, not 
England. Obtaining a passage in a British 
frigate as far as Minorca, they sailed from that 
island in a Spanish ship to Barcelona. They 
were now within hail of that dear mother 
whom they had traveled so far to comfort with 
their presence. Nevertheless, they were not 
permitted to land at Barcelona ; and the poor 
woman was not even told that they had 
reached the harbor on their affectionate pil- 
grimage. The princes returned to England, 
and took up their abode on the banks of the 
Thames near Twickenham. Not to remain 
together long. The Due de Montpensier died 
of consumption in 1807, and was buried in 
Westminster Abbey. The funeral was scarce- 
ly over before the Comte de Beaujolais was 
attacked with the same disease, and ordered 
to a warmer climate. Louis Philippe accom- 
panied the invalid to Malta, and there buried 
him. There was only a sister left. 

After fifteen years' absence, brother and 
sister met again at Portsmouth. The meeting 
is described as most affecting. They vowed 
to each other never again to separate, and the 
vow' was sacredly kept. In company they 
went once more in search of their mother. 
"With diflBculty they managed to convey a 
letter to her, fixing a rendezvous at Minorca, 
and the Yth of September, 1809, they landed 
at that island to embrace at last the object of 
such long and anxious search. After a short 
sojourn in the island, the three set sail for 
Palermo, where, on the 25th of the following 
November, Louis Philippe married the daugh- 
ter of Ferdinand, King of Naples. In Sicil}^ 
tranquillity first dawned upon the agitated 
career of the Duke of Orleans. His mother, 
his sister, and his wife were at his side ; chil- 
dren were born to him ; public afijiirs ceased 
to harass or depress him; he sought, and 
found happiness at the family hearth, where 
Heaven provides it for all. In the midst of 
the profound calm thene fell a thunderbolt. 
Napoleon was beaten. Louis XVIII. was set 
upon the throne of France. Louis Philippe 
heard the news, and started for Paris that very 
moment. 

Marvelous vicissitudes of life ! The man 
who had been refused his bed of straw at a 



farm-house, reached the French metropolis, 
and hurried to the Palais Royal to set foot 
again in his magnificent ancestral home. His 
heart beating high, his soul pierced with a 
hundred conflicting sensations that expressed 
themselves in visible tears, the restored heir 
paced the well known galleries and visited 
the well remembered gardens. The doors of 
the grand staircase chanced to be opened. 
The visitor involuntarily entered, but was 
stopped by a porter wearing the imperial liv- 
ery, who said that strangers were not allowed 
in the private apartments. Louis Philippe, 
overcome with emotion, fell upon his knees, 
and in his bewilderment kissed the lowest step 
of the staircase. He was recognized and 
admitted. 

That dry stick ofBourbonism, Louis XVIII., 
was scarcely on the throne before schemes 
were on foot to overthrow the old dynastj^ 
and to place the Duke of Orleans at the head 
of a constitutional monarchy. Intriguers on 
every side were as busy as possible, when 
the astounding announcement was made that 
the lion chained at Elba had burst his bonds, 
and was advancing, with such strides as 
that lion alone could take, rapidly on Paris. 
Intrigues were postponed for the present. 
Louis XVIII. as quick as lightning was 
beyond the frontier. Louis Philippe, accom- 
panied by his family, was again at Twicken- 
ham. Waterloo put matters straight for the 
Bourbons, had the men been wise enough to 
keep them so. But they were both imbecile 
and infatuated. Louis XVIII. was much wor- 
ried by the popularity of the Duke of Orleans. 
" I perceive," said he, " that although Louis 
Philippe does not stir, he advances. How 
must I manage to prevent a man from walk- 
ing who appears as if he did not make a 
step ? " Charles X. was admirably adapted 
for completing the ruin of his own fortunes 
and those of all who belonged to him. Piev- 
olution became necessary again. France had 
another struggle for her rights. Fighting 
again took place in the streets of Paris, whilst 
Charles X. was playing a rubber of whist 
at St. Cloud, and Louis Philippe was ner- 
vously watching the issue of a more intricate 
game at the palace of Neuilly. The friends 
of a republic threatened to shoot all who 
should dare to speak of a monarchy. Odillon 
Barrot hit upon a happy sentence in reply : 



LOU 



502 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



" The Duke of Orleans is the best of repub- 
hcs." Louis Phihppe was created lieutenant- 
general of the kingdom, from which it was 
hardly a step to the throne ; and on the 9th 
of August, 1830, the great-grandson of the 
Regent grasped the sceptre which for two 
centuries the family of Orleans had vainly 
endeavored to clutch. 

In the presence of God, Louis Philippe, 
King of the French, swore to govern only 
by the laws, and " to cause good and exact 
justice to be administered to every one accord- 
ing to his right, and to act in everything with 
the sole view to the interest, the welfare, and 
the glory of the French people. It was a 
great oath, but such as might have been ex- 
pected from a king cradled in misfortune, and 
conscious of the crying necessities of the 
people who had freely elected him to be their 
chief Louis Philippe, no doubt, took it in 
sinceritj', and fell a sacrifice afterward to his 
great good fortune. He, too, gradually forgot 
the teachings of history. 

A sad event happened in 1842 : the Duke 
of Orleans, the heir to the throne, was thrown 
from his carriage, and killed, on the 13th of 
July. His sister, the Duchess of Wurtem- 
burg, who excelled in sculpture, had died 



Jan. 2d, 1839. The king was often near 
death : many attempts for his assassination 
were made. Oct. 10th, 1846, his son the 
Due de Montpensier married the infanta of 
Spain. On the last day but one of 1847, 
Madame Adelaide, whose counsel had often 
been serviceable to her royal brother, de- 
parted fi'om life. In February, 1848, the 
revolution broke out. On the 24th, Louis 
Philippe abdicated in favor of his infant 
grandson. The act was of no use. A repub- 
lic was proclaimed. The king shaved off his 
whiskers, put on green spectacles, called 
himself Smith, and escaped with his family 
to England. He took up his abode at Clare- 
mont, where he died Aug. 26th, 1850. 

LOUISBURG, formerly a considerable 
town and fortress of the island of Cape 
Breton. It was taken from the French by 
the English fleet under Sir Peter Warren, and 
the provincial forces commanded by Sir 
William Pepperrell, in the year 1745 ; but 
afterward was restored to France by the 
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748. It was 
again taken by the English, under the com- 
mand of Admiral Boscawen and General 
Amherst, in 1758, and its fortifications were 
afterward demolished. It is now deserted. 




LOUISIANA has an area of 41,346 square 
miles ; population in 1860, 708,002, of which 
831,726 were slaves and 18,647 free negroes. 
The surface is low, and in general level, with 
some hilly ranges of slight elevation in the 
western part, and numerous basins or^epres- 
sions of the soil. Extensive marshes line the 
southern coast. The Mississippi, as it nears 



the Gulf of Mexico, sends off numerous 
branches from its main channel, of which the 
Atchaflilaya, Iberville, and La Fourche are the 
most important, covering the country with a 
net-work of lakes and streams. The main 
channel debouches by a delta of six mouths, 
or passes. The waters of the mighty stream 
periodically overflow large alluvial tracts. 



LOU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



503 



Great dikes, or levees, are necessary to keep 
the Father of Waters in good behavior, and 
through these he often bursts deep breaches, 
or crevasses, as they are termed. The richest 
region is a strip each side of the Mississippi, 
extending from a hundred and fifty miles 
above New Orleans to forty miles below. 
Here great crops of sugar are raised. All 
the river bottoms have a fertile soil. The 
Red River pours its tribute to the great 
stream within the limits of Louisiana, but 
soon after leaving Arkansas, it enters a 
swampy tract, choked with numerous thickets 
and fallen timber, which is called the Raft. 
The water scatters in numerous channels 
and spreads over broad expanses. The Raft 
extends some seventy miles in length, and is 
an unfortunate barrier to navigation. At 
great expense the general government has 
made a passage for steamboats. The rivers 
of Louisiana often spread into broad sluggish 
lagoons, called bayous. The staples of the 
state are cotton and sugar. Large herds 
of cattle and horses are raised on the fine 
pastures of the western prairies. Rice, 
maize, and tobacco are grown. Large pine 
forests cover the sandy tracts in the north 
and west, yielding tar and pitch plentifully. 

The Mississippi River was discovered by 
land. For two centuries the Spanish marin- 
ers sailed in the Gulf of Mexico, unaware 
that one of the largest rivers in the world 
emptied its waters there. The French after 
their establishment in Canada, heard of it, 
and in 1663 reached its upper banks. Louis- 
iana was explored in 1682 by La Salle, a 
Frenchman, and its name was bestowed in 
compliment to Louis XIV., then seated on 
the throne of France. It was not until 1690 
that a regular settlement was commenced at 
Iberville, by M. de Iberville, who discovered 
the mouth of the great river. It passed into 
the hands of Spain, by treaty, in 1762, but 
was restored to France in 1800, and was pur- 
chased by the United States in 1803, for 
$15,000,000. The vast territory thus ac- 
quired includes Louisiana, Missouri, Iowa, 
Minnesota, Arkansas, and the country be- 
yond to the Rocky Mountains. Louisiana 
was admitted into the Union as an indepen- 
dent state in 1812. It had been organized 
in 1804 into the .territory of Orleans. The 
state seceded Jan. 25, 1861, the U. S. prop- 



erty within it having been seized a fortniglit 
before. It experienced much of the severi- 
ties of war, and much actual fighting. The 
most remarkable of the combats within its 
border was the tremendous naval combat of 
April 22, when Farragut with his fleet, after 
bombarding the forts below New Orleans for 
four days, broke the rebel boom, passed the 
»forts amid a terrific fire, and enabled the 
Union forces to occupy the city without re- 
sistance. Owing to this occupation, the form 
of establishing a legal government wa-s early 
gone through with. 

The legislative power is vested in a general 
assembly, meeting biennially, on odd years. 
The governor is elected by the people for four 
years, and ineligible for four years after his 
term. Dueling disfranchises. A supreme 
court of five judges (chosen by the people 
for ten years) has appellate jurisdiction. 
The judges and officers of inferior courts are 
elected by the people. The constitution 
directs the election of a superintendent of 
education once in two years, and the estab- 
lishment of free public schools, but the edu- 
cational system needs improvement. The 
state maintains an asylum for the deaf, duml), 
and blind, at Baton Rouge, in which all such 
unfortunates in Lousiana can be educated 
without charge for board or tuition. When 

Baton Rouge, a pretty town with many 
old houses in the French or Spanish style, on 
the east bank of the Mississippi, above New 
Orleans, is the capital. The United States 
army has barracks here. Population, in 
1853, 4,500. New Orleans, the great com- 
mercial city of the South-west, is situated on 
the Mississippi, about one hundred miles 
from its mouth, following the course of the 
stream. It contained in 1860, 168,675 in- 
habitants. A large part of the population 
are French and Spaniards, and the dwellings 
and manners of the inhabitants are more 
European than American. It is built on 
ground lower than the surface of the river 
when full, and an embankment, called the 
levee, protects the city from inundation. 
The yellow fever periodically visits New 
Orleans and commits great ravages. A bend 
in the river gives the city that form which 
has won it the name of the Crescent City. 
The city was founded in 1717, and named in 
honor of the Duke of Orleans who was're- 



LOU 



504 



COTTAOr CYCLOPEDIA OF 



gent of France during the minority of Louis 
XV. By an extraordinary rise of the Mis- 
sissippi, a year or two later, the spot on 
which several buildings had been erected 
was overflowed, and was for a time aban- 
doned. In 1722 the settlement was again 
commenced, with a view of making it the 
chief town of the province. The next year, 
when Charlevoix arrived from Canada by 
way of the river, the place contained about 
one hundred cabins, without much order, 
two or three better dwellings, a miserable 
storehouse occupied as a chapel, a shed being 
converted into a house of prayer, one large 
wooden warehouse, and a population of about 
two hundred. Soon after this, an accession 
was made to the population by the arrival 
of a company of Germans, whose descend- 
ants still remain, occupying what is called 
the German Coast. In 1V27 the Jesuits and 
Ursuline nuns arrived, and were accommo- 
dated on a tract of land in the lowest part 
of the Faubourg St. Mary. In 1763 the 
Jesuits, being expelled from the dominions 
of France, Spain, and Naples, were obliged 
to leave Louisiana. Their property in New 
Orleans then seized and sold for $180,000, 
is worth at this day some $15,000,000. In 
1764 British vessels began to visit New Or- 
leans, and to trade w-ith the inhabitants. The 
exports during the last year of its subjection 
to France amounted to $2.50,000; and the 
population was 3,190. In 1769 it was occu- 
pied by the Spaniards. The commerce suf- 
fered at first by the restrictions of the 
Spanish; but shortly afterward, through a 
more liberal policy, revived again. In 1785 
the population of the city proper was 4,980. 
In 1788 a great fire consumed 900 houses. 
In 1791 academies and schools began to be 
opened b}'' some of the immigrants, the edu- 
cation of the young having previously been 
in the hands of the priests and nuns. In 
1792 Baron Carondolet arrived, w^ho divided 
the city into four wards, and recommenced 
lighting it and employing watchmen. He 
erected new fortifications, and organized the 
militia. In 1794 the first newspaper was 
published here. When it became a posses- 
sion of the United States, the population of 
New Orleans did not much exceed 8,000; 
and its revenues were less than $20,000. In 



1804 it was made a port of entry and deliv- 
ery ; and in 1805 it received a charter of 
incorporation as a city. January 10th, 1812, 
the first steamboat arrived from Pittsburg. 
[See New Orleans, Battle of.] 

LOYOLA, Ignatius (Don Inigo Lopez de 
Recalde), the founder of the Jesuits, was 
born in 1491, the son of a Biscayan gentle- 
man, and in early life was a page in the court 
of Ferdinand and Isabella. A wound at Pam- 
peluna entailedlong confinement, from which 
he emerged a religious enthusiast; so that 
he renounced the world, and begged his way 
to Palestine. After his return his strange- 
ness of manner and speech brought him 
under the ban of the Spanish inquisition, and 
he repaired to Paris, in 1528. There Fran- 
cis Xavier became his disciple. Loyola con- 
ceived the plan of the society of Jesuits. Its 
history we have already given. [See Jesu- 
its.] He was its general till his death, July 
31st, 1 556. Loyola and Luther were contem- 
poraries, the one laboring to exalt the 
hicr.irchy which the other was pulling down. 

LUCAN, a Latin epic poet, born at Cor- 
duba (Cordova) in Spain, a.d. 37, was put to 
death by Nero in the year 64. He was a 
nephew of Seneca. 

LUCCA, a small duchy of Italy, originally 
a colony of the Romans. Its area is only 
512 square miles, but it supports a popula- 
tion of 261,000. The city of Lucca has 
24,000 inhabitants. In the middle ages 
Lucca was a republic. It is now a province 
of Tuscany. 

LUCRETIA, a noble Roman matron, the 
wife of Collatinus, who lived in the reign of 
Tarquin the Proud. "While other ladies were 
engaged in frivolous amusements, she was 
found at work in the midst of her handmaid- 
ens. Sextus, the son of Tarquin, inflamed 
by her extreme beauty with a base passion, 
gained entrance to her apartment at mid- 
night, during the absence of her husband, 
and dishonored her. Lucretia, unable to 
survive her shame, killed herself Brutus 
(her kinsman) had the body conveyed to the 
forum, and delivered so moving and inspir- 
ing an address, that the populace rose against 
their oppressors, and the regal dignity was 
abolished in Rome, B.C. 510. Brutus and 
CoUatiims were the first consuls. 



LUC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



505 



LUCRETIUS, a Latin poet and philoso- 
pher, born at Rome, b.c. 95, died by his own 
hand 52, aged forty-three. 

LUCULLUS, Lucius Licinius, a great 
Roman general, born about b.c. 115, distin- 
guished himself in the war against Mithri- 
dates till supplanted by Pompey, B.C. 66. 
The luxury and elegance of his life in retire- 
ment have made his name a by- word. "When 
Cicero and Pompey thought to surprise him, 
he ordered his attendants to serve a slight 
refection in the hall of Apollo : the sumptu- 
ous banquet would have sufficed for three 
hundred patricians. 

LUNDY'S LANE. This obstinate conflict 
(known also as the battle of Bridgewater) 
was fought in Canada, near the Mis of Niag- 
ara, between the Americans and British, July 
25th, 1814, the former gaining a gallant vic- 
tory. The contest was prolonged by moon- 
light, and it was not till midnight that the 
British yielded the field. Generals Brown 
and Scott of our army, and the British gener- 
als Drummond and Riall, were severely 
wounded. The loss in killed and wounded 
was about 900 on each side. 

LUNEVILLE, an open city of Lorraine, 
department of Meurthe, containing 12,500 
inhabitants. A treaty between Austria and 
the French republic, was concluded here, 
Feb. 9th, 1801, confirming the cessions of 
Campo Formio, and making the Rhine to the 
Dutch territories the boundary of France. 

LUTHER, Martin, was born Nov. 10th, 
1483, at Eisleben, in Lower Saxony, the son 
of a poor miner. Martin, after receiving an 
excellent education, became an Augustine 
monk. In 1508 he became lecturer in phi 
losophy at Wittemberg, and, while thus em- 
ployed, received orders from his superiors to 
go to Rome, where he had ample opportunity 
of observing the corruptions of popery. In 
1517 Leo X. published indulgences to 
enable him to complete the building of St. 
Peter's, which measure proved the cause of 
an incurable breach in the Roman church. 
Tetzel, the Dominican, who had the sale of 
these pardons in Germany, behaved so scan- 
dalously that Luther published a thesis in 
which he denied the validity of papal indul- 
gences. Tetzel, who was then at Frankfort, 
caused Luther's thesis to be burnt, and 
published another in answer to it, which 



roused the indignation of the students of 
Wittemberg to such a degree that they burnt 
his thesis in return. Luther, in the midst 
of these proceedings, wrote to the pope in 
terms of respect, and though he did not re- 
tract his positions, he expressed his readi- 
ness to submit to authority. Meantime, the 
contention became fiercer between the cham- 
pions for indulgences, and their opponents. 
The pope aggravated the matter by citing Lu- 
ther to appear at Rome ; but the latter wisely 
declined putting himself in a place where 
destruction was certain. He had now se- 
cured the protection of the Elector of Saxony, 
who, instead of giving him up, demanded 
that the cause should be heard in Germany. 
With this the pope complied, and Cajetan 
was sent to Augsburg, whither Luther re- 
paired ; but after two conferences, he left the 
place, from an apprehension of a design upon 
his life. In 1519 a conference was held at 
Leipsic, between Luther and Eck, professor 
of divinity at Ingolstadt, which ended 
without bringing the parties nearer to each 
other. 

The pope, on his side, became exasperated, 
and issued his bull of excommunication 
against the reformer, who caused it to be 
publicly burnt in the presence of the whole 
university of Wittemberg. On his way home 
from the diet of Worms, in 1521, he was 
carried off by a party of horsemen to one 
of the castles belonging to his friend the 
elector, who adopted this method to secure 
him from his enemies. In this Patmos, as 
he called it, Luther remained ten months, 
and then returned to Wittemberg, where he 
published a sharp reply to Henry VIII. of 
England, who had written a book against 
him on the seven sacraments. In 1529 the 
emperor assembled a diet at Spires, to check 
the progress of the new opinions ; and here 
it was that the name of Protestants first 
arose, from the protest made by the electoral 
princes who were in favor of the reformation, 
against the rigorous measures which were 
proposed in this assembly. In 1534 Luther's 
translation of the whole Bible was published ; 
and the same year he printed a book against 
the service of the mass. At length, worn 
out more by labor than age, this illustrious 
man died at his native place, February 18th, 
1546, and his remains were solemnly interred 



LUT 



506 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



in the cathedral of Witteiubcrg. A little 
before he expired, he thncc repeated, "Into 
thy hands 1 commit my spirit. God of truth, 
thou hast redeemed me." 

LUTZEN, a small town of Prussian 
Saxony, in the government of Merseburg, 
the neighborhood of which is famous for two 
bloody battles. The first was fought Nov. 
0th, 1G32, in which the Austrians were de- 
feated by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, 
who was himself killed in the action. This 
is also called the battle of Lippstadt. In the 
second, fought May 2d, 1813, the French, 
under Bonaparte, defeated the combined 
forces of Prussia and Russia, commanded by 
Gen. Wittgenstein. 

LUXEMBURG, capital of the Dutch prov- 
ince of the same name, and now one of the 
strongest fortresses in the world, was besieged, 
in 17t)4, by the victorious armies of France, 
and capitulated on the 17th of June, 1795. 

LUXURY. The instances of extravagance 
and luxury are numerous in the history of 
almost all countries, ancient and modern, and 
many laws have been enforced to repress them. 
Horace mentions fowls dressed in Falernian 
wine, mussels and oysters from the Lucrine 
lake and Circean promontory, and black game 
from the Umbrian forests. Lucullus, at 
Rome, was distinguished for the immoderate 
expenses of his meals. His halls were named 
from the different gods ; and when Cicero and 
Pompey attempted to surprise him, they were 
amazed by the costliness of a supper which 
had been prepared upon the word of Lucullus, 
who merely ordered his attendants to serve it 
in the hall of Apollo: this feast for three per- 
sons casually met, would have sufficed for 
three hundred nobles specially invited. In 
England, luxury was restricted by a law 
wherein the prelates and nobility were con- 
fined to two courses every meal, and two 
kinds of food in every course, except on great 
festivals. The law also prohibited all who 
did not enjoy a free estate of £100 a year from 
wearing furs, skins, or silk ; and the use of 
foreign cloth was confined to the royal family 
alone; to all others it was prohibited, a.d. 
1337. An edict was issued by Charles VI. of 
France, which said, "Let no man presume to 
treat with more than a soup and two dishes," 
1340. 

LYCEUM. The Lyceum took its name 



from its having been originally a temple of 
Apollo Ly ecus; or rather, a portico, or gal- 
lery, built by Lj-ccus, son of Apollo. The 
Lyceum was a celebrated spot near the banks 
of the Ilissus, in Attica, where Aristotle 
taught philosophy ; and as he generally taught 
his pupils while he walked, they were hence 
called pe7'i2}atetics, walkers about, and his 
philosophy was called from this place the 
philosoph)^ of the Lyceum, 342 B.C. 

LYCURGUS, a celebrated lawgiver of 
Sparta, the son of King Eunomus, and 
brother to Polydectes, was born 926 B.C. 
lie traveled with the spirit of a philosopher, 
and visited Asia and Egypt without suficring 
himself to be corrupted by the licentiousness 
and luxury which prevailed there. He re- 
turned home at the earnest solicitations 
of his countrymen. The disorders which 
reigned at Sparta induced him to reform the 
government. This happened 884 years be- 
fore the Christian era. Lycurgus established 
a senate, composed of twenty-eight senators, 
whose authority was designed to preserve 
the tranquillity of the state, and maintain a 
due and just equilibrium between the kings 
and the people, by watching over the en- 
croachments of the former, and checking the 
seditious convulsions of the latter. All dis- 
tinctions of rank were destroyed, and by 
making an equal and impartial division of 
the land among the members of the common- 
wealth, Lycurgus banished luxury, and en- 
couraged the useful arts. The use of gold 
or silver was totally forbidden, and the intro- 
duction of heavy brass and iron coin brought 
no temptations to the dishonest, and left 
every individual in possession of his effects 
without any fear of robbery or violence. All 
the citizens dined in common, and no one 
had greater claims to indulgence and luxury 
than another. The intercourse of Sparta 
with other nations was forbidden, and few 
were permitted to travel. The youths were 
intrusted to the public master, as soon as 
they had attained their seventh year, and 
their education was left to the wisdom of the 
laws. They were taught early to think, to 
answer in a laconic manner, to attempt to 
excel in repartee. They were encouraged to 
steal, to make them vigilant and self-reliant, 
and only punished for being discovered. 
Thus we are told that a youth, who earned 



LYC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



Vol 



off a fox beneath his cloak, permitted the 
animal to gnaw into his vitals, rather than 
disclose his theft by dropping the prize. 
These laws gave rise to a race of warriors 
distinguished for their intrepidity, fortitude, 
and independence. 

After promulgating his code, Lycurgus re- 
tired from Sparta to Delphi, or, according to 
others, to Crete; and, before his departure, 
he bound all the citizens of Laceda3mon b}' a 
solemn oath, that neither they nor their pos- 
terity would alter, violate, or abolish the laws 
which he had established, before his return. 
He soon after died, having ordered his ashes to 
be thrown into the sea, fearful lest, if they 
were carried to Sparta, the citizens would 
consider themselves freed from the oath which 
they had taken, and empowered to make a 
revolution. The wisdom and the good effect 
of the laws of Lycurgus were well demonstra- 
ted at Sparta, where, for four hundred 3-ears 
they remained in full force, but the legislator 
has been censured as cruel and impolitic. 
Lycurgus has been compared with Solon, the 
celebrated legislator of Athens, and it has been 
judiciously observed, that the former gave to 
his citizens morals conformable to the laws 
which he had established, and that the latter 
gave to the Athenians laws which coincided 
with their customs and manners. The ofSce 
of Lycurgus demanded resolution, and he 
showed himself inexorable and severe. In 
Solon, artifice was requisite, and he showed 
himself mild and even indulgent. The mod- 
eration of Lycurgus is highly commendable ; 
particularly when we recollect that he treated 
with the greatest humanity and confidence 
Alcander, a youth who had put out one of his 
eyes in a seditious tumult. The laws of Ly- 
curgus were abrogated b.c. 188. 

LYDIA, anciently Masonia, a celebrated 
kingdom of Asia Minor, whose boundaries 
were different at different times. It received 
the name of Lydia from Lydus, one of its 
kings. It was governed by monarchs, who, 
after the fabulous ages, reigned 249 years, in 
the following order : Ardysus began to reign 
797 B.C.; Alyattes, 761; Meles, 747; Can- 
daules, 735; Gyges, 718; Ardysus. IL, 680; 
Sadyattes, 631; Alyattes II., 619, and Croe- 
sus, 562, who was conquered by Cyrus B.C. 
548, when the kingdom became a province of 
the Persian empire. Three different races 

Vi 



reigned in Lydia, the Atyadte, the Heraclidaj, 
and the Mermnadge. The history of the first 
is obscure and fabulous; the Heraclidte began 
to reign about the time of the Trojan war, 
and the crown remained in their family for 
about five hundred years, and was always 
transmitted from father to son. Caudaules 
was the last of the Heraclidas; and Gyges the 
first and Croesus the last of the Mermnadfe. 
The Lydians were great warriors in the reign 
of the Mermnadas. They invented the art of 
coining gold and silver, and were the first 
who exhibited pubHc sports, &c. Lydia re- 
mained a part of the eastern Roman empire 
until 1326, when it was conquered by the 
Turks. 

LYMAN, PiiiNEHAS, born at Durham, Ct., 
about 1716, graduated at Yale College in 1738. 
He was afterward a tutor in this institution, 
studied law, settled in Suffield, and practiced 
with success. After serving as a member of 
the assembly of Connecticut, he was elected 
to the council, and, in 1755, appointed major- 
general and commander-in-chief of the Con- 
necticut forces. In the battle of Lake George 
the command devolved upon him, and he also 
commanded the American forces in the expe- 
dition to Havana. After spending some ja'ars 
in England, he returned to America, and em- 
barked for the Mississippi, where a grant of 
land had been given him in the vicinity of 
Natchez. He was followed by his family, but 
died in 1774, before their arrival. 

LYNCH LAW. There are various accounts 
of the origin of this designation for summary 
vengeance upon criminals in cases where the 
law is considered too slow or too uncertain. 
According to one, it took its name from the 
stern act of one James Lynch Fitz Stephen, 
a merchant of the Irish town of Galway, and 
in 1526 its mayor or warden. The son of this 
Lynch Fitz Stephen, having committed a foul 
murder, his father, exercising his authority as 
magistrate, had him arrested and brought for 
trial before himself The son was convicted, 
and the father not only sentenced him to suf- 
fer the extreme penalty of the law, but fearing 
a rescue from the prison, caused him to be 
brought home and to be hanged before his 
own door. For this harsh act Lynch has 
sometime^ been termed the Irish Brutus. The 
incident was commemorated by a skull and 
crossbones sculptured over the door before 
N 



508 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



which the son was hanged. Another version 
of the story says that when the pitiless father 
could not find any person willing to act as 
hangman, he himself went to the place of his 
son's confinement, with his own hands tied 
the cord about his neck, and swung him off 
into the dread hereafter. The father after- 
ward bitterly repented this deed. 

The American system of Lynch Law began 
in what is now known as the Piedmont coun- 
try of Virginia, which was at the time the 
western frontier. Having no law of its own, 
and being several miles from the nearest court 
of criminal jurisdiction, controversies were 
constantly referred to men of sound judgment 
and impartiality in the district, whose deci- 
sions were regarded as final. Prominent 
among these umpires was a man whose awards 
were so just, sound, and unbiased that he was 
known as Judge Lynch throughout the coun- 
try. In the course of time criminals were 
brought before him, and he dealt such pun- 
ishment as he considered due. There were 
other persons, in different districts, who acted 
as arbitrators and who awarded punishments ; 
but Judge Lynch was the most conspicuous, 
and consequently the system took his name, 
and was called Lynch Law. This was a com- 
pliment to his integrity and high character. 
But of late years the term has been regarded 
as a reproach, because violent and unprinci- 
pled men — such men as Lynch was wont to 
punish— have set the laws at defiance, and 
while inflamed with passion, or maddened by 
a thirst for revenge, have usurped the prerog- 
atives of the courtfj of justice. 

LYNCH, Thomas, Jr., one of the signers of 
the Declaration of Independence, was born in 
St. George's, S. C, Aug. 5th, 1749, and edu- 
cated in England, studying law in London. 
In 1775 he joined the Revolutionary army, 
but a severe sickness compelled him to relin- 
quish his plan of serving his country in the 
field. He was elected to Congress, and signed 
the Declai-ation of Independence, but his 
health failing, he was advised to go to St. 
Eustatia, and embarked with his wife in De- 
cember, 1779, after which date the vessel was 
not heard of 

LYSANDER, a great Spartan general, in 

LI 



the last years of the Peloponnesian war. He 
drew Ephesus from the interest of Athens, 
and gained the friendship of Cyrus the 
Younger. He gave battle to the Athenian 
fleet, consisting of 120 ships, at ^gos Pota- 
mos, and destroj-ed it all, excepting three 
ships, with which the enemy's general fled to 
Cyprus. In this celebrated battle, which 
happened 407 B.C., the Athenians lost 3,000 
men, and with them their empire and influ- 
ence among the neighboring states. L3^san- 
der well knew how to take advantage of his 
victory, and the following year Athens, worn 
out by a long war of twenty-seven years, and 
discouraged by its misfortunes, gave itself up 
to the power of the enemy, and consented to 
destroy the Pira3us, to give up all its ships 
except twelve, to recall all who had been ban- 
ished, and, in short, to submit in everything 
to the power of Lacedajmon. Besides these 
humiliating conditions, the government of 
Athens was totally changed, and thirty ty- 
rants were set over it by Lysander. This 
glorious success, and the honor of having put 
an end to the Peloponnesian war, increased 
the pride of Lysander. He had already begun 
to pave his way to universal power, by estab- 
lishing aristocracy in the Grecian cities of 
Asia, and now he attempted to make the crown 
of Sparta elective. The sudden declaration of 
war against the Thebans saved him from the 
accusations of his adversaries, and he was 
sent, together with Pausanias, against the 
enemj'. He was defeated and killed, 394 
B.C., in the Boeotian war. 

LYSIMACHUS, a son of Agathocles, who 
was among the generals of Alexander. He 
sided with Cassander and Seleucus against 
Antigonus and Demetrius, and fought with 
them at the celebrated battle of Ipsus. He 
afterward seized Macedonia, after expelling 
Pyrrhus from the throne, B.C. 286, but his 
cruelty rendered him odious, and the murder 
of his son Agathocles so offended his subjects 
that the most opulent and powerful revolted 
from him and abandoned the kingdom. He 
pursued them to Asia, and declared war 
against Seleucus, who had given them a kind 
reception. He was killed in a bloody battle, 
281 B.C., in the eightieth year of his age. 
^S 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



509 



M. 



MACARTNEY, George, Earl, celebrated 
in diplomatic history, principally for his em- 
bassy to China in 1793, died in 1806, aged 
sixtj^-nine. 

MACBETH, an usurper and tyrant who 
filled the Scottish throne during a part of the 
eleventh century. He murdered his kinsman 
and king, Duncan, 1040, and was slain in 
battle by Macduff, at Dunsinane in 1057. 
Shakspeare's " Macbeth " is one of the most 
powerfully drawn of his tragedies. 

MACDONALD, Stephen James Joseph 
Alexander, was descended from a Scotch 
family that fled to France in the time of the 
rebellion. He was one of Napoleon's noblest 
generals, and reached the rank of Duke of 
Tarentum and marshal of the empire. He 
died in 1840, at the age of seventy-five. 

MACDONOUGH, Thomas, born in Dela- 
ware, December, 1783, gained a brilliant vic- 
tory over the British fleet on Lake Champlain, 
Sept. 11th, 1814. Commodore Macdonough, 
on his return from commanding the Mediter- 
ranean squadron, died of consumption, Nov. 
10th, 1825. 

MACEDONIA, an ancient kingdom of Eu- 
rope, founded by Caranus and Perdiccas, b.c. 
800. It first became powerful under Philip 
and his son Alexander the Great (360-323 
B.C.), the last of whom gave it new splendor, 
subdued the neighboring states, destroyed the 
liberties of Greece, and conquered the Persian 
empire. Macedonia continued in the family 
of Alexander, or of his generals, until 168 b.c, 
when by the defeat of Perseus it became a 
Roman province. It continued to belong to 
the Eastern empire until 1393, when the Turks 
under Bajazet IV. invaded the country, which 
was finally conquered by them in 1429. 

MACHIAVELLI, Nicolo, was born of a 
noble family of Florence, in 1469. His first 
eftbrts produced a comedy called Mandragora, 
which proved «o popular, on account of its 
satire, at Florence, that Leo X. sent for the 
actors to exhibit it to a Roman audience. 
Machiavelli acquired, however, greater fame 
by his political writings. By the influence of 
the Medicis, and as a recompense for the suf- 
fering he had endured on the rack on suspi- 



cion of a conspiracy with the Soderini against 
Julius, afterward Clement VII., he was made 
secretary and historiographer to the republic 
of Florence. He died in 1527, of a medicine 
which he had taken. 

MACKINTOSH, Sir James, was born Oc- 
tober 24th, 1765, at Alldowrie in the county 
of Inverness, Scotland, and was educated at 
King's College, Aberdeen, where he had for 
a fellow-student the celebrated Robert Hall. 
He shone as a philosophical historian, critic, 
and politician. He died in London, rather 
suddenly. May 30th, 1832. 

MACKLIN, Charles, an eminent actor, 
born in Ireland 1690, continued on the stage 
until 1789 ! Shylock was his greatest tri- 
umph. He died at the age of a hundred and 
seven. 

MACOMB, Alexander, was born at Detroit 
in 1782. He commanded the army which co- 
operated with Macdonough's squadron on 
Lake Champlain, in 1814, and won the day at 
Plattsburg. In 1835 he Decame commander- 
in-chief. He died in 18*1. 

MACPHERSON, James, a Scottish writer, 
was born in 1738. His fame rests upon his 
translation from the Gaelic of the poems of 
Ossian, the authenticity of which, denied by 
many writers, was partially allowed after a 
severe literary investigation. The question 
gave rise to warm dispute between Macpher- 
son and Dr. Johnson. Macpherson died in 
1796. 

MADAGASCAR, a large island of Africa, 
960 miles long, and from 200 to 500 broad ; 
population, 4,500,000. It is extremely fertile. 
It was first visited by the Portuguese in the 
beginning of the sixteenth century. It is sit- 
uated in the Indian Ocean, near the southern 
part of Africa, from which it is separated hj 
the Mozambique Channel. Madagascar yields, 
in plenty, wheat, tobacco, rice, sugar, grapes, 
honey, and excellent fruits. Almost all the 
European animals are kept in abundance. 
The forests are composed of a prodigious 
variety of trees, and furnish vast quantities 
of ornamental M'ood. The island is divided 
among many petty kings or chiefs, but most 
of them have been subjugated by the Ovahs, 



MAD 



no 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



=iy 







MONTPELIER, MADISON S RESIDENCE. 



The religion is Mohammedan, mingled with 
idolatry and Judaism. The climate is very 
hot, but the air is, in most parts of the coun- 
try, healthful. The French have several times 
attempted to form settlements, but in general 
unsuccessfully. 

MADEIRA, an island off the western coast 
of Africa, belongs to Portugal; population, 
100,000. It is situated between the straits of 
Gibraltar and the Canaries, is fifteen leagues 
long, and sixty in circumference. It was dis- 
covered by Zarco, a Portuguese, in 1419. It 
has been celebrated for its excellent wines. 
Funchal is the capital. Sugar was formerly 
grown, but gave way to wine, which now 
seems to be yielding to coffee. 

MADISON, James, the fourth president of 
the United States, was born in Orange county, 
Va., March 16th, 1751. His ancestors were 
from Wales, and among the early emigrants 
to Virginia. James received a thorough pre- 
paratory education, and graduated at Prince- 
ton, N. J., in 1771, remaining afterward 
another year at college, and continuing his 
studies under Dr. Witherspoon, the president. 
His close application impaired his constitu- 
tion, and for many years his health was feeble. 



He commenced the practice of law in Vir- 
ginia, but the stirring exigency of the Revo- 
lution called him early into public life. He 
was elected a member of the general assem- 
bly of Virginia in 1776, and in the winter 
of 1779-80 was chosen a delegate to the con- 
tinental congress, of which body he continued 
an active and prominent member till 1784. 
He was a distinguished member of the con- 
vention which framed the federal constitution, 
m whose debates he took a leading part, and 
his views were the basis of the instrument 
that was draughted. Mr. Madison repre- 
sented Virginia in the lower branch of the first 
federal congress, and bore an active part in 
the adoption of measures for the organization 
of the government. He continued a repre- 
sentative till 1797, opposing the measures of 
those afterward known as Federalists, and in 
his views of national policy coinciding with 
Jefferson, with whom through life he was 
connected in warm personal friendship. Dur- 
ing the eight years of Jefferson's administra- 
tion, Madison was secretary of state, and he 
succeeded his friend as president in 1809. 
He filled the executive chair eight years, 
during which (1812-1814) our countiy was 



MAD 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



511 



engaged in war \yith Great Bi-itain. In the 
latter year the British took Washington, and 
President Madison, with some other principal 
ofHcers of the government, barely escaped 
capture by a hurried flight. The close of 
Madison's administration was pr®sperous and 
tranquil. Upon the accession of Mr. Monroe 
to the presidency, Mr. Madison retired from 
public life to his seat at Montpelier in Orange 
county, Virginia, where he passed the re- 
mainder of his days. He died June 28th, 
183G, at the ripe age of eighty -five. He was 
an able debater, and unexcelled as a political 
writer. He survived all other signers of the 
constitution, and the pari he bore in framing 
that instrument, and his subsequent advo- 
cacy of it, obtained for him the title of Father 
of the Constitution. 

In his forty-third year, 1704, Mr, Madison 
wedded Mrs. Dolly Paine Todd, of Philadel- 
phia, the daughter of a Virginian Quaker, and 
the widow of a Pennsylvanian lawyer who 
had died in less than three years after her 
first marriage. No children were born to 
Mr. Madison. His wife was twenty years 
his junior, and she survived him many years. 

M^CENAS, Caius Cilnius, the intimate 
friend and counselor of Augustus, and so 
great a patron of men of letters, that it has 
been customary to style every minister of 
a sovereign prince imitating his ''xample, 
the Mi^cenas of the age or country in which 
he lived. According to Horace, he was de- 
scended from the kings of Etruria. Augus- 
tus, one day, being on the tribunal, passing 
sentence of death on several persons, Maece- 
nas sent him a paper with this inscription, 
" Come down, butcher ! " which struck the 
emperor so forcibly that he immediately de- 
scended from his seat. Maecenas was the 
patron of Virgil and Horace, who immortalized 
him in their works. He distinguished himself 
also in the field, particularly at the battles of 
Modena and Philippi. "When Augustus and 
Agrippa went to Sicily, Maecenas assumed 
the administration of the government, though 
he was not ambitious of power. He died 8 
B.C. In private life his character was stained 
by a devotion to sensual pleasures. The 
dedication of books was first introduced in 
his time. 

MAGALHAENS, or Magellan, Fernando 
DE, a Portuguese navigator, who, having 



served under Albuquerque, obtained the 
command of a fleet from the Emperor Charles 
v., and discovered the straits at the extrem- 
ity of South America which bear his name. 
He took possession of the Philippine Islands, 
where he was slain in a skirmish with the 
natives in 1521. His companions completed 
the circumnavigation of the globe, which had 
been Magalhaens' bold design. It was the 
first ever performed. 

MAGNA CHARTA (the Great Charter), 
the charter extorted from King John by the 
English barons at Runnyniede, June 15th, 
Ik, 15, which laid the foundation of the public 
rights of the people of England. 

MAHOMET, or, according to the orthog- 
raphy and pronunciation of the orientals, 
Mohammed (the Glorified), surnamed Aboul 
Cassem, the founder of the Arabic empire, 
and of the religion to which he gave his name, 
was born at Mecca, the 10th of November, 
A.D. 570, according to the most probable 
opinion. He was of the tribe of the Koreish- 
ites, the noblest and the most powerful of the 
country. He lost his father before he was 
two j^ears old, and his mother before he •was 
eight; but their affectionate attention was 
supplied by the care of his uncle, Abu Taleb, 
a merchant. In the family of this friendly 
protector, he was employed to travel with 
his camels between Mecca and Syria, till his 
twenty-fifth year, when he entered into the 
service of Khadijah, a rich widov.-, whom, 
though twelve years older than himself, he 
married three years after. Thus suddenly 
raised to aflSuence and consequence above 
his countiymen, he formed the secret plan 
of obtaining for himself the sovereign power, 
and judging there was no way so likely to 
gain his end as by effecting a change in the 
religion of his countrymen, he adopted that 
as his instrument. 

He spent much of his time alone in a cave 
near Mecca, employed, as he gave out, in 
meditation and prayer ; though it is said that 
in reality he called to his aid a Persian Jew, 
well versed in the history and laws of his sect, 
and two Christians, one of the Jacobite and 
the other of the Nestorian sect. With the 
help of these men he framed his Koran, or 
the book which he pretended to have received 
at different times from heaven by the hands 
of the angel Gabriel. At the age of forty he 



MAH 



512 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



favored a few with news of his prophetic char- 
acter, caUinghiraself the Apostle of God. His 
disciples at first consisted only of his wife, 
nephew, and servant, but in the course of 
three years he had greatly increased the 
number of his followers. On these he im- 
posed tales generally well adapted to deceive 
ignorant and superstitious minds. He pre- 
tended to have passed into the highest heavens 
in one night, on the back of a beautiful ass 
called Al Borak, and accompanied by the 
angel Gabriel ; and that he there had an 
interview with Adam, Abraham, Moses, and 
Jesus Christ, who acknowledged his superi- 
ority, which was confirmed to him by the 
Deity himself This romance staggered even 
some of his best friends, and a powerful party 
being formed against him, he was forced to 
quit Mecca, and to seek refuge in Medina. 
This expulsion dates the foundation of his 
empire, and of his religion. The Mohamme- 
dans adopt it as their chronological era, call- 
ing it the Hegira, being the IGth of July, 
A.D. G22. 

Mahomet had still a number of disciples, 
upon whom he inculcated the principle, that 
they were not to dispute for their religion by 
words, but by the sword. No doctrine could 
possibly be better suited to a lawless and 
wandering people ; it was soon carried into 
practice, and the Jewish Arabs were the first 
to experience its effects. Upon them the 
followers of Mahomet committed the most 
shocking cruelties: numbers were put to 
death, others were sold for slaves, and their 
goods distributed among the soldiers. 

A fixith thus propagated could not but 
succeed in a country like Arabia. Its adhe- 
rents were not only rewarded by plunder 
here, but a sensual felicity hereafter was held 
out to them. To those who fell in battle he 
promised a voluptuous immortality, — a para- 
dise, where cooling fountains tempered the 
warm air, and where the exertions of the 
faithful were rewarded by the charms of the 
divine Houris. He inculcated the doctrine 
of an irresistible destiny, declaring that ages 
before his birth the time of each man's death 
was fixed ; and by impressing on his follow- 
ers a belief in this, he enabled them to 
perform deeds of unequaled bravery, rushing 
to the charge with an impetuosity almost 
supernatural, and courting death as the pass- 



port to those transports which were to have 
no transitory existence, but a blessed im- 
mortality. Backed by followers whom his 
instructions inspired with indomitable spirit, 
he beheld his arms completely triumphant. 

In 027 Mahomet made a treaty with the 
inhabitants of Mecca; within two years he 
violated it, and captured the place. Having 
made himself master of Arabia, he extended 
his conquests into Syria, where he took sev- 
eral cities, and laid some of the princes under 
tribute. His career was stopped only by his 
death, which was supposed to be occasioned 
by poison, administered to him by a Jewess, 
and sprinkled on a shoulder of mutton, of 
which the prophet partook with a high relish. 
"When the woman was examined she declared 
that she had perpetrated the deed, on pur- 
pose to try whether he was a true prophet. 
The poison is said to have taken effect three 
years after it had been administered. When 
he found himself dying, Mahomet caused 
himself to be supported to the mosque, where 
he celebrated the praise of God, demanded 
pardon for his sins, and then, mounting his 
throne, said : " If any one complaineth that 
I have stricken him unjustly, lo ! here is my 
back ; let him return the blows. If I have 
injured the reputation of any one, let him 
treat me in the same manner. If I have 
taken money from any one, I am here ready 
to restore it." His last words were, " Lord, 
pardon me ; and place me among those whom 
thou hast raised to grace and favor." He 
died the 8th of June, a.d. 632, having lived 
sixty-three years. 

He was of small stature, and of a sanguine 
temperament ; he had a large head, regular 
and decided features; his eyes were large, 
black, and full of fire; his forehead was 
large, his nose aquiline, his cheeks full, and 
his mouth large. His teeth were white, 
but set a little apart from each other, and 
between his eye-brows was a vein which 
swelled when he was in anger. Notwith- 
standing his corpulency, his gait was easy 
and graceful. After the death of Khadijah, he 
had several wives and concubines, by whom 
he had many children, but left only one 
daughter, named Fatima, who married his 
successor Ali. 

MAHOMET I., Emperor of the Turks, was 
the son of Bajazet I., and succeeded his 



MAH 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



513 



brother Moses in 1413. He re-established 
the glory of the Ottoman empire, which had 
been ravaged by Tamerlane, fixed the seat of 
government at Constantinople, and died in 
1421. 

MAHO]\IET IV. was born in 1642, and 
became emperor in 1649, after the tragical 
death of his father, Ibrahim I. He marched 
in person against Poland, and having taken 
several places, made peace with that country 
on condition of receiving an annual tribute. 
Sobieski, however, defeated him near Choczim, 
and obtained so many other advantages that 



a peace favorable to Poland was concluded 
m 1676. The Janizaries, attributing this and 
other misfortunes to the indolence of the 
sultan, deposed him in 1 687, and sent him to 
prison, where he died in 1C91. 

MAHRATTAS, a powerful nation of moun- 
taineers in India, who maintained a series of 
wars with the British in the first part of the 
present century. Their capital, Poona, was 
taken in 1817. The possessions of the Slah- 
rattas formerly extended from the coast of 
Malabar to that of Orissa, in the Ghaut Moun- 
tains, but they have been much narrowed. 




I 



MAINE occupies almost half the surface 
of New England, with its area of 31,766 
square miles. In 1860 there were 628,279 
inhabitants. The aspect of the north-western 
part is decidedly mountainous ; some of the 
summits have an elevation of 4,000 feet. 
Mount Katahdin, a rugged and isolated group 
of hills between the east and west branches 
of the Penobscot, is 5,335 feet in height. It 
has been estimated that one-sixth of the sur- 
face of Maine consists of water. Some of the 
many lakes are most picturesque. Moose- 
head is the largest of these sheets. The 
streams abound with salmon and large trout. 
The St. John, in its upper course, skirts the 
northern line of Maine ; the St. Croix the 
eastern. The Penobscot, Kennebec, Andros- 
coggin, and Saco are fine and important 
streams ; the former two of which are some 
ways navigable ; but the frequent falls and 
rapids in all the rivers, caused by the uneven 



face of the country, interdict their use for 
internal communication, while furnishing 
valuable water-power and mill-seats. Along 
the jagged coast are inlets, harbors, and 
bays, sheltered from the ocean by headlands 
and islands, which verdant groves crown and 
snowy beaches line. 

The great wealth of Maine has been found 
in her wide forests of pine and cedar, which 
her hardy loggers and her busy mills turn 
into lumber and shingles. Beneath the sur- 
face she has little treasure. Some iron-ore 
has been found. Granite and marble are 
quarried and exported. Lime is largely 
burnt at Camden and Thomaston. Plentiful 
crops of grain, flax, and hemp are grown, 
and between the Kennebec and Penobscot is 
a very fertile country. Maine has more 
shipping than any other state except Massa- 
chusetts and New York, and in ship-building 
she takes the lead of all. 



33 



MAI 



514 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Maine was discovered by one of the Cabots 
in 1497. Afterward the French came, who 
called the country M'est of the Kennebec, 
Maine, and that east of that river, Acadie. 
About 1030, English settlements were founded 
in the former region. The first charter, 
which was proprietary, was granted to Sir 
Ferdinand Gorges in 1039; but in 1652 his 
schemes of colonization had fallen through, 
and the tract, under the name of the county 
of Yorkshire, came into the hands of Massa- 
chusetts, by whom, a quarter-century later, 
it was purchased from the Gorges family. 
The wars between the French and English, 
and the maraudings of the Indians, long re- 
tarded the growth of the colony. After the 
Revolution it continued in the jurisdiction 
of Massachusetts, as the district of Maine, 
or as a waggish South Carolinian said, in 
allusion to its noble area, " the main district 
of Massachusetts." In 1820 a separation 
was quietly effected, and Maine came into the 
Union as a sovereign state. 

Both houses of the legislature, and the 
usual state officers, are elected annually. A 
council of seven is chosen by joint ballot 
of the legislature, to advise the executive. 
Every male citizen aged twenty-one or more 
(excepting paupers, persons under guardian- 
ship, and Indians not taxed), who has had 
a residence in the state three months, has 
the right of suffrage. Judges are appointed 
by the governor, ,by and with the advice of 
the council, for terms of seven years. Good 
provision is made for education, and a school 
for the reformation of juvenile delinquents 
is supported by the state. 

Augusta, at the head of navigation on the 
Kennebec, is the capital; population in 1853, 
9,500. Portland, on Casco Bay, is the great 
commercial city of Maine, with a harbor 
hardly excelled for capacity and safety on 
our coast; population in 1^60, 26,341. Ban- 
gor, at the head of tide-water (in the Penob- 
scot River (population, in 1860, 16,407), is a 
flourishing and pleasant town, and contains 
a theological seminary. 

MAINTEXON, Frances d'Afbigne, Mar- 
chioness de, grand-daughter of Theodore 
Agrippa d'Aubigne, was born in 1635, in the 
prison of Niort, where her dissolute father 
was confined. On his death, Frances was 
:Sent to France, being patronized by her 



pn rental aunt, iladame de Villette. From 
her, however, she was removed by an order 
of court, lest she should be brought up a 
Protestant, In 1G51 she married the cele- 
brated Scarron, from whom she learned the 
Latin, Spanish, and Italian languages. On 
his death, being in straitened circumstances, 
she accepted a pension from the queen, which 
was renewed to her after the death of that 
princess, through the favor of Madame de 
Montespan; and she undertook the education 
of the children of Louis XIY. by that mis- 
tress. 

In this situation she acquired the esteem 
of the king, who in 1674 purchased for her 
the estate of Maintenon, which name she 
assumed. In 1685 the king, over whom she 
had gained a complete ascendency, made 
her his wife, though the marriage was 
never publicly avowed. She has been ac- 
cused of moving him to revoke the edict of 
Nantes; but this is improbable, as she ex- 
erted her influence in behalf of the suffering 
Protestants. 

Her better actions deserve, beyond all 
doubt, much of the notice which has been 
given to the meaner part of her story. She 
exhibited all the characteristics of a woman 
striving to be great beyond the sphere of her 
sex, and the usual inconsistencies of famous 
women were very conspicuous in her: yet 
many of her acts were undoubtedly great. 
The royal institution of St. Louis, for the 
young and indigent female nobility, was 
founded by Madame de Maintenon, and liber- 
ally endowed by the king. This was after- 
ward called the society of St. Cyr, and was 
distinguished by many excellent regulations. 
To her influence has been attributed the 
settlement of that peace so salutary to the 
French affixirs after the destructive effects 
of the seven years' war, carried against all 
the ambitious designs and mortified impa- 
tience of the French generals. For a con- 
siderable time she lived on terms of intimacy 
with Fenelon, and on his recommendation 
patronized Madame Guion ; but afterwards she 
joined the persecutors of that excellent man. 
On the death of Louis she retired to St. Cyr, 
where she died in 1718. 

MALBONE, Edward G., an eminent 
miniature painter, resident at Newport, R. L, 
died 1807. 



MAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



515 



MALEBRANCHE, Nicholas, an idealistic 
philosopher, born at Paris 1638, died 1715. 

MALESHERBES, Chkistian William de 
Lamoignon, an eminent French counselor, 
was born at Paris in 1721. In 1775 he was 
made minister of state for the interior. Un- 
der his administration numerous abuses were 
removed ; but the year following, when Tur- 
got withdrew, he resigned, and traveled into 
different countries, in a plain attire, and 
under an assumed name. Of the revolution, 
he conceived a hope that it would be produc- 
tive of good ; yet he voluntarily pleaded the 
cause of Louis XVI., and defended him with 
all the ardor of conscious rectitude. He was 
condemned to death, with his daughter and 
grand-daughter, by the revolutionary tribu- 
nal, April 22d, 1793. 

MALHERBE, Francis, a French lyric 
poet,- died 1628, aged seventy-two. 

MALPLAQUET, Battle of. This mem- 
orable battle, ten miles south of Mons, in 
Belgium, was fought on the 11th of Septem- 
ber, 1709. Of the allied troops, altogether 
amounting to almost 120,000 men, two ar- 
mies had been formed, one commanded by 
the Duke of Marlborough, and the other by 
Prince Eugene of Savoy. The French troops 
were, for the most part, newly raised men, 
ill clothed, and ill mounted, but in numbers 
equaling the foe. To re-enforce their army 
in Flanders, they had drawn 15,000 men 
from Germany. Marshal Villars was com- 
mander-in-chief; Marshal Boufflers had been 
sent to assist him at the battle, but without 
encroaching upon his authority. 

The manner in which the French were 
posted may be thus described. Their right 
wing was covered by the wood of Taisniere 
on one side, and by that of Jansart on the 
other. The latter had thick hedges behind 
it, with three ditches and artificial intrench- 
ments one behind another ; the access also 
was difficult, because of a marshy ground 
which lay before them. Against this wing 
the Dutch infantry were to make their at- 
tack. Their centre took up all the open 
space between the wood of Jansart and that 
of Sart. A hamlet toward the middle cov- 
ered the depth of this centre, which was 
also defended by a line extending from one 
wood to the other. Their left .wing was 
posted, partly in the wood of Sart, and 



partly behind in the plain ; the wood served 
as a natural covert, besides which they had 
felled trees, and raised banks of earth and 
fascines, fortified with cannon. In the lines 
of their centre were openings, to let their 
cavalry advance. Their artillery was posted 
on advantageous eminences, and they had 
nothing in their camp to encumber them. 

The signal for the attack was given by the 
discharge of fifty pieces of cannon. Prince 
Eugene then advanced with his right, to 
penetrate into the wood of Sart. In the 
charges of this wing, General f|hulemburg, 
the Duke of Argyle, and other genei'als led 
on eightj'-six battalions, and Count Loweem 
twenty-two other battalions, to attack the 
intrenchments in the woods of Sart and Tais- 
niere. General "Withers also, with nineteen 
battalions, attacked the enemy in another 
intrenchment beyond the woods of Taisniere 
and in Great Blagniere. The design in both 
succeeded: the fight, however, was long and 
obstinate, the enemy defending themselves 
with equal vigor. The allies were repulsed 
more than once, but notwithstanding the 
barricadoes of felled trees and other impedi- 
ments, the action wavering almost two hours, 
they saw themselves at last masters of the 
wood, and had penetrated so far that they 
could see the hind part of the intrenchments 
of the enemy's centre. 

The attack of the left wing did not begin 
till half an hour after that of the Tight, but 
it lasted longer, and was much more bloody. 
Thirty battalions, sustained by fifteen others, 
Prussians, Hanoverians, or Hessians, engaged 
with above seventy. These thirty battalions 
were commanded by Prince Friso of Nassau, 
general of the foot, and by Baron Fagel. 
Following his example, the troops of his 
attack advanced as far as the third intrench- 
ment. But these they could not force, as the 
enemy were well seconded by fresh battal- 
ions drawn from their centre. The assailants 
were even driven back to their own post. 
Nevertheless the prince led on his troops a 
second time, to attack those intrenchments 
which he had once gained and lost again. 
They recovered the two first, but the third still 
remained impregnable. When the enemy's 
left retired, Marlborough directed the Earl 
of Orkney, with fifteen battalions, to attack 
and post himself in the intrenchments in the 



MAL 



516 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



plain between the woods of Sart and Jansart. 
This was executed, and gave the horse an 
opportunity to enter them, and advance into 
the plain. The first squadrons, led by the 
Prince of Hesse and the Prince D'Auvergne, 
were thrown into disorder by the house- 
hold troops, but rallied, under the fire of 
those battalions. Advantages and disadvan- 
tages succeeded alternately six times, till the 
Prince of Hesse turning to the left, fell upon 
the rear of the infantry that had been en- 
gaged with the Prince of Nassau. This was 
the decisive stroke. On the sight of the 
diversion made by the Prince of Hesse, the 
Dutch battalions recovered new strength, 
broke through the third and last intrench- 
raent, and drove all opposition before them. 
In general, the French made their retreat in 
good order ; but three regiments of Danish 
cavalry made a terrible slaughter among 
several battalions of their right that had been 
surrounded. The allies pursued as far as 
the village of Quievrain. The enemy lost 
sixteen of their cannon, twenty colors, 
twenty-six standards, and left other indis- 
putable marks of victory, including a number 
of prisoners. Many were taken next morn- 
ing in Bavay and the neighboring places, 
weariness or their wounds not permitting 
them to follow their army. Great carnage 
was there on both sides ; the allies lost 
18,000 men. 

MALTA, anciently Melita, and formerly 
dependent on Sicily, has a population of 
346,000 inhabitants on its narrow limits of 
115 square miles. Gozo and Comino are two 
small islands in its vicinity. Yaletta, the 
capital of Malta, is one of the strongest places 
in the world, and has a valuable harbor, of 
great importance in the commerce of the 
Archipelago and the Levant. The island 
formerly belonged to the order of Malta, or 
knights of St. John. The French gained 
possession of it in 1798, but the English have 
held it since 1800. The soil of this island, 
which is rock covered with a light bed of 
earth, produces all sorts of vegetables, excel- 
lent fruits (the oranges, in particular, being 
famous), silk, sugar, and cotton. The cli- 
mate is mild, and the atmospliere so clear 
that almost at every sunrise and sunset the 
summit of Mtna, 128 miles away, can be 



distinctly descried. The Maltese are sober, 
fine seamen, and devoted to commerce. 

MALTA, Knights of, called also Hospi- 
tallers OF St. John of Jerusalem, Knights 
OF St. John, and Knights of Rhodes. Cer- 
tain Christian merchants of Malphis in the 
kingdom of Naples, who traded to Palestine, 
obtained leave from the Caliph of Egypt in 
1048, to dwell near the Holy Sepulchre of 
Christ, and to erect a small house for the 
entertainment of pilgrims, which they named 
the Hospital of Christians, with a small ora- 
tory dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Their 
number increasing, they built another house 
for women, and dedicated it to St. Mary Mag- 
dalen. Their number still increasing, they 
built a more convenient house, the other 
bemg too small, and dedicated it to St. John 
the Baptist. They entertained all pilgrims 
that came for devotion, and cured the diseased 
among them. They grew eminent for their 
devotion, charity, and hospitality. In 1118 
they became a military order ; St. John the 
Baptist being their patron, they were called 
Brethren Hospitallers of St. John Baptist of 
Jerusalem, to distinguish them from the 
knights of the Holy Sepulchre ; they took the 
black habit of the Hermits of St. Augustin, 
and on the left side of the breast, they wore 
a cross of white cloth, with eight jjoints. In 
war they wore crimson, with a white cross, 
but in their monasteries and on the day of 
their profession the black garment only. 
This order increased in wealth after the sup- 
pression of the Templars, most of whose 
lands were given to them. They had in sev- 
eral parts of Christendom 20,000 manors ; in 
England the lord prior of the order was 
accounted the prime baron of the realm. 

Their first great master was Gerald de 
Sainct Didier, by whom they were founded. 
After Jerusalem was taken by Saladin, they 
retired to Acre, valiantly defended by them 
in 1290. The last master that had his resi- 
dence in the Holy Land was John de Villiers, 
in whose time, being driven out of Palestine, 
they removed to Cyprus, and then to the isle 
of Rhodes, which they possessed till the year 
1522, when they were expelled by Solyman 
the Magnificent, who took it by force, through 
want of succor by the Christian princes. 
The city was admirably defended by the 



MAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



517 



knights, under the conduct of their great 
master, Philip de Villiers. 

After the loss of the isle of Rhodes, they 
removed to the island of Malta, which with 
Tripoli and Gaza were granted to them in fee 
by the Emperor Charles V., a.d. 1530, under 
the tender of one falcon yearly to the viceroy 
of Sicily, and to acknowledge the King of 
Spain and Sicily for their protector. In this 
isle they continued a bulwark to those parts, 
and from this their settlement, were called 
Knights of Malta. 

In May, 1566, they were besieged by Soly- 
man, with a navy of 160 galleys full of 
Turkish soldiers, and 100 vessels with pro- 
visions. The siege was sustained for four 
months by the bravery of the knights, and 
the conduct of their great master, John de 
Valete, so that the Turks were obliged to 
raise the siege, and leave 30,000 of their men 
behind, and the greater part of their artillerjr, 
on the 8th of September in the same year. 
Upon that day there is annually a procession 
at Malta, in memory of this deliverance. 

These knights were in number 1,000 ; 500 
to reside in the island of Malta, the remainder 
dispersed at their seminaries in Spain, Ger- 
many, Italy, and France, and at any summons 
to make their personal appearance. They 
had a seminary in England till the suppres- 
sion of it by Henry YIII. ; yet they continued 
to appoint one to whom they gave the title 
of the grand prior of England. Out of the 
following nations they chose their officers : 
Provence, the grand prior ; Auvergne, the 
marshal of the order ; Italy, the admiral of 
the order : Arragon, the conservator of the 
order; England they used to appoint the 
great colonel of the cavalry ; Germany, the 
high bailiff of the order ; Castile, the high 
chancellor of the order. 

None were admitted into this order, but 
such as could prove their gentility for six 
descents ; they swore to defend the church, 
to obey their superiors, and to live upon the 
revenues of their order only. There were 
sixteen called the great crosses, out of whom 
the ofBcers of the order, as the marshal, 
admiral, chancellor, &c., were chosen, who, 
together with the master, punished such as 
were convicted of any crime. 

When the grand master died, they suffered 
no vessel to go out of the island till another 



was chosen, lest the pope should interfere in 
their election, which was as follows: the 
several seminaries named two knights each, 
allowing also two for the English ; and those 
sixteen fi'om among themselves chose eight; 
those eight chose a knight, a priest, and a 
friar servant ; and these three, out of the 
sixteen great crosses, elected the great mas- 
ter, who, being chosen, was styled 'The 
most illustrious and most reverent! Prince, 
the Lord Friar N. N. Great Master of the 
Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem, Prince of 
Malta and Gaza.' % 

The badge of the order was a gold cross of 
eight points, enameled white, pendent to a 
black watered ribbon, worn at the breast. 
This order having been composed of persons 
of different countries, the badge was deco- 
rated so as to distinguish the country of the 
bearer; Germany, by an imperial crown 
and eagle ; France, the crown and fleurs-de- 
lis, &c. 

In 1798 the knights of Malta yielded their 
dominion to the French powei', from -whom 
it was soon after wrested b}' the British, in 
which crown it was finally vested by the 
peace of 1814. 

MAMELUKES (from the Arabic MemaliA; 
a slave), a body of cavalry, formed in Egypt, 
1214, from Georgian and Circassian slaves, 
chosen for their beauty and strength. From 
1254 they governed that country for two 
hundred and sixty-three years, and expelled 
the Christians from Palestine in 1291. They 
remained a military bod}' in Egypt, till the 
year 1810, but their chiefs were treacherously 
destroyed by Mohammed Ali in 1811. They 
were mounted on superb Turkish horses, 
which, although spirited and full of fire, were 
docile, and obedient to the word and bit. 
The prevailing color of this breed is gray, and 
the unfailing tenderness with which the 
horses of the Turks are treated, is repaid by 
astonishing fidelity on the part of these fine 
animals. The horses of the Mamelukes were 
splendidly caparisoned, and their studded 
trappings and rich bits rang in their gallop. 
The saddles had high pommels and cruppers, 
and the huge shovel stirrups were occasion- 
ally gilded and curiously ornamented. The 
riders wore full turbans, light jackets, loose 
short sleeves, and flowing trowsers. Their 
arms were an ataghan, or sabre, of Damascus 



MAM 



518 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Steel, which is so finely tempered that a blade 
composed of it breaks in the hand of an un- 
skillful swordsman. The Mamelukes were 
skilled in the use of these sabres, and never 
gave slight wounds. Besides the ataghan, the 
Mameluke had a carbine slung at his back, 
and a brace of pistols at his saddle-bow. 

At the fomous battle of the Pyramids, the 
Mamelukes were almost annihilated by the 
French infantry under Bonaparte. The im- 
penetrable squares of the French regiments 
received them with a most galling fire. The 
horses reared and plunged, and the riders 
fell by hundreds. In the very agony of 
death, while expiring upon the ground, some 
of the dismounted Moslems dragged them- 
selves to the feet of the French troops, and 
cut at their legs with their long crooked 
sabres. Some backed their chargers upon 
the infantry, and caused them to strike the 
soldiers with their heels. But their rout 
was complete. Many perished in the Nile, 
and but a remnant escaped to Upper Egypt. 
Although individually the finest cavalry in 
the world, they were incapable of acting in 
concert. 

MANLIUS, Marcus Capitolinus, a Ro- 
man consul and commander, who, when 
Rome was taken by the Gauls, retired into 
the capito and preserved it from a sudden 
attack made upon it in the night. The dogs 
which were kept in the capitol made no noise ; 
but the geese, by their cry, awoke Manlius 
who had just time to repel the enemy. 
Geese from that period were always held 
sacred among the Romans, and Manlius was 
honored with the surname of Capitolinus. 
He afterward endeavored to subvert the lib- 
erties of his country, and was thrown down 
the Tarpeian rock, 383 b.c. 

MANLIUS, Titus Torquatus, a famous 
Roman, who displayed great courage in his 
youth as a military tribune. In the war 
against the Gauls he accepted a challenge 
given by one of the enemy, and having slain 
him took his collar from his neck, on which 
account he assumed the name of Torquatus. 
He was the first Roman advanced to the 
dictatorship without being previously a con- 
sul. But he tarnished his glory by putting 
his son to death, for defeating the enemy 
without having received orders to attack 
them. This gave great disgust to the Ro- 



mans ; and on account of his severity in his 
government, all edicts of extreme rigor were 
called Manliana edicta. He flourished B.C. 
340. 

MANSFIELD, William Murray, Earl of, 
was born in Perthshire, March 2d, 1705. He 
was chief-justice of the King's Bench fi-om 
1756 to 1788, in which year he retired; and 
five years after, he died. 

MANTINEA, a village of Greece, where 
368 B.C. a battle was fought between the 
Thebans and Lacedaemonians, in which Epam- 
inondas'was killed. 

MARAT, Jean Paul. The name of this 
monster revives the recollection of the worst 
atrocities of the French revolution. He 
wrote strongly in favor of the worst of parties, 
and was a member of the convention. Marat, 
who belonged to the Mountain party, and 
was deeply implicated in their sanguinary 
proceedings, was assassinated by Charlotte 
Corday, in 1793. He was born in Neuf- 
chatel, Switzerland, in 1746. 

MARATHON, a village of Greece, eighteen 
miles north-east of Athens. It is famous for 
the battle fought on its plains Sept. 28th, 490 
B.C., in which Miltiades, with a small Grecian 
force, totally defeated the numerous army 
sent by Darius, King of Persia, to conquer 
Greece. 

MARCY, William L., was born in South- 
bridge, Mass., December 12th, 1786. In the 
war of 1812 he served gallantly as a lieuten- 
ant of infantry. He was bred to the law in 
the state of New York, and was thrice elected 
governor of the state> He was at the head 
of the war department during Polk's ad- 
ministration, and secretary of state under 
President Pierce. He died suddenly July 
4th, 1857. 

MARENGO, a village in the Sardinian 
duchy of Montferrat, celebrated for the victory 
of Bonaparte over the Austrians, June 14th, 
1800. Some details of this most severe con- 
flict, which, perhaps beyond all others, estab- 
lished the military character of Bonaparte, 
then consul, are well entitled to a place in a 
compendium of history. The French head- 
quarters were removed to Yoghera, which the 
army passed through on its way to Tortona, 
taking up a position round Tortona to block- 
ade it by divisions ; the advance-guard quietly ' 
went round the town, and passed without any- 



MAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



519 



thing remarkable having taken place. If the 
Austrian commander was doubtful as to what 
line of conduct he ought to pursue, this was 
his time to determine : the possession of Ge- 
noa gave him choice either to fight, or shut 
himself up in the garrison he held ; and he 
should not have forgotten that so long as he 
held Genoa, his army had a retreat from the 
port, and to have kept the communication 
open with tlmt city should have been his chief 
concern. The French fought for Genoa from 
a knowledge of its value, and Bonaparte has- 
tened to derive advantage from the neglect of 
the Austrians. He ordered the banks of the 
Po opposite Valenza to be guarded, lest they 
should escape that way, and the passes be- 
tween Piedmont and Genoa to be gained. 
Massena and Suchet were rapidly advancing 
to annoy the rear of the Austrians, and the 
first consul, in his letter to his colleagues, does 
not seem ignorant of the movements in his 
favor by the army of Italy. The French army 
understood that Melas had evacuated Turin, 
and was advancing to meet them with 60,000 
men. General Gardanne retired to take post 
at Marengo, on the plain of which his great 
body of cavalry would be of much service. 
Bonaparte skirted Marengo, and was seen 
examining the ground with attention, by turns 
meditating and giving orders. 

The army passed that night at St. Julian's, 
at the entrance of the plain of Marengo. On 
the morning of the 14th of June, some dis- 
charges of cannon roused them from their 
repose. All was soon in readiness. Gardanne 
was attacked at seven o'clock ; the enemy 
showed much vigor of preparation ; a few 
weak points were touched on, but his inten- 
tions were unknown till late in the morning. 
Berthier was first in the field, and wounded 
soldiers arriving, owned that the Austrians 
were in force. General Victor's division was 
drawn up in order of battle. General Lannes' 
division formed the right wing. The French 
army was in two lines, and the cavalry sup- 
ported its wings. Bonaparte, about eleven 
o'clock, hastened to the field of battle. Gen- 
eral Desaix was ordered to support Victor. 
The Austrians were careful of their position 
near the bridge, on the Bormida; but the 
principal point of action was at St. Stefano: 
from hence they could cut oS" the retreat of 
the French, and they gave their attention to 



this point. The division under Victor began 
to give way, and many corps of cavalry and 
infantry were driven back. The firing came 
nearer, and a sudden and dreadful discharge 
was heard on the Bormida ; the French were 
soon seen retreating, carrying the wounded 
on their shoulders, and the Austrians gained 
upon them. Bonaparte advanced, and urged 
all he met with; his presence encouraged 
them; his own guards no longer continued 
about his person, but near him shared in the 
battle. The grenadiers of the consular guard 
advanced against the enemy : althou|»h they 
were only about 500 men, they still advanced, 
and forced everything in their passage ; they 
were three times charged by the enemies' 
cavalry; they surrounded their colors and 
wounded, and having exhausted all their am- 
munition, they then slowly fell back, and 
joined the rear-guard. 

The army fought retreating in all direc- 
tions; the Austrians turned the right wing, 
the garrison of Tortona made a sortie, and the 
French were thus surrounded. Bonaparte in 
the centre, encouraged the gallant corps that 
defended the defile which crossed the road, 
shut up on one side by a wood, and on the 
other by some thick vineyards of lofty growth ; 
the village of Marengo was on the left. Of 
the French artillery, the few gunners that 
remained had little ammunition left. Thirty 
pieces of cannon, well served by the enemy, 
cut up the French. In the midst of this 
slaughter, the first consul appeared to brave 
death. The ground was ploughed up by the 
enemies' shot, even between the legs of his 
horse ; but undaunted, and with the greatest 
coolness, he gave his orders as events required : 
he was urged to retire, but discovered no 
change. Marengo seemed the prize for which 
both parties contended. Gardanne flanked 
the corps going to attack it ; the Austrians 
for a moment gave way, but being re-enforced, 
marched on. General Kellerman, the younger, 
supported the left; a regiment of dragoons 
routed a column of Austrian cavalry, but was 
charged by superior numbers, and was giving 
way, when two more columns advanced to 
his assistance, and took one hundred prisoners. 

The consul being informed that the reserve 
of General Desaix was not yet arrived, has- 
tened to the division of General Lannes to 
slacken its retreat : he told them it was his 



MAR 



620 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



practice to sleep on the field of battle. The 
enemy, however, advanced ; the retreat was 
absolutely necessary, and took place in good 
order. Though eighty pieces of cannon were 
playing on them, this did not annoy the firm- 
ness of the French : they maneuvrod as though 
they were on parade. At four in the after- 
noon, not more than 6,000 infantry stood to 
their colors, and six pieces of cannon only 
could be made use of; one-third of the army 
was unable to combat, and more than another 
third was occupied in removing the sick and 
wounded, owing to the want of carriages. 

Every circumstance was eminently discour- 
aging to the French army, but their fortitude 
and courage changed their situation in the 
course of two hours afterward. The divisions 
of Mounier and Desaix showed themselves ; 
they arrived on a gallop, after a forced march 
of ten leagues, anxious to avenge their fallen 
comrades. The crowd of dead and wounded 
might well have damped their ardor, but one 
opinion only reigned among them, and they 
rushed on to glory. General Melas, ignorant 
of what passed in the French line, and also 
ignorant of the re-enforcements that had 
timely arrived to their succor, changed that 
disposition which had given him success, and 
which it was his interest as well as duty to 
have followed up. He extended his wings, 
thinking, by this maneuvre, to cut the enemy 
off, but it only brought on his own disaster. 
Bonaparte, whom nothing escaped, seized on 
this Hivorable opportunity, and altered his plan 
accordingly. 

When Desaix reached the heights, the con- 
sul, the generals, and the staff went through 
the ranks inspiring confidence. This took up 
near an hour, while the Austrian artillery 
was bearing upon their ranks, and many were 
thus killed without moving, except to cover 
their comrades' dead bodies. The signal for 
charging was at length heard. Desaix, at the 
head of a light battalion, threw himself upon 
the Austrians, and charged with the bayonet : 
all the French were in motion at once, in two 
lines ; their fire carried everything before it ; 
the enemy were in every position overthrown. 
The French line now presented a formidable 
front ; as quick as the cannon were brought up, 
they made dreadful havoc among the affright- 
ed Austrians ; they fell back, and the cavalry 
charged with fury ; a powder wagon blew up. 



and their alarm increased ; in fact, all gave 
way and fled. The French cavalry rushed 
into the plain, and advanced toward the en- 
emy. Desaix trampled on all obstacles which 
opposed him. Victor carried Marengo^ and 
flew toward the Borinida. The centre, under 
Murat, advanced into the plain ; he much an- 
noyed the Austrian centre, and kept a great 
body of cavalry in check. Desaix cut off the 
left wing of the Austrians completely, and in 
the moment of his victory received a mortal 
wound. General Kellerman made 6,000 pris- 
oners, with two generals and officers of the 
staff Night coining on, the Austrians were 
all in disorder ; all crowded together near the 
centre, and many were thrown into the river, 
off the bridge ; their artillery intercepted their 
retreat. The third line of Austrian cavalry, 
wishing to save the infantry, came up. A 
ditch separated the combatants. The French 
crossed it, and immediately surrounded the 
first two platoons. The Austrians were 
thrown into disorder ; the pursuit continued, 
and they made a great many prisoners ; the 
Austrian rear-guard was cut to pieces. Night 
setting in, and the extreme fatigue of the 
horses, made Murat determine not to expose 
his troops more after so successful a day's 
work. The armies had been fourteen hours 
within musket-shot of each other, and wanted 
rest. Victory waved on each side four times 
during the day, and sixty pieces of cannon 
were alternately won and lost. AVhen the 
battle ended, the French had taken 12 stand- 
ards, 45 pieces of cannon, and 12,000 prison- 
ers. The Austrians lost seven generals, 400 
officers, and 6,000 men killed or wounded. 
The Beench lost Generals Desaix and "VVatrin 
killed, four generals of brigade wounded, and 
3,000 men killed, wounded, and prisoners. 
The French army, when the battle began, 
was reckoned at about 45,000 strong, with 
about thirty pieces of artillery. The Austrian 
army was from 55,000 to 60,000 men, includ- 
ing near 18,000 cavalry, and an immense train 
of artillery well provided. By this victory 
Bonaparte became the master of Italy. 

MARGARET of Anjou. [See Plantage- 

NETS, HkNRV VI. ] 

MARGARET, the Countess of Salisbury, 
daughter of the Duke of Clarence, brother of 
Edward IV. ; beheaded May 27th, 1541, aged 
seventy. 



MAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



521 



MARGARET, Queen of Denmark, Sweden, 
and Norway, commonly called the Semiramis 
of the North, vanquished Albert her rival at 
Falkoping in 1389, and died in 1412. Albert 
had contemptuously termed her " the king in 
petticoats." 

MARIA THERESA, born May 13th, 1717, 
was the eldest daughter of Charles VI. of Aus- 
tria. Her succession to the throne, in defiance 
of the 'family compact,' had been guaranteed 
by all the leading states of Europe : yet upon 
the decease of her father, she was attacked by 
Prussia, France, Spain, Bavaria, Sardinia, and 
Sicily, each of whose monarchs had picked 
out the slice of her domains he would like. 
A long war ensued. Her husband was her 
cousin, Francis of Lorraine. At one time the 
enemy stalked in her capital : she fled to 
Presburg, and appealed to the Hungarians. 
"Let us die for our Mng Maria Theresa," 
(they never would acknowledge a queen), was 
their cry, and by their loyalty and valor the 
empire was saved. Maria Theresa was pious 
and just, and her court was a bright contrast 
to the debaucheries of other kingdoms. The 
great empress died Nov. 29th, 1780. A little 
~ while before she breathed her last, she lay 
with closed eyes, apparently slumbering. One 
of the attendants whispered, " The empress 
sleeps." At once she opened her eyes: "No," 
she said, " I do not sleep ; I wish to meet my 
death awake." 

MARIAMNE, the wife of Herod the Great, 
by whom she had two sons, Alexander and 
Aristobulus, and two daughters. Herod was 
very fond of Mariamne ; but she had little 
regard for him, especially after he put to death 
her brother Aristobulus. When Herod went 
to Rome to court the favor of Augustus, he 
left secret orders with Josephus and Sohemus, 
to destroy Mariamne and her mother, if any 
misfortune should happen to him. Mariamne, 
having obtained the secret from Sohemus, 
upbraided Herod at his return, with his in- 
humanity, for which he put her to death, to- 
gether with Sohemus, b.c. 22. 

MARIE ANTOINETTE, the accomplished, 
beautiful, and unfortunate queen of Louis 
XVI. of France, whom she married while he 
was dauphin, was the daughter of Francis I. 
and Maria Theresa, and was born at Vienna 
in 1755. Her accomplishments, talents, grace, 
virtue, and uncommon lovehness fitted her 



for the queen of a gallant nation, and as such 
she would have been honored in France, had 
she lived before oppression had roused the 
people to madness. Her mother, in a letter 
to her future husband, after alluding to the 
care with which she had fonned her mind, 
says, " Above all things, I have recommended 
to her humility before God, because I am 
convinced that it is impossible for us to secure 
the happiness of the subjects confided to us, 
without love to Him, who destroys the scep- 
tres and the thrones of kings according to his 
will." The marriage took place at Versailles, 
May 16th, 1770, and was celebrated with un- 
common splendor ; but immediately after the 
ceremony, a thunder-storm of unparalleled 
violence broke over the palace of Versailles, 
darkened the surrounding scenery, and struck 
terror into the hearts of the people for miles 
around. On May 30th, the festivities at Paris 
were saddened by a most terrible accident ; a 
number of citizens being crushed to death in 
the Rue Royale, by some mismanagement on 
the part of the proper authorities. Fifty-three 
persons were found dead, and three hundred 
more were dangerously injured. 

The magnanimity of Marie Antoinette dis- 
played itself soon after her elevation to the 
throne, on the death of Louis XV. An officer 
of the body-guard, who had given offense on 
some former occasion, expressed his intention 
of resigning his commission, but the queen 
forbade him. "Remain," said she; "forget 
the past. Far be it from the queen to avenge 
the injuries of the dauphiness." She devoted 
herself to the interests of her people with an 
assiduity unparalleled in a sovereign of her 
age; yet, becoming obnoxious to the court 
party, her character was assailed in every 
shape and quarter. She was accused of set- 
ting on foot conspiracies which never existed, 
and of entertaining views which never entered 
her mind. She was termed the Austrian, and 
it was openly asserted as well as privately in- 
sinuated, that her heart was estranged from 
the country of her husband, and her mind 
solely occupied with the interests of her native 
land. In her conduct there was matter for 
gentle reproof, but none for malevolent accu- 
sation. A gayety which sometimes degener- 
ated into levity, a passion for fashionable nov- 
elties, and an unwary contempt for court for- 
malities, instead of being regarded as the foi- 



MAR 



522 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



bles and imprudences of a young and innocent 
mind, were construed into evidences of the 
existence of loose principles, unbridled ex- 
travagance, and hatred for the nation. She 
was likewise charged with pettishness under 
reproof; and we can readily conceive how a 
woman of so high a rank, conscious of the 
purity of her intentions, and perpetually as- 
sailed by reckless cavilers, assumed in reply 
to the unworthy insinuations of her enemies, 
the tone which her virtue and her birth ap- 
peared to warrant. The affair of the diamond 
necklace created an extraordinarj'' sensation. 
A jeweler at Paris demanded pa3'ment for a 
necklace so costly that the finances of a queen 
would hardly warrant its purchase. Exami. 
nation brought proof of the queen's integrity. 
A lady of the stature and complexion of the 
queen had succeeded in disguising herself, 
and passing herself off as Marie Antoinette, 
upon a cardinal in a midnight meeting in the 
park of Versailles. 

The long gathering cloud broke in storm 
in 1789. On the 6th of October, the mob 
broke into the palace of Versailles, murdered 
some of the body-guards, and threatened the 
queen in the most frightful language. At 
midnight she received a letter from a friendly 
clergyman, advising her to seek safety in 
flight, as her life would be sacrificed early 
the next morning. She resolved to remain 
and destroyed the warning letter. She heard 
the footsteps of the rufiian rabble; she 
thought her time had come ; but her life was 
saved. The progress of the ruffians was 
arrested at the very door of her bed-chamber, 
where her faithful guards laid down their 
lives to secure for their queen a retreat to 
the chamber of the king. The king and 
queen showed themselves with their chil- 
dren in the balcony. The mass of heads 
beneath for a moment ceased to be agitated ; 
but it was only for a moment. Silence was 
broken by a thousand tongues : " No chil- 
dren ! no children ! The queen ! the queen 
alone ! " This was a trying moment ; but 
Antoinette had firmness for the crisis. Put- 
ting her son and daughter into her husband's 
arms, she advanced alone into the balcony. 
A spectacle like this filled the fierce people 
with admiration, and thundering shouts of 
"Long live the queen," succeeded to the 
imprecations of the preceding moment. Such 



is the fickleness of a mob! The niaich to 
Paris was a succession of terrors. The 
heads of two faithful guardsmen, elevated on 
pikes, met the eyes of the poor queen as she 
looked from her carriage windows. 

The fate of Marie Antoinette darkened 
rapidly. "With the king she fled to Va- 
rciincs. With him she was brought back to 
Paris. Her courage did not fail in the scene 
of the legislative assembly, before which 
body she was present with her husband, 
heard his deposition pronounced, and then 
went into the Temple, where he was impris- 
oned. Here, where the light of heaven 
faintly fell through grated windows, sur- 
rounded by her family, she appeared to feel 
entire resignation to the will of Ilim on 
whom the happiness of the humblest indi- 
vidual depends. When she heard the con- 
demnation of the king from the lips of the 
royal victim, she had the firmness to con- 
gratulate him on the speedy delivery from 
trouble which awaited him. The eternal 
separation from her son did not shake her 
firnmess, and, with a heart apparently un- 
broken, she was consigned to the loathsome 
depths of a dungeon, Aug. 5th, 1793. The 
accusations brought against the unhappy 
queen on her trial, were all unfounded, and 
were merely advanced because her enemies 
had still respect enough for justice to mimic 
its forms in their guilty court. In the in- 
dictment she was named the Widow Capet. 
She was charged with having squandered 
the public money, and with leaguing in secret 
with the foreign enemies of France. The 
clearness of her innocence, the falsehood and 
frivolity of witnesses, the eloquence of de- 
fenders, were of no avail : Marie Antoinette 
was doomed to die upon the scaffold. 

The expression of her countenance as she 
passed to the place of execution awed the 
bloodthirsty populace ; but the matchless 
beauty of that countenance was gone forever. 
Her hair had turned white in prison ; her 
dress was tattered. One unacquainted with 
the ravages of grief could not believe that 
the haggard and forsaken being now led to 
sacrifice was the young queen who a short 
time before held in thrall the chivalry of 
France, by her exquisite loveliness, her win- 
ning grace and sportive gayety. Antoinette 
cast back a long last look at the Tuileries, a 



MAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



523 



look which told of sorrowful remembrance, 
and of agonizing emotion ; then, with an air 
of dignitied resignation, she ascended the 
scaffold. "My God!" cried she, as she 
kneeled on that fatal platform, "enlighten 
and affect my executioner ! Adieu, my chil- 
dren — my beloved ones — forever ! I am go- 
ing to your father!" This unfortunate 
woman perished in her thirty-eighth year, 
October 16th, 1793. 

MARIE DE MEDICIS, the queen of Henry 
IV. of France, was the daughter of Francis 
II., Grand-Duke of Tuscany, and the Arch- 
duchess Joan of Austria. She was wedded 
to Henry in 1600, at the age of twenty-seven. 
At his death in 1610, their son, Louis XIII., 
was only nine years of age, and Marie acted 
as regent. Intrigues and discords disturbed 
her reign ; Richelieu felt his way to supreme 
power ; and the unhappy dowager was at last 
driven from France. Abandoned by all her 
Italian kin, and neglected by her unnatural 
son, she suffered for the common means of 
life, and died in a garret at Cologne in 1642. 

MARION, Francis, was born at Winyaw, 
S. C, in 1732. "He was not larger than a 
New England lobster, and might easily 
enough have been put into a quart pot." 
He served in expeditions against the Chero- 
kees and other hostile tribes, and at the 
' opening of the Revolution received a cap- 
tain's commission, from which he rose to the 
rank of brigadier of his native state. The 
exploits of Marion and his men kept the 
British and Tories of South Carolina in con- 
stant terror, and are among the most spirited 
reminiscences of that thrilling time. The 
wariness and rapidity of the brave partisan 
gained him the familiar name of the Swamp 
Fox. He died Feb. 29th, 1795. His last 
words were, "Thank God, since I came to 
man's estate, I have never intentionally done 
wrong to any man." 

MARIUS, Caius, a celebrated Roman 
general. He conquered Jugurtha, King of 
Numidia, and afterward, for several suc- 
cessive years, carried on war with the Cim- 
bri and Teutones, barbarous nations who 
attempted to subdue Italy. In his old age 
he engaged in a civil war with Sylla, and was 
compelled to flee to Africa. He landed at 
Carthage. Presently there came a mes- 
senger from C. Sextilius, the governor of the 



province, ordering him to depart. He sat in 
silence, glaring sternly at the envoy, and 
when asked what reply should be made to 
the prastor, he groaned and said, " Tell him 
you saw Caius Marius sitting an exile among 
the ruins of Carthage." His party becoming 
victorious, he returned to Rome, where 
amidst massacre he died, 86 b.c. He was 
seven times consul. 

MARLBOROUGH, John Churchill, Duke 
of, was born at Ashe, in Devonshire, in 1650, 
and received an indifferent education, for his 
liither took him to court at the age of twelve 
years. About 1666 he was made an ensign 
in the guards, owing his colors to the dis- 
grace of his sister Arabella by the Duke 
of York, and served for some time at Tan- 
gier. In 1672 he was with the Duke of Mon- 
mouth, who served with the French against 
the Dutch, and was made captain of grena- 
diers. The conduct of Mr. Churchill at the 
battle of Nimeguen gained the particular 
notice of Marshal Turenne, who called him 
" the handsome Englishman who would one 
day make a great general." At the siege 
of Maestricht, his bravery was so distin- 
guished that the French king thanked him 
particularly at the head of the line. He was 
made, on his return to England, lieutenant- 
colonel, gentleman of the bed-chamber, and 
master of the robes to the Duke of York. 
He attended that prince to Holland, and 
into Scotland, and about this time married 
Miss Sarah Jennings, one of the Princess 
Anne's maids of honor. In 1682 he was 
made a peer, by the title of Baron Eymouth 
in Scotland ; and when James came to the 
crown, he was sent ambassador to France to 
announce the event. In 1685 he was created 
Lord Churchill of Sandridge in the county 
of Hertford. The same year he took part 
in the suppression of Monmouth's rebellion. 
When the Prince of Orange landed, Churchill 
assured the king he would shed his last drop 
of blood in his service. The hypocrite had 
long been in correspondence with William, 
had corrupted the army, and shortly after 
completed his treachery by joining the 
invaders. The prince was proud of this 
acquisition, gave his lordship a gracious 
reception, and intrusted him with the sole 
regulation of the army. In 1689 he was 
sworn of the privy council, and made one 



MAR 



52i: 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



of the gentlemen of the bed-chamber of the 
king, and created Earl of Marlborough. The 
same year he was sent to Holland as com- 
mander of the English forces. He next 
served in Ireland, and reduced Cork, with 
other strong places. But notwithstanding 
these important services, he was dismissed 
from his employments, and committed to the 
Tower; from which, however, he was soon 
released. The cause of this was supposed 
to be a suspicion that he fiwored the Jacobites. 

At the commencement of Queen Anne's 
reign, the earl came to England, whence he 
had been sent ambassador to Holland, and 
recommended a speedy war with France and 
Spain, which advice was followed. He went 
to the continent as captain-general of the 
English forces, and performed many brilliant 
actions throughout his various campaigns, 
too numerous indeed to be detailed here. 
Blenheim, Eamillies, Oudenarde, and Mal- 
plaquet were among the greatest of his 
victories. At the battle of Eamillies, May 
12th, 1Y06, he narrowly escaped death, a 
cannon-shot taking off the head of Colonel 
Singly as he was helping the duke to his 
horse. In 1711 he returned to England, 
deprived of his employments by Queen Anne, 
through the intrigues of his enemies. George 
T. restored him his military appointments. 
He died June 15th, 1722. 

Marlborough rose fast in the court and in 
the army, and was early distinguished as a 
man of fashion and of pleasure. His stature 
was connnanding, his face handsome, his 
address singularly winning, yet of such dig- 
nity that the most impertinent fops never 
ventured to take any liberty with him ; his 
temper, even in the most vexatious and 
irritating circumstances, always under per- 
fect command. His education had been so 
much neglected that he could not spell the 
most common words of his own language ; 
but his acute and vigorous understanding 
amply supplied the place of book learning. 
He was not loquacious; but, when he was 
forced to speak in public, his natural elo- 
quence moved the envy of practiced rhetori- 
cians. His courage was singularly cool and 
imperturbable. During many years of anx- 
iety, and peril, he never, in any emergency, 
lost even for a moment the perfect use of his 
admirable judgment. 



Unhappily, the splendid qualities of John 
Churchill were mingled with alloy of the 
most sordid kind. Some propensities, which 
in youth are singularly ungraceful, began 
very early to show themselves in him. He 
was thrifty in his very' vices, and levied 
ample contributions on ladies enriched by 
the spoils of more liberal lovers. He was, 
during a short time, the object of the violent 
but fickle fondness of the Duchess of Cleve- 
land. On one occasion he was caught with 
her by King Charles, and was forced to 
leap out of the window. She rewarded this 
hazardous feat of gallantry with a present 
of five thousand pounds. With this sum 
the prudent young hero instantly bought an 
annuity of five hundred a year, well secured 
on landed property. Already his private 
drawers contained heaps of broad pieces, 
which, fifty years later, when he was a duke, 
a prince of the empire, and the richest sub- 
ject in Europe, remained untouched. — Mac- 
au lay. 

MARMONT, Augustus Frederick, the 
last survivor of Napoleon's marshals, com- 
menced his military career in the army of 
the monarchy. Napoleon made him Duke 
of Ragusa. He was the seventh of the im- 
perial marshals whose laurels were plucked 
by Wellington in Spain. He surrendered 
Paris to the allies in 1814, and afterward 
steadily adhered to the Bourbons. After the 
revolution of 1830 he was struck from the 
list of the army. He died at Venice in 1852, 
at the age of seventy-eight. 

MARMOXTEL, John Francis, an eminent 
French writer, born at Bort, in Limousin, in 
1723. He was the son of a tailor, but edu- 
cated at the college of Toulouse, and after- 
ward made an abbe. He was imprisoned in 
the Bastile for writing a satire on an influen- 
tial person, but escaped the revolutionary 
fury. He died in 1799 at Abbeville. His 
literary character depends chiefly on his 
" Moral Tales," many of which were not very 
moral. 

MARRIAGE. Among the Babylonians, 
at a certain time every year, the marriageable 
women were assembled, and disposed of to 
the best bidder by the public crier. The 
richest citizens purchased at such high prices 
as pleased' them, and the money thus ob- 
tained was used to portion off the women to 



MAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



525 



whom nature has been less liberal of personal 
charms. When all the beauties had been 
struck off, the crier put up the more ordinary 
lots, beginning with the most ill-favored 
virgins that remained, and announcing a 
premium for each. The bidders named 
sums below this premium, at which they 
would be willing to take the maid, and he 
who bid lowest was declared the happy man. 
Thus every woman was provided for. This 
custom originated with Atossa, daughter of 
Belochus, about 1433 b.c. The first institu- 
tion of union between man and woman for 
life, with ceremonies of binding and solemn 
nature, is ascribed to Cecrops, at Athens, 
1554 B.C. The prevailing ceremony in most 
countries was that of a man leading home his 
bride, after a solemn contract with her friends. 
That this contract might be the more sacred, 
it was made the work of the priest. The 
Greeks considered full moons, or times of 
conjunction of the sun and moon, as seasons 
most propitious for marriage. The celebra- 
tion of marriages in churches was ordained 
by Pope Innocent III. Marriage in Lent 
was forbidden a.d. 304. Celibacy was en- 
joined upon bishops in 692, and upon priests 
in 1015. In the early ages concubinage was 
sanctioned. A Roman might have either a 
wife or a concubine {semi-conjux), but not 
both together. Constantine the Great gave 
a check to concubinage, but did not abolish 
it, for it subsisted many years in the church. 
In Germany morganatic or left-handed mar- 
riages are known between princes and women 
of lower rank, in which it is stipulated that 
the offspring shall not inherit the condition 
of the father. Most of the early nations 
permitted polygamy. It was general among 
the Jews, and still obtains in the East. In 
Media it was a reproach to a man to have 
less than seven wives. Among the Romans 
Mark Antony is mentioned as the first who 
took two wives, and the practice became 
frequent until forbidden by Arcadius, a.d. 
303. Polygamy has been adopted by the 
Jilormons. 

Wild Will Shakspeare and rare Ben Jon- 
son were both susceptible youth as well as 
brother poets; the one wedded his Ann 
Hathaway at eighteen, the other an unknown 
sweetheart at twenty. Dr. Sam Johnson, 
Burke, quaint Fuller, Scott, and Dante wived 



at twenty-six ; Byron, Bonaparte, Washing- 
ton, and Wellington at tM'enty-seven ; Penn 
and Sterne at twenty-eight; and Burns at 
thirty. Chaucer, Hogarth, and Peel wedded 
at thirty -two ; the poetical philosopher Davy, 
and the philosophical poet Wordsworth, at 
thirty-three ; Franklin at thirty-four ; Aris- 
totle and Linnasus at thirty -nine ; and Martin 
Luther broke loose from celibacy at forty- 
two. Addison lived a bachelor till he was 
forty-four ; Swift toyed with Stella and Van- 
essa till he was forty-nine, and then sopped the 
former's love and jealousy with a clandestine 
marriage ; BufFon, fond as he was of animated 
nature, waited till he was fifty -five; while 
old Parr took him a fresh rib at one hundred 
and twenty. The pious Jeremy Taylor, who 
thought " marriage a die of the greatest con- 
tingency, and yet of the greatest interest in 
the world next to the last throw for eternity," 
ventured it at twenty-six, and liked his luck 
so well that, being early left a widower, he 
tried a second throw. [A?ee Bachelors.] In 
the feudal law, banns were a solemn procla- 
mation of anything, and hence (about 1200) 
arose the custom of asking banns, or giving 
notice before marriage. Marriages were first 
solemnized by justices of the peace in the 
time of Cromwell. [See Hyjien.] 

MARS, in ancient mythology, the son of 
Juno, and the god of war. He is represented 
with a helmet on his head, a spear in his 
hand, often on a car, animated with the ar- 
dor of battle. The Romans honored him 
most, and erected many temples to him. His 
priests, the Salii, celebrated his festivals by 
dancing, and beating their bucklers in accord 
to music. He was the favorite of Venus, and 
completely supplanted Vulcan, who, however, 
revenged himself 

MARSHALL, John, was a Virginian by 
birth. In the Revolution he bore arms in 
his country's behalf, seeing service at Bran- 
dy wine, Germantown, and Monmouth. With 
Messrs. Pinckney and Gerry, he was sent on 
an embassy to France in 1797. During the 
last year of the elder Adams's administra- 
tion he was secretary of state ; and that pres- 
ident, Jan. 31st, 1801, appointed him chief- 
justice of the supreme court. This eminent 
station he adorned till his death in 1836. 

MARSHALS OF FRANCE. The following 
list of the marshals of France under Napoleon, 



MAR 



o26 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



will be useful to the reader of French his- 
tory. Arrighi, Augereau, Bernadotte, Ber- 
thier, Bessieres, Davoust, Jourdan, Junot, 
Keller man, Lannes, Lefebre, Macdonald, 
Marmont, Massena, Moncey, Mortier, Murat, 
Ney, Oudinot, Soult, Suchet, and Victor. 
The following were Napoleon's chief officers 
of state: Cambaceres, Caulaincourt, Cham- 
pagne, Duroc, Fouche, Le Brun, Maret, 
Savary, and Talleyrand. 

MARSTON MOOR. Sir Thomas Fairfax, 
and the Scots, under the Earl of Leven, were 
besieging York, when Prince Rupert deter- 
mined to raise the siege. The hostile armies 
met on Marston Moo^-, July 3d, 1G44. The 
energy of Oliver Cromwell, who here first 
came into notice, and the steady valor of the 
warriors whom he had trained, retrieved the 
day after it had been disgracefully lost by the 
Presbyterians, and ■ the royalists received a 
blow from which they never recovered. 

MARTIAL, Marcus Valerius, a Latin sa- 
tiric poet, died a.d. 104, aged seventy -five. 

MARTIN, Luther, an eminent lawyer, first 
attorney-general of Maryland, which office he 
held during the war, and nearly forty years ; 
became chief-justice of the city court of Bal- 
timore; died July 10th, 182G, in his eighty- 
second year. He was one of the convention 
that formed the constitution of the United 
States. 

MARVELL, Andrew, a poet, political 
writer, and patriotic member of parliament, 
was born at Hull in 1G20. He was the friend 
of Milton, and his associate as Latin secre- 
tary. Charles II. delighted in the patriot's 
society, and once sent Danby the treasurer 
to him, with an offer of a place at court and 
an immediate present of a thousand pounds. 
Inflexible Marvell refused the bribes, and in 
illustration of his independence called his 
servant to witness that for three days he had 
dined on one shoulder of mutton ! When the 
treasurer was gone, Marvell was forced to 
send to a Mend to borrow a guinea ! He 
died Aug. 16th, 1678. 

MARY, Queen of Scotland. [See Stuart.] 
MARYLAND. In 1860 the population 
was 687,049, of w^hom 87,189 were slaves, 
and 83,942 free negroes. Its whole area is 
rather more than 13,600 square miles, though 
its land surftxce is only about 11,000. The 
section lying east of Chesapeake Bay is locally 



known as the Eastern Shore, and the opposite 
coast as the Western Shore. The Potomac 
divides Maryland from Virginia. The cen- 
tral portion of the state is crossed by the 
Blue Ridge, and the Alleghanies traverse the 
western. Large fields of bituminous coal are 
found in the west, iron ore throughout the 
state, and fine marble for building. is quar- 
ried. Indian corn and wheat are the agricul- 
tural staples of the Eastern Shore, and these 
with tobacco form those of the Western. 
Cotton, flax, and hemp are also raised. 

George Calvert, Lord Baltimore, a Catholic 
gentleman who desired to found an asylum 
from persecution for the sect of which he was 
a distinguished member, visited Maryland, 
but died in England while preparing for the 
emigration. His son Cecil obtained a patent 
of the territory designed for the father. It 
was to have been called Crescentia, but he 
named it Maryland, in honor of Henrietta 
Maria, the wife of Charles I. He appointed 
his brother, Leonard Calvert, governor of the 
colony. The first settlement was made at St. 
JIary's on the Potomac, March, 1634, land 
having been bought from the Indians. The 
most marked feature in the new colony was 
its liberality to religious belief. Its toleration 
was surpassed only by the little band that 
had gathered about Roger Williams on the 
plantation of Providence. The general assem- 
bly of Maryland, in 1649, enacted "that no 
person or persons within this pi-ovince, pro- 
fessing to believe in Jesus Christ, shall from 
henceforth be anywise troubled, molested, 
or discountenanced for, or in respect of, his 
or her religion, nor in the free exercise there- 
of, within this province, nor any way com- 
pelled to the belief, or exercise of any other 
religion, against his or her consent." Among 
various provisions to secure this statute was 
a curious one that any person who should, 
upon any occasion, declare, or call by way of 
reproach, any other person residing in the 
province a Heretic, Schismatic, Idolator, 
Puritan, Presbyterian, Independent, Popish 
Priest, Jesuit, Jesuited Papist, Lutheran, 
Calvinist, Anabaptist, Brownist, Antinomian, 
Barrowist, Roundhead, Separatist, or other 
name or term, in a reproachful manner, 
relating to religion, should for every such 
offense be fined ten shillings sterling, or if he 
could not pay this, he was to be publicly- 



MAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



527 




whipped, and then be imprironc^l till he 
should appease the injured person by pub- 
hcly asking his forgiveness. 

This toleration attracted many colonists ; 
Puritans from New England and Episcopa- 
lians from Virginia mingled with the Catholic 
founders. Gradually the control passed into 
the hands of the Protestants. During the 
time of the English commonwealth they ill 
repaid the previous generosity of their Cath- 
olic brethren. At the revolution of 1688 the 
patent of the colony was set aside, and the 
government assumed by the crown. In 1716 
the proprietor was restored to his privileges, 
which were finally abrogated by the people 
at the commencement of the American Rev- 
olution. 

The governor of Maryland is chosen by the 
people for a term of four years, the state be- 
ing divided into three districts, from each of 
which, in order, the governor is taken. The 
general assembly meets biennially, and half 
the senators are chosen once in two years. 
Every free white male citizen of the United 
States, aged twenty-one or more, who has re- 
sided one year in the state, has the right of suf- 
frage. The constitution forbids imprisonment 
for debt, lotteries, and the abolition of slav- 
ery. The governor has not a power of veto. 
Ministers of the gospel are not eligible as 
members of the general assembly. The judi- 
cial power is vested in a court of appeals, 
circuit courts, and inferior tribunals. The 
four judges of the court of appeals are chosen 



from the four judicial districts, for a term of 
ten years; the eight circuit judges are also 
chosen for ten years, one from each of the 
circuits. The judges must be persons se- 
lected from those learned in the law, and are 
ineligible at the age of seventy. In tlie mat- 
ter of public education, Maryland is behind 
many of her sister states. 

Annapolis, situated on the south-west side 
of the Severn, two miles from its mouth, and 
forty miles north-east of Washington, since 
1699 has been the seat of the state govern- 
ment ; population in 1860, 4,529. In the 
venerable state-house the continental con- 
gress sometimes sat during the Revolution, 
and in its senate chamber "Washington re- 
signed his commission at the close of the 
war. Baltimore, a city and port of entry in 
Baltimore county, Maryland, is situated on 
the north side of the Patapsco, fourteen miles 
from its entrance into Chesapeake Bay. It 
was founded in 1730. The population in 
1860 was 212,418, It is the third city in the 
United States, and the centre of most of the 
trade of Maryland, and of a portion of that 
of the western states and J^innsylvania. It 
is built around a basin which affords a safe 
harbor, the narrow entrance of which, being 
guarded by Fort M' Henry, secures the city 
against a naval enemy. Several of the pub- 
lic buildings are elegant, and imposing in 
appearance. The Washington monument is 
a chaste and conspicuous structure of mar- 
ble. St. Mary's College is a Catholic insti- 



MAR 



523 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



tution of great repute. During the last war, 
tlie city of Baltimore was attacked by the 
British, and on the 12th of September, the 
battle at North Point was fought. On the 
next day Fort M' Henry was bombarded, the 
enemy beaten off, and General Ross, the 
English commander, slain. The bravery man- 
ifested in defense of Baltimore would prevent 
the event from falling into oblivion, but to 
commemorate it, an elegant marble monu- 
ment, thirty-five feet high, called the Battle 
monument, has been erected. From the num- 
ber of its monuments, Baltimore is often 
called the ]\Ionumental City. 

MASANIELLO, the common appellation of 
ToMASO AxiELLo, a fisherman of Naples, who 
headed a revolt of the populace against the 
Spanish in 1 G47. Masaniello was then twen- 
tj^-five. He was assassinated, after a few 
successful days, in which he had 200,000 men 
in arms. Like many men of low origin who 
have suddenly risen to sovereign power, he 
became bewildered by change of his fortunes, 
and his phrenzy was probably heightened by 
his intemperate habits, which impelled him to 
commit many acts of sanguinary violence. 

MASHAM, Abigail, bed-chamber woman 
to Queen Anne, in which situation she sup- 
planted the Duchess of Marlborough, her 
kinswoman, and procured the dismissal of the 
Whig ministry, which led to the peace of 
Utrecht in 1713. She died in 1734. 

MASINISSA, king of a small country in 
Africa, took part with the Carthaginians 
against Rome, but afterward became the ally 
of the Romans, who were indebted to him 
for many victories. At his death he made 
Scipio Jimilianus guardian of his kingdom. 
He died B.C. 149. 

MASON AND DIXON'S LINE. The 
controversy between the heirs of Penn and 
Lord Baltimore, concerning the boundaries 
of their proprietary lands, led to the running 
of a line between Pennsylvania and Mary- 
land, in 1767, by Mason and Dixon, two 
skillful surveyors. It is now popularly 
spoken of as the dividing line between the 
free and the slave states. 

MASON, George, a statesman of Virginia, 
member of the convention which framed the 
constitution of the United States, which he 
refused to sign on the ground that it tended 



too much toward centralization; died 1792, 
aged sixty-seven. 

MASSACHUSETTS. The Bay State com- 
monwealth, upon her 7,250 square miles, 
sustained in 1860 a population of 1,231,066. 
In the west the surfoce is generally hilly, 
often rugged, the country being traversed 
west of the Connecticut by the Hoosac range 
and a prolongation of the Green Mountains ; 
while east of that river is a continuation of 
the White Mountains. Eastward the sur- 
face is for the most part broken by gentle 
swells, spreading, as it approaches the ocean 
in the south-east, into a level sandy plain. 
Every part is well watered, though the 
streams are more useful for agricultural and 
mechanical purposes than as channels of com- 
munication. Rich and broad meadows skirt 
the Housatonic, the Connecticut, and the 
Merrimack, and much of the remaining soil is 
moderately productive. Though some parts 
of the west are too rugged, and some in the 
east too sandy, the central part contains 
many fine farms, and in the vicinity of the 
numerous commercial and manufacturing 
towns of the sea-coast, the cultivation is often 
higher than is practicable in districts more 
remote from a market. Taken as a whole, 
Massachusetts is the best tilled state in the 
Union, and her husbandry the most thrifty 
and skillful. In minerals, the recesses of 
her soil are not productive. There are quar- 
ries of fine granite at Quincy, and elsewhere 
of other handsome building stone. 

Fisheries, navigation, commerce, and man- 
ufactures are the important branches of in- 
dustry. The tonnage of her shipping is 
more than one-sixth of the total tonnage of 
the United States. New Bedford and Nan- 
tucket have the lead in whaling. The hardy 
fishermen of Marblehead and Gloucester and 
ports adjoining, have a like pre-eminence in 
the cod, mackerel, and herring fisheries. In 
manufactures, Massachusetts is more largely 
engaged than any other state. Boots and 
shoes, cottons, woolens, leather, clothing, soap, 
candles, and oil, straw braid and bonnets, 
paper, ship-building, machinery and iron man- 
ufactures of every variety, cabinet ware, are 
the foremost of the products that her l)usy 
towns and villages bring forth. Shall we 
mention that, according to the last census 



MAS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



529 




she distills more than half the rum of the governor was appointed by the crown. The 



country ? 

Massachusetts was first settled at Ply- 
mouth in 1 620, by the Puritans. "It is to this 
sect," remarks the historian Hume, "whose 
principles appear so frivolous, and whose 
habits so ridiculous, that the English owe the 
whole freedom of their constitution." No 
less is to be claimed for those who crossed the 
ocean, and settled in New England. They 
fled from persecution at home. It was their 
intention to settle farther south, but either 
by accident or by treachery they were thrown 
upon the inhospitable shores of New Eng- 
land in the dead of winter. The separate 
colony of Massachusetts Bay was founded at 
Salem in 1628; Boston was settled in 1630, 
and other towns, such as Charlestown, New- 
town (now Cambridge), Dorchester, Rox- 
bury, &c., rapidly sprang up. Persecution 
had not taught the Puritans the lesson of 
toleration and religious liberty that it gave 
to Roger Williams and Lord Baltimore. The, 
government which seemed best to these brave, 
earnest zealots M'as a theocracy, and they 
dealt harshly with the Quakers, and other 
men not in their fellowship. It must be re- 
membered that very often the Quakers and 
other enthusiasts ran into excesses as con- 
trary to the spirit of true religion as were 
the whippings, the brandings, and the hang- 
ings wherewith they were punished. 

The two colonies continued under distinct 
governments until 1692, when a royal char- 
ter brought them together. Henceforth the 



colonists in the carljr years suffered severely 
from the Indian wars, and afterward in the 
contests with the French possessions in 
Canada, whereby was echoed the noise of 
contending nations on the battle-fields of 
Europe. The men of Massachusetts were 
foremost in the expeditions undertaken by 
the British against the French in America. 
Their blood was shed before Quebec and 
at Louisburg, and their best and bravest 
were ever ready in the field to support the 
interestf of their parent country. At length, 
when the oppressive measures of Great 
Britain could no longer be submitted to, 
Massachusetts was the seat of the earliest 
conflicts in favor of liberty. The plains of 
Lexington and Concord, and the heights of 
Charlestown, have become hallowed by the 
American blood that bedewed them, and 
the glorious example of Massachusetts was 
speedily followed by the sister colonies. 

In 1786 an insurrection broke out under 
one Shays, but he was defeated at Spring- 
field, in 1787. Since then nothing has 
occurred to disturb the tranquillity, or 
affect the prosperity, of this flourishing and 
wealthy state. 

The constitution vests the legislative power 
in a senate and house of representatives, 
styled the general court, whose sessions are 
annual. The governor and other state offi- 
cers are chosen by the people annually. 
The governor has the title of 'his excellency,' 
and the lieutenant-governor that of 'his 



34 



MAS 



530 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



honor.' The right of suffrage is granted to 
every male citizen twenty-one years of age 
or more (excepting paupers and persons 
under guardianship), who has resided witliin 
the commonwealth one j'car, and within the 
town six months, and shall not be in ar- 
rears for taxes. An executive council of 
eight members is chosen annually by the 
people in districts. The judiciary is vested 
in a supreme court, a court of common pleas, 
and such inferior tribunals as the general 
court may establish. The judges are ap- 
pointed by the governor, by and with the 
advice and consent of the council, and hold 
their offices during good behavior. In the 
matter of education Massachusetts is sur- 
passed by no state in the Union. Harvard 
University at Cambridge is the oldest and 
best endowed institution in the United States. 
With it are connected a theological, a law, 
a medical, and a scientific school. Its library 
is one of the largest in the United States, 
containing about 140,000 volumes. Wil- 
liams College, Amherst College, and the 
theological seminary at Andover, are all 
valuable institutions, and worthy of the 
patronage they receive. The towns sustain 
schools of every grade, from the primary to 
the academic. The state supports normal 
schools at Westfield, Framingham, Bridge- 
water, and Salem ; lunatic hospitals at Wor- 
cester, Taunton, and Northampton ; a reform 
school for boys at Westborough ; an indus- 
trial school for girls at Lancaster; and a 
school for idiots at South Boston. 

Boston, the capital of Massachusetts, and 
the largest city of New England, is situated 
on a peninsula at the western extremity of 
Massachusetts Bay. Population, 177,812 in 
1860. Its extent, inclusive of the peninsula 
of South Boston, is nearly three square 
miles. The secure and commodious harbor 
is gemmed with many islands, some of 
which are fortified. The streets are quite 
narrow and irregular. Most of the modern 
buildings are built of brick or of granite. 
The State-house, on a hill which commands 
a view of the city and its environs, is a large 
building of brick, and contains a fine marble 
statue of Washington, executed by Chan- 
trey. Among the public buildings, a patri- 
otic interest belongs to Faneuil Hall, called 
"the cradle of liberty," from the public 



meetings held there previous to the Revolu- 
tion. Boston contains numerous literary, 
scientific, and charitable societies. It is the 
second commercial city of the United States. 
The common is the principal public square. 
It is surrounded by the mall, a handsome 
graveled walk, fenced in, and shaded with 
fine elm-trees, and contains about fifty acres. 

The first settlement of Boston was in 1630, 
when John Winthrop, the first governor of 
Massachusetts, and the company of immi- 
grants with him, having arrived and tarried 
for a short time at Charlestown, removed 
their location to the peninsula. There was 
one solitary inhabitant there at an earher 
date, the Rev. William Blackstone, of whom 
Mather speaks as "a godly Episcopalian," 
who in 1626 had built a cottage near what is 
now called Spring street, in the western part 
of the city. In 1634 fifty acres of land were 
set off to Mr. Blackstone, which was about 
one-twelfth part of the peninsula, he being 
"the first European inhabitant." Not long 
afterward, when he wished to remove, the 
town purchased all his "right and title to the 
peninsula of Shawmut" for £30, each free- 
holder paying six shillings, and some of them 
more. Mr. Blackstone afterward settled in 
Rhode Island. The peninsula was called 
by the Indians Shawmut, and by the early 
colonists Tri-mountain, from its three prom- 
inent hills. The first church was built in 
1632. In the reign of Charles II., the char- 
ter of Massachusetts was declared forfeited 
by a decree of chancery, and Sir Edmund 
Andros was appointed the first royal gover- 
nor. In April, 1689, the Bostonians seized 
upon the governor and imprisoned him, hav- 
ing first taken possession of the fort and 
castle in the harbor. In a little more than 
a month afterward, the news of the revolu- 
tion in England was welcomed in Boston 
with general exultation. 

April 17th, 1704, the first number of the 
Boston NeiDS Letter, the earliest newspaper 
in America, was published by John Camp- 
bell, the postmaster, a native of Scotland. 

In 1765, when the obnoxious stamp act 
passed, the person appointed to distribute 
the stamps in Boston was compelled to 
decline the office, and the house of the lieu- 
tenant-governor (Hutchinson) was destroyed 
by the mob. On the breaking out of these 



MAS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



531 



tumults, which appeared to threaten the 
downfall of authority, Boston was forced to 
receive a large military and naval force, which 
it was thought would quell the spirit of in- 
subordination. The citizens regarded the 
soldiers with little favor, and only wanted a 
pretext to show their hostility openly. March 
5th, 1770, a sergeant's guard in King (now 
State) street, being pressed upon and pelted 
By the mob, fired and killed five men. This 
is called the Boston massacre. After the 
tax had been imposed on tea, the Americans 
resolved, if possible, to prevent the landing 
and sale of it. When three of the 'tea ships 
arrived, December 16th, 1773, a party of 
men disguised as Indians, went on board 
and threw all the tea overboard. In the fol- 
lowing spring, the port of Boston was closed 
by act of parliament, and the importation and 
exportation of goods prohibited. The gen- 
eral court held its sittings in Salem, and 
more troops, together with a military gover- 
nor, were sent to Boston. In 1775, after the 
battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill, British 
troops, to the number of 10,000 men, were 
besieged in Boston until the March follow- 
ing. During this siege, the inhabitants 
suffered greatly, for many who wished to 
leave the town were not permitted to do so, 
but forced to stay against their will, and 
treated as tories by the American army on 
their entrance. The British officers amused 
themselves by acting plays in Faneuil Hall, 
the "cradle of liberty" being fitted up taste- 
fully on the occasion. General Burgoyne 
wrote a farce called the " Boston Blockade," 
in which the Yankees were severely satirized, 
and a happy triumph of the royal arms pre- 
dicted. The sarcasms on the weakness of 
the Americans with which this piece was 
interspersed, received a curious commentary 
on the frequent explosions of the shells 
which were thrown into the town by the 
besiegers. A cannon-ball entered the tower 
of the Brattle-street church, where it is still 
preserved. Boston was evacuated by the 
British, March 17th, 1776, and did not again 
suffer from their presence. 

"We have only room for a list of the other 
important tq^vns of the state, with their 
population according to the census of 1855. 
Salem, 22,252. Lowell, 36,827. Roxbury, 
25,137. Cambridge, 26,060. Charlestown, 



25,063. New Bedford, 20,389. Worcester, 
24,960. Lynn, 19,083. Springfield, 15,199. 
Newburyport, 13,401. Lawrence, 16,081. 
Fall River, 14,026. Taunton, 15,376. 

MASSACRES. Of all the Carthaginians 
in Sicily, 397 e.g. 2,000 Tyrians crucified, 
and 8,000 put to the sword for not surren- 
dering Tyre to Alexander, 331 b.c. The 
Jews of Antioch fall upon the other inhabit- 
ants and massacre 100,000, for refusing to 
surrender their arms to Demetrius Nicanor, 
tyrant of Syria, 154 b.c. A dreadful slaugh- 
ter of the Teutones and Ambrones, near 
Aix, by Marius the Roman general, 200,000 
being left dead on the spot, 102 b.c. The 
Romans throughout Asia, women and children 
not excepted, cruelly massacred in one day, 
by order of Mithridates, King of Pontus, 
88 B.C. A great number of Roman senators 
massacred by Cinna, Marius, and Sertorius, 
and several of the patricians dispatched 
themselves to avoid the horrid butcheries, 
86 B.C. Again, under Sulla, and Cataline, 
his minister of vengeance, 82 and 79 B.C. 
At Prieneste, Octavianus Cajsar ordered 300 
Roman senators and other persons of distinc- 
tion to be sacrificed to the manes of Julius 
Caesar, 41 b.c. 

At the destruction of Jerusalem, 1,100,000 
Jews were put to the sword, a.d. 70. Cas- 
sius, a Roman general, under the Emperor 
M. Aurelius, put to death 400,000 of the 
inhabitants of Seleucia, 167. At Alexandria, 
many thousand citizens, by order of Anto- 
ninus, 213. The Emperor Probus put to death 
700,000 of the inhabitants upon his reduction 
of Gaul, 277. Eighty Christian fathers, by 
order of the Emperor Gratian, at Nicomedia, 
were put into a ship, which was set on fire, 
and driven out to sea, 370. Thessalonica, 
when upward of 7,000 persons, invited into 
the circus, were put to the sword by order 
of Theodosius, 390. Belisarius put to death 
above 30,000 citizens of Constantinople for a 
revolt on account of two rapacious ministers 
set over them by Justinian, 652. Of the 
Latins, by order of Andronicus, 1184, at 
Constantinople. The Sicilians massacred the 
French throughout the whole island, without 
distinction of sex or age, on Easter day, the 
first bell for vespers being the signal ; this 
horrible affair is known in history by the 
name of the Sicilian vespers, 1282. Of the 



MAS 



532 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Swedish nobility at a feast, by order of Chris- 
tian II., 1520. Of 70,0au Huguenots, through- 
out the kingdom of France, attended with 
circumstances of the most horrid treachery 
and cruelty ; it began at Paris in the night 
of the festival of St. Bartholomew, August 
24th, 1572, by secret orders from Charles IX., 
at the instigation of Catharine de Medicis, 
his mother; it is styled in history the mas- 
sacre of St. Bartholomew. Of the Christians 
in Croatia, by the Turks, when 65,000 were 
slain, 1592. Of a great number of Protes- 
tants at Thorn, who were put to death under 
a pretended legal sentence of the chancellor 
of Poland, for being concerned in a tumult 
occasioned by a popish procession, 1V24. At 
Batavia, where 12,000 Chinese were killed 
by the natives, October, 1740. Of the whites 
by the insurgent negroes of St. Domingo, 
March 29th, 1804. Several awful massacres 
in France during the reign of terror from 
1789 to 1794. Massacre of 600 negroes by 
the French at St. Mark's, 1802. Massacre 
at Algiers, March 10th, 1806. Insurrection 
and dreadful massacre of the French at 
Madrid, May 2d, 1808. Dreadful massaci'e 
of the Mamelukes in the citadel of Cairo, 
March 1st, 1811. [See Scio.] Massacres 
of vast numbers of the inhabitants of Cadiz, 
by the soldiery, whose ferocious disorders 
continue for some days, March 6th, 1820. 

Massacre of 300 English nobles on Salis- 
bury Plain by Hengist, a.d. 474. Of the 
Danes, in the southern counties of England, 
in the night of November 13th, 1002 ; at 
London it was most bloody, the churches 
being no sanctuary ; among the rest Gunilda, 
sister of Swein, King of Denmark, left in 
hostage for the perfonnance of a treaty but 
newly concluded. Of the Jews, 1189. Some 
few pressing into Westminster Hall, at the 
coronation of Richard I., were put to death 
by the people, and a false alarm being given, 
that the king had ordered a general massa- 
cre of them, the people in many parts of 
England, from an aversion to them, slew all 
they met. In York, 500 who had taken 
shelter in the castle, killed themselves, 
rather than fall into the hand of the people. 
Of the Protestants in Ireland, when 40,000 
were killed, 1641. Of the Macdonalds at 
Glencoe, in Scotland, 1691. Of 64 American 

M 



prisoners at Dartmoor, England (disowned 
by Bi'itish government), April 6th, 1815. 

Massacre of the first settlers of Virginia, 
of whom 347 wei-e murdered in one night, 
1622, by the savages. At Wilkesbarre by 
the British and savages, July 3d, 1778. By 
the British and savages at Cherrj^ Valley, in 
New York, Nov. 11th, 1778. Both these 
sanguinary acts were done under the direction 
of Colonel John Butler. Of the Moravian In- 
dians, by a party from the western part of 
Pennsylvania, headed by Colonel Williamson, 
June, 1782. American garrison of Chicago, 
on their retreat from the place, by the sav- 
ages, August 15th, 1812. Of the American 
wounded prisoners at Frenchtown, on the 
river Raisin, January 22d, 1813, by the Ind- 
ians, with the privity of the British. 

MASSENA, Andre, Duke of Rivoli, and 
Prince of Esslingen, marshal of France, born 
at Nice in 1758, was a favorite general of 
Napoleon, and, in consequence of his success 
during his Italian campaign, was called by 
the emperor the ' darling of victory.' In 1799 
he defeated the Russians at Zurich, and in the 
following year defended Genoa during a pro- 
tracted siege till he was absolutely starved 
into capitulation. In 1809 he signalized him- 
self greatly in the battle of Esslingen (or As- 
pern) in Germany, and by his firmness saved 
the French imperial army from annihilation. 
In 1810 he was defeated by Wellington in the 
Portugal campaign. The Iron Duke called 
Massena the ablest opponent he 6ver encoun- 
tered. Mai-shal Marmont, a companion in 
arms of this tenacious, fierce, and invincible 
soldier, thus describes him. ""His iron frame 
contained a soul of fire. His glance was 
piercing, his activity extreme; no man was 
ever more brave. He troubled himself little 
in maintaining order among his troops, or in 
providing for their wants, and his dispositions 
before battle were mediocre ; but the combat 
once commenced, they became excellent, and 
by the advantages he drew from his army in 
action he soon repaired any previous faults. 
His education was slight, but he had much 
natural talent, great subtlety, and a profound 
knowledge of the human heart. He was very 
avaricious. His love for women was ardent, 
and his jealousy resembled that of the Italians 
of the fourteenth century. He was in friendly 
AS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



533 



relations with General Bonaparte, whom he 
was far from believing to be the equal of him- 
self as a soldier. There were not in him the 
necessary elements of a commander-in-chief of 
the first class, but there never existed a man 
superior to Massena in executing, on the 
grandest scale, operations to which another 
gave the impulse." Massena acknowledged 
the Bourbons upon Napoleon's first abdication, 
but joined his old commander at the return 
from Elba. He died in 1817. 

MASSILLON, Jean Baptiste, a great pul- 
pit orator of France, was born in Provence, in 
1663. Louis XIV. said to him, "Father, 
when I hear other preachers, I go away much 
pleased with them, but when I hear you, I 
go away much displeased with myself" He 
was made Bishop of Clemont in 1717, where 
he died in September, 1742. 

MASSINGER, Philip, an English dramatic 
writer, died in 1640, aged fifty-six. 

MATHER, Increase, an eminent American 
divine, born at Dorchester, Mass., died in 
1723, aged eighty-four. 

MATHER, Cotton, son of Increase Mather, 
also an eminent divine and writer, died in 
1727, aged sixty-five. 

MATHEW, Theobald, familiarly known 
as " Father Mathew," was born at Thomas- 
town in Tippei-ary in 1790. He was bred to 
the Roman Catholic priesthood. Cork was 
his post of labor. In 1838 he commenced 
his public labors against the crying evil of 
drunkenness. His unostentatious effort grew 
in might, and in a progress through Ireland 
in 1839 he had the joy of administering the 
pledge to several hundred thousand of his 
countrymen. The prestige of such success, 
combined with the purity of his personal 
character, rendered him an object of wonder- 
ing veneration among the Irish. He was 
received with enthusiasm during a visit to 
this country, whence he returned home in 
1851. His benevolent crusade reduced him 
to poverty and debt, and wore him into a long 
illness, from which death set him free at 
Quecnstown in Ireland, Dec. 8th, 1856. 

MATHIAS CORVINUS, called the Great, 
King of Hungary and Bohemia, was the son of 
John Hunniades. The enemies of his father 
confined him in prison in Bohemia ; but on 
regaining his liberty he was elected King of 
Hungary in 1458, His election, however. 



was opposed by many of the Hungarian lords, 
who offered the crown to Frederick III. The 
Turks, profiting by these divisions, invaded 
the country, but were expelled by Mathia;-, 
who compelled Frederick to yield to him the 
crown of St. Stephen, of which he had ob- 
tained possession. The war was afterward 
renewed, and Mathias, overrunning Austria, 
took Vienna and Neustadt, on which the 
emperor was obliged to make a peace in 1487. 
Mathias reformed many abuses, particularly 
with respect to duels and law-suits, and was 
preparing an expedition against the Turks, 
when he died of an apoplexy in 1490. 

MATILDA, or Maud, the daughter of Henry 
I. of England, and wife of Henry V., Em- 
peror of Germany, was nominated in 1135 
successor to the English throne by her father ; 
but in her absence her cousin Stephen 
usurped the title. Arriving in England with 
a large army in 1189, she defeated Stephen, 
and was acknowledged queen in a parliament 
held in 1141. Stephen afterward defeated 
the empress, on which the national s3'nod 
declared for him, and Matilda was obliged to 
leave the kingdom. On the death of thi- 
emperor she married Geoffrey Plantagenet, 
Earl of Anjou, by whom she had a son, after- 
ward Henry II. of England. Matilda died in 
1177, aged sixty -seven. 

MAURICE, Elector of Saxony, and suc- 
cessful supporter of the Protestant cause in 
Germany, killed in the battle of Sievenhausen, 
1553, aged thirty-two years. 

MAURICE, of Nassau, Prince of Orange, 
and grandson by his mother to Maurice of 
Saxony, was a pre-eminent Dutch general, 
and died in 1625, aged fifty-eight. He was 
one of the founders of the independence of 
Holland from Spain. 

MAXENTIUS, Marcus Aurelius Vale- 
rius, a Roman emperor, was the son of 
Maximianus Hercules, and declared himself 
Augustus in 306. He was opposed by Gal- 
crius Maximianus, who was' defeated, and 
slew himself Maxentius then marched into 
Afiica, where he became odious by his cruel- 
ties. Constantine afterward defeated him in 
Italy, and he was drowned in crossing the 
Tiber in 312. Before the battle Constantine 
adopted the cross as his standard, and after 
the victory he made Christianity the religion 
of the empire. 



MAX 



534 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



MAXIMINUS, Caius Julius Vekus, Em- 
peror of Rome, was the son of a peasant in 
Thrace, and having displayed great courage 
in the Roman armies, he rose to command. 
On the death of Alexander Severus, he caused 
himself to be proclaimed emperor, a.d. 235. 
, He was a great persecutor, and put to death 
above four thousand persons on suspicion of 
their being concerned in a conspiracy against 
him. His soldiers assassinated him near 
Aquileia, a.d. 256. His stature and strength 
were very extraordinary, and his disposition 
proportionably brutal. Forty pounds of meat 
and eighteen bottles of wine were his ordi- 
nary allowance for a day. His strength was 
such that he is said to have stopped a chariot 
in full speed with one of his fingers. 

MAZARIN, Julius, a Roman cardinal and 
minister of state, was born in Piscina in Italy, 
in 1602. Being appointed nuncio extraord- 
inary to France, he acquired the friendship 
of Richelieu and the confidence of Louis XHI. 
In 1641 Pope Urban VIII. made him cardi- 
nal ; and on the death of Richelieu, Louis 
appointed him minister of state. He was 
also nominated one of the executors of the 
kings will, and had the principal manage- 
ment of affairs during the minority of Louis 
XIV. ; but at length the murmurs of the 
people rose so much against him, that he 
found it expedient to quit the kingdom, and 
a price was set on his head. He afterward 
recovered power. His application to business 
produced a disease of which he died in 1661. 
MAZEPPA, John, a Polish gentleman, 
born in the palatinate of Podolia, was edu- 
cated as the page of John Casimir. An 
intrigue with the wife of a Polish gentleman 
caused him to be bound, naked, to the back 
of a wild horse. 

"'Bring forth the horse!' — the horse was 
brouglit ; 
In truth he was a noble steed, 
A Tartar of the Ukraine breed ; 
Who looked as though the speed of thought 
"Were in his •limbs ; but he was y/M, 
Wild as the wild deer and untavight ; 
With spur and bridle undefiled — 
'Twas but a day he had been caught ; 
And snorting, with erected mane, 
And struggling fiercely, but in vain, 
In the full foam of wrath and dread, 
To him the desert-born was led." — Bi/yo7i. 

On being loosed, the horse, which was of the 
Ukraine, returned thither, bearing Mazcppa 



half dead with hunger and fatigue. Some 
peasants afforded him succor, and he re- 
mained a long time among them, signaliznig 
himself in many exertions against the Tar- 
tars. The superiority of his understanding 
acquired him the chief command of the Cos- 
sacks, and, in consequence of his increasing 
reputation, Peter the Great made him Prince 
of the Ukraine. He, however, joined Charles 
XII., and fought for him at the fiital battle 
of Pultowa. After this defeat he retired into 
Wallachia, and thence to Bender, where he 
died in 1709. 

In some parts of Germany, during the feudal 
times, an infringement of the forest laws was 
punished by chaining the offender to the 
back of a wild stag, which bounded away 
with him, through thorny thickets and wild 
passes, until death relieved him of his suffer- 
ings. 

M'KEAN, Thomas, a signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, was born March 
19th, 1734, in the county of Chester, Penn- 
sylvania, and was admitted to the bar of the 
supreme court of Pennsylvania, .in 1757. 
For seventeen successive years he was elected 
a member of the assembly. He was sent to 
the congress held at New York in 1765, took 
an active part in the Revolutionary proceed- 
ings, and served in arms in New Jersey, 
where he greatly distinguished himself. He 
was a delegate from Delaware, 1774, 1776, 
and 1778-83, and in 1781 he was president 
of that body. October 23d, 1781, he ad- 
dressed a letter to Congress, resigning his 
office of president ; Congress next day unani- 
mously resolved that Thomas M'Kean be 
requested to resume the chair, and act as 
president. To this he acceded. He was 
chief-justice of Pennsylvania twenty-two 
years, and in 1799 was chosen governor of 
that state. He was governor of Pennsylva- 
nia nine years, and died June 24th, 1817, in 
his eighty-fourth j'ear, being one of four sur- 
vivors of the signers of the Declaration of In- 
dependence. 

MECCA, a large city of Arabia, derives its 
celebrity from being the birth-place of Ma- 
homet, and the seat of his power ; and accord- 
ingly every pious Mussulman should make a 
pilgrimage to it at least once in his life. Here 
a conspiracy was formed against the prophet, 
and flight was his only resource. After aif 



MEC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



535 



exile of seven years, however, the fugitive 
missionary was enthroned as the prince and 
prophet of his native country. 

MEDIA, a country of ancient Asia. It 
was originally called Aria, till the age of 
l^Iedus, the son of Medea, who gave it the 
name of Media. The province of Media was 
first raised into a kingdom by its revolt from 
the Assyrian monarchy, b.c. 820; and, after 
it had for some time enjoyed a kind of repub- 
lican government, Deioces, by artifice, pro- 
cured himself to be called king, 700 b.c. After 
a reign of fifty-three years, he was succeeded 
by Phraortes, B.C. 647 ; who was succeeded by 
Cyaxares, b.c. G25. His successor was Asty- 
ages, B.C. 595, in whose reign Cyrus became 
master of Media, b.c. 551 ; and ever after the 
country was occupied by the Persians. 

The Mcdes were warlike in the primitive 
ages of their power ; they encouraged polyg- 
amy, and were remarkable for the homage 
which they paid to their sovereigns, who 
were styled kings of kings. This title was 
afterward adopted by their conquerors, the 
Persians ; and it was still in use in the age 
of the Roman emperors. 

MEDICI, Cosmo de, called the Elder, the 
founder of an illustrious family at Florence, 
was a merchant, and was born in 1389. He 
acquired great wealth, which he appropriated 
to the noble purposes of advancing learning 
and supporting learned men. He collected 
a noble library, which he enriched with 
inestimable manuscripts. The envy excited 
against him by his riches, and by his ambi- 
tion, raised him many enemies, by whose 
intrigues he was obliged to quit his native 
country. He retired to Venice, where he 
was received as a prince. His fellow-citizens 
afterward recalled him, and he bore a prin- 
cipal share in the government of the republic 
for thirty years. He died in 1464. On his 
tomb was engraved this inscription: "The 
Father of his People, and the Deliverer of his 
Country." 

MEDICI, Lorenzo de, the Magnificent, 
grandson of Cosmo, born in 1448, died 1492. 
He was a munificent patron of letters and 
the arts. 

MEDINA, a city of Arabia, celebrated from 
its containing the tomb of Mahomet. During 
his residence there it was attacked by an 
army of 10,000 enemies, but the prudence 



of Mahomet declined a general engagement, 
and the confederates at length retired. 

MEDINA SIDONIA, Alfonso Perez Guz- 
man, Duke of, commander of the celebrated 
Spanish armada in 1588. 

MELANCTHON, Philip, illustrious re- 
former, and coadjutor of Luther, born 1497, 
died 1560, aged sixty-three. His name was 
Schwartzerd, which, according to the pedan- 
tic custom of the age, he changed into the 
Greek Melancthon, both meaning 'black 
earth.' 

MENDELSSOHN, Felix Bartiioldy, the 
eminent composer, was a native of Hamburg, 
and died at Leipsic, Nov. 4th, 1847, aged 
thirty-eight. 

MENZIKOFF, Alexander, a prince of the 
Russian empire, was the son of a peasant, and 
the servant of a pastry-cook, who employed 
him to cry pies about the streets. His ap- 
pearance pleasing Peter the Great, he took 
him into his service. Menzikoff soon insin- 
uated himself into the confidence of his 
sovereign, who at length conferred on him 
the title of prince. In 1713 he was accused 
of peculation, and condemned to pay a heavy 
fine, which the czar remitted, and restored 
him to fevor. Under the Czarina Catharine 
he had still more power. His daughter was 
married to Peter II., who made Menzikoff 
Duke of Cozel, and grand-master of the 
imperial hotel. But by the intrigues of 
Dolgorucki, mistress of the czar, he fell into 
disgrace, and was banished to his estate ; 
where he lived in such magnificence that 
Peter was persuaded to send him, for his own 
safety, into Siberia, and there he died in a 
poor hut in 1729. 

MERCATOR, Gerard, a Fleming, im- 
prover of a method of projecting maps which 
bears his name, died in 1594, aged eighty- 
two. 

MERCER, Hugh, a most respectable and 
valuable general in the Revolutionary war ; 
killed in the battle of Princeton, January, 
1777, at the age of fifty-six. He was a native 
of Scotland, and a physician by profession. 
Congress resolved that the oldest son of Gen. 
Warren, and the youngest son of Gen. Mer- 
cer, should be educated at the expense of the 
United States. 

MESSALINA, Valeria, daughter of Mes- 
salinus Barbatus, and wife of the Emperor 



MES 



536 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Claudius, an abandoned woman. Having 
espoused her favorite Silius, in the lifetime of 
her husband, she was put to death by order 
of the emperor, a.d. 46. 

There was another of this name, who was 
the third wife of Nero, after her fourth hus- 
band, Atticus, had been put to death by that 
tyrant. On the death of Nero she devoted 
the remainder of her days to study, and 
acquired a great reputation. 

MESOPOTAMIA, part of the kingdom of 
Assyria, underwent all the revolutions of this 
and the Persian empire, till it was conquered 
by Trajan in 106 ; after which it several times 
changed masters betwixt the Romans and the 
Persians, but generally belonged to the latter, 
till it was conquered by the Saracens, together 
with the rest of Persia, in 651. It was seized 
by the Seljuks in 1046, and by Genghis Khan 
in 1218. In 1360 Tur Ali Beg, the Turkman, 
founded the dynasty called Ak Koyunlu, or 
the White Sheep, in this country. 

It submitted to Timur Beg in 1400, but he 
did not retain the conquest. In 1514 it was 
conquered by Ismael Sofi the Persian, was 
half conquered by the Turks in 1554, recov- 
ered by the Persians in 1613, but completely 
reduced by the Turks in 1687, when they 
took Bagdad. 

METALS. The seven metals are mentioned 
by Moses and Homer. Virgil speaks of the 
melting of steel in furnaces. The Phoenicians 
had great skill in working metals. 

Iron was found on Mount Ida by the Dac- 
tyles, 1432 b.c, after the forest had been 
burned by lightning. The Greeks claimed 
the discovery of iron, and ascribed glass to 
the Phoenicians ; but in the fourth chapter of 
Genesis, Moses mentions Tubal Cain as "an 
instructor of every artificer in brass and iron." 
Iron furnaces among the Romans were un- 
provided with bellows, but were placed on 
eminences, with the grate in the direction of 
the prevailing winds. Swedish iron is very 
celebrated, and Dannemora is the greatest 
mine of Sweden. Iron was first cast in Eng- 
land, in Sussex, 1543. Tinning of iron was 
introduced into England from Bohemia in 
1681. Iron was first discovered in America, 
in Virginia, 1715. Railroad iron was first 
manufactured m the United States in 1841. 

It is said that copper was known before 
iron. In the eighth chapter of Ezra we read 



of two vessels of fine copper, precious as gold. 
Copper was first found in Sweden in 1396, 
and the mine of Fahkm is the most surprising 
artificial excavation in the world. In England 
copper was discovered in 1561, and it is now 
an important branch of British trade. In 
Japan copper is the most common of all the 
metals. Within the last few years copper 
has been found in the richest abundance in 
the vicinity of Lake Superior. Its existence 
there was known as early as 1636. 

Gold has been obtained abundantly in Af- 
rica, Japan, and South America. The Rus- 
sian mines in the Ural Mountains were con- 
sidered the richest in the world till 1847, 
when the discoveries of California dazzled the 
world. In 1851 similar realms of auriferous 
wealth were found in Australia. 

Silver exists in most parts of the world, 
but the mines of South America are by far 
the richest. A mine was opened in the dis- 
trict of La Paz in 1660, so rich that the silver 
was often cut with a chisel. In 1749 a mass 
of silver weighing three hundred and seventy 
pounds was sent to Spain. From a mine in 
Norway, a piece was dug, and sent to the 
royal museum at Copenhagen, weighing five 
hundred and sixty pounds, and worth $8,000. 
In England silver vessels were first used by 
Wilfrid, a Northumbrian bishop, a lofty and 
ambitious man, a.d. 709. Silver knives, 
spoons, and cups were great luxuries in 1300. 

Mercury, or quicksilver, was known to the 
ancients, and has been found in Europe, Peru, 
California, and China. The mines near Car- 
niola in Austria, and those of Almeida in 
Spain, are the chief in Europe. The former, 
discovered by accident in 1497, have some- 
times yielded twelve hundred tons in a year. 
The anti-venereal virtues of mercury were 
found by James Carpus, an Italian surgeon, 
in 1512. Calomel was first prepared in the 
seventeenth century. Pallas congealed mer- 
cury by artificial cold in 1772. Winter un- 
aided did the same at St. Petersburg in 1759. 
The use of quicksilver in refining silver was 
discovered in 1540. 

The Phoenicians traded with England for 
tin more than eleven centuries before the 
Christian era. It also appears to have been 
known in the day of Moses. Tin is a scarce 
metal. Cornwall is its most productive 
source : it occurs in the mountains between 



MET 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



537 



Spain and Portugal, and in those between 
Saxony and Bohemia; and it has also been 
brought from Malacca, Chili, and Mexico. 

Lead, another of the ancient metals, is more 
abundant. The lead mines of Illinois are 
among the richest in the world. Leaden 
pipes for the conveyance of water were 
brought into use in 1236. 

The discovery of zinc, so far as anything 
certain is known, is due to the moderns. It 
is said, however, to have been long known in 
China, and is noticed by European writers as 
early as a.d. 1231, though the method of ex- 
tracting it from the ore was unknown for 
nearly five hundred years after. 

Brass was known among all the early na- 
tions. There is a tradition that when Lucius 
Mummius burnt Corinth to the ground, 146 
B.C., the riches he found were immense, and 
during the conflagration all the metals in the 
city melted, and running together, formed the 
valuable composition called Corinthian brass. 
This may well be doubted, for the Corinthian 
artificers had long before obtained great credit 
for their method of combining gold and silver 
with copper ; and the Syriac translation of the 
Bible says that Hiram made the vessels for 
Solomon's temple of Corinthian brass. 

METASTASIO, PiEfRO, an eminent Italian 
poet, born at Rome, 1698, died at Vienna, 
1782. In 1729 he was appointed imperial 
laureate to the Austrian court. 

METON, an astronomer of Athens, inventor 
of the cycle which bears his name, flourished 
B.C. 432-410. 

MEXICO, now a republic of North Amer- 
ica, formerly belonged to Spain, and was then 
governed by a viceroy. Its area is 1,038,865 
square miles and its population 7,360,000. 
The land attains an uncommon elevation in 
the interior, the city of Mexico, the capital, 
being 7,000 feet above the ocean. The high- 
est summit of the Cordilleras of Mexico, is 
the volcanic peak of Popocatepetl, 17,884 feet 
high. The climate on the coast is hot, and 
in general unhealthy, but upon the high table- 
land in the interior, it is uncommonly salu- 
brious. A large portion of the soil is fertile, 
producing maize, wheat, sugar, indigo, to- 
bacco, agave, different kinds of fruits, bana- 
nas, manioc, vanilla, cocoa, cochineal, log- 
wood, and mahogany. The annual produce 
of the rich gold and silver mines, for which 



Mexico is celebrated, has sometimes been 
$20,000,000. One of these mines is eight 
miles in length, and, in one place, 1,640 feet 
in depth. The religion is Roman Catholic. 
Education is generally neglected, although 
there is a university in the city of Mexico. 
A large portion of the population is composed 
of subdued Indians. 

Mexico is divided into twenty-one provinces 
or departments, which correspond to the for- 
mer states of the federal republic. The capi- 
tal is the city of Mexico, one of the finest 
cities in all the world for the uniformity of its 
site, the breadth and regularity of its streets, 
and the extent of its squares and public places. 
The many churches and convents, with their 
cupolas and towers, add to its splendor. The 
population is said to amount to 150,000. 

When in 1519 the Spaniards under Cortez 
commenced the conquest of Mexico, they found 
the native Mexicans far advanced in civiliza- 
tion, wealthy, hospitable, liberal, and in gen- 
eral inoffensive. They appeared to have an 
instinctive dread of the foreigners, and yet 
treated them with kindness. They were will- 
ing to share their wealth with the Spaniards, 
but nothing less than the whole would satisfy 
the cupidity of the Christians. After scenes 
of cruelty and treachery, the Spanish leader 
completed the conquest in 1521. The coun- 
try continued under the jurisdiction of a Span- 
ish viceroy, until it declared itself independent 
in 1820. 

After the brief empire of Iturbide, a consti- 
tution modeled on ours was adopted. Of the 
ups and downs of Mexican politics, the dis- 
sensions that hSiVe torn the country, the am- 
bitious dictators that have aspired, risen, and 
fell, we can not here give a sketch. In 1835 
Texas revolted, and afterward established it- 
self as an independent state. Its annexation 
to the United States resulted in a war between 
Mexico and the latter. The Mexicans fought 
bravely, but the decision was certain. Of the 
victories of Taylor, at Palo Alto, Resaca de la 
Palma, Monterey, and Buena Vista, and those 
of Scott, at Vera Cruz, Ccrro Gordo, Contre- 
ras, Churubusco, Chapultepec, and Molino 
del Rey, we have made separate mention. 
The triumphs of Scott were crowned by the 
possession of the city of Mexico. Elsewhere 
too, in California and in New Mexico, victory 
perched upon the American standards. Peace 



HEX 



538 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



was ratified in February, 1848. The Rio 
Grande was made the boundary of Texas; 
New Mexico and Upper California were ceded 
to the United States, and the latter paid 
$15,000,000 and assumed claims to the amount 
of $3,250,000. This is known as the treaty 
of Guadalupe Hidalgo. 

Although we still name Mexico a republic, 
because it is legally and in justice such, yet 
it was chiefly subdued during 1861-5 by the 
treacherous and despotic interference of the 
French emperor. Miramop while president 
of Mexico, had negotiated a loan with the 
banking house of Jecker, by which he re- 
ceived $750,000, for which Jecker was to 
receive $15,000,000. Louis Napoleon caused 
Jecker to be admitted a French citizen, took 
up his claim as a pretence, and induced Spain 
and England to send troops along with his 
own to Mexico, on pretence of enforcing pay- 
ment of the claims against Mexico of all three, 
in all about $176,000,000. The invading force 
reached Vera Cruz in December, 1861. The 
Spanish and English troops were withdrawn 
9th Apr., 1862, on pretence of distrust of the 
Jecker claim, but the French went on alone, 
meeting no effective resistance. Maximilian, 
an Austrian arch-duke, accepted the emperor- 
ship of Mexico, which Napoleon now offered 
him, and crossing the ocean, issued a procla- 
mation on May 28, 1864, at Vera Cruz, "ac- 
cepting" the throne. He however neither 
gained nor held it except by the aid of French 
bayonets. 

MICHAEL ANGELO. Michelangelo 
Buonarroti was of a noble and ancient 
family, and born at Caprese in Tuscany, 
March 6th, 1475. Any one of his high quali- 
ties would have made the fortune of an or- 
dinary man. He was a distinguished painter, 
sculptor, architect, and poet, and "cunning 
offence." The beauty of the Sistine Chapel 
at Rome consists principally in the perfec- 
tion of his paintings. At fifty, he commenced 
painting the "Last Judgment" the;-e, in 
which the grand and gigantic character of his 
mind is shadowed forth. Embracing a mul- 
titude of figures in various attitudes, and 
with different expressions, it is an unweary- 
ing object of contemplation for the artist and 
lover of the fine arts. Between Michelangelo 
and Raphael, there was a generous rivalry, 
the former never forgetting that Raphael had 



perfected his style only after having dili- 
gently studied the frescoes of the Sistine 
Chapel. Raphael is said to have often ex- 
claimed that he thanked God he was born in 
the days of Michelangelo. 

The Farnesian family had built a house 
upon the bank of the Tiber. Cardinal Far- 
nese wished to have the halls adorned by the 
the pencil of Rajohael, to give additional 
beauty to this charming place. The artist 
stipulated that no one should inspect his 
work until it was finished. But the friends 
of Raphael spread abroad high reports of the 
triumphs which the painter had achieved; 
praising in especial, the "Banquet of the 
Gods," the "Nuptials of Cupid and Psyche," 
and the "Triumph of Galatea." These re- 
ports inflamed the curiosity of Buonarroti, 
and he swore by the "Inferno" of Dante, 
that he would gain admission into the Far- 
nesian villa, examine the works of Raphael, 
and prevent their completion. 

Michelangelo, having discovered that Ra- 
phael went late to his work, disguised him- 
self as a vender of brandy, and taking with 
him a huge basket filled with biscuits and 
brandjr, directed his steps at an early hour 
to the gate of the Farnesian palace. His 
cries of "Brandy! brandy!" roused the 
masons; the gate was opened. Behold 
^lichelangelo in the interior of the Farne- 
sina! The workmen were soon busily em- 
ployed upon the biscuits and the brandy; 
he passed through the corridors, and was 
soon before the frescoes of Raphael. The 
fine picture of Galatea attracted his attention, 
and, noticing a scaffold and a wall in readi- 
ness for the painter, he ascended and drew 
with a piece of charcoal a gigantic head of 
Jupiter, after which he left the villa precipi- 
tately, without stopping for his basket. 
When Raphael arrived at noon, on beholding 
the splendid head, he exclaimed, " Michelan- 
gelo ! " From that day he painted no more 
in the Farnesina, and his works remained 
unfinished. The head of Jupiter remains 
still upon the wall, covered with a glass, and 
attracts the admiration of artists and con- 
noisseurs. 

The great artist was never married. He 
died at Rome, Feb. 17th, 1564, and his body 
was entombed in the church of Santa Croce 
at Florence. 



MIC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



539 




MICHIGAN consists of two distinct penin- 
sulas, separated by the waters of Lake Huron 
and Lake Michigan. In all, it has an areo 
of 56,243 square miles, populated in 1800 
by 749,113 inhabitants. The surface of the 
southern peninsula is in general slightly un- 
dulating; the watershed, that divides the 
streams flowing into Lake Huron and Lake 
Erie froiii those running into Lake Michigan, 
gradually rises in the north, which is more 
broken. The country is well timbered with 
oak, hickory, poplar, sugar maple, and white 
and j^ellow pine. There are some prairies. 
The land of southern Michigan is very fer- 
tile, and all the state is well watered. The 
northern peninsula has not been fully ex- 
plored, but it is much more rugged than the 
southern. The Pictured Rocks are a remark- 
able sight on the northern coast. A lofty 
wall of sand-stone extends along the shore 
for the distance of about twelve miles, rising 
perpendicularly with an elevation, in some 
parts, of three hundred feet. The fiice of 
the wall discolored by the water, presents 
the appearance of landscapes, buildings, and 
various objects delineated by the hand of 
man, while in some places the cliffs are 
broken into grotesque forms by the fury of 
the ever-dashing surge ; groups of overhang- 
ing precipices, towering walls, caverns, water- 
falls, and prostrate i-uins are here mingled 
in the most wonderful disorder. One of the 
most curious formations consists of a tabular 
mass of sand-stone, about fifty feet in diame- 
ter and eight feet thick, supported by four I 



columns, which are nearly round and exhibit 
almost the regularity of masonry ; they are 
from three to seven feet in diameter and 
about forty feet high, and support four light 
and lofty arches. 

The most remarkable natural feature of 
Michigan is the great lakes by which it is 
nearly surrounded. Lying in the centre of 
a vast continent, with their surfaces six hun- 
dred feet above the level of the ocean, they 
penetrate far down below that level, since 
they have a depth varying from eight hun- 
dred to a thousand feet. Lake Michigan lies 
chiefly in the state that bears its name. This 
great sheet of water has a width of from 
eighty to one hundred miles ; its length is 
about three hundred and sixty miles, and it 
has an area of about 26,000 square miles. 
In general, it is remarkable for the absence 
of bays and harbors, the coast being through- 
out a greater part of its windings unbroken 
by any considerable indentations. Green 
Bay in the north-west is, however, a fine 
expanse, of about twenty-five miles in width, 
extending far up into the land, and accessible 
to vessels of two hundred tons burthen. 
Ships of any size may float in Lake Michigan, 
but the waters on its shores are shallow. 
Lake Michigan communicates through the 
Straits of Michilimackinac, — called in the 
country Mackinaw, — four miles wide, with 
Lake Huron. It is remarkably free from 
islands, but toward its northern extremity are 
the Manitou Isles and the Beaver Islands. 

The geologists who surveyed the northern 



MIC 



640 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



peninsula, by order of the general govern- 
ment, reported that its beds of iron are of 
such magnitude, the ore of such purity, and 
the vast forests so suitable for charcoal, that 
this region must yet be one of the most 
valuable in the world for the manufocturing 
of the finer varieties of wrought iron and 
steel. Copper is also found in great extent 
and richness. 

French traders early entered Michigan, and 
established a post at Detroit. France yielded 



tensively devastated by fire; first in 1805, 
when it was nearly destroyed; and after- 
ward in 1837, when there was also a great 
destruction of property. 

MICKLE, William Julius, a Scotch poet, 
and translator of " The Lusiad," born in 1734, 
died in 1788. 

MIDDLETON, Autiiur, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born at 
Middleton Place in South Carolina, 1743. 
He was educated in England, returned to 



the country to England in 1703. It was ] America in 1773, was an active republican, 



organized as a territory of the United States 
in 1805, and in 183G was admitted into the 
Union. Both branches of the legislature are 
chosen and meet biennially. The style of 
the laws is, " The people of the state of 
Michigan enact." The governor is elected 
biennially. The right of suffrage is held by 
every white male citizen above twenty-one ; 
every white male inhabitant who has re- 
sided in the state two years and a half, and 
declared his intention to become a citizen 
of the United States six months before the 
election ; and every civilized male inhabitant 
of Indian descent, a native of the United 
States and not a member of any tribe ; all 
of whom must have resided in the state three 
months before an election. The judicial 
power is vested in a supreme court, circuit 
courts, probate courts, and justices of the 
peace. Good provision is made for common- 
school education, and the state sustains a 
normal school, an asylum for the insane, and 
an asylum for the deaf and dumb and the 
blind. 

Lansing is the capital of the state ; popu- 
lation in 1860, 8,074. The largest town of 
Michigan is Detroit, situated between Lakes 
Erie and St. Clair, on the west side of the 
river Detroit; population in 1860, 45,619. 
It is well built on a gentle ascent from the 
river. It was settled by Canadian French 
in 1683. In 17G0 it fell into the hands of 
the British. In 1784 it became by treaty 
a possession of the United States, which 
maintained a garrison there from 1700 untd 
within a few years past. It was first incor- 
porated as a city in 1802. In the war of 
1812 Detroit was captured by the British, 
and recaptured by the Americans the next 
year. In 1815 it received a new charter of 
incorporation. The city has twice been ex- 



and in 1776 was elected to a seat in Con- 
gress, of which body he was a member till 
1778, and again from 1781 to 1783. He 
was in Charleston during the siege of 1780, 
and was made a prisoner at the time of the 
surrender. The fires of the Revolution 
melted away a large portion of his ample 
fortune. He continued active in public life 
until his death, Jan. 1st, 1787. 

MIFFLIN, TnoMAs, major-general in the 
Revolutionary war; president of Congress 
in 1783, and in that character received the 
resignation of Washington in a public audi- 
ence at Annapolis ; was nine years governor 
of Pennsylvania ; died Jan. 20th, 1800, in 
the fifty -seventh year of his age. 

MILAN, formerly a duchy in the north 
of Italy, was comprised, with several other 
districts, under the general name of Lom- 
bardy, until the fourteenth century, when 
Visconti, a Milanese nobleman, purchased 
the ducal title from the reigning emperor. 
The marriage of his daughter to the Duke 
of Orleans gave rise to the pretensions of 
the kings of France to this duchy. After 
the death of the last duke of this line, 
Francis Sforza, a man of family and talents, 
so ingratiated himself with the people that 
he was unanimously chosen duke in 1450. 
On the extinction of the Sforza family a 
century after, tlie Emperor Charles V. gave 
the Milanese as a fief of the empire to his 
son Philip II. of Spain, and it remained an 
appendage to that crown till 1706, when a 
brilliant campaign of Prince Eugene put it 
in possession of the house of Austria, to 
which, with the exception of the Sardinian 
Milanese, it continued subject during ninety 
3'ears, until the victories of Bonaparte in 
1796. On the formaticm of the Cisalpine 
republic, the whole of Milan, divided into four 



MIL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



541 



departments, was comprised in it; but on 
the restoration of the old order of things in 
1814, the part belonging to Sardinia was 
restored, and the remainder incorporated 
with Austrian Italy. 

Milan, the capital city of the Austrian 
crownland of Lombardy, contains many 
splendid public buildings, and 102,000 in- 
habitants. The French made themselves 
masters of it in 1796; but were driven out 
in 1799 by the victorious army of the Aus- 
trians and Russians. After the battle of 
Marengo, Milan again fell into the hands of 
the French, and continued the seat of their 
viceroy until the fall of Bonaparte in 1814. 

The celebrated Milan decree of Napoleon 
against all continental intercourse with Eng- 
land, was proclaimed Dec. 17th, 1807. 

MILLER, Hugh, was born at Cromarty, a 
small seaport town in the north of Scotland, 
in 1802. He received a scanty schooling and 
became a stone mason. He was fond of 
reading and a keen observer of nature. Pie 
attracted attention by various contributions 
to newspapers, and in 1840 became editor 
of the Witness, a leading Edinburgh journal. 
Geology was his favorite study, and his 
treatise, " The Old Red Sandstone," stamped 
him with a high and worldwide reputation 
that was well sustained by his subsequent 
publications. He shot himself in an insane 
paroxysm resulting from excessive mental 
labor, Dec. 31st, 1856. The day previous 
he had completed a work entitled "The Tes- 
timony of the Rocks." 

MILTIADES, an Athenian, married Hege- 
sipyla, the daughter of Olorus, the king of 
the Thracians. In the third year of his gov- 
ernment his dominions were threatened by 
an invasion of the Scythian Nomades, whom 
Darius had some time before irritated by 
entering their country. He fled before them ; 
but, as their hostilities were but momentary, 
he was soon restored to his kingdom. Three 
years after he left Chersonesus, and set sail 
for Athens, where he was received with 
great applause. He was present at the cele- 
brated battle of Marathon, in which all the 
chief officers ceded their power to him, and 
left the event of the battle to depend upon 
his superior abilities. He obtained an im- 
portant victory over the more numerous 
forces of his adversaries ; yet when he had 



demanded of his fellow-citizens an olive 
crown, as the reward of his valor in the field 
of battle, he was not only refused, but se- 
verely reprimanded for presumption. 

Some time after, Miltiades was intrusted 
with a fleet of seventy ships, and ordered to 
punish those islands which had revolted to 
the Persians. He was successful at first; 
but a sudden report that a Persian fleet was 
coming to attack him, changed his opera- 
tions as he was besieging Paros. He raised 
the siege and returned to Athens, where he 
was accused of treason, and particularly of 
holding correspondence with the enemy. 
The falsity of these accusations might have 
appeared, if Miltiades had been able to come 
into the assembly. A wound which he had 
received before Paros detained him at home ; 
and his enemies, taking advantage of his 
absence, became more eager in their accu- 
sations and louder in their clamors. He was 
condemned to death; but the rigor of the 
sentence was retracted on the recollection of 
his great services to the Athenians, and he 
was put into prison till he had paid a fine of 
fifty talents to the state. His inability to 
discharge so great a sum detained him in 
confinement; his wounds became incurable 
soon after, and he died about B.C. 489. The 
crimes of Miltiades were probably aggravated 
in the eyes of his countrymen when they 
remembered how he made himself absolute 
in Chersonesus ; and in condemning the bar- 
barity of the Athenians toward a general 
who was the source of their military pros- 
perity, we must remember the jealousy which 
ever reigns among a free and independent 
people, and how watchful they are in defense 
of the natural rights which they see wrested 
from others by violence and oppression. 

MILTON, John, was descended from an 
ancient family at Milton in Oxfordshire. His 
father, whose desertion of the Roman Cath- 
olic faith was the cause of his disinheritance, 
settled in London as a scrivener, and, marry- 
ing a woman of good family, had two sons 
and a daughter. John, the eldest son, was 
born in Bread street, December 9th, 1008. 
He received the rudiments of learning from 
a domestic tutor, Thomas Young, afterward 
chaplain to the English merchants at Ham- 
burg, whose merits are gratefully commem- 
orated by his pupil, in a Latin elegy. At a 



MIL 



642 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



proper age he was sent to St. Paul's school, 
and there began to distinguish himself by his 
intense application to study, as well as by his 
poetical talents. In his sixteenth year he 
was removed to Christ's College, Cambridge, 
where he was admitted a pensioner. 

Of his course of studies in the university 
little is known ; but it appears, from several 
exercises preserved in his works, that he had 
acquired extraordmary skill in writing Latin 
verses which are of a purer taste than any 
preceding compositions of the kind by Eng- 
lish scholars. He took the degrees both of 
bachelor and master of arts ; the latter in 1 0,32, 
when he left Cambridge. He renounced his 
original intention of entering the church, for 
which he has given as a reason, that, " com- 
ing to some maturity of years, he had per- 
ceived what tyranny had invaded it ; " which 
denotes a man early habituated to think and 
act for himself. 

He returned to his father, who had retired 
from business to a residence at Hoi-ton, in 
Buckinghamshire ; and he there passed five 
years in the study of the best Roman and 
Grecian authors, and in the composition of 
some of his finest miscellaneous poems. This 
was the period of his "Allegro" and "Pen- 
seroso," his " Comus" and " Lycidas." That 
his learning and talents had at this time 
attracted considerable notice, appears from 
an application made to him from the Bridge- 
water family, which produced his admirable 
masque of "Comus," performed in 1634, at 
Ludlow Cjstle, before the Earl of Bridgewater, 
then Lord President of Wales ; and also by 
his "Arcades," part of an entertainment pre- 
sented to the Countess dowager of Derby, 
at Harefield, by some of her family. 

In 1638 he obtained his father's leave to 
improve himself by foreign travel, and set out 
for the continent. Passing through France, 
he proceeded to Italy, and spent a considera- 
ble time in that seat of the arts and of litera- 
ture. At Naples he was kmdly received by 
Manso, Marquis of Villa, who had long before 
deserved the gratitude of poets by his patron- 
age of Tasso ; and, in return for a laudatory 
distich of Manso, Milton addressed to him a 
Latin poem of great elegance. He left Italy 
by the way of Geneva, where he contracted 
an acquaintance with two learned divmes, 
John Diodati and Frederic Spanheim ; and he 



returned through France, having been absent 
about a year and three months. 

On his arrival, Milton found the nation 
agitated by civil and religious disputes which 
threatened a crisis ; and as he had expressed 
himself impatient to be present on the theatre 
of contention, it has been thought extraor- 
dinary that he did not immediately place 
himself in some active station. But his turn 
was not military ; his fortune precluded a 
seat in parliament; the pulpit he had de- 
clined ; and for the bar he had made no 
preparation. His taste and habits were alto- 
gether literary ; for the present, therefore, 
he fixed himself in the metropolis, and under- 
took the education of his sister Philips's two 
sons. Soon after, he was applied to by several 
parents to admit their children to the benefit 
of his tuition. He therefore took a commo- 
dious house in Aldersgate street, and opened 
an academy. Disapproving the plan of edu- 
cation in the public schools and universities, 
he deviated from it as widely as possible. He 
put into the hands of his scholars, instead 
of the common classics, such Greek and Latin 
authors as treated on the arts and sciences, 
and on philosophy ; thus expecting to instill 
the knowledge of things with that of words. 
We are not informed of the result of his plan ; 
but it will appear singular that one who had 
himself drunk so deeply at the muse's fount, 
should withhold the draught from others. 
We learn that he performed the task of in- 
struction with great assiduity. 

Milton did not long suffer himself to lie 
under the reproach of having neglected the 
public cause in his private pursuits ; and, in 
1641, he published four treatises relative to 
church government, in which he gave the 
preponderance to the Presbyterian form above 
the Episcopalian. Resuming the same con- 
troversy in the following year, he numbered 
among his antagonists such men as Bishop 
Hall and Archbishop Usher. His f;\ther, 
who had been disturbed by the king's troops, 
now came to live with him ; and the neces- 
sity of a female head of such a house caused 
Milton, in 1643, to form a connection with 
Mary, the daughter of Richard Powell, Esq., 
a magistrate of Oxfordshire. This was, in 
several respects, an unhappy marriage ; for 
his f;ither-in-law was a zealous royalist, and 
his wife had accustomed herself to the jovial 



MIL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



543 



hospitality of that party. She had not, 
therefore, passed above a month in her hus- 
band's house, when, having procured an 
invitation from her father, she went to pass 
the summer in his mansion. Milton's invita- 
tions for her return were treated with con- 
tempt ; upon which, regarding her conduct 
as a desertion which broke the nuptial con- 
tract, he determined to punish it by repudia- 
tion. In 1044 he published a work on "The 
Doctrine and Discipline of Divorce ; " and, 
in the next year, it was followed by " Tetra- 
chordon, or Expositions upon the Four Chief 
Places in Scripture which treat of Marriage." 
He farther reduced his doctrine into practice, 
by paying his addresses to a young lady of 
great accomplishments ; but, as he was pay- 
ing a visit to a neighbor and kinsman, he 
was surprised with the sudden entrance of 
his wife, who threw herself at his feet and 
implored forgiveness. After a short struggle 
of resentment, he took her to his bosom ; and 
he sealed the reconciliation by opening his 
house to her father and brothers, when they 
had been driven from home by the triumph 
of the republican arms. 

In the progress of Milton's prose works, it 
will be right to mention his " Areopagitica ; 
a Speech of Mr. John Milton, for the Liberty 
of Unlicensed Printing;" a work, published 
in 1644, written with equal spirit and ability, 
and which, when reprinted in 1738, was 
affirmed to be the best defense that had ever 
then appeared of that essential article of 
public liberty. In the following year he took 
care that his poetical character should not be 
lost to the world, and published his juvenile 
poems, Latin and English. 

Milton's principles of the origin and end of 
government carried him to a full approbation 
of the trial and execution of the king ; and, 
in order to conciliate the minds of the people 
to that act, he published, early in 1649, a 
work entitled, "The Tenure of Kings and 
Magistrates; proving that it is lawful, and 
hath been so held through all ages, for any 
who have the power, to call to account a 
tyrant or wicked king and, after due con- 
viction, to depose and put him to death, if 
the ordinary magistrate have neglected or 
denied to do it." Certainly, it would not 
be easy to express, in stronger terms, an 
author's resolution to leave no doubts con- 



cerning his opinion on this important topic. 
His appointment to the Latin secretaryship 
to the council of state was, probably, the 
consequence of his decision. 

The learned Frenchman, Salmasius, or 
Saumaise, having been hired by Charles II., 
while in Holland, to write a work in favor of 
the royal cause, which he entitled, " Defensio 
Rcgia," Milton was employed to answer it ; 
which he did in 1051, by his celebrated "De- 
fensio pro Populo Anglicano," in which he 
exercised all his powers of Latin rhetoric, 
both to justify the repul)lican party, and to 
confound and vilify the famous scholar against 
whom he took up the pen. By this piece he 
acquired a high reputation, both at home and 
abroad ; and he received a present of a thou- 
sand pounds from the English government. 
His book went through several editions; 
while, on the other hand, the work of Sal- 
masius was suppressed by the States of Hol- 
land, in whose service he lived as a professor 
at Leyden. Milton's intense application to 
study had, for some years preceding, brought 
on an affection of the eyes, which gradually 
impaired his sight ; and, before he wrote his 
" Defensio," he was warned by his physi- 
cians that the effort would probably end in 
total blindness. This opinion was soon after 
justified by a gutta serena, which seized both 
his eyes, and subjected the remainder of his 
life to those privations which he has so feel- 
ingly described in some passages of his poems. 
His intellectual powers, however, suffered no 
eclipse from this loss of his sensitive faculties ; 
and he pursued, without intermission, both 
his official and his controversial occupations. 

Cromwell at length died, and Charles II. 
returned in triumph. Milton was discharged 
from his office, and lay for some time con- 
cealed in the house of a friend. The house 
of commons desired that his majesty would 
issue a proclamation to call in Milton's " De- 
fenses of the People," and " Iconoclastes," 
together with a book of Goodwyn's. The 
books were accordingly burnt by the common 
hangman ; but the authors were returned as 
having absconded ; nor, in the act of indem- 
nity, did the name of Milton appear among 
those of the excepted persons. 

He now, in reduced circumstances, and 
under the discountenance of power, removed 
to a private habitation near his former resi- 



MIL 



544 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



dence. He had buried his first wife* and a 
second, the daughter of Captain Woodcock, 
in Hackney, died in childbed. To solace his 
forlorn condition, he desired his friend, Dr. 
Paget, to look out a third wife for him, who 
recommended a relation of his own, named 
Elizabeth Minshull, of a good family in Chesh- 
ire. His powerful mind now centered in 
itself, and, undisturbed by contentions and 
temporary topics, opened to those great ideiis 
which wei-e continually filling it; and the 
result was "Paradise Lost." Much discus- 
sion has taken place concerning the original 
conception of this grand performance; but 
whatever hint may have suggested the rude 
outline, it is certain that all the creative 
powers of. a strong imagination, and all the 
accumulated stores of a life devoted to 
learning, were expended in its completion. 
Though he appears at an early age to have 
thought of some subject in the heroic times 
of English history, as peculiarly calculated 
for English verse, yet his religious turn, and 
assiduous study of the Hebrew Scriptures, 
produced a final preference of a story derived 
from the sacred writings, and giving scope 
to the introduction of his theological sj^stem. 
It would be superfluous, at this time, to 
weigh the merits of Milton's great work, 
which stands so much beyond competition ; 
but it may be affirmed, that whatever his 
other poems can exhibit of beauty in some 
parts, or of grandeur in others, may all be 
referred to "Paradise Lost" as the most 
perfect model of both. 

Not exhausted by this great effort, Milton 
followed it in 1670 by "Paradise Regained," 
and his tragedy of "Samson Agonistes." 
With these the record of his poems closes. 
He sank tranquilly under an exhaustion of 
the vital powers in November, 1674. 

It is impossible to refuse to Milton the 
honor due to a life of the sincerest piety and 
the most dignified virtue. No man ever lived 
under a more abiding sense of responsibility. 
No man ever strove more faithfully to use his 
time and talent "as ever in the great Task- 
master's eye." No man so richly endowed 
was ever less prone to trust his own pow- 
ers, or more prompt to own his depend- 
ence on "that eternal and propitious throne, 
where nothing is readier than grace and 
refuge to the distresses of mortal suppliants." 



His morality Was of the loftiest character. 
"He possessed a self-control which, in one 
susceptible of such vehement emotions, was 
marvelous. No one ever saw him indulging 
in those propensities which overcloud the 
mind and pollute the heart. No youthful 
excesses treasured up for him a suliering and 
remorseful old age. From his youth up he 
was temperate in all things, as became one 
who had consecrated himself to a life-struggle 
against vice and error and darkness, in all 
their forms. He had started with the con- 
viction "that he who would not be frustrate 
of his hope to write well hereafter in lauda- 
ble things, ought himself to be a true poem ; 
that is, a composition and pattern of the best 
and honorable things ; " and from this he 
never swerved. His life was indeed a true 
poem ; or it might be compared to an an- 
them on his own favorite organ — high-toned, 
solemn and majestic. 

MINDEN, a town of Prussia, containing 
9,000 inhabitants. Here Prince Ferdinand 
gained a victory over the French in the cam- 
paign of 1759. The merit of the victory is 
principally to be ascribed to the valor and 
steadiness of the British troops engaged. 
Minden surrendered on the next day ; and the 
French retreated to the other side of the 
Weser. 

MINNESOTA. Among the states that 
within a few years have been born from the 
wilderness, the growth of none has been more 
like that of Aladdin's palace than that of Min- 
nesota, the land of ' sky-tinted water.' It was 
a part of the domain purchased with Louisi- 
ana in 1803. French missionaries and traders 
had known of the country for neai-ly two 
hundred years, and the Chippewa and Sioux 
or Dacotah tribes of Indians, who possessed 
it, saw scarcely any other representatives of 
the white race, long after the cession. But in 
1816 Congress passed a law excluding foreign- 
ers from the Indian trade, and in 1819 Fort 
Snelling was established. In 1831 Henry R. 
Schoolcraft traced the Mississippi to its source 
in Lake Itasca. But though the region which 
he visited began to be better known, it con- 
tinued for years to be many miles to the west- 
ward of civilization. 

In 1849 the territory of Minnesota was or- 
ganized. In 1857 it was divided nearly in 
twain. The western portion it is proposed to 



MIN 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



645 




call the territory of Dacotah, while in 1858 | sippi below St. Paul, Minnesota is a country 
the eastern portion was admitted into the j of high rolling prairies and river bottoms lined 



Union as the sovereign state of Minnesota. 
Area about 80,000 square miles; population 
about 200,000. The constitution prohibits 
slavery. The auditor is to be elected for three 
years ; the other state officers for two. The 
judicial power is vested in justices of the 
peace, a supreme court, district, probate, and 
such other inferior courts as the legislature 
may establish by a two-thirds vote ; all judges 
and justices to be elected by the people for 
terms in no case longer than seven years. 
The legislature can not grant divorces, author- 
ize lotteries, or contract a debt over $250,000. 
It may pass a general banking law, under 
stringent restrictions and requirements. 
All males twenty-one years of age, who have 
resided in the United States one year and in 
the state four months next preceding an elec- 
tion, if white citizens of the United States ; or 
white persons of foreign birth who have de- 
clared their intention to become citizens ; or 
persons of mixed white and Indian blood, or 
of Indian blood, who have adopted the lan- 
guage, customs, and habits of civilization, — 
are voters in the district of which they have 
been ten days residents : no religious or prop- 
erty qualifications are required. No person 
shall be rendered incompetent to give evidence 
in consequence of his opinions on matters of 
religion. 

With the exception of a ridge, dividing the 
Mississippi from Lake Superior, called the 
Hauteurs de Terres, or Highlands, and the 
magnificent limestone bluffs upon the Missis- 



35 



with forests. This region is the highest 
ground north of the Gulf of Mexico, and it 
forms the watershed of three great basins. 
The Mississippi, the Red River of the North, 
and rivers that feed Lake Superior take their 
rise within its limits, and it is one of the best 
watered tracts in the Union. The Minnesota 
or St. Peter's, the St. Francis, and the St. 
Croix are important tributaries of the Missis- 
sippi, and there are myriads of lesser streams. 
Along the northern portion of the state is a 
region thickly studded with lakes whose crys- 
tal depths are the head-waters of the mighty 
river. The climate of Minnesota is cold In 
the long winters, but the clearness and dry- 
ness of the atmosphere, and the absence of 
sudden or extreme changes, temper the sever- 
ity so that the winters are not more trying 
than those of lower latitudes. On the fertile 
soil, maize, oats, and wheat, with the other 
ordinary cereals, grow well. The pine forests 
are a source of much wealth and industry. 

In 1766 Jonathan Carver, of Connecticut, 
conceived the idea of reaching the Pacific from 
the further extremity of the great chain of 
inland seas. [See Carver.] He describes 
Minnesota as a "most delightful country, 
abovmding with all the necessaries of life that 
grow spontaneously. Wild rice grows here 
in great abundance ; and every part is filled 
with trees, bending under their loads of fruit, 
such as plums, grapes, and apples. The 
meadows are covered with hops, and many 
sorts of vegetables, while the ground is stored 



MIN 



546 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



with useful roots, with angelica, spikenard, 
and ground-nuts as large as hens' eggs." He 
also speaks of a "milk-white clay" abounding 
near the south bend of the Minnesota, "out 
of which china ware might be made, equal in 
goodness to the Asiatic ;" and also of "a blue 
clay, which serves the Indians for paint." 

Whittier has briefly sketched the history 
of the western wilderness, Minnesota, or Iowa, 
or "Wisconsin, or Kansas. 

"Behind the red squaw's birch canoe 

The steamer smokes and raves, 
And city lots are staked for sale 

Above old Indian graves. 
I hear the tread of pioneers 

Of nations yet to be — 
The first low wash of waves, where soon 

Shall roll a human sea." 

The growth of Minnesota especially, since its 
organization, has been startling. Its whole 
population, in 1850, was 6,077; in 1857, Hen- 
nepin county alone, in which are the towns 
of St. Anthony and Minneapolis, contained 
13,363 inhabitants. St. Paul, on the east bank 
*f the Mississippi, is the capital of the state. 
In 1846 it contained but ten white inhabit- 
ants : in 1856, there were 10,000 inhabitants ! 
Fifteen miles above St. Paul, are the falls of 
St. Anthony. The Indians called this beau- 
tiful cataract Minnehaha, 'laughing water.' 
As early as 1680 Father Hennepin gave them 
the name of his patron saint. 

MINORCA, the second of the Balearic 
Islands in the Mediterranean, contains 44,000 
inhabitants. It produces some wines, and 
olive oil, and has mines of iron, lead, and 
admirable marble. The climate, although 
hot, is agreeable, in 1708 the English took 
possession of it, and retained it till 1756, 
when it was retaken by a French fleet and 
army, after the failure of an attempt to re- 
lieve it, which led to the execution of the 
unfortunate Admiral Byng. At the peace 
of 1763 Minorca was restored to Britain; 
but in 1782 it was retaken by the Spaniards. 
It was once more taken by the British in 
1798; but was restored at the peace of 
Amiens in 1802. 

MINOS, a king of Crete, who gave laws 
to his subjects, b.c. 1015, which still re- 
mained in full force in the age of the philoso- 
pher Plato. His justice and moderation 
procured him the appellation of the favorite 
of the gods, the wise legislator, in every city 



MIR 



of Greece; and according to the poets he 
was rewarded for his equity, after death, 
with the office of supreme and absolute judge 
in the infernal regions. 

MIRABEAU, HoNOKE Gabriel Riquetti, 
Count de, was born in 1749. He was born 
with a club-foot. In addition to this defect, 
his tongue, fastened by the frcenum, gave 
little promise of oratorical success. But the 
size and vigor of his limbs, and the circum- 
stance of two molar teeth being already 
formed in his mouth, were sufficiently extraor- 
dinary. He was also early attacked with 
the small-pox, which left its usual impress on 
his face. In a letter from the marquis, his 
father, to the Countess of Rochefort, the 
following passage occurs: "A fete is this 
day given in honor of my mother [the dow- 
ager-marchioness, widow of Jean Antoine de 
Mirabeau, then seventy-two years of age]. 
It is the production of my son's tutor (an 
indefatigable author and actor of such fol- 
lies). You will see a little monster perform 
therein, whom they call my son ; but who, 
were he the son of La Thorrillere, could not 
display a greater aptitude for all sorts of 
devilment." In another letter, dated 21st 
of September, 1758, he writes thus: "My 
son, whose size, prattle, and ugliness are 
wonderfully on the increase, grows more 
exquisitely and peculiarly ugly from day 
to day, and, withal, a most indefatigable 
speechifier." 

At an early age he quarreled with his 
father, and fled from the paternal mansion, 
but the old gentleman procured a lettre de 
cachet, and imprisoned him. He, however, 
escaped, and lived for a long time in habits 
of dissipation : in proof of which the fol- 
lowing anecdote is related. Mirabeau, one 
day, called up his valet to discharge him. 
The fellow asked the reason. "It is this," 
said Mirabeau. "You were drunk yesterday, 
as I myself was. Now, sir, you remember 
you agreed to get drunk only on days when 
I was sober." — " I remember it," replied the 
valet; "but you will excuse me when you 
reflect upon the impossibility of my. obeying 
you — for you are drunk every day." Mira- 
beau reflected a moment, and retained the 
domestic. 

He went to Berlin toward the close of the 
reign of Frederick, and was there when the 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



647 




French revolution commenced, on which he 
returned home, and was elected a member 
of the states-general. He rendered his name 
memorable by the display of the most polished 
and powerful eloquence. In 1791 he became 
president of the national assembly. He died 
of a fever on the 2d of April, that year. 

MISSISSIPPI. The area of Mississippi is 
47,156 square miles; population in 1860, 
791,305, of whom 430,031 were slaves, and 
773 free negroes. Numerous ranges of mod- 
erate hills give to a greater part of the sur- 
face a diversified character. Some of these 
eminences terminate abruptly upon a level 
plain, or upon the banks of a river, and bear 
the name of bluffs, or river hills. Along the 
Mississippi River there is an extensive region 
of swamps, subject to inundation. In the 
south-east the soil is low, and here the gulf- 
coast, which farther west is marshy, begins 
to appear solid, dry, and covered with pines. 



This region was originally part of French 
Louisiana, and in 1716 Fort Rosalie was 
erected at Natchez. In 1763 it was ceded to 
Great Britain, and twenty years after was 
claimed by Spain as part of Florida. In 
1798 that power relinquished it to the United 
States, and after the usual territorial proba- 
tion it was received into the Union in 1817. 
The legislature meets biennially, half the 
senators being chosen every two years. The 
governor holds office for a term of two years, 
and is ineligible for more than two terms in 
succession. Every free white male citizen 
of the United States, aged twenty-one or 
more, who has resided in the state one year, 
is an elector. There is a high court of errors 
and appeals, consisting of three judges, one 
chosen by the people biennia"/ ; and a cir- 
cuit court, a judge bQJ" Jiosen for four 
years in each judicial district; and a probate 
court for each county. There is no uniform 



There are extensive tracts of pine-lands, in I system of common schools. An asylum for 



which the soil is light, but not unproductive ; 
and a large proportion of the land is fertile. 
Mississippi is well watered, containing a great 
number of clear and running streams, and 
several navigable rivers, which intersect near- 
ly every part of the state. The Mississippi 
washes the whole western border ; the Ten- 
nessee laves the north-eastern corner; and 
the Yazoo, Big Black, Pearl, and Pascagoula 
flow through the interior. Once tobacco and 
indigo were the great products of Mississippi, 
but cotton is now the overshadowing staple. 
Maize and rice are cultivated somewhat 
largely. 

MIS 



the blind, one for the deaf and dumb, and a 
lunatic hospital, are supported by the state at 
Jackson. 

Jackson, the capital of the state, had in 
1853, 3,500 inhabitants. Natchez is the 
largest and most important town. It con- 
sists of two distinct parts ; the lower town, 
called Natchez under the Hill, or the Land- 
ing, is built on a dead level on the margin of 
the river, and is occupied by warehouses, 
tippling-shops, boarding-houses for boatmen, 
&c. ; the upper town stands on a lofty bank 
or bluff. This place has been occasion- 
ally visited by the yellow fever and other 



548 



pOTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA 



diseases, but it is during the greater part of 
the year an agreeable and healthful residence. 
It was visited by a terrible hurricane in 
1836. Natchez is 285 miles above New 
Orleans. Its river and inland trade is exten- 
sive. Its population in 1860 was 6.612. Here 
was formerly the residence of the Great Sun 
or principal chief of the Natchez, a powerful 
and, in comparison with their savage neigh- 
bors, a polished people ; they had an estab- 
blished worship, and regular laws, and, on 
an altar sacred to the sun, they kept up a 
perpetual fire in honor of the Great Spirit. 
In 1716 the French, whom they had received 
with kindness, were allowed to establish a 
post, called St. Rosalie, in their territory; 
but bickerings, as usual, soon ensued between 
the whites and the Indians, and the latter, 
stung to madness by the injuries they had 
experienced, surprised the fort and put the 
garrison to death in 1729. The French sent 
a great force into the country, and pursued 
the war with so much vigor that the whole 
nation was exterminated or sold into slavery, 
with the exception of a few who joined the 
Chickasaws and Choctaws. The ruins of 
Fort St. Rosalie are still to be seen at Nat- 
chez. In the vicinity there is a group of 
remarkable mounds, from which numerous 
relics, such as pipes, weapons, vessels cov- 
ered with figures, &c., have been obtained. 
Vicksburg, farther up the river, is the next 
town in importance; population in 1860, 
4,591. Mississippi was prominent in the 
rebellion, Jeff Davis having long been a 
resident, and the leading politician there. 
It seceded Jan. 10, 1861. It was one of the 
chief centers of the Union military opera- 
tions, and was terribly ravaged during the 
war. The chief military occurrences in it 
were, Grant's siege and capture of Vicks- 
burg, the siege of Port Hudson, Grierson's 
raid, Sherman's march across the state, and 
Smith's raid. It returned to the Union in 
August, 1865, by convention. 

MISSOLONGHI, a fortress in Greece, 
memorable for its siege, and the heroic resist- 
ance of the garrison. After a defense of 
twelve months, the Greeks were so near star- 
vation that cats and rats were greedily de- 
voured. They determined by one more 
sortie to cut their way through the belea- 
guering camp. On the 22d of April, 1826, 



three thousand fighting men were to rush 
headlong upon the besiegers, and hew a path 
for the women and children, while the retreat 
was to be covered by a thousand men, and the 
fortress to be guarded by a few heroes who 
were ready to yield their lives for the safety 
of their wives and brethren. Treachery re- 
vealed the plan to the Turkish general ; he 
prepared for the onset, and amid great car- 
nage and capture Missolonghi fell. 

MISSOURI has an area of 67,380 square 
miles, and in 1860 had 1,182,012 inhabit- 
ants. The country south of the Missouri 
River is traversed in different directions by 
the chains of the Ozark Mountains. North 
of the Osage and the Missouri, the country 
is undulating and agreeably diversified, while 
in the south-east, with the exception of a 
narrow strip on the border of the Missis- 
sippi, there is a low inundated morass, form- 
ing a portion of the great Arkansas swamp. 
This inundated tract is for the most part 
heavily timbered, and the hilly country to 
the north and west is well covered with pine, 
sycamore, hackberry, cottonwood, and sugar 
maple, though some of the hills are rugged 
and barren. The rest of the state is divided 
between forest and prairie. Rich alluvial 
belts, sometimes prairie and sometimes wood' 
land, generally skirt the rivers ; much of the 
upland is of the first quality, while a large 
portion of the inferior land is yet productive 
and well adapted to farming. Cotton is 
grown a little in the southern part of the 
state; tobacco is more extensivel}'' raised, 
and hemp, wheat, Indian corn, and the other 
cereal grains are cultivated with success. 
Great herds of cattle and flocks of sheep are 
reared. 

Missouri is bountifully supplied with navi- 
gable channels. The great river whose name 
it bears, flows through its centre, and the 
Mississippi washes all its eastern line. The 
Osage, Gasconnade, Grand, and Chariton 
are the most considerable tributaries of the 
Missouri. In mineral treasures Missouri is 
very rich. Lead and iron are obtained abun- 
dantly in the hilly region south of the Mis- 
souri. Bituminous coal is extensively found. 

The French visited this country very 
early, but formed no settlements till the 
middle of the last century. St. Genevieve 
was founded in 1763, and St. Louis in 1764. 



MIS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



549 




Afissouri was included in the Louisiana pur- 
chase, and in 1821 became a member of the 
Union, the Missouri compromise being patt 
of the arrangement, but being repealed in 
1854. Missouri was early and long a seat of 
hostilities durnig the rebellion. It refused 
to secede by vote, February 18, 18G1, but 
only the prompt energy of General (then 
Captain) Lyon, saved it to the Union. Ly- 
on's short but glorious campaign, Fremont's 
campaign and command, several rebel inva- 
sions from Arkansas, and a long series of 
horrible guerrilla atrocities, constitute the 
war record of the state. It however passed 
an emancipation ordinance January 11, 1805, 
and quietly acquiesced in the restoration of 
national authority. It is now likely to enter 
upon a very prosperous career as a free state. 

Jefferson City, on the Missouri, the capital 
of the state, havS some 3,000 inhabitants. The 
great emporium of the state and of the Missis- 
sippi valley is St. Louis. Till it came into 
the hands of the Americans it M-as a mere vil- 
lage : since the transfer it has thriven plenti- 
fully, and in 1860 had 160,77.3 inhabitants. 
As prosperous a future would seem to lie 
before it. 

MITHRIDATES. Mithridates L was the 
third king of Pontus. He was tributary to 
the crown of Persia, and his attempts to make 
himself independent proved fruitless. He 
was conquered in a battle, and obtained peace 
with difficulty. Xenophon calls him merely 
a governor of Cappadocia. He was succeeded 
by Ariobarzanes, b.c. 363. 

The second of this name was grandson to 



Mithridates T. He made himself master of 
Pontus, which had been conquered by Alex- 
ander, and had been ceded to Antigonus at 
the general division of the Macedonian empire 
among the conqueror's generals. He reigned 
about twenty-six years, and died at the ad- 
vanced age of eighty-four, b.c. 302. 

He was succeeded by his son Mithridates 

III. This enterprising and powerful monarch 
enlarged his paternal possessions by the con- 
quest of Cappadocia and Paphlagonia, and 
died after a reign of thirty-six years. 

The fourth succeeded his father Ariobarza- 
nes, who was the son of Mithridates III. 
The fifth succeeded his father Mithridates 

IV. and strengthened himself on his throne 
by an alliance with Antiochus the Great, 
whose daughter Laodice he married. He was 
succeeded by his son Pharnaces. 

The sixth succeeded his father Pharnaces. 
He was the first of the kings of Pontus who 
made alliance with the Romans. He furnished 
them with a fleet in the third Punic war, and 
assisted them against Aristonicus, who had 
laid claim to the kingdom of Pergamus. He 
was murdered B.C. 123. 

The seventh, surnamed Eupator, and the 
Great, succeeded his father Mithridates VI., 
though only at the age of eleven years. The 
beginning of his reign was marked by ambi- 
tion, cruelty, and artifice. He murdered the 
two sons whom his sister Laodice had had b}^ 
Ariarathes, King of Cappadocia, and placed 
one of his own children, only eight years old, 
on the vacant throne. These violent proceed 
ings alarmed Nicomedes, King of Bithynia, 



MIT 



050 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



who had married Laodice, the widow of Ari- 
arathes. He suborned a youth to act as King 
of Cappadocia, as the third son of Ariarathes, 
and Laodice was sent to Home to impose upon 
the senate, and assure them tliat her third 
son was still alive, and that his pretensions to 
the kingdom of Cappadocia were just and well 
grounded. Mithridates used the same arts of 
dissimulation. He also sent to Rome Gordius, 
the governor of his son, who solemnly declared 
before the Roman people, that the youth who 
sat on the throne of Cappadocia was the third 
son and lawful heir of Ariarathes, and that he 
was supported as such by Mithridates. 

This intricate affair displeased the Roman 
senate; and finally, to settle the dispute be- 
tween the two monarchs, the powerful and 
rapacious arbiters took away the kingdom of 
Cappadocia from Mithridates, and Paphlago- 
nia from Nicomedes. These two kingdoms 
being thus separated from their original pos- 
sessors, were presented with their freedom and 
independence; but the Cappadocians refused 
it, and received Ariobarzanes for king. Such 
were the first seeds of enmity between Rome 
and the King of Pontus. 

Mithridates, the more effectually to destroy 
the power of his enemies in Asia, ordered all 
the Romans that were in his dominions to be 
massacred. This was done in one night, and 
no less than 150,000, according to Plutarch, 
or 80,000 Romans, as Appian mentions, were 
made at one blow the victims of his cruelty. 
This universal massacre called aloud for re- 
venge. Aquilius, and soon after Sylla, 
marched against Mithridates, with a large 
array. The former was made prisoner; but 
Sylla obtained a victory over the king's gen- 
erals, and another decisive engagement ren- 
dered him master of all Greece, Macedonia, 
Ionia, and Asia Elinor, which had submitted 
to the victorious arms of the monarch of Pon- 
tus. This ill fortune was aggravated by the 
loss of about 200,000 men, who were killed in 
the several engagements that had been fought ; 
and Mithridates, weakened by repeated ill 
success by sea and land, sued for peace from 
the conqueror, which he obtained on condition 
of defraying the expenses that the Romans 
had incurred by the war, and of remaining 
satisfied with the possessions which he had 
received from his ancestors. 



ried on, Mithridates was not unmindful of his 
real interests. His distress, and not his m- 
clinations, obliged him to ask for peace. Soon 
after the death of Sylla, he took the field with 
an army of 140,000 infantry and 16,000 horse, 
which consisted of his own forces and those 
of his son-in-law Tigranes, King of Armenia. 
With. such a numerous army, he soon made 
himself master of the Roman provinces in 
Asia ; none dared to oppose his conquests, as 
the Romans, relying on his fidelity, had with- 
drawn the greatest part of their armies from 
the country. 

The news of his warlike preparations was 
no sooner heard, than Lucullus, the consul, 
marched into Asia, and without delay blocked 
up the camp of Mithridates, who was then 
besieging Cyzicus. The Asiatic monarch 
escaped from him, and fled into the heart of 
his kingdom. Lucullus pursued him with the 
utmost celerity, and would have taken him 
prisoner after a battle, had not the avidity of 
his soldiers preferred the plundering of a mule 
loaded with gold, to the taking of a monarch 
who had exercised such cruelties against their 
countrymen, and shown himself so faithless 
to the most solemn engagements. 

The appointment of Glabrio to the command 
of the Roman forces, instead of Lucullus, was 
favorable to J\lithridatcs, and he recovered the 
greatest part of his dominions. The sudden 
arrival of Pompey, however, soon put an end 
to his victories. A battle, in the night, was 
fought near the Euphrates, in which the troops 
of Pontus labored under every disadvantage. 
An universal overthrow ensued, and Mithri- 
dates, bold in his misfortunes, rushed through 
ihe thick ranks of the enemy, at the head of 
eight hundred horsemen, five hundi-ed of 
whom pcri.shed in the attempt to follow him. 
He found a safe retreat among the Scythians; 
and, though destitute of power, friends, and 
resources, he yet meditated the destruction of 
the Roman empire, by penetrating into the 
heart of Italy by land. These wild projects 
were rejected by his followers, and he sued 
for peace. It was denied to his ambassadors, 
and the victorious Pompey declared that to 
obtain it, Mithridates must ask it in person. 
He scorned to trust himself in the hands of 
his enemy, and resolved to conquer or to die. 
His subjects refused to follow him any longer, 



While these negotiations of peace were car- 1 and they revolted from him, and made his son 

MIT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



551 



Pharnaces king. The son showed himself 
ungrateful to his fiither, and even, according 
to some writers, ordered him to be put to 
death. 

This unnatural treatment broke the heart 
of Mithridates ; he obliged his wife to poison 
herself, and attempted to do the same himself 
It w^as in vain : the frequent antidotes he had 
taken in the early part of his life strengthened 
his constitution against the poison. When 
this was unavailing, he attempted to stab him- 
self. The blow was not mortal ; and a Gaul, 
who was then present, at his own request gave 
him the fatal stroke, about 63 B.C., in the 
seventy -second year of his age. This prince, 
who made war against the Romans forty years, 
and was never entirely vanquished but by 
Pompcy, although he had lost many battles 
against LucuUus, has been much praised. 
Cicero calls him the greatest of kings since 
the time of Alexander the Great. The tales 
of his cruelty and lack of faith come to us 
through the Romans : we do not hear Mithri- 
dates' side. 

MODENA, a duchy in the north of Italy, 
containing 586,500 inhabitants. In 1796 the 
Duke of Modcna was expelled from his domin- 
ions by the French: in 1797 they were In- 
corporated with the Cisalpine republic ; in 
1814 they were restored to the duke ; and 
by the peace of Villa Franca, in 1859, Mo- 
dena became part of the kingdom of Italy. 

MOHATZ, Battles of, in lower Hungary. 
In a great battle here, Louis of Hungary was 
defeated by the Turks under Solyman II., 
with the loss of 22,000 men, 1526. Prince 
Charles of Lorraine defeated the Turks here 
in 1687. 

MOHILOW, Battle of, July 23d, 1812, in 
which the Russians under Prince Bagration 
were defeated with immense loss by the 
French under Marshal Davoust. 

MOLDAVIA, one of the Danubian princi- 
palities, has an area of 17,000 square miles, 
and a population of 1,254,500. Jassy, the 
capital, has about 50,000 inhabitants. 

MOLIERE, John Baptist, a much celebra- 
ted French dramatic writer, born at Paris, 
1622, died 1673, aged fifty -one. His pater- 
nal name was Poquelin. 

MOLING DEL REY. This strong fortifi- 
cation, defended by 14,000 Mexicans under 
Santa Anna, was carried by the Americans 



under Gen. Worth, Sept. 8th, 1847. The loss 
of the Mexicans in killed and wounded was 
3,000, besides 2,000 who deserted during the 
conflict. The American loss was 116 killed, 
665 wounded, and 18 missing. The capture 
of Molino del Rey was an important step 
toward gaining the city of Mexico. 

MOLUCCAS, or Spice Islands, lie between 
the Sunda Isles, the Philippines, and New 
Holland. These islands were discovered by 
the Portuguese in 1511, but now belong to 
the Dutch, who obtain from them sandaL 
M'ood, cloves, and spices. Amboyna is the 
largest and most productive of the Molucca 
Islands. It is thirty or forty miles in length. 
In 1623 the merchants of the English factory 
here were tortured and put to death by the 
Dutch. The United Provinces refused satis- 
faction to James I. and Charles I., but paid to 
Cromwell £300,000 as a small indemnity. 

MOLWITZ, Battle of, April 10th (March 
30th), 1741. Frederick IIL obtained a great 
victory over the Austrians. 

MONCEY, Adrien, Duke of Conegliano 
and marshal of the empire, was born at Be- 
sancon in 1754, and entered the army at the 
age of fifteen. He served variously in the 
wars of Napoleon. As governor of the Inva- 
lides he received the ashes of his former em- 
peror in 1840. He died in 1842. 

MONEY is mentioned as a medium of com- 
merce in Genesis xxiii., when Abraham pur- 
chased a field as a sepulchre for Sarah, in the 
year of the world 2139. In profane history 
the coinage of money is ascribed to the Lydi- 
ans. Moneta was the name the Romans gave 
their silver, it having been coined in the tem- 
ple of Juno Moneta, 269 B.C. Money was 
made of difierent ores, and even of leather 
and other articles, both in ancient and modern 
times. It was made of pasteboard by the 
Hollanders so late as 1574. Charles IL coined 
tin, and James II. gun metal and pewter. 
The North American Indians used for money, 
small beads made of variously colored shells, 
which they called wampum. [See Coin.] 

MONGOLS. The name of Mongolia is 
now given to a vast extent of country in the 
interior of Asia, between 38^ and 53° N. lat, 
84° and 124° E. long., comprising an area of 
about 1,250,000 square miles. Like their 
ancestors, the Mongols of to-day lead a noma- 
dic life, subsisting on the produce of their 



MON 



652 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



herds, without attempting to till the ground. 
Their wealth consists in their numerous 
droves of camels, horses, and sheep. All the 
Mongols speak the same language, and admit 
that they all belong to the same nation and 
have a common origin. They are under the 
government of the Chinese, though there is 
indelible hatred between the two races. Ac- 
cording to a rough estimate, it is thought that 
the Mongols, after having lived in peace for 
more than a century, can bring to the field 
500,000 warriors ; and as each man is a wai'- 
rior, it is presumed that the whole population 
does not exceed 2,000,000. The Mongols have 
been improperly confounded with the Tartars : 
no two nations could be more distinct phys- 
ically. The names of Mongols and Tartars 
did not become known until after the con- 
quests of Genghis Khan, who honored his 
tribes with the pompous title of Koeltae Mon- 
ghoel (celestial people); whereas the con- 
quered Turki hordes were called Tartars 
(tributaries). 

Genghis Khan, born in 1163, became the 
chief of a petty Mongol clan in the thirteenth 
year of his age, and having first overcome the 
neighboring hordes, he soon united the nu- 
merous wandering tribes into a conquering 
nation, and successively subdued the greatest 
part of Asia. His son Oktai was equally suc- 
cessful. In their western expeditions the 
Mongol armies advanced even to Hungary 
and Silesia ; so that after the dreadful battle 
of Wahlstadt (1241) the Mongol empire ex- 
tended from the northern provinces of China 
to the frontiers of Poland and German J^ The 
Khalkha Mongols, under Kublai Khan, con- 
quered all China, and held it for a century. 
During the thirteenth century this vast em- 
pire gradually split into several independent 
sovei'cignties, till it was once more united, 
and even considerably enlarged in the direc- 
tion of Hindostan, by the famous Tamerlane, 
after whose brilliant career (1335-1405) the 
Mongol empire slowly dissolved. In 1519 a 
lineal descendant from Tamerlane, Zehireddin 
Mohammed Baber, founded a now monarchy 
in Hindostan, erroneously called the Mogul 
empire. 

MONK, George, Duke of Albemarle, was 
born in Devonshire in 1608. At the age of 
seventeen, he served under his relation. Sir 
Richard Grenville, in an expedition against 



Spain; and, in 1680 he went as an ensign 
to the Low Countries, where he obtained a 
captain's commission. In 1689 he attended 
Charles I. to Scotland, and was made lieu- 
tenant colonel ; afterward he went to Ireland, 
and, for his services in the rebellion, was 
appointed governor of Dublin. On his re- 
turn to England with his regiment, in 1643, 
he was made major-general in the Irish bri- 
gade, then employed in the siege of Nant- 
wich, in Cheshire, where he was taken pris- 
oner, and sent to the Tower. After remaining 
in confinement about three years, he was 
induced to accept a commission under the 
parliament against the Irish rebels ; in which 
service he performed several great exploits, 
but at last fell under censure, for concluding 
a treaty with O'Neil. Upon this he gave up 
the command, and retired to his estate ; but 
was soon called to serve with Cromwell in 
Scotland, where he bore a part in the battle 
of Dunbar; after which he was left in the 
command of the English forces in that king- 
dom. 

In 1653 he was joined with Blake and 
Dean in the naval service against the Dutch 
fleet, commanded by Van Tromp, with whom 
two desperate battles were fought that year, 
in both of which the English were victorious. 
Peace beuig soon after concluded. Monk re- 
turned to the command in Scotland, where 
he remained during the protectorate of Crom- 
well, who regarded him with jealousy, and 
even imparted to him in a letter, the suspi- 
cions which he entertained of his design to 
restore the king. Monk took no notice of 
this, but watched his opportunity ; and when 
the authority of Richard Cromwell declined, 
he began his movements, and concluded them 
with so much judgment as to bring about 
that important event without bloodshed or 
confusion. After this he was created Duke 
of Albemarle, and knight of the garter. The 
remainder of his life was not spent inactively ; 
for when hostilities broke out with the Dutch, 
he again commanded the fleet, and fought 
De Ruyter and Van Tromp in a tremendous 
battle, which lasted three days. The duke 
had scarcely returned into port before he was 
called to London, in consequence of the dread- 
ful fire which laid the greatest part of the 
capital in ashes ; and so acceptable was he to 
the people, that when he passed along, they 



MON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



653 



cried out, *' If his grace had been there, the 
city would not have been burned." He died 
Jan. 3d, 1670, and was buried in Westmin- 
ster Abbey. By his duchess, who survived 
him but a few months, he had one son, 
Christopher, who died governor of Jamaica, 
without issue, in 1688. 

MONMOUTH, Battle of. During Sir 
Henry CHnton's march to New York through 
New Jersey in 1778, after evacuating Phila- 
delphia, Washington hovered upon his rear. 
An engagement took place at Monmouth 
court-house, the 28th of June. The retreat 
of Gen. Lee, who commanded the American 
advance, embarrassed Washington's plans, 
but after a severely contested day the advan- 
tage rested with the patriots ; and during the 
night the British hurried away. The day was 
very hot, and both sides suffered intensely 
from thirst. 

MONMOUTH, James, Duke of. Charles 
n., of England, while a wanderer on the conti- 
nent, fell in at the Hague with Lucy Walters, 
a Welsh girl of great beauty, but of weak 
understanding and dissolute manners. She 
became his mistress, and presented him with 
a son. A suspicious lover might have had 
his doubts ; for the lady had several admirers, 
and was not supposed to be cruel to any. 
Charles, however, readily took her word, and 
poured forth on little James Crofts, as the 
boy was then called, an overflowing fondness, 
such as seemed hardly to belong to that easy, 
but cool and careless nature. Soon after the 
restoration, the young favorite, who had 
learned in France the exercises then consid- 
ered necessary to a fine gentleman, made his 
appearance at Whitehall. He was lodged in 
the palace, attended by pages, and permitted 
to enjoy several distinctions which had till 
then been confined to princes of the blood 
royal. He was married, while still in tender 
youth, to Anne Scott, heiress of the noble 
house of Buccleuch. He took her name, and 
received with her hand possession of her 
ample domains. Titles, and favors more sub- 
stantial than titles, were lavished on him. 
Nor did he appear to the public unworthy of 
his high fortunes. His countenance was em- 
inently handsome and engaging, his temper 
sweet, his manners polite and affable. 

When Charles IL and Louis XIV. united 
their forces against Holland, Monmouth com- 



manded the English auxiliaries who were 
sent to the continent, and approved himself a 
gallant soldier and a not unintelligent officer. 
On his return he found himself the most pop- 
ular man in the kingdom. Nothing was 
withheld from him but the crown ; nor did 
even the crown seem to be absolutely beyond 
his reach. The distinction which had most 
injudiciously been made between him and 
the highest nobles had produced evil conse- 
quences. When a boy, he had been invited 
to put on his hat in the presence chamber, 
while Howards and Seymours stood uncov- 
ered round him. When foreign princes 
died, he had mourned for them in the long 
purple cloak, which no other subject, except 
the Duke of York and Prince Rupert, was 
permitted to wear. It was natural that these 
things should lead him to regard himself as a 
legitimate prince of the house of Stuart. 
Charles, even at a ripe age, was devoted to 
his pleasures and regardless of his dignity. 
It could hardly be thought incredible that he 
should at twenty have gone through the form 
of espousing a woman whose beauty had fas- 
cinated him, and who was not to be won on 
easier terms. While Monmouth was still a 
child, and while the Duke of York still passed 
for a Protestant, it was rumored throughout 
the country, and even in circles which ought 
to have been well informed, that the king 
had made Lucy Walters his wife, and that, 
if every one had his right, her son would be 
Prince of Wales. When Monmouth returned 
from the Low Countries with a high charac- 
ter for valor and conduct, and when the Duke 
of York was known to be a member of a 
church detested by the great majority of the 
nation, this idle story became important. 
For it there was not the slightest evidence. 
Against it there was the solemn asseveration 
of the king, made before his council, and by 
his order communicated to his people ; but 
the multitude, always fond of romantic adven- 
tures, di-ank in eagerly the tale of secret 
espousals. 

Some chiefs of the party opposed to the 
court, countenanced a story which they must 
have despised. The interest which the pop- 
ulace took in him whom they regarded as the 
champion of the true religion, and the right- 
ful heir of the British throne, was kept up by 
i every artifice. When Monmouth arrived in 



MON 



554 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



London at midnight, the watchmen were 
ordered by the magistrates to proclaim the 
joyful event through the streets of tlie city ; 
the people left their beds ; bonfires were 
lighted ; the windows were illuminated ; the 
churches were opened ; and a merry peal rose 
from all the steeples. When he traveled, he 
was everywhere received with not less pomp, 
and with far more enthusiasm, than had been 
displayed when kings had made progresses 
through the realm. He was escorted from 
mansion to mansion by long cavalcades of 
armed gentlemen and yeomen. Cities poured 
forth their whole population to receive him. 
Electors thronged round him, to assure him 
that their votes were at his disposal. To 
such a height were his pretensions carried, 
that he not only exhibited on his escutcheon 
the lions of England and the lilies of France 
without the baton sinister under which, ac- 
cording to the laws of heraldry, they were 
debruised in token of his illegitimate birth, 
but ventured to touch for the king's-evil. 
At the same time, he neglected no art of 
condescension by which the love of the mul- 
titude could be conciliated. He stood god- 
father to the children of the peasantry, 
mingled in every rustic sport, wrestled, 
played at quarter-staff, and won foot-races in 
his boots against fleet runners in shoes. 

In the projects that cost Russell and Sid- 
ney their lives, Monmouth was implicated ; 
and though forgiven by his easy father, he 
80on gave new cause of oflFense, and thought 
it prudent to go into voluntary exile in Hol- 
land. He was accompanied by Lady Went- 
worth, a damsel of high rank and ample 
fortune, who loved him passionately, who 
sacrificed for his sake her maiden honor and 
the hope of a splendid alliance, and whom 
he declared to be his true wife, rather than 
her to whom he had been wedded while only 
a child. After the death of his father, and 
the development of the tyrannous schemes 
of James, desperate men sought Monmouth 
in his banishment, with tempting plans for 
raising him to the throne. The ambition 
and love of Lady Wentworth seconded their 
solicitations, and she placed all her means at 
his disposal. Monmouth yielded. He re- 
membered his popularity, and success seemed 
certain. With a small force, he landed on 
the coast of Somersetshire, in June; 1685. 



The people flocked to the standard of the 
good duke, the Protestant duke, the rightful 
heir whom a vile conspiracy kept from his 
own. At Taunton he was proclaimed king. 
But in the battle of Sedgemoor on the 6th 
of July, the royal armies commanded by 
Feversham and Churchill were completely 
victorious over the colliers and ploughmen 
who composed the insurgent force. The 
rebellion was broken ; itsretribution followed 
in the death and terror with which the infa- 
mous JetFi-eys soon darkened the land in the 
bloody assizes. 

The fugitive and miserable Monmouth was 
captured after lurking in the fields a few days. 
His fortitude failed him, and he sunk into 
pusillanimity. His royal uncle cruelly ad- 
mitted him to an interview. Monmouth 
threw himself on the ground, and crawled to 
the king's feet. He wept. He tried to em- 
brace his uncle's knees with his pinioned 
arms. He begged I'oi' life, only life, life at 
any price. He owned that he had been 
guilty of a great crime, but tried to throw 
the blame on others. By the ties of kindred, 
by the memory of the late king, who had 
been the best and truest of brothers, the 
unhappy man adjured James to show some 
mercy. James gravely replied that this re- 
pentance was of the latest ; that he was sorry 
for the misery which the prisoner had brought 
on himself, but that the case was not one for 
lenity. A declaration, filled with atrocious 
calumnies, had been put forth. The regal 
title had been assumed. For treason so 
aggravated there could be no pardon on this 
side of the grave. The poor terrified duke 
vowed that he had never wished to take the 
crown, but had been led into that fatal error 
by others. As to the declaration, he had not 
written it. He had not read it. He had 
signed it without looking at it. "Do you 
expect me to believe," said James, with con- 
tempt but too well merited, "that you set 
your hand to a paper of such moment without 
knowing what it contained?" One depth of 
infiimy alone remained, and even to that the 
prisoner descended. He was pre-eminently 
the champion of the Protestant religion. 
The interest of that religion had been his 
plea for conspiring against tli- government 
of his fivther, and for bringing on his country 
the miseries of civil war; yet he was not 



MON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



655 



ashamed to hint that he was inclined to be 
reconciled to the churoh of Rome. The king 
eagerly offered him spiritual assistance, but 
said nothing of pardon or respite. " Is there, 
then, no hope?" asked Monmouth. James 
turned away in silence. Then Monmouth 
strove to rally his courage, rose from, his 
kn-ees, and retired with a firmness which he 
had not shown since his overthrow. 

Soon after Monmouth had been lodged in 
the Tower, he was informed that his wife had, 
by the royal command, been sent to see him. 
She was accompanied by the Earl of Claren- 
don. Her husband received her very coldly, 
and addressed almost all his discourse to 
Clarendon, whose intercession he earnestly 
implored. Clarendon held out no hopes ; and 
that same evening two prelates, Turner, 



ilous state of mind, and that, if thej'' attended 
him, it would be their duty to exhort him to 
the last. As he passed along the ranks of 
the guards he saluted them with a smile, 
and mounted the scaffold with a firm tread. 
Tower Hill was covered up to the cliinmey 
tops with an innumerable multitude of gazers, 
who, in awful silence, broken only by sighs 
and the noise of weeping, listened for the last 
accents of the darling of the people. "I 
shall say little," he began. " I come here not 
to speak but to die. I die a Protestant of the 
Church of England." The bishops inter- 
rupted him, and told him that, unless he 
acknowledged resistance to the king to be 
sinful, he was no member of their church. 
He went on to speak of his Henrietta. She 
was, he said, a young lady of virtue and 



Bishop of Ely, and Ken, Bishop of Bath and j honor. He loved her to the last, and he 

Hr.ii„ :..„,! „i iK_ rii„ „ ...:iu i could not die without giving utterance to his 

feelings. The bishops again interfered, and 
begged him not to use such language. Their 
general arguments against resistance had no 
effect on him ; but when they reminded him 
of the ruin he had brought on his brave and 
loving followers, of the blood which had been 
shed, of the souls which had been sent un- 
prepared to the great account, he was touched, 
and said, in a softened voice, " I do own that. 
I am sorry that it ever happened." They 
prayed with him long and fervently ; and he 
joined in their petitions till they invoked a 
blessing on the king. He remained silent. 
" Sir," said one of the assistants, " do you not 
pray for the king with us?" Monmouth 
paused some time, and after an internal 
struggle, exclaimed " Amen." But it was in 
vain that the prelates nnplorcd him to ad- 
dress to the soldiers and to the people a few 
words on the duty of obedience to the gov- 
ernment. "I will make no speeches," he 
exclaimed. " Only ten Avords, my lord." He 
turned away, called his servant, and put into 
the man's hand a toothpick-case, the last 
token of ill-starred love. " Give it," he said, 
"to that person." He then accosted John 
Ketch, the executioner, a M'retch who had 
butchered many brave and noble victims, and 
whose name has, during a century and a 
half, been vulgarly given to all who have 
succeeded him in his odious office. " Here," 
said the duke, " are six guineas for you. Do 
not hack me as you did my Lord Russell. 



Wells, arrived at the Tower with a solemn 
message from the king. It was Monday 
night. On Wednesday morning Monmouth 
was to die. He was greatly agitated. The 
blood left his cheeks ; and it was some time 
before he could speak. Most of the short 
time which remained to him he wasted in 
vain attempts to obtain, if not a pardon, at 
least a respite. He wrote piteous letters to 
the king and to several courtiers, but in vain. 
Some Catholic divines were sent to him from 
court ; but they soon discovered that, though 
he would gladly have purchased his life by 
renouncing the religion of which he had pro- 
fessed himself in an especial manner the 
defender, yet, if he was to die, he would as 
soon die without their absolution as with it. 

Wednesday came ; the hour drew near ; all 
hope was over; and Monmouth had passed 
from pusillanimous fear to the apathy of de- 
spair. His children were brought to his 
j'oom that he might take leave of them, and 
were followed by his wife. He spoke to her 
kindly, but without emotion. Though she 
was a woman of great strength of mind, and 
had little cause to love him, her misery was 
such that none of the bystanders could refrain 
from weeping. He alone was unmoved. 

It was ten o'clock : the coach of the lieu- 
tenant of the Tower was ready. Monmouth 
requested his spiritual advisers. Turner and 
Ken, to accompany him to the scaffold, and 
they consented ; but they told him that, in 
their judgment, he was about to die in a per- 



MON 



556 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



I have heard that you struck him three or 
four times. My servant will give you some 
more gold if you do the work well." He 
then undressed, felt the edge of the axe, 
expressed some fear that it was not sharp 
enough, and laid his head on the block. The 
divines in the mean time continued to ejacu- 
late with great energy, "God accept your 
repentance ; God accept your imperfect re- 
pentance." 

The hangman addressed himself to his 
office ; but he had been disconcerted by what 
the duke had said. The first blow inflicted 
only a slight wound. The duke struggled, 
rose from the block, and looked reproachfully 
at the executioner. The head sank down 
once more. The stroke was repeated again 
and again ; but still the neck was not sev- 
ered, and the body continued to move. Yells 
of rage and horror rose from the crowd. 
Ketch flung down the axe with a curse. " I 
can not do it," he said ; " my heart foils me." 
" Take up the axe, man," cried the sheriff. 
" Fling him over the rails," roared the mob. 
At length the a.xe was taken up. Two more 
blows extinguished the last remains of life ; 
but a knife was used to separate the head 
from the shoulders. The crowd was wrought 
up to such an ecstacy of rage that the execu- 
tioner was in danger of being torn in pieces, 
and was conveyed away under a strong 
guard. In the mean time many handkerchiefs 
were dipped in the duke's blood, for by a 
large part of the multitude he was regarded 
as a martyr who had died for the Protestant 
religion. The head and body were placed in 
a coffin covered with black velvet, and were 
laid privately under the communion-table of 
St. Peter's chapel in the Tower. 

Yet a few months, and the quiet village of 
Toddington, in Bedfordshire, witnessed a 
still sadder funeral. Near that village stood 
an ancient and stately hall, the seat of the 
Wentworths. The transept of the parish 
church had long been their burial-place. To 
that burial-place, in the spring which followed 
the death of Monmouth, was borne the coffin 
of the young Baroness Wentworth of Nettle- 
stede. Her family reared a sumptuous mau- 
soleum over her remains ; but a less costly 
memorial of her was long contemplated with 
far deeper interest. Her name, carved by the 
hand of him whom she loved too well, was. 



a few years ago, vStill discernible on a tree in 
the adjoining park. 

It was not by Lady Wentworth alone that 
the memory of Monmouth was cherished with 
idolatrous fondness. His hold on the hearts 
of the people lasted till the generation which 
had seen him had passed away. Ribbons, 
buckles, and other trifling articles of apparel 
which he had worn were treasured up as pre- 
cious relics by those who had fought under 
him at Sedgemoor. Old men who long sur- 
vived him desired, when they were dying, 
that these trinkets might be buried with 
them. Nay, such was the devotion of the 
people to their unhappy favorite, that, in the 
face of the strongest evidence by which the 
fact of a death was ever verified, many con- 
tinued to cherish a hope that he was still 
living, and that he would again appear in 
arms. A person, it was said, who was re- 
markably like Monmouth, had sacrificed him- 
self to save the Protestant hero. The vulgar 
long continued, at every important crisis, to 
whisper that the time was at hand, and that 
King Monmouth would soon show himself. 
In 1686 a knave who had pretended to be 
the duke, and had levied contributions in 
several villages of Wiltshire, was apprehended 
and whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. In 
1698, when England had long enjoyed con- 
stitutional freedom under a new dynasty, the 
son of an innkeeper passed himself on the 
yeomanry of Sussex as their beloved Mon- 
mouth, and defrauded many who were by no 
means of the lowest class. Five hundred 
pounds were collected for him. The farmers 
provided him with a horse. Their wives sent 
him baskets of chickens and ducks. When 
this impostor was thrown into prison for 
his frauds, his followers maintained him in 
luxury. Several of them appeared at the 
bar to countenance him when he was tried. 
So long did this delusion last, that, when 
George III. had been some years on the 
English throne, Voltaire thought it neces.sary 
gravely to confute the hypothesis that the man 
in the iron mask was the Duke of ]\Ionmouth. 

MONRO, Alexander, entitled the father 
of the medical school of Edinburgh, died 1767, 
aged seventy. 

MONROE, James, the fifth president of the 
United States, was descended from one of the 
most ancient and honorable families in the 



MON 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



557 



Old Dominion, and born in the county of West- 
moreland, April 2d, 1759. It is remarkable 
that the tide-water section of Virginia pro- 
duced four out of the first five presidents ; 
Washington, Jefferson, Madison, and Monroe 
having been born therein, and within a few 
miles of each other. In his eighteenth year, 
Monroe left his studies at the college of Wil- 
liam and Mary, to battle for freedom. He 
fought at Harlem Heights and White Plains, 
was wounded at Trenton, and for his gal- 
lantry received the command of an infantry 
company. During the campaigns of 1777 
and 1778 he acted as aid to Lord Stirling, 
and distinguished himself at Brandywine, 
German town, and Monmouth. From 17S3 
to 1786 he represented his state in the con- 
tinental congress. Mr. Monroe was a member 
of the Virginia convention of 1788, called to 
decide upon the adoption of the federal con- 
stitution which had been framed. Although 
he had been convinced of the inefficiency of 
the existing confederation, and had been 
earnest for a radical change in the form of 
government, he was not willing to adopt the 
instrument that had been framed, without 
several alterations. He acted with Patrick 
Henry and other leading men in opposition 
to Madison, Edmund Randolph, John Mar- 
shall, and others. The convention finally 
assented to the constitution as it was, but 
recommended, at the same time, certain 
amendments. Monroe voted nay. Anti- 
Federalist senators were chosen, and when 
Mr. Grayson's time expired in 1790, Mr. 
Monroe succeeded to his seat in the senate. 
In this station he continued till 1794, when he 
was appointed to succeed Gouverneur Morris 
as minister to France. His course did not 
coincide with the views of Washington, who 
therefore recalled him in 1796, appointing 
Charles Cotesworth Pinckney to the post. 
He was governor of Virginia for three years 
succeeding 1799 ; in 1803 was selected by 
Jefferson as envoy to France, and minister to 
Spain, to take part in the negotiations for 
the purchase of Louisiana; he succeeded 
Rufus King as minister to the court of St. 
James, and returned home in 1807. Mr. 
Madison appointed him secretary of state in 
1811, and he continued in that department 
till the close of the administration. After 
the capture of Wi^shington by the British, 



and the resignation of Gen. Armstrong, Mr. 
Monroe assumed the burden of the war de- 
partment, without, however, relinquishing 
his previous position in the cabinet. His 
energy was of great avail. Toward the close 
of the year 1814 his attention was urgently 
called to the danger menacing New Orleans, 
against which the enemy had dispatched a 
powerful fleet and army. The resources of 
the government were at a low ebb, and Mr. 
Monroe was compelled to pledge his own 
credit. He was thus able to furnish the 
needed supplies. New Orleans was saved, and 
the war brilliantly closed with the defeat of 
Packenham. 

In 1817 Mr. Monroe succeeded Madison as 
chief magistrate of the country. Among the 
measures which marked his administration 
was the negotiation of the treaty by which 
Florida was added to the United States. In 
1820 he was re-elected with more unanimity 
than any president except Washington, re- 
ceiving every vote of the electoral college 
but one. At the close of his second term, 
in 1828, he retired to his residence in Lou- 
don county, Virginia, where he was shortly 
after appointed county magistrate, the duties 
of which office he continued to discharge 
until his departure for the city of New York. 
Having been elected in 1830, to the conven. 
tion called for a revision of the state consti- 
tution, he was chosen to preside over its 
deliberations ; severe indisposition forced him 
to retire. The next summer he repaired 
to New York to reside with his son-in-law, 
Mr. Gouverneur. There his career on earth 
ceased, July 4th, 1831, in the seventy-second 
year of his age. 

Mr. Monroe was not a man of superior 
talents, but diligent and industrious in all 
the duties that were laid upon him, and of 
great honesty and firmness of purpose. 

MONTAGUE, Edward, Earl of Sandwich, 
was the son of Sir Sidney Montague, and 
born in 1625. At the age of eighteen he 
raised a regiment in the service of parliament, 
and was present in several battles ; but in 
the Dutch war he left the army for the navy, 
and was associated with Blake in the Mediter- 
ranean. Afterward he commanded the fleet 
in the North Sea, but at his return was 
deprived of it on suspicion of being in the 
royal interest. Monk, however, procured 



NOM 



558 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



him to be replaced; and ho conveyed the 
king to England ; after which he was created 
Earl of Sandwich. In the war of 1GG4 he 
commanded under the Duke of York, and 
had a principal share in the great battle of 
June 3d, 10G5. Soon after this he went to 
Spain, where he negotiated a peace between 
that country and Portugal. On the renewal 
of the Dutch war in 1G72, he commanded a 
squadron under the Duke of York ; but his 
ship taking fire, he jumped overboard, and 
was drowned. 

MONTAIGNE, Michael de, the French 
essayist, was born in 1533 and died in 1592. 
He resided almost constantly at his chateau 
in Perigord, and his essays were the fruit of 
his reading and musing. In the British 
Museum there is preserved one of the ear- 
liest English translations of Montaigne, which 
has the autograph of Shakespeare on a fly- 
leaf. 

MONTCALM, Louis Joseph de, killed on 
the plains of Abraham, 1759; he was com- 
mander of the French army. [See Wolfe.] 

MONTECUCULI, Raymond de, a great 
Italian general, died in 1681, aged seventy- 
three. 

MONTEREAU, Battle of, between the 
allied army and the French, Feb. 8th, 1814, 
was one of the last victories of Napoleon. 

MONTEREY. The American army under 
Gen. Taylor, 4,700 strong, on the 21st of 
September, 184G, assaulted the city of Mon- 
terey, which was held by Gen. Ampudia 
with 10,000 Mexicans. On the morning of 
the 22d, Gen. Worth's division stormed the 
height above the bishop's palace, and in the 
afternoon the palace itself M^as taken, and its 
guns turned upon the city. The next eve- 
ning Ampudia, who had concentrated his 
forces in the citadel and plaza, sent in propo- 
sitions for surrender. The American loss, 
in the capture of Monterey, was 120 killed 
and 368 wounded. That of the Mexicans 
was much greater. 

MONTESQUIEU, Charles, Baron de, 
author of the "Spirit of Laws," born in 
France, 1G89, died in 1755. 

MONTEZUMA, the monarch of Mexico 
at the time of the invasion of the Spaniards. 
At a short distance from the city of Mexico, 
they were met by Montezuma at the head 
of his nobles, and surrounded by his guards 



and courtiers. Cortez was received by the 
emperor with hospitality and confidence 
which he soon forfeited ; for having learned 
that a traditionary prophecy was current 
that a powerful nation, children of the sun, 
would chastise the country, as a punishment 
for their sins, he readily turned the idea to 
his own advantage. Cortez came to the de- 
termination of seizing Montezuma in his 
palace, which he entered with ten officers 
and soldiers. He requested Montezuma to 
take up a temporary residence with the 
Spaniards, to which demand the monarch 
reluctantly consented. Here he suffered 
every indignity ; and Cortez, on a frivolous 
pretext that the monarch was the instigator 
of some tumults, ordered him to be fettered 
and thrown into prison. 

Montezuma remained a prisoner six months, 
during which period Cortez was actively em- 
ployed in furthering his own views. The 
former now acknowledged himself in form a 
vassal of the Spanish king, and a tumult 
arising, Cortez placed him in view of his 
enraged subjects, but in vain. The forlorn 
monarch was pierced by an arrow, and died 
broken-hearted and despairing, in 1520. 

MONTGOMERY, Richard, a brave major- 
general in the Revolutionary armj^ born in 
Ireland, in 1737. He settled in this country, 
after serving under Wolfe, and having era- 
braced the American cause, was killed in au 
attack upon Quebec, Dec. 31st, 1775. 

MONTGOMERY, Gabriel, Count, a French 
nobleman, who, in 1559, had the misfortune 
to kill Henry II. by accidentally striking him 
in the eye at a tournament. He then quitted 
France ; but returned during the civil wars, 
and placed himself at the head of the Pro- 
testants. After many vicissitudes he was 
taken prisoner, and beheaded at Paris in 
1574. 

MONTROSE, James Graham, Marquis of, 
one of the most chivalrous partisans of 
Charles L, who, after the cause of the Stuarts 
appeared to be hopeless, persevered in excit- 
ing insurrections in Scotland ; but being 
taken he was brought to Edinburgh, tried, 
and executed on a gibbet forty feet high, on 
the 23d of September, 1650. 

MOORE, Sir John, was born at Glasgow in 
1761. He was the son of Dr. John Moore, a 
well known physician, the author of " Zeluco " 



MOO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



559 



and other works. At the age of fifteen 
he obtained an ensigncy in the fifty-first 
regiment of foot; of which, in 1790, he be- 
came Heutenant colonel, and served with his 
corps in Corsica, where he was wounded in 
storming the Mozello fort at the siege of Calvi. 
In 1796 he went out as a brigadier-general to 
the West Indies, under Sir Ralph Abcr- 
crombie, who appointed him to the govern- 
ment of St. Lucie, in the capture of which 
he had a principal share. 

On his return home, in 1797, he was em- 
ployed in Ireland during the rebellion, and 
was raised to the rank of major-general. In 
1799 he went on the expedition to Holland, 
where he was again wounded severely ; 
notwithstanding which, he soon afterward 
went to the Mediterranean, and at the battle 
of Alexandria received a cut from a sabre on 
the breast, and a shot in the thigh. On his 
return to England he was made a knight of 
the bath ; and in 1808 he was appointed to 
command an army in Spain, where, after a 
signal retreat before Soult's superior force, 
he fell, under the walls of Corunna, Jan. 
16th, 1809. 

The description of the battle of Corunna, 
and of the death of Sir John Moore, is thus 
briefly given by Bisset. The British army 
reached Corunna on the 12th of January, 
1809, having lost one-fourth of its numbers. 
Their situation was so disadvantageous that 
some oflScers suggested the proposal of terms 
to Soult, on condition that he should permit 
the troops to embark unmolested. Sir John 
Moore rejected the advice, and declared his 
resolution to accept no terms which should 
be in the least dishonorable to the army or 
to his country. In the evening of the 14th 
the transports from the Vigo hove in sight. 
After the embarkation of the troops on the 
16th, orders were issued that, if the French 
did not.move, the embarkation of the reserve 
should commence at four in the afternoon. 

At mid-day, the general received informa- 
tion that the enemy were getting under 
arms. Two columns of the enemy directed 
their march on the right wing of the British, 
which was disadvantageously posted. Sir 
John Moore hastened to this part of the field, 
when the fourth regiment on the rigLt flank 
was menaced by a body of the enemy who 
were hastening up the valley to turn it. He 



proceeded to direct the movements of the 
other regiments in this division, and was in 
the act of ordering up the guards to support 
the forty-second Highlanders, when he was 
struck from his horse by a cannon-ball, which 
carried away his left shoulder and^part of the 
collar-bone, leaving the arm hanging by the 
flesh. He was borne away by six soldiers 
of the forty -second. 

The troops continued to fight bravely 
under Sir John Hope, on whom the command 
devolved, and at nightfall remained masters 
of the field. This victory was obtained un- 
der great disadvantages ; the French force 
exceeded 20,000 men, well appointed and 
provided with cannon. The British scarcely 
amounted to 15,000, exhausted by harassing 
marches, and discouraged by the loss of their 
military chest, their stores, their baggage, 
their horses, their sick, their wounded, their 
wives and children. 

General Moore lived to hear that the battle 
was won, and in his last moments, after an 
affecting reminiscence of his mother, ex- 
pressed a hope that his country would do 
him justice. His body was removed after 
midnight to the citadel of Corunna, wrapped 
in a military cloak and blankets, and buried 
in a grave dug in the ramparts. 

MOORE, Thomas, was born in Dublin, May 
28th, 1780, of Roman Catholic parents, to 
whose faith he continued an adherent through 
life. After studying at the university of 
Dublin, he proceeded to London to enter as 
a student of law in the Middle Temple. He 
published a translation of Anacreon, and 
" Poems of Thomas Little," whose looseness 
he repented in after years. The just severity 
with which these, and another miscellaneous 
volume of his, were cut up in the Edinburgli 
Review, produced an abortive duel between 
Moore and Jeffrey. In 1803 he obtained a 
place under government, a registrarship in 
Bermuda. He went out and entered upon 
its duties, but soon tired of the "still vexed 
Bermoothes," and leaving a deputy in charge 
of the oflBce, returned to England, having 
first visited the United States and Canada, 
where he composed the popular Boat-Song. 

His career was now that of a man of let- 
ters, much courted in high society. His 
"Irish Melodies," lyrics which he wedded to 
the ancient airs of Erin, brought him both 



MOO 



560 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



feme and gold. He had determined to write 
an eastern tale in verse, and in 1812 the 
Longmans covenanted to pay him three 
thousand guineas for a poem of which he had 
not then written a line, nor even settled the 
subject. IJc retired to a cottage in Derby- 
shire, and there buried himself in oriental 
studies and scenes. He read every work of 
authority that treated of the topography, cli- 
mate, zoology, ornithology, entomology, flori- 
culture, horticulture, agriculture, manners, 
customs, religious ceremonies, and languages of 
the East. But this was not all. The task was 
his to conjure about him an oriental atmos- 
phere, and amid the snows of bleak Derby- 
shire winters sun himself in the brightest 
scenes of the fervid clime of the East. This 
romance of "Lalla Rookh," his most elabor- 
ate poem, was published in 1817, and won 
great popularity. The patient research of 
the poet had been eminently successful. His 
oriental reading was pronounced by a great 
Eastern traveler, " as good as riding on the 
back of a camel." The accuracy of the poem 
in all its details, and its local fidelity, were 
complete. For recreation after his task, he 
visited the continent with Rogers. The next 
year he made another continental tour with 
Lord John Russell, in the course of which 
he visited his friend Lord Byron at Venice, 
and was intrusted with the autobiography 
that was afterward burnt. 

Upon his return from this journey, Moore 
took up his abode in Paris, where he remained 
till near the close of the year 1822. His 
deputy in Bermuda had proved a defaulter 
to the amount of £G,000. Moore's friends 
pressed upon him offers of assistance ; among 
others, Jeffrey, his former antagonist, with 
whom he was now cordially intimate, 
proffered generous help ; but he declined all 
assistance. The claim was finally compro- 
mised for a thousand guineas, toward which 
an uncle of the delinquent deputy contri- 
buted £300. The remaining £750 were 
defrayed by the poet from his earnings ; out 
of which, notwithstanding this drain, he con- 
tinued to make a liberal allowance to his 
parents. Fortune smiled upon him, and in 
1823, the June following, his publishers' 
account footed pleasantly. He was credited 
with £1,000 for "Loves of the Angels," and 
£500 for "Fables of the Holy Alliance," 



These were halcyon days for poets. There 
was truth as well as jest in Sir Walter Scott's 
remark a few years afterward, in reply to 
Moore's observation that " hardly a maga- 
zine is now published but contains verses 
which would once have made a reputation." 
"Ecod!" exclaimed Sir Walter, "we were 
very lucky to come before these fellows." 

A year or two after this, Moore took up 
his abode at Sloperton Cottage in Wiltshire, 
about two miles from Devizes. It was here 
that he wrote the biogi'aphies of Lord Ed- 
ward Fitzgerald, Lord Byron, and Richard 
Brinley Sheridan. In 1824, five years before 
the passing of the act for Catholic relief, 
Moore published "The Memoirs of Captain 
Rock, written by Himself," a bitter commen- 
tary upon English rule in Ireland. The next 
considerable work of Moore's— for his light 
Parthian warfare in the politics of the hour 
continued as usual, and with about the same 
success as in his younger days — was " The 
Travels of an Irish Gentleman in Search of a 
Religion," an earnest defense of the Roman 
Catholic faith. His last work, and the most 
successful, so far as a great sale constitutes 
success, was the prose romance of "The Epi- 
curean," published in 1827. 

In the latter years of life Moore labored 
under a softening of the brain which removed 
him from the arena of literature and society. 
He died early in 1852. 

MORAVIA. The population of this prov- 
ince of the Austrian empire, is 1,800,000. It 
was anciently named Quadia, and was part of 
the territory of the Quadi and Marcomanni, 
who were for several centuries the terror 
of the Roman frontier. Notwithstanding the 
many checks they received from the Romans 
and their barbarian neighbors, these tribes 
maintained their independence till they were 
overpowered by Attila in the fifth century. 
The Sclavonians next founded a republic 
here, and maintained a precarious indepen- 
dence, till Swiatopluk united the whole of 
the Sclavonic republics, and founded the 
kingdom of Moravia, which comprehended 
Bohemia, Lusatia, Brandenburg, Pomerania, 
Silesia, Dalmatia, &c. 

On the death of this prince, in 894, his 
possessions were divided among his three 
sons, but dissensions arising among them, 
the Boii, or ancestors of the Bohemians, 



MOR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



561 



conquered part of them, and threatened the 
rest. The Magyars, or invaders of Hungary, 
completely defeated the Moravians in 907, 
and thus crushed their independence. This 
fertile country, after being almost reduced to 
a desert, was seized on by the Dukes of Bohe- 
mia, vrho kept it till 1182, when it again 
became a separate government, and was 
erected into a marquisate. Moravia next fell 
into the hands of the Hungarians, but their 
internal troubles soon obliged them to relin- 
quish the valuable acquisition. 

Moravia for a time resumed its indepen- 
dence, but after various changes, became 
again subject to the kings of Bohemia; in 
1527 it was added to the possessions of 
the house of Austria, and has since been 
subject to the same sovereign. 

MORE, Hannah, was born at Stapleton, 
in Gloucestershire, in 1745. She Avas one 
of the five daughters of a village schoolmas- 
ter, whose means were not sufficient to give 
his children many of the advantages of edu- 
cation ; but this deficiency was supplied by 
their own talents and perseverance. The 
literary abilities of Hannah early attracted 
notice, and a. subscription was formed for 
establishing her and her sisters in a school 
of their own. 

Her first literary production, "The Search 
after Happiness," a pastoral drama, was 
written when she was only eighteen years 
of age. By the encouragement of her warm 
friend, Mr. Garrick, she tried her strength 
in tragic composition, and wrote "j-T^Iie Inflexi- 
ble Captive, a Tragedy," which was printed 
in 1764. Her tragedy of " Percy," the most 
popular of her dramatic compositions, was 
brought out in 1778, and ran seventeen 
nights successively; and her last tragedy, 
"The Fatal Falsehood," was produced in 
1779. Shortly after, her opinions on public 
theatres underwent a change, and she " did 
not consider the stage, in its present state, 
as becoming the appearance or countenance 
of a Christian." Early in life she attracted 
general notice by a brilliant display of liter- 
ary talent, and was honored by the intimate 
acquaintance of Johnson and Burke, of Rey- 
nolds and Garrick, and of many other highly 
eminent individuals, who equally appreciated 
her amiable qualities and her superior intel- 
lect. But, under a deep conviction that to 



86 



live to the glory of God, and to the good of 
our fellow-creatures, is the great object of 
human existence, and the only one which 
can bring peace at the last, she left, in the 
prime of her days, the bright circles of 
fashion and literature, and, retiring into the 
neighborhood of Bristol, devoted herself to a 
life of active Christian benevolence, and to 
the composition of various works, having for 
their object the religious improvement of 
mankind. Her practical conduct beautifully 
exemplified the moral energy of her Christian 
principles. 

Her first prose publication was " Thoughts 
on the Manners of the Great," printed in 
1788; followed in 1791 by her "Estimate 
of the Religion of the Fashionable World." 
In 1795 she commenced at Bath, in monthly 
numbers, " The Cheap Repository," a series 
of admirable tales for the common people, 
one of which is the well known " Shepherd 
of Salisbury Plain." The success of this 
seasonable publication was extraordinary, 
and within a year the sale reached the num- 
ber of a million copies. Her "Strictures on 
the Modern System of Female Education" 
appeared in 1799; "Hints towards Forming 
the Character of a Young Princess," in 
1805 ; " Calebs in search of a Wife," in 1809 
(which passed through at least ten editions 
in a year); "Practical Piety," in 1811; 
"Christian Morals," in 1812; "Essay on 
the Character and Writings of St. Paul," in 
1815, and "Moral Sketches of the Prevailing 
Opinions and Manners, Foreign and Domes- 
tic, with Reflections on Prayer." The 
collection of her works comprises eleven 
volumes octavo. 

Near the beginning of the present century, 
Mrs. More left Bath and retired to Barley 
Wood, a cottage delightfully situated in the 
village of Wrington, the native place of John 
Locke. In 1819 she lost her last surviving 
sister Martha, and some years after, being 
confined to her room, she quitted Barley 
Wood for Clifton, where, and at Bristol, she 
had some valuable friends, though not a sin- 
gle relation of whom she had any knowledge 
in the world. She is said to have realized 
upward of £30,000 by her writings ; and her 
charitable bequests exceeded £10,000. She 
died at Windsor Terrace, Clifton, Sept 7th, . 
1833, aged eighty-eight. 



MOR 



562 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



MORE, Sir Thomas, chancellor of England, 
was" the son of Sir John More, one of the 
judges of the king's bench, and was born in 
London, in 1480. He was educated in the 
family of Cardinal Morton, Archbishop of 
Canterbury ; and at the age of twenty-one, 
he obtained a seat in parliament, where he 
opposed a subsidy demanded by Henry VII. 
with such spirit as to incur the resent- 
ment of the king, who avenged himself on 
the judge his father, by causing him to be 
fined and imprisoned. When admitted to 
the bar, More delivered a lecture in the church 
of St. Lawrence, Jewry, on part of St. Au- 
gustin's works, and the reputation he thereby 
acquired procured him to be chosen law- 
reader in Furnival's Inn. In 1508 he was 
made judge of the sheriff's court, and jus- 
tice of peace. 

Henry VIII. delighted in the conversation 
of More, and conferred upon him the honor 
of knighthood ; besides which he made him 
treasurer of the exchequer. Sir Thomas 
assisted the monarch in his book against 
Luther, and he afterward defended it in a 
very able treatise. In 1523 he was chosen 
speaker of the House of Commons ; and in 
1530 he succeeded Cardinal Wolsey as 
chancellor, being the first layman to sit upon 
the woolsack. He had in the mean time 
published, among other works, his curious 
history of Richard III, and his Utopia, 
which, derived from the Greek for hapj)y 
land, has given a proverbial expression to 
our language. 

When Henry began those attacks on the 
papal supremacy which, however sad his 
motive might be, were instrumental in pro- 
curing the reformation. Sir Thomas at once 
took up the position which conscience dic- 
tated to him as a supporter of the old 
system, and refused to acknowledge the 
king as the head of the church. Henry 
marked him out for vengeance as an opponent 
of his matrimonial views. He endeavored 
to shield himself by an early resignation 
of oflBce. He was requested to take oath to 
maintain the lawfulness of the marriage with 
Anne Boleyn. Though it was known that 
he would be the last man to disturb the suc- 
cession, he refused to take the oath. This 
was construed into high treason, and he was 
committed to the Tower. After an imprison- 



ment of fifteen months, he was brought to 
his trial in the court of king's bench, where, 
notwithstanding his eloquent defense, he was 
found guilty of treason, and sentenced to be 
beheaded. His behavior, in the interval, 
corresponded with the uniform tenor of his 
life; and, July Gth, 1535, he ascended the 
scaffold, with his characteristic pleasantry, 
saying to the lieutenant of the Tower, "I 
pray you see me safe up; and as for my 
coming down, you may let me shift for 
myself." In the same spirit, when he laid 
his head on the block, he told the execu- 
tioner to wait till he had removed his beard, 
"For that," said he, "hath committed no 
treason." Thus fell this illustrious English- 
man, whose learning and virtue entitled him 
to a better fate. 

This unworldly and extraordinary man was 
at all times a devout Catholic, insomuch that 
at one time he was with difficulty restrained 
from becoming a monk. The Duke of Nor- 
folk, coming one day to dine with him, 
found him in Chelsea church, singing in the 
choir with his surplice on. "What ! what! " 
exclaimed the abject noble, — "what, what, 
my lord chancellor a parish clerk! You 
dishonor the king and his office." How ex- 
quisite his reply ! " Nay, you may not think 
your master and mine will be offended with me 
for serving God his master, or thereby count 
his office dishonored" It must have been 
a rare sight to see the chancellor of England 
sitting with the choir ; and yet there was a 
fair share./ - ^orap in the manner of his ser- 
vitor bowing a't his lady's pew, when mass 
was ended, and saying, "My lord is gone 
leforey But the day after he resigned the 
great seal (of which Dame Alice knew noth- 
ing), Sir Thomas presented himself at the 
pew-door, and, after the fashion of his servi- 
tor, quaintly said, " Madam, my lord is gone.'''' 
The vain woman could not comprehend his 
meaning; and when he fully explained it, 
during their short walk home, "she was 
greatly pained thereby, lamenting it with 
exceeding bitterness of spirit." 

MOREAU, Jean Victor, one of the great- 
est generals of the French republic, was bom 
at Morlaix in 1763. After signalizing him- 
self in many celebrated victories, and in many 
masterly and successful military operations 
on the frontiers of Italy and Germany in the 



MOR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



563 



campaigns of 1796 and 1799, he invaded 
Germany in 1800. Here, in co-operation with 
Bonaparte, he resumed an offensive cam- 
paign. He took possession of Munich, and 
laid the Bavarian territories and the duchy 
of Wurtemburg under heavy contributions. 
The Emperor of Austria judged it expedient 
to sue for an armistice, which Moreau granted 
on the 14th of July. The armistice expired 
in the November following ; and Moreau, on 
the 3d of December, gained the decisive vic- 
tory of Hohenlinden. 

By a turn of circumstances Moreau is found 
in 1813 in alliance with Bernadotte, his early 
companion in arms, who commanded the 
army of the north in Germany against the 
soldiers of France. On the 27th of August, 
Napoleon came out of Dresden with 130,000 
men to attack the allies, having detached a 
force, under Vandamme, to seize the passes 
in their rear. In the assault on the preceding 
day. Napoleon observed Moreau conversing 
with the Emperor Alexander and some other 
officers. Turning to a cannoneer, and point- 
ing out the object of his displeasure, he said, 
" Send a dozen balls upon that man ! " The 
officers obeyed. A ball struck Moreau, shat- 
tering both his legs and tearing open the 
belly of his horse. He bore the amputation 
of both limbs with great firmness, and was 
carried in a litter, formed by the lances of the 
Cossacks, to Toplitz, where he expired. 

MORGAN, Daniel, a Revolutionary officer, 
was born in New Jersey, but removed to 
Virginia in 1755. He res? to the rank of 
brigadier-general. His riflemen rendered 
themselves formidable to the British through- 
out the struggle. Morgan died in 1802. 

MORGAN, John, a learned physician, born 
at Philadelphia, in 1735. In prosecuting his 
professional studies, he visited many of the 
most eminent universities of Europe, and 
while there, though very young, was so dis- 
tinguished as to be elected a fellow of the 
Royal Society. He was active in establish- 
ing the American Philosophical Society in 
1769, was director-general of hospitals in the 
army of the United States, and died Oct. 
15th, 1789. 

MORMONS. [See Smith, Joseph.] 

MOROCCO is the largest of the Barbary 
states. Its political and social condition is 
rude and degraded, and in the matter of 



emperors it has been cursed by very many 
blood-thirsty tyrants. The most important 
manufacture is that of the leather which 
bears the name of the country. This the 
Moors brought from Spain. Woolens arc 
also largely made, as they form the dress of 
the people. The population of Morocco is 
8,500,000, made up of Berbers, Shelluhs, 
Arabs, and negroes, and the area is 274,000 
square miles. Morocco, the capital, on an 
extensive and fruitful plain, surrounded by 
beautiful gardens, and diversified with the 
towers of many mosques, has 100,000 in- 
habitants. Fez, in the more northerly prov- 
ince of the same name, long ranked as the 
splendid and enlightened metropolis of Wes- 
tern Africa. It was founded in 793 by 
Prince Bdris, and rose to such magnitude 
that it contained many hundred mosques, of 
which fifty were magnificent and adorned 
with marble pillars. Its schools and its 
baths were also very celebrated. At present 
its ancient splendor is mingled with modern 
decay ; though it is the most industrious and 
commercial town in the empire ; population, 
50,000. The seaports of Morocco have lost 
the business that piracy gave them. Sallee, 
once the home of the merciless rover, is now 
quiet. Mogadore is the chief seat of Euro- 
pean commerce. Tangiers, once a British 
colony, has some trade in provisions with 
Gibraltar. 

Morocco, formerly called Mauritania, was 
possessed by the Romans b.c. 25, and reduced 
by them to a province in the year 50. It 
afterward yielded to the Saracens; and, in 
the eleventh century, a chief of Lamituna 
assumed the character of a reformer of the 
Mohammedan religion, and assembled all the 
neighboi'ing tribes under his standard. His 
followers, called Almoravides, conquered 
Morocco, and even Barbary and Spain, thus 
establishing a vast empire entitled that of 
Mohgreb, or the West. The second monarch 
of this race founded the city of Morocco. 
About 1116, Abdallah, the leader of a sect of 
Mahometans, founded the dynasty of Almah- 
ides, which ended in the last sovereign's total 
defeat in Spain, 1312. At this period Fez and 
Tremecen, then provinces of the empire, shook 
off their dependence. Morocco was afterward 
seized by the King of Fez; but about 1550, 
an Arabian chief, who claimed to be a de- 



MOR 



504 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



scendant of Mahomet, subdued and united 
again the three kingdoms, and formed what 
is at present the empire of Morocco. 

MORRIS, GouvEKNEUK, was born at Mor- 
risania in New York, Jan. 31st, 1752. He 
graduated at the college in the city of New 
York in his sixteenth year, and immediately 
commenced the study of law. At the age of 
seventeen he commenced his career as a polit- 
ical writer. Mr. Morris was chosen a member 
of the first provincial congress. He was twice 
elected a member of Congress by the legisla- 
ture of New York. In 1780 he established 
himself in Philadelphia in the practice of the 
law. In this year, he was thrown from his 
carriage, and his leg was so severely injured 
that it was necessary to perform amputation, 
an operation which he bore with great forti- 
tude. In 1781 he was appointed assistant 
financier to Robert Morris, and performed the 
duties of his office with ability for three years. 
He was a member of the convention which 
met in 1787 for the purpose of framing a con- 
stitution for the United States. He was min- 
ister at the French coui-t from 1792 to 1796, 
and returned to America in 1798. Here he 
served some years in the senate of the United 
States. He married, in 1809, a daughter of 
Thomas Randolph of Virginia, and died Nov. 
fith, 1816, aged sixty-five. 

His acute powers of mind, a thorough con- 
sciousness of his own strength, and his quick 
sense of the ridiculous,, joined to a lofty inde-- 
pendence of thought, often betrayed him into 
a forwardness of manner, a license of expres- 
sion, and an indulgence of his humor,, little 
suited to soothe the pride, or flatter the vanity, 
or foster the self-love of those about him. He 
might dazzle by his genius, surprise by his 
novel flights of fancy, amuse by his wit, and 
confound by his arguments, and thus extort 
the tribute of admiration, but fail in gaining 
the willing applause of love. No man was 
better acquainted with the forms and etiquette 
of society ; none had moved more widely in 
the circles of fashion and rank, or examined 
with a keener scrutiny the deep fountains of 
the human passions, or knew better how to 
touch the springs of men's motives ; yet this 
rare intuition, this more rare expei'ience, and 
this great knowledge did little toward modi- 
fying the tendencies of his nature, or diverting 
the first bent of his mind. He was sometimes 



MOR 



overbearing in conversation. At any rate, 
when he spoke he expected to be heard. 
There is an anecdote illustrative of this point. 
At a breakfast-table, he was in close conver- 
sation with a gentleman, to whose harangue 
he had listened patiently, till it was his turn 
to reply. He began accordingly, but the 
gentleman was inattentive, and a bad listener. 
" Sir," said Mr. Morris, " if you will not listen 
to my argument, I will address myself to the 
teapot," and went on with much animation of 
tone and gesture, till he had finished his rep- 
lication. But this defect, after all, was only 
a spot on the surface. Justice, truth, charity, 
honor, held an uncontrolled empire in his 
soul, and never lost their influence or author- 
ity. — Sparks. 

MORRIS, Lewis, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, was a brother of Gouver- 
neur, and born at Morrisania, Westchester 
county, N. Y., in 1726. After receiving a 
liberal education at Yale College, he adopted 
the pursuit of his father, agriculture, at Mor- 
risania. He was elected to Congress in 1775, 
and retained his seat two years, when he was 
succeeded by his brother Gouverneur. He 
died Jan. 22d, 1798. 

There were two other brothers of this fam- 
ily : Staats, an officer of the British army, 
and a member of parliament ; and Richard, 
judge of the vice-admiralty court at New 
York, and subsequently chief-j,ustice and 
governor. 

MORRIS, Robert, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, was born in Lancashire, 
England, January, 1733 or 1734, came to 
America while yet a boy of thirteen, and en- 
tered the counting-house of Charles Willing, 
an eminent merchant of Philadelphia; on 
whose death he founded a copartnership with 
the son, Thomas Willing, and carried on a 
large commerce for thirty-nine years. He 
was a member of the continental congress 
from 1776 to 1778. During the critical strug- 
gle which ensued, Robert Morris was the 
chief financial supporter of the cause. In 
1781 he was made superintendent of finance, 
and by his extensive credit and commercial 
skill rendered immense benefit to his adopted 
country. For the public credit he did not 
hesitate to sacrifice his private resources. He 
sustained the credit of the United States, and 
established the first bank in Philadelphia, the 



HISTORY ANT) BIOGRAPHY. 



6(']5 



Bank of North America, 1781, which lent for 
the pubHc service of the government, within 
the first six months after its organization, 
$480,000. Without the financial talents and 
services of this distinguished man, all the 
physical force of the country might have 
proTed unavailing to establish the independ- 
ence of the United States. When the paper 
of the Congress of United America was worth 
nothing, the paper of Robert Morris supplied 
the deficiency ; his personal credit was decid- 
edly better than the credit of the United 
States government. He was o'ne of the con- 
Tention which framed the constitution of the 
United States, and represented Pennsylvania 
in the senate from 1789 to 1795. His most 
intimate friends were AVashington, Hamilton, 
and Ok)uverneur Morris. When offered the 
appointment of first secretary of the treasury 
by Washington, he declined, but proposed 
his friend Alexander Hamilton. His immense 
fortune had been reduced by his patriotic 
generosity, and unfortunate land speculations 
imbittered his old age, which ought to have 
been surrounded with all the ease and happi- 
ness that earthly gratitude could bestow. To 
the shiSie of the republic, the old man was 
confined in prison for debt! He died May 
8th, 1806. 

MORRISON, Robert, LL.D., a Scot by 
birth, entered in 1807 upon the Chinese mis- 
sion, and died Aug. 1st, 1834, aged fiftj^-two. 
He translated portions of the Scriptures into 
Chinese, and was the author of a Chinese 
grammar and dictionary. 

MORTIER, Edmund Adolph Casemir Jo- 
seph, born in 1768, joined the armj^ of the 
republic, and served imder Kleber, Marceau, 
Pichegra, and Moreau. In 1804 Napoleon 
made him marshal of France, and afterward 
Duke of Treviso. In conjunction with ]\lar- 
mont, Mortier defended Paris against tbe allies 
in 1814. He was riding by the side of Louis 
Philippe at a review, July 28th, 1835, when 
Fieschrs infernal machine exploded, killing 
him among others. 

MORTON. The Earl of Morton was a 
chief actor in the transactions of the reign of 
Mary, and in the minority of James VI. of 
Scotland. He joined in the murder of Rizzio, 
and, after the death of Darnley, assisted to 
expel Mary from the tlirone. In 1572 he was 



elected regent, and in 1581 he was beheaded 
at Edinburgh. 

MORTON, John, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, was born of Swedish parent- 
age at Ridley, Penn., in 1724. Morton was 
a member of the colonial congress that con- 
vened at New York in 1765, in consequence 
of the passage of the stamp act. He filled 
vai'ious civil offices in Pennsylvania ; was a 
member of Congress from 1774 to 1777 ; gave 
the casting vote in the Pennsylvania delega- 
tion for the Declaration of Independence ; 
was one of the committee that reported the 
articles of confederation, and died soon after 
that, in April, 1777. 

MOSCOW, an extensive city of Russia in 
Europe, founded in the middle of the twelfth 
century. Population, 400,000. In 1382 it 
was besieged by Tamerlane, and it soon fell 
into the hands of the Tartars, who again at- 
tacked it in 1571. They burnt the city ; but 
it was afterward rebuilt, and was for a century 
and a half the capital of the empire, and the 
residence of the court till 1760. 

In September, 1812, the memorable confla- 
gration took place, by which three-fourths of 
the city was consumed. The general plan of 
the Russians in the war with the French was 
to abandon and destroy ; and in August and 
September, when the French continued to 
advance, and it was thought impossible to 
check their progress, Count Rostopchin fore- 
warned the inhabitants of the sacrifices they 
would be called on to make. The churches 
and the treasury were stripped of their orna- 
ments ; the persons belonging to the public 
establishments were removed to Kasan ; and 
barks, laden with corn, were sunk in the 
Moskwa, to prevent their falling into the 
hands of the enemy. The decisive battle of 
Borodino was fought on the 8th of September, 
about seventy miles from Moscow, and the 
hospitals were soon filled with wounded. On 
the news of the retreat of the Russian army, 
a general movement took place in Moscow. 

On the 13th of September the enemy dnew 
near, and the mass of the population of Mos- 
cow fled into the surrounding country. On 
the 14th the French entered the city, and that 
night a fire broke out, which was soon got 
under. On the 15th fires burst forth from 
the shops ; and on the following night a gen- 



MOS 



566 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



oral conflagration took place. Explosions in 
diffei-ent places, and fagots thrown from tow- 
ers, showed that means were euiployed to 
spread destruction in every quarter. During 
the next day smoke rolled in thick clouds 
over the town, and at night a vast globe of 
liame illuminated the atmosphere several 
leagues round. The conflagration was rapidly 
spread by a violent wind, the buildings fell in 
with a tremendous crash, and the immense 
stones, calcined and blackened, only remained 
to denote their site. The French sentinels 
were, however, unable to detect the incendia- 
ries : several stragglers were arrested, tried, 
and shot ; but all the men taken in attempting 
to spread the flames, declared they had acted 
under the direction of Rostopchin and the 
director of police. The French officers, on find- 
ing it impracticable to extinguish the flames, 
authorized a systematic pillage. The plunder 
was immense ; but the greater part was aban- 
doned in the disastrous retreat. The fire 
raged till the 19 th. Bonaparte now remained 
at Moscow a month, in the hope of prevailing 
on the Russians to conclude a peace. Bafiied 
in this attempt, he quitted the city on the 18th 
of October. The young guard, which formed 
the garrison left by Bonaparte, intrenched it- 
self in the Kremlin ; and, having undermined 
part of the walls and interior buildings, blew 
them up on the 23d of October, the day of the 
final evacuation. The rebuilding of the city 
proceeded but slowly till 1814, when the 
greatest exertions were made ; by the begin- 
ning of 1818 the new city seemed to have 
risen from the ruins, and by the end of that 
year the whole was completed. 

MOULTRIE, AYiLLiAM, a major-general in 
our Revolution, came to South Carolina from 
England at an early age. He served against 
the Indians prior to 1775, and, during the 
Revolution distinguished himself at Charles- 
ton, Beaufort, and Sullivan's Island, the fort 
on which was named after him. He was sev- 
eral times governor of South Carolina. He 
died at Charleston, Sept. 27th, 1805, aged 
seventy -five. 

MOZART, JoHANN Chrysostomus Wolf- 
gang Gottlieb, was born at Salzburg, Jan. 
25th, 1756. He evinced the most precocious 
genius for music, and it was strengthened by 
instruction and culture. When at Rome in 
1770, during passion week, he heard the 



" Miserere " at the Sistine chapel. This piece 
was prohibited to be copied, or in any manner 
published, on pain of excommunication. Mo- 
zart went a second time to hear, having a 
manuscript copy that he had made from mem- 
ory, concealed in his hat for the opportunity 
of noting corrections. It was considered a 
great feat to thus obtain this difficult music. 
The last years of Mozart's life were spent at 
Vienna in the service of the emperor. There 
he died Dec. 5th, 1792, leaving compositions 
that are immortal. 

MURxiT, JoAcniM, the son of a pastry- 
cook, was born at Achers in 1771. At a 
very early age he was a fine horseman, and 
fond of military exercises. It is not surpris- 
ing, therefore, that he escaped from the 
convent where he was placed to study theol- 
ogy, and enlisted in a regiment of dragoons. 
His merit raised him from the ranks, and he 
fought brilliantly under Napoleon throughout 
his career. Murat married Caroline, Napo- 
leon's youngest sister, and was created mar- 
shal of the empire and Grand Duke of Berg 
and Cleves. On the elevation of Joseph to 
the Spanish throne, in 1809, Bonaparte trans- 
ferred the crown of Naples to hi^rother- 
in-law. In December, 1812, Murat was 
appointed to the chief command of the French 
army at Wilna, after their memorable but 
ill-fated retreat from Moscow. In 1814 Mu- 
rat basely joined the alliance against France 
by opening the Neapolitan ports to the Eng- 
lish, and engaging to assist Austria with an 
army of 30,000 men. 

When Napoleon returned from Elba, Mu- 
rat once more took up his cause, and, by an 
enterprise against the Austrians in Italy, lost 
the crown of Naples. When the expedition 
from Elba reached France, he had assembled 
his cabinet, and declared his resolution to 
support the allies ; but on learning that Bo- 
naparte had entered Lyons, he demanded 
leave of the pope to march a force through 
his territories. Pius VIT. refused ; on which 
two Neapolitan divisions penetrated to Rome, 
and his holiness, hastily retiring, placed 
himself under the protection of the English 
at Genoa. Murat himself advanced to An- 
cona, and his army marched in four columns 
on the routes of Bologna, Modena, Reggio, 
and Ferrara, while a fifth division drove the 
Austrian garrisons from Cesena and Rimini. 



MUR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



567 



Harassed on all sides by the British and 
Austrian forces, and having in vain solicited 
an armistice, he attacked Bianchi, near To- 
lentino, in which contest his army was totally 
ruined. After a disastrous retreat of ten 
days, he found, on approaching Naples, that 
the inhabitants had declared for the King of 
Sicily wherever the Austrians appeared ; that 
Colonel Church was raising against him 
an army of his late subjects ; and that 
everything, in short, was going against him. 
Leaving his followers, who were now reduced 
to 4,000 men, he hastened to Naples, and 
arrived at the palace exhausted with fatigue. 
He escaped in disguise with a few adherents 
to the isle of Ischia, and embarking thence for 
France, landed on the 25th of May at Cannes. 

Murat, after the battle of Waterloo, made 
his retreat in an open boat to Corsica. In 
September, proposals were made to Joachim, 
that he should assume the name of a private 
person ; that he should choose his abode either 
in Bohemia, Moravia, or Upper Austria ; and 
that he should engage not to quit those 
states without the consent of the emperor. 
He rejected this overture, and undertook, in 
imitation of Bonaparte, an expedition for 
the recovery of his kingdom. When he 
landed at Pizzo on the 8th of October, he 
could only muster about thirty officers. 
Thus disappointed he proceeded to Monte- 
leone. He was overtaken half-way by a very 
strong party, and after fighting desperately, 
broke through his pursuers, and hastened to 
the beach, where he was seized and conveyed 
before General Nanziante, the commandant of 
Calabria. On the 15 th, pursuant to orders 
from Naples, he was tried by court-martial, 
and shot in half an hour. 

MURILLO, Bartholome Esteban, was 
born at Seville, Jan. 1st, 1618. After some 
education, he was placed with Juan del Cas- 
tillo, a kinsman, to learn painting, for which 
he had shown a decided ability. Velasquez, 
then the greatest painter of Spain, who 
was Murillo's fellow-townsman, very kindly 
aided him in his studies at Madrid. In 
1645 Murillo returned to Seville, and there 
his life was spent in the pursuit of his art. 
He married, in 1048, a wealthy lady of Pilas, 
and his house became the resort of people of 
taste and fashion. The academy of Seville 
wa.s established by him. In his latter years he 



changed both his style and his subjects. His 
earlier pictures, which are painted in a forci- 
ble manner, are chiefly illustrative of humble 
life : his latter works, with equal truth, are 
in a more elevated and chaste style, and are 
almost exclusively scriptural or i-eligious in 
their subjects. He occasionally painted land- 
scapes. His favorite masters were Spagno- 
letto, Vandyck, and Velasquez. The last 
work of Murillo was the large altar-piece of 
St. Catharine, painted at Cadiz for the church 
of the Capuchins ; a picture never completed, 
for a fall from the scaffolding while engaged 
upon it, forced his return to Seville, where 
he died not long afterward, April 3d, 1682. 

MURRAY, Alexander, was born at Ches- 
tertown, Maryland, in 1755. At the age of 
eighteen he commanded a merchant-vessel. 
At twenty -one he was appointed a lieutenant 
in the navy, but fought on shore until he 
could obtain a vessel. He commanded 
several letters-of-marque during the Revolu- 
tionary struggle, and served some time under 
Barry. When in command of the Constella- 
tion, he beat off some Tripolitan gunboats 
with great spirit and success. His last ap- 
pointment was to the post of commandant of 
the navy -yard at Philadelphia. He died Oct. 
6th, 1821. 

MURRAY, James Stuart, Earl of, was the 
natural son of James V., King of Scotland, 
and the unnatural brother of Queen Mary. 
He was a powerful supporter of the refor- 
mation. After the return of Mary from 
France, he administered her affairs until her 
marriage with Darnley, which he opposed by 
force of arms, and was obliged to flee into 
England. After the murder of Rizzio, he 
was again restored to favor. He went abroad 
to France on the murder of Darnley in 1556, 
and returned on being elected regent by his 
party. This election was confirmed by parlia- 
ment, and he soon established his authority. 
Mary, escaping from Lochleven Castle, col- 
lected her friends, who were defeated at Lang- 
side, near Glasgow, and she was compelled to 
flee into England in 1568. Murray was sup- 
ported by the alliance of Queen Elizabeth. 
In 1569 he was murdered by Hamilton, 
whose wife he had seduced. 

MURRAY, LiNDLEY, a noted grammarian, 
was born in Pennsylvania in 1745, and died 
in England in 1826. 



MUR 



568 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



MURRAY, "William Vans, was born in 
Maryland 1761, died 1803, aged forty-two. 
He was a distinguished and eloquent member 
of Congress ; minister fo the Batavian re- 
public; and with Chief- Justice Ellsworth 
and Mr. Davie as envoys extraordinary, he 
assisted in negotiating the treaty of Paris, 
in 1800. 

MUSCAT, a state on the east coast of 
Arabia. During the present century the 
Imaum of Muscat has so extended his terri- 
tories, naval power, and commercial import- 
ance, as to rank among the greatest of the 
independent countries of Asia. The town 
of Muscat has about 60,000 inhabitants. 

MUSIC. According to the Mosaic records, 
Jubal, the son of Lamech, played on musical 
instruments even before the deluge. At a 
later period, we find mention made of the 
harp, the trumpet, and the drum. The oldest 
song is that which Miriam sang after the 
passage of the Red Sea. Music reached its 
highest perfection among the Hebrews, at the 
time of David and Solomon. 

The Greeks are said to have received the 
art of music from Lydia and Arcadia. But 
it was not till the sixth century that much 
of the science of music was understood. 
Labus, a Greek, who lived about 540 b.c, 
wrote something on the theory of music. 
In the time of Pericles, Damon is said to have 
been a distinguished teacher of music. 

In the time of Plato and Aristotle, many 
improvements in music were made ; these 
philosophers considering music useful as a 
means of education. At the time of Alexan- 
der, Aristoxenus distinguished himself as a 
writer on music. He composed many trea- 
tises, and made many great changes and 
improvements. He introduced the chromatic 
scale. We have on the whole but little 
light on the subject of the music of the an- 
cients, as the existing writings arc very 
obscure and unintelligible. 

The Romans seem to have received their 
sacred music from the Etruscans, and their 
warlike music from the Greeks. Stringed 
instruments were introduced into Rome, 186 
B.C. Under Nero, music was cultivated as a 
luxury. After his death, five hundred sing- 
ers and musicians were dismissed. 

In the middle ages, the progress of music 



was promoted by its being consecrated to th^ 
service of religion, and education was not 
thought complete without some knowledge 
of music. Guido, of Arezzo, made great im- 
provements in the manner of writing the 
notes in music, and in the fifteenth century 
still farther improvement was made by Jo- 
hannes de Muris. 

At the same period, music was treated ^ 
scientifically in the Netherlands, France, and 
Spain. The invention of the opera in the 
sixteenth century, has chiefly contributed to 
the splendor and variety of modern vocal 
music, and in the eighteenth century there 
were immense improvements made in musical 
instruments. 

The merit of the advancement of vocal 
music is claimed by the Italians ; that in 
instrumental music by the Germans and 
French. Musical notes as now used were 
invented in 1338. 

MUTIUS SC^VOLA (the left-handed). 
When Porsenna, King of Etruria, had be- 
sieged Rome to reinstate Tarquin in all his 
rights and privileges, Caius Mutius Cordus 
determined to deliver his country from so 
dangerous an enemy. He disguised himself 
in the habit of a Tuscan, and as he could speak 
the language fluently, he gained an easy intro- 
duction into the camp, and soon into the royal 
tent. Porsenna sat alone with his secretary 
when Mutius entered. The Roman rushed 
upon the secretary and stabbed him to the 
heart, mistaking him for his royal master. 
This occasioned a noise, and Mutius, unable 
to escape, was seized and brought before the 
king. He gave no answer to the inquiries of 
the courtiers, and only told them that he was 
a Roman ; to give them a proof of his for- 
titude he laid his right hand on an altar of 
burning coals, and sternly looking at the 
king, and without uttering a groan, he boldly 
told him, that three hundred young Romans 
like himself had conspired against his life, and 
entered the camp in disguise, determined 
either to destroy him or perish in the attempt. 
This extraordinary confession astonished 
Porsenna ; he made peace with the Romans 
and retired from their city. Mutius obtained 
the surname of Sca>Tola, because he had lost 
the use of his right hand by burning it in the 
presence of the Etrurian king. 



MUT 



^ 



ISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



569 



N. 



NAMUR. [See Belgium.] 

NANTES, a seaport of France, capital of 
the department of the Lower Loire, pleasantly 
situated on the Loire thirty miles from the At- 
lantic ; population, 91,000. Its manufactures 
are extensive, and its public institutions im- 
portant. In history it is celebrated for the 
act called the Edict of Nantes, granted by 
Henry IV., by which Protestants enjoyed 
toleration in France, April 30th, 1598. It 
was revoked by Louis XIV., Oct. 24th, 1685 ; 
by which bad policy thousands of industrious 
Huguenots were obliged to seek refuge in 
England, Holland, and different parts of Ger- 
many, where they established various manu- 
factures, much to the injury of France. 

NAPIER, Sir Charles James, a distin- 
guished lieutenant-general in the British 
army, born in 1782, fought desperately under 
Moore and Wellington in the Spanish penin- 
sula, but won his laurels as an administi-ator 
and conqueror in Afghanistan. He died 
Aug. 29th, 1855. 

NAPIER, John, Baron of Merchiston, the 
inventor of logarithms, born in Scotland, 
1550, died in 1617. 

NAPLES, THE Kingdom of, is the name 
commonly given to the continental part of 
the kingdom of the Two Sicilies. [See Sic- 
ily.] It comprises the southern half of Italy. 
A portion we have already described under 
Abruzzo. Although the climate is singu- 
larly genial, and the soil corresponds in fer- 
tility, the ignorance and laziness of the 
peasantry, and the miserable rule under 
which they live, turn these blessings into a 
curse. The kingdom was brutally misgov- 
erned by its Bourbon rulers, but was an- 
nexed to the kingdom of Italy in 1860, Fran- 
cis II. absconding to Rome, Nov. 7th of that 
year. The population of the whole kingdom 
is 8,705,000. 

The city of Naples, the capital and royal 
residence of the Two Sicilies, containing 
450,000 inhabitants, is charmingly situated 
on the brink of the most beautiful bay in the 
world, whioh is thus eloquently described by 
a traveler. 



It is evening, and scarcely a breeze ruffles 
the bosom of the beautiful bay, which resem- 
bles a mirror, reflecting on its glassy surface 
the bright sky and the thousand glittering 
stars with which it is studded. Naples, with 
its white colonnades, seen amidst the dark 
foliage of its terraced gardens, rises like an 
amphitheatre; lights stream from the win- 
dows, and fall over the sea beneath like 
columns of gold. The castle of St. Elmo 
crowning the centre ; Vesuvius, like a sleep- 
ing giant in grim repose, whose awaking all 
dread, is to the left ; and to the right are the 
vine-crowned heights of beautiful Varmero, 
with their palaces and villas peeping forth 
from the groves that surround them ; while 
rising above it, the convent of Camaldoli lifts 
its head to the skies. Resina, Portici, Castel- 
a-Mare, and the lovely shores of Sorrento, 
reach out from Vesuvius, as if they tried to 
embrace the isle of Capri, which forms the 
central object ; and Pausilippo and Misenum, 
which in the distance seemed joined to Pro- 
cida and Ischia, advance to meet the beauti- 
ful island on the right. The air as it leaves 
the shore is laden with fragrance from the 
orange-trees and jessamine, so abundant round 
Naples ; and the soft music of the guitar, or 
lively sound of the tambourine, marking the 
brisk movements of the tarentella, steals on 
the ear. 

The climate of Naples is delightful, and 
such of the lazzaroni as are unable to procure 
shelter experience no painful results from 
sleeping in the open air. The nobles are 
opulent and luxurious, and a love of pleasure 
pervades alike all classes. The necessaries 
of life are easily obtained, and the lazzaroni 
live from day to day on their casual earnings 
and beggings. A shirt and pair of loose 
trowsers are costume enough for them. 

Naples, or Neapolis (that is, ' new city '), 
was colonized at some unknown time by 
Greeks from Cumse. After the fall of the 
Roman empire Naples was subject to the 
Goths, and afterward to the Lombards. In 
the ninth century it became tributary to the 
Duke of Beneventum. During the govern- 



NAP 



670 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



ment of Pandulph II., as Prince of Benevento, 
A.D. 1003, the Normans first arrived in Italy, 
and established themselves in this country. 
Landulph V., the son of Pandulph, was ex- 
pelled from the government by Richard I., 
the Norman Count of Aversa, who caused 
himself to be proclaimed Prince of Benevento. 
Thus the dominion of the Lombards in this 
principality terminated, a.d. 1059. Richard 
was succeeded in the government of Bene- 
vento by Jordanus, Richard II., Robert, 
Richard III., Jordanus II., Robert II., and 
Roger, who assumed the title of king, and 
obtained the investiture of the dukedom of 
Naples. Some years after, Roger, having 
taken Pope Innocent prisoner, obliged his 
holiness to confirm to him the title of king. 

To him succeeded William in 1154; AVil- 
liam II. in 1166; Tancred, Count of Lecce, 
in 1190 ; Frederick in 1208, who enlarged 
and embellished the city of Naples, which he 
made the chief place of his residence ; and 
Conrad in 1250. Four years after, Conrad 
died, and was succeeded by Conradin, whose 
army was attacked and dispersed by Manfred. 
In 1253 Manfred assumed the crown of Sic- 
ily ; and in 1266 he was defeated and slain 
by the army of Charles of Anjou, on whom 
Pope Urban had conferred the title of king. 
Soon after, Conradin laid claim to Sicily, and 
marched with an army into Italy, but was 
entirely defeated and taken prisoner by 
Charles, who caused him and the Duke of 
Austria to be publicly beheaded upon the 
scaffold in the market-place of Naples, a.d. 
1269. 

Charles, by his arbitrary and oppressive 
government, so entirely lost the affections of 
the Sicilians, that they offered their allegiance 
to Peter, King of Arragon, who was soon 
after crowned at Palermo, and from this 
period the history of Naples is an unvaried 
and uninteresting detail of scenes of war and 
invasion, during nearly two hundred years. 

At length, in 1442, after a long separation, 
Alphonso of Arragon united both Sicily and 
Naples under his dominion. Upon the death 
of Ferdinand, the Emperor Charles V. suc- 
ceeded to Naples, as well as to the rest of the 
Spanish monarchy. During his reign, and 
that of his successors, Philip II., Philip III., 
and Philip IV., this country was governed 
by the viceroys of Spain, and suffered greatly 



from their oppression. On the death of 
Philip IV., A.D. 1664, Charles II. succeeded 
to the crown of Spain, and adopted Philip of 
Anjou, afterward Philip V., as the heir of all 
his dominions. 

In 1700 Philip succeeded to the crown of 
Naples and Sicily ; but his title was opposed 
by the house of Austria, and a conspiracy 
procured the government of Naples for Charles 
II., son of the Emperor Leopold. However, 
by the conditions of the general peace, Na- 
ples again owned the sway of Philip in 1719 ; 
but Sicily was given to the Duke of Savoy. 
Some years after, the Emperor Charles VI. 
again seized upon Naples, and by cession 
obtained also Sicily. He continued to reign 
over them for several years, till Don Carlos 
of Spain, being vested with the rights of his 
father, who was yet alive, conquered these 
two kingdoms in 1734, and fixed the seat of 
his government among his subjects. Don 
Carlos changed the face of his kingdoms, 
which, on his taking possession of the crown 
of Spain, he left in a flourishing condition 
to his son Ferdinand IV., in 1759. 

In 1767 the Jesuits were expelled from 
Naples, and were all conveyed into the pope's 
dominions, the vicinity of whose territories 
rendered every scheme of opposition fruitless. 
During the invasion of Italy by the French, 
after some immaterial hostilities, a suspen- 
sion of arms was agreed to between the King 
of Naples and the republican commander in 
1796 ; and soon after, a peace was concluded 
between the two powers, Naples being re- 
quired to pay a sum of eight millions, either 
in money or in naval stores. 

In 1798 the King of Naples commenced 
hostilities against the French, attacked the 
new Roman republic, and entered Rome in 
triumph ; but in the year following, he was 
obliged to conclude an armistice with the 
enemy on very hard conditions. Naples was 
reduced under the power of the French in 
1799, who constituted it a republic, and estab- 
lished a provisionary government. However, 
a few months afterward the great successes 
of the Austro-Russian army forced the French 
to evacuate Naples ; and, by the aid of the 
English, the Kingof theTwoSicihes, who had 
hoisted his flag on board the Foudroyant, the 
English admiral's ship, was enabled to return 
once more to his capital, But the victory of 



NAP 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



571 



Bonaparte at Marengo, and the conditions of 
the treaty of Luneville, gave the French a 
great ascendency in Italy. 

In 1805 Bonaparte issued a proclamation, 
declaring that the Neapolitan dynasty had 
ceased to reign, and ordered his troops to 
subject the whole of Italy to his laws or those 
of his allies. In consequence of this, a 
French army, under the command of Joseph 
Bonaparte, entered Naples, and occupied all 
the principal fortresses in the kingdom. The 
king and the royal family were obliged to 
seek an asylum in Sicily. Under the Prince 
of Hesse, Gaeta made a long and memorable 
defense against the French troops, and was 
taken only in consequence of that commander 
being badly wounded, and some of his offi- 
cers proving treacherous. On the translation 
of Joseph Bonaparte to the throne of Spain, 
in 1808, Joachim Murat, Avho had married a 
sister of Napoleon, was nominated to the king- 
dom of Naples. 

After an extraordinary career, in which 
some of the martial talent and vigor of Murat 
was displayed, but was ill seconded by his 
troops, Naples was invested by land, whilst 
an English naval force entered its port, and 
compelled a surrender of the ships and 
arsenal. The Neapolitan commanders, and 
those of Austria and England, signed a con- 
vention, of which the prominent feature was 
the abdication of Joachim. Naples was oc- 
cupied bj'' the allies, who were joined by an 
armament of English and Sicilians ; and Fer- 
dinand lY., King of the Two Sicilies, after an 
absence of nine years, was restored in 1815. 

NAPOLI DI ROMANIA, or Nauplia, a 
port and city on the eastern coast of the 
Morea, on the Gulf of Nauplia, or Argolis, 
containing about 5,000 inhabitants. It was 
taken by the Greeks during their revolution, 
and in 1824 became for a time the seat of 
government. 

In 1205 it was taken by the French and 
Venetians ; and a little after. King Gianno- 
viza seized and plundered it. The Venetians 
bought it of Peter Cornaro's widow in 1383, 
made it their chief settlement in the Morea, 
and defended it gallantly against Mahomet 
II. in 14G0, obliging him to raise the siege. 
Sultan Solyn^an took it from them in 1637. 

NARVA, Battle of. Peter the Great, 
with 70,000 Russians, was badly defeated by 



Charles XII. with only 20,000 Swedes, Nov. 
30th, 1700. The 'madman of the north,' 
then only nineteen years of age, attacked the 
Russians in their intrenchments. He had 
several horses shot under him, and as he 
mounted a fresh one, he said, " These felLows 
seem disposed to give me exercise." 

NASEBY, a village of Northamptonshire, 
England, famous for the decisive and well 
disputed battle fought there, June 14th, 1645, 
between the army of Charles I. and the par- 
liamentary troops, with nearly equal forces 
on both sides. The king commanded in 
person, and displayed all the conduct of a 
prudent general and stout soldier. Fairfax 
and Skippon were his opponents ; and Crom- 
well behaved with his usual prudence and 
gallantry. The royal infantry were entirely 
discomfited; and though the king cried 
aloud to the cavalry, " One charge more and 
we recover the day ! " they could not be pre- 
vailed on to renew the combat, and the king 
was obliged to quit the field, losing all his 
cannon and baggage, and 5,000 prisoners. 
The slain on the side of the parliament, how- 
ever, exceeded those of the king. Among 
the spoils was found the king's cabinet, with 
copies of his letters to the queen. 

NASH, Fkancis, a brigadier-general in the 
American Revolution, killed at Germantown 
in 1777. He was a citizen of North Carolina^ 

NASH, Richard, commonly called Beau 
Nash, was a native of Swansea in "Wales, 
1674. After a brief life at the bar and in the 
army, he made pleasure and fashion his busi- 
ness, and in 1704 was appointed master of 
ceremonies at Bath, then the great watering- 
place of England. Here he bore arbitrary 
sway more than fifty years. When his health 
failed, and his vivacity and taste fled, his 
fickle position gave way, and he expired in 
indigence and neglect in 1761. 

NASSAU, a small duchy of Germany, with 
an area of 1,736 square miles, and a popula- 
tion of 432,039. The boast of Nassau is its 
wine, — its hock, and the wines of Riidesheim 
and Johannisberg. Wiesbaden is the chief 
town. Otho, brother of Conrad I., in the 
tenth century, is considered the founder of 
the house of Nassau, which after the death 
of Henry II. divided into two branches. 
The dukes of Nassau are descended from 
the elder branch, and the house of Orange- 



NAS 



572 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Nassau, the royal family of Holland, from 
the younger. 

NAVAL BATTLES in modern history. 
The most important engagements at sea are 
described separately, as Lepanto, Aboukir, 
or the Nile, Trafalgar, St. Vincent, Navarino, 
Sinope, &c. 

897. Fight between English and the Danes, 

when Alfred defeated 120 ships ofiFthe 

coast of Dorsetshire. 
1389. Eighty French ships taken by the English. 
1416. The Duke of Bedford took 5U0 French and 

3 Genoese vessels. 
1459. The French fleet taken by the Earl of 

Warwick in the Downs. 
1571. Between the Christian powers and the 

Turks, in the Gulf of Lepanto, Oct. 



7th. 

1588. Between the English fleet and the Spanish 
Armada, July 19th. 

1653. Between Blake and Van Tromp, July 29th. 
The Dutch lost 30 men-of-war, and Ad- 
miral Van Tromp was killed. 

1664. The Duke of York took 130 of the Bor- 
deaux fleet, Dec. 4th. 

1692. The French fleet entirely defeated, and 
twenty-one large men-of-war destroyed 
by the English and Dutch, off Cape" La 
Hogue, May 19th. 

1702. The Vigo fleet taken by the Dutch and 
English, Oct. 12th. 

1704. The French are beaten by the English, off 
Malaga, and entirely relinquish to them 
the dominion of the sea, Aug. 24th. 

1779. Paul Jones captured the British frigate 
Serapis, Sept. 23d. 

1782. Admiral Rodney defeated the French go- 
ing to attack Jamaica, April 12th. 

1794. Lord Howe totally defeated the French 
fleet off Ushant, June 1st. 

1797. The Spanish fleet defeated off Cape St. 

Vincent, by Sir J. Jervis, Feb. 14th. 
» The Dutch fleet defeated by Admiral Dun- 
can on the coast of Holland, at Cam- 
perdown, Oct. 11th. 

1798. The famous battle of Aboukir, or the Nile, 

The French fleet of 17 ships totally 
defeated by Nelson, Aug. 1st. 
1801. The Danish fleet of 23 sail taken by Lord 
Nelson off Copenhagen, April 2d. 

1804. Stephen Decatur succeeded in obtaining 

possession of the frigate Philadelphia 
from the harbor of Tripoli. He then set 
fire to her; twenty of the enemy were 
destroyed. Lieutenant Decatur did not 
lose a man. The same year in August 
and September, Commodore Preble 
made several famous attacks upon the 
town, fortress, and naval forces of 
Tripoli. 

1805. French and Spanish fleets totally defeated 

off Cape Trafalgar, and Lord Nelson 
was killed in the action, Oct. 21st. 



1811. 



Rencontre between the British sloop of 
war Little Belt, and the United State: 



frigate President, Commodore Rodgers 
May 16th. ' 

1812. The British sloop of war Alert taken by 
the United States frigate Essex, Cap- 
tain Porter, Aug. 13th. 

The British frigate Guerriere taken by the 
United States frigate Constitution, 
Captain Hull, Aug. 19th. 

The British brig Frolic, by the United 
States sloop Wasp, Captain Jones ; 
same day, the Wasp and Frolic were 
captured by the British 74 Poictiers, 
Captain Beresford, Oct. 18th. 

British frigate Macedonian captured by 
the frigate United States, Commodore 
Decatur, Oct. 25th. 

British frigate Java captured by the 
United States frigate Constitution, Cap- 
tain Bainbridge, Dec. 29th. 

1813. Peacock, British sloop of war, captured by 
the United States sloop of war Hornet; 
the Peacock sunk with part of her 
crew ; Feb. 24th. 

United States frigate Chesapeake captured 
by the British frigate Shannon ; the gal- 
lant commander of the Chesapeake, 
James Lawrence, fell; June 1st. 

United States armed vessels Growler and 
Eagle taken, after a smart action, by 
the British gun-boats, June 3d. 

United States sloop of war Argus taken 
by the British sloop of war Pehcan, 
Aug. 14th. 

British brig Boxer taken by the United 
States brig Enterprise, Sept. 4th. 

Commodore Oliver H. Perry, in a gallant 
action of the United States squadron 
under his command, captured the British 
fleet on Lake Erie, Sept. 13th. 

1814. The United States frigate Essex taken by 
the British frigate Phcsbe and sloop of 
war Cherub, after a desperate and san- 
guinary defense, March 28th. 

United States sloop of war Frolic taken 

by a British squadron, April 21st. 
British brig Epervier taken by the United 

States brig Peacock, April 29th. 
British sloop of war Reindeer taken by the 

U. S. sloop of war Wasp, June 28th. 
McDonough's victory over the British 

squadron on Lake Champlain, Aug. 

11th. 

1815. United States frigate President, Decatur 
commander, captured by a British 
squadron, consisting of the Endymion, 
Tenedos, and Pomona frigates, and the 
Majestic razee ; Decatur, after being 
captured, refused indignantly to deliver 
bis sword to any other than the com- 
mander of the squadron ; Jan. 15. 

The British ships Cyane and Levant taken 
by the United States frigate Constitu- 
tion, Feb. 20. 
The United States ship Hornet captures 
the British ship Penguin, March 23d. 
1831-4. (For the principal naval actions of the 
rebellion, see Chronology, end book.) 
NAY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



573 



NAVARINO, or Neocastro, a small town 
and fortress on the south-west coast of the 
Morea, with a large harbor. In 1715 it was 
in the hands of the Venetians, who fortified it 
against the Turks. Here, Oct. 20th, 1827, 
the combined Russian, French, and English 
fleet, commanded by Admiral Codrington, 
defeated the Turco-Egyptian fleet after a 
warm engagement. The battle of Navarino 
caused the independence of Greece, but almost 
annihilated the naval power of Turkey. 

NAXOS, now Naxia, in very ancient times 
Dia and Strongyle, the largest island of the 
Cyclades, contains 169 square miles, and 
20,000 inhabitants. The Naxians were an- 
ciently governed by kings, but they after- 
ward exchanged this form of government for 
a republic, and enjoyed their liberty till the 
age of Pisistratus, who appointed a tyrant 
over them. They were reduced by the Per- 
sians ; but in the expeditions of Darius and 
Xerxes against Greece, they revolted and 
fought on the side of the Greeks. During 
the Peloponnesian war, they supported the 
interest of Athens. The capital was also 
called Naxos ; and near it, b.c. 377, the Lace- 
daemonians were defeated by Chabrias. 

NAYLER, James, an enthusiastic and ex- 
travagant convert to Quakerism, born in 
1616. He was sentenced by parliament to 
be whipped, branded, and bored in the tongue 
with a hot iron, and imprisoned for life, for 
blasphemy. He died in 1666. 

NEANDER, Johann Augustus, the cele- 
brated church historian, and famous Protes- 
tant theologian, was born at Giittingen, 
Jan. 13th, 1789, and died at Berlin, July 
13th, 1850. He was of Jewish descent, but 
at the age of seventeen he embraced the 
Christian religion, to the defense of which 
his labors, and to the exemplification of 
which his life, were thenceforth devoted. 
In token of the sincerity and strength of his 
faith, he was publicly baptized, and, further- 
more, assumed the name Neander^ from two 
Greek words signifying " a new man." Hav- 
ing studied theology at Halle under Schleier- 
macher, and also at the universities of Got- 
tingen and Heidelberg, he was appointed 
private lecturer at the latter; and shortly 
after was made the chief professor of theology 
at the royal university of Berlin, which post 
he heldi to the time of his death. Neander 



was a very pious as well as learned man. 
His writings are held in high estimation, 
both in Europe and in America; the chief 
of them being the " Life of Christ," in refuta- 
tion of Strauss, his "General History of the 
Christian Religion and Church," and his 
"History of the Apostolic Church." 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR L, or Nabuchodo- 
nosar. King of Nineveh and Babylon. He 
is supposed to be the same with Nabopolas- 
sar, governor of Babylon, who founded the 
kingdom of Nineveh. He sent Holophernes 
against Judea, who was slain by Judith. 

NEBUCHADNEZZAR IL, King of As- 
syria and Babylon, is supposed to have been 
the son of the preceding. He invaded Judea, 
took Jerusalem, and carried the treasures 
of the temple, and a number of captives, to 
Babylon. After this he set up a golden statue 
in the plain of Dura, which he commanded 
all his subjects to adore, on pain of being 
cast into a fiery furnace. Three young 
Jews, named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed- 
nego, refused to submit to this idolatry, and 
the sentence was executed upon them ; but 
they were preserved amidst the flames. 
Having lost his senses, he became an outcast 
from the society of men, and lived among 
wild beasts in the forest ; but on recovering 
his reason, he again ascended the throne, and 
died, B.C. 562, after reigning forty -three years. 

NECHO, King of Egypt, called in Scrip- 
ture, Pharaoh Necho, succeeded his father, 
Psammeticus, b.c. 616. He undertook to 
make a canal from the Nile to the Arabian 
gulf, which undertaking he was forced to 
abandon, after it had cost the lives of 120,000 
men. Herodotus says that the ships of Necho 
sailed from the Red Sea, around the coast 
of Africa, into the Mediterranean ; and re- 
turned to Egypt, after a voyage of three 
years. This monarch invaded Assyria, and 
on his march was attacked by Josiah, King 
of Judah, who was slain in the battle. The 
King of Egypt was defeated in his turn by 
Nebuchadnezzar, and obliged to return to 
his own country, where he died, b.c. 600. 

NECKER, a famous minister of finance in 
France, was a native of Geneva. He foresaw 
the storm of the French revolution, and in 
1790 retired to his native land, where he 
died in 1804, at the age of seventy-two. He 
was the father of Madame de Stael. 



NEC 



574 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA 01 



NELSON, Horatio, the greatest of Eng- 
land's admirals, was the fourth son of the 
rector of Burnhatn Thorpe in Norfolk, where 
he was born Sept. 29th, 1758. At the age 
of twelve years he was taken to sea by his 
maternal uncle. Captain Suckling, of the 
Raisonable man-of-war. In 1773, in a voyage 
undertaken for the discovery of a north-west 
passage, the young midshipman distinguished 
himself by his skill, courage, and prompti- 
tude. Soon after his return he was ap- 
pointed to a station in the Seahorse, in which 
he sailed to the East Indies. 

He passed for a lieutenant in 1777, and 
received his commission as second of the 
LowestofF frigate, in which he cruised against 
the Americans. In 1779 he obtained the 
rank of post-captain, and was appointed to 
the command of the Hinchinbrooke, with 
which he sailed to the West Indies, and 
while there essentially contributed to the 
taking of Fort Juan in the Gulf of Mexico. 
We find him next commanding the Boreas, 
stationed in the West Indies, having under 
him the Duke of Clarence (afterward Wil- 
liam rV.), who was captain of the Pegasus. 

While thus engaged he married Mrs. Nes- 
bit (the daughter of William Woodward, 
judge of the island of Nevis), by whom he 
never had any issue. On the breaking out 
of the war with France he was nominated 
to the Agamemnon of sixty-four guns, on 
board of which he sailed to the Mediterra- 
nean, and was present at the possession of 
Toulon. He took part on shore in the at- 
tempt to wrest Corsica from the French, 
and was present at the siege of Bastia, where 
he served at the batteries with a body of 
seamen; as he afterward did at Calvi, and 
while employed before that place he lost an 
eye. He was so active on that station that 
his name was dreaded throughout the Medi- 
terranean. 

He was with Admiral Hotham in the ac- 
tion with the French fleet, March 15th, 
1795 ; and the same year he took the island 
of Elba. In 1796 he was appointed commo- 
dore on board La Minerve, in which frigate 
he captured La Sabine, a ship of forty guns. 
Soon after this he descried the Spanish fleet, 
and steered with the intelligence to Sir John 
Jervis off St. Vincent. He had scarcely 
communicated the news, and shifted his flag 



on board the Captain, seventy-four guns, 
when the enemy hove in sight. A close 
action ensued, which terminated in a com- 
plete victory on the side of the British, who 
were inferior in numbers. On this occasion 
Commodore Nelson attacked the Santissima 
Trinidada, one hundred and thirty -six guns ; 
and afterward he boarded and took the San 
Nicholas, eighty guns ; whence he proceeded 
in the same manner to the San Josef, one 
hundred and twelve guns ; both of which 
surrendered to him. For his share in this 
glorious victory, the commodore was honored 
with the order of the Bath ; and having soon 
afterward hoisted his flag as rear-admiral 
of the blue, he was appointed to command 
the inner squadron at the blockade of Ca- 
diz. He there made a bold but unsuccessful 
attempt to bombard the city, heading his men 
himself. 

The next exploit in which he was engaged 
was an attempt to get possession of Teneriffe, 
which was beaten off", the British sustaining 
severe loss. Admiral Nelson lost his right 
arm by a cannon shot, and was carried ofiF to 
the boat on the back of his son-in-law, Cap- 
tain Nesbit. Some years before Nelson had 
become intimate with a person on board ship 
who was officially engaged in writing, which 
he accomplished with his left hand. Captain 
Nelson, attentively observing him one day 
while thus occupied, said, "Parnell, I can 
not think how you manage to write with 
your left hand." The result of this remark 
was that Nelson was taught to perform the 
task which had excited his wonder; little 
dreaming tJiat the disastrous loss of his arm 
at Teneriffe would leave him no other alter- 
native in committing his ideas to paper than 
to write with the left hand. 

The hero now returned to England for the 
recovery of his health, and received the grant 
of a pension of £1,000 a year. He did not, 
however, long remain inactive: in 1798 he 
rejoined Earl St. Vincent in the Mediterra- 
nean, who, on receiving intelligence of the 
sailing of Bonaparte from Toulon, detached 
him with a squadron in pursuit. 

After exploring the coast of Italy, the inde- 
fatigable commander steered for Alexandria, 
where to his great mortification not a French 
ship was to be seen. He then sailed to Sicily, 
and having taken in a fresh supply of water, 



NEL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



675 



and obtained more correct information, re- 
tm-ned to Alexandria, which he descried 
Aug. 1st, 17U8, at noon. The enemy were 
discovered in Aboukir Bay, lying at anchor 
in line of battle ; and supported by strong 
batteries on an island, and strengthened by 
gun-boats. Notwithstanding this formidable 
appearance, the British admiral made the 
signal for battle; and, by a masterly and 
bold maneuvre, gave directions for part of his 
fleet to lead inside the enemy, who were thus 
exposed between two fires. The contest was 
hot and bloody. Several of the French ships 
were soon dismasted ; and, at last the admi- 
ral's ship L'Orient, one hundred and twenty 
guns, took fire, and blew up. The firing, 
however, continued, but by the dawn of day 
only two sail of the line were discovered with 
their colors flying, all the rest having struck. 
For this victory he received a peerage, by 
the title of Baron Nelson of the Nile. 

Soon after this he sailed for Sicily, and 
from thence to Naples, where he quelled a 
rebellion, and restored the king. It was 
at this time that he formed his unhappy 
intimacy with Lady Hamilton. Upon return- 
ing to England, he was received with enthu- 
siastic joy. A confederacy of the northern 
powers having alarmed the government, a 
fleet was fitted out, the command of which 
was given to Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, 
assisted by Lord Nelson. On their arrival 
off the Cattegat, and being refused a passage, 
Lord Nelson oflFered his services for conduct- 
ing the attack on the Danish force which 
was stationed to oppose an entrance. This 
being accepted, he shifted his flag to the Ele- 
phant, and passed the Sound with little loss. 
On the 2d of April the action commenced at 
ten o'clock, and after a sharp conflict seven- 
teen sail of the Danes were sunk, burnt, or 
taken. A negotiation was then entered into 
between his lordship and the crown prince ; 
in consequence of which the admiral went 
ashore, and an armistice was settled. 

He returned to England, and was created 
a viscount. In August, 1801, he bombarded 
the enemy's flotilla of gun-boats at Boulogne, 
but without any material efiect. A treaty 
suddenly taking place, his lordship retired, 
but hostilities recommencing he sailed for 
the Mediterranean, and in March, 1803, took 
the command of that station on board the 



Victory. Notwithstanding all his vigilance, 
the French fleet escaped from Toulon, and 
was joined by the Spanish fleet off Cadiz ; 
of which being apprised, he pursued them 
to the West Indies with a far inferior force, 
in unremitting but unsuccessful chase. The 
combined squadrons, struck with terror, re- 
turned without effecting anything ; and, after 
a partial action with Sir Kobert Calder off 
Ferrol, re-entered Cadiz. Admiral Nelson 
returned to England, but soon set sail to join 
his fleet off Cadiz. 

The French under Admiral Villeneuve, and 
the Spaniards under Gravina, ventured out 
with a number of troops on board, Oct. 19th, 
1805, and on the 21st, about noon, the great 
action began off Cape Trafalgar. Nelson's sig- 
nal to his fleet just before the fight began, was 
the sentence, "England expects every man 
to do his duty." He ordered his ship the 
Victory to be carried alongside his old antago- 
nist, the Santissima Trinidada, where he was 
exposed to a severe fire of musketry ; and, 
not having the precaution to cover his coat, 
which was decorated with his star, and other 
badges of distinction, he became an object 
for the riflemen placed purposely in the tops 
of the Bucentaur, which lay on his quarter. 
A shot from one of these entered just below 
his shoulder, of which he died in about two 
hours. He survived long enough that victory 
was completely won, and his last words were, 
"Thank God, I have done my duty." In 
this action the enemy's force consisted of 
thirty-three ships of the line, several of ex- 
traordinary magnitude, and seven frigates ; 
while the British only had twenty-seven, and 
five frigates. After the fall of Lord Nelson, 
the command devolved on Admiral Colling- 
wood, by whose bravery and skill a complete 
victory was obtained. The remains of Lord 
Nelson were interred with great pomp in St. 
Paul's cathedral, the 9th of January follow- 
ing. 

NELSON, Thomas, Jr., one of the signers 
of the Declaration of Independence, was born 
at York, Va., Dec. 26th, 1738. He was sent 
to England at an early age, and completed 
an excellent education at the university of 
Cambridge. Returning to Virginia in 1761, 
he soon entered into political life, and in 
17Y5 was chosen a member of Congress; a 
post which his delicate health compelled him 



NEL 



576 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



to resign in 1777. He was chosen for 1779 
and 1780, and in 1781 succeeded Jefferson as 
governor of Virginia. He held a commission 
as brigadier-general in the Virginia militia, 
was active in the taking of Cornwallis, and 
his services were particularly noticed by 
Washington in the general orders issued after 
the capture of Yorktown. He died Jan. 4th, 
1789. 

NEPOS, Cornelius, a Latin historian, who 
flourished in the time of Julius Caesar. 

NEPTUNE, in ancient mythology, the god 
of the sea, the brother of Jupiter, from whom 
he derived his sovereignty. He was gener- 
ally represented as a bearded old gentleman, 
with a trident in his hand, seated in a huge 
marine shell which was drawn over the wa- 
ters by sea-horses. 

NERO, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, 
after his adoption called Claudius Drusus, 
the son of Caius Domitius Ahenobarbus, and 
Agrippina, the daughter of Germanicus, was 
born at Antium, a.d. 37. After the marriage 
of his mother with her uncle, the Emperor 
Claudius, he was adopted by the emperor, 
A.D. 50, wedded his daughter Octavia, and 
four years after succeeded him on the throne, 
Agrippina poisoning her husband to make 
room for him. The beginning of his reign 
was marked by acts of the greatest kindness 
and condescension, by affability, complais- 
ance, and popularity. The object of his 
administration seemed to be the good of his 
people ; and when he was desired to sign his 
name to a list of malefactors that were to be 
executed, he exclaimed, " I wish to heaven I 
could not write." He was a professed enemy 
to flattery, and when the senate had liberally 
commended the wisdom of government, Nero 
desired them to keep their praises till he 
deserved them. These promising virtues 
were soon discovered to be artificial, and 
Nero displayed the propensities of his nature. 
He delivered himself from the sway of his 
wretched mother, and at last ordered her to 
be assassinated. 

This unnatural act of barbarity might as- 
tonish some of the Romans, but Nero had his 
devoted adherents ; and when he declared 
that he had taken away his mother's life to 
save himself from ruin, the senate applauded 
his measures, and the people signified their 
approbation. Many of his courtiers shared 



the unhappy fate of Agrippina, and Nero 
sacrificed to his fury or caprice all such as 
obstructed his pleasure. He sacrificed to 
his wantonness his wife Octavia, and the 
celebrated writers, Seneca, Lucan, Petro- 
nius, &c. The Christians also did not escape 
his barbarity. 

He had heard of the burning of Troy, and 
as he wished to renew that dismal scene, he 
caused Rome to be set on fire in different 
places. The conflagration became soon uni- 
versal, and during nine successive days the 
fire was unextinguished. All was desola- 
tion ; nothing was heard but the lamentations 
of mothers whose children had perished in 
the flames, the groans of the dying, and the 
continual fall of palaces and buildings. Nero 
was the only one who enjoyed the general 
consternation. He placed himself on the top 
of a high tower, and he sang on his lyre the 
destruction of Troy, a dreadful scene which 
his barbarity had realized before his eyes. 
He attempted to avert the public odium from 
his head, by a feigned commiseration of the 
miseries of his subjects, and attributing the 
incendiarism to the Christians. He began to 
repair the streets and the pubhc buildings at 
his own expense. He built himself a cele- 
brated palace, which was profusely adorned 
with gold, and precious stones, and with 
whatever was rare and exquisite. The en- 
trance of this edifice could admit a large 
colossus of the emperor one hundred and 
twenty feet high ; the galleries were each a 
mile long ; and the whole was covered with 
gold. The roofs of the dining-halls repre- 
sented the firmament in motion as well as in 
figure, and continually turned round night 
and day, showering down all sorts of per- 
fumes and sweet waters. "When this grand 
edifice, which occupied a great part of the 
city, was finished, Nero said that now he 
could lodge like a man. His profusion was 
not less remarkable in all his other actions. 
When he went a fishing, his nets were made 
with gold and silk. He never appeared twice 
in the same garment, and when he undertook 
a voyage, there were thousands of servants 
to take care of his wardrobe. 

This continuation of debauchery and ex- 
travagance at last roused the resentment of 
the people. Many conspiracies were formed 
against the emperor, but they were generally 



NER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



577 



discovered, and such as were accessory suf- 
fered the greatest punishments. The most 
dangerous conspiracy against Nero's life, was 
that of Piso, from which he was deUvered 
by the confession of a slave. The conspiracy 
of Galba proved more successful ; and the 
conspirator, when he was informed that his 
plot was known to Nero, declared himself 
emperor. The unpopularity of Nero favored 
his cause ; he was acknowledged by all the 
Roman empire, and the senate condemned the 
tyrant that sat on the throne to be dragged 
naked through the streets of Rome, and 
whipped to death, and afterward to be thrown 
down from the Tarpeian rock like the mean- 
est malefactor. This, however, was not done, 
Nero, by a voluntary death, having prevented 
the execution of the sentence. He killed 
himself, a.d. 68, in the thirty-second year of 
his age, after a reign of thirteen years and 
eight months. 

Rome was filled with acclamations at the 
intelligence, and the citizens, more strongly 
to indicate their joy, wore such caps as were 
genei'ally used by slaves who had received 
their freedom. Their vengeance was not only 
exercised against the statues of the deceased 
tyrant, but his fi-iends were the objects of the 
public resentment, and many were crushed to 
pieces in such a violent manner, that one of 
the senators, amid the universal joy, said that 
he was afraid they should soon have cause to 
wish for Nero. Though his death seemed to 
be the source of universal gladness, yet many 
of his favorites lamented his fell, and were 
grieved to see that their pleasures and amuse- 
ments were stopped by the death of the patron 
of debauchery and extravagance. Even the 
Parthian king sent ambassadors to Rome to 
condole with the Romans, and to beg that they 
would honor and revere the memorj^ of Nero. 
His statues were also crowned with garlands 
of flowers, and many believed that he was not 
dead, but that he would soon make his ap- 
pearance, and take a due vengeance upon his 
enemies. 

NERO, Claudius, a Roman general sent 
into Spain to succeed the two Scipios. He 
suffered himself to be imposed upon by As- 
drubal, and was soon after succeeded by young 
Scipio. He was afterward made consul, and 
intercepted Asdrubal, who was passing from 
Spain into Italy with a large re-enforcement 



37 



for his brother Annibal. An engagement 
was fought near the river Metaurus, in which 
56,000 of the Carthaginians were left on the 
field of battle, and great numbers taken pris- 
oners, 207 B.C. 

NERVA COCCEIUS, a Roman emperor 
after the death of Domitian, a.d. 96. He 
rendered himself popular by his mildness, his 
generosity, and the active part he took in the 
management of affairs. He suffered no stat- 
ues to be raised to his honor, and he applied 
to the use of the government all the gold and 
silver statues which flattery had erected to 
his predecessor. In his civil character he 
was the pattern of good manners, of sobriety, 
and temperance. He made a solemn declara- 
tion that no senator should suffer death during 
his reign; and this he observed with such 
sanctity that when two members of the senate 
had conspired against his life, he was satisfied 
to tell them that he was informed of their 
wicked machinations. He also conducted 
them to the public spectacles, and seated him- 
self between them, and, when a sword was 
offered to him, according to the usual custom, 
he desired the conspirators to try it upon his 
body. Such goodness of heart, such confi- 
dence in the self-conviction of the human 
mind, and such reliance upon the consequence 
of his lenity and indulgence, conciliated the 
affection of all his subjects. Yet, as envy and 
danger are the constant companions of great- 
ness, the praetorian guards at last mutinied, 
and Nerva nearly yielded to their fury. He 
uncovered his aged neck in the presence of 
the incensed soldiery, and bade them wreak 
their vengeance upon him, provided they 
spared the life of those to whom he was in- 
debted for the empire, and whom his honor 
commanded him to defend. His seeming sub- 
mission was unavailing, and he was at last 
obliged to surrender to the fury of his soldiers, 
some of his friends and supporters. The in- 
firmities of his age, and his natural timidity, 
at last obliged him to provide himself against 
any future mutiny or tumult, by choosing a 
worthy successor. He had many friends and 
relations, but he did not consider the aggran- 
dizement of his family, and he chose Trajan, 
a man of whose virtues and greatness of mind 
he was fully convinced. This voluntary 
choice was approved by the acclamations of 
the people; and the wisdom and prudence 



NER 



578 



COTTACxE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



which marked the reign ofTrajan showed how ' sitics are those of Leyden, Utrecht, and Gro- 
discerning was the judgment and how affec- 
tionate were the intentions of Nerva for the 
good of Rome. He died a.d. 98, in his sev- 
enty-second year, and his successor showed 
his respect for his merit and his character by 
raising him altars and temples in Rome and 
in the provinces, and by ranking him in the 
number of the gods. Nerva was the first 
Roman emperor who was of foreign extraction, 
his father being a native of Crete. 

NETHERLANDS, the kingdom of the, often 
called Holland, consists of the territory of the 
former republic of the Seven United Provinces, 
the duchy of Limburg, and the grand-duchy 
of Luxemburg, which the King of the Nether- 
lands possesses, with the title of grand-duke, 
as a part of the German confederation. The 
area of the entire kingdom is 13,553 square 
miles, and it has 3,618,459 inhabitants. The 
Dutch have also extensive colonies in the East 
Indies, and some possessions in the West 
Indies. This country, fitly called the Low- 
lands, has by untiring labor been rescued from 
the sea, against whose inroads it is guarded 
by immense dikes. Large tracts once arid 
deserts, and others once slimy marshes, have 
been transformed into fertile pastures and 
productive fields. Canals traverse the coun- 
try in every direction. The reclaimed lands 
are called 'polders,' and are often much below 
the level of the sea, or the adjacent rivers. 
They are first diked about, and then drained 
by pumps worked by windmills or steam-en- 
gines, lifting the water to the nearest river or 
canal. It is a strange sight to see luxuriant 
corn and rich grass growing, and fat cattle 
grazing, and fine sheep pastured, where water 
would naturally lie ; while the large sails of 
the canal barges glide by high above dikes, 
houses, and trees. 

The principal manufactures are linen, wool- 
ens, silks, leather, refined sugar, tobacco- 
pipes, gin (distilled in vast quantities at 
Schiedam and Delft), cottons, and jewelry. 
In the middle of the seventeenth century, 
Holland was the first commercial state and 
the greatest maritime power in the world. 
Of late its commerce has revived, though not 
to the former magnitude. Calvinism is the 
established religion, but there are many Cath- 
olics. Education is very generally diffused 
. throughout the kingdom. The great univer- 



ningen. The government is a hereditary 
male monarchy. The legislative power is 
vested in the king, and the states-general, a 
body consisting of two chambers ; the mem- 
bers of the first of which are appointed for life 
by the king ; those of the second are chosen 
by the assemblies of the provinces. The 
kingdom is divided into the provinces of North 
Brabant, Guclderland, North Holland, South 
Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, Friesland, Over- 
yssel, Grciningen, Drenthe, and Limburg. 

The Hague (s Gravenhruje), the capital of 
the kingdom, is situated near the coast, a 
stately town, stirred by no commerce or man- 
ufactures; population, 64,000. Amsterdam, 
once the commercial mistress of the world, at 
the commencement of the thirteenth century 
was nothing more than an insignificant fishing 
village. It was formerly called Amstelre- 
damme, the dam or dike of the Amstel. It is 
situated at the Amstel's influx into the arm 
of the sea called the Y, forming a capacious 
port, two leagues from the Zu3^der Zee. The 
city stands upon a marshy soil, in consequence 
of which the buildings are supported on oaken 
piles ; whence the jest of Erasmus, who said 
that in his country the people lived on the 
tops of trees. 

In 1490 Mary of Burgundy encompassed 
the city with a brick wall, to protect it from 
the incursions of the inhabitants of Utrecht, 
who were frequently involved in quarrels with 
the Hollanders. Soon after the erection of 
this wall, the city was burnt to the ground. 
In 1512 it was besieged by the people of 
Guelderland, who, finding themselves baffied 
in their attempt to, take the city, fired the 
vessels in the harbor. The scene presented 
by the burning ships was awfully grand; the 
waters appeared like a sea of molten gold, over 
which a thousand volcanoes poured their vol- 
umes of fire, while the roaring of the confla- 
gration was like the voice of a tempest. The 
Anabaptists, in 1512 and 1525, filled the city 
with commotion and bloodshed. An insur- 
gent chief. Van Geelen, headed a conspiracy 
which had for its object the subversion of the 
magistracy of Amsterdam, and the assumption 
of power by the rebels. Van Geelen fixed 
his head-quarters in the town house, where 
his fanatical troops displayed their banners, 
and gave every evidence that they considered 



NET 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



579 



their victory certain. But the burghers at- 
tacked them with great spirit and resolution, 
and the fanatics being surrounded, were put 
to death to a man. 

In 1578 Amsterdam, after a siege of ten 
months, capitulated to the Hollanders, stipu- 
lating that the Roman Catholics should be 
allowed the free observance of their religious 
rites. The Protestants, however, did not 
maintain the agreement, but drove the Cath- 
olics from the city, destroying the altars and 
the images. From that time, persons of all 
sects and nations came to the city, raising it 
to a high rank, and rendering it famous for 
opulence and industry. It snatched the com- 
merce of Antwerp ; its merchants conquered 
kingdoms and islands in Asia; the costly 
spices of the East were dealt to Europe from 
its warehouses, and left the fragrance of 
wealth; the gold, the pearls, and the dia- 
monds of the Indies floated hither ; Amster- 
dam became the centre of the exchanges, 
funds, and banking transactions of the world ; 
till at the close of the eighteenth century its 
unparalleled prosperity received a death-blow 
through the French revolution, and London 
bore away the palm. Amsterdam has still 
important manufactures and trade, but it is 
now surpassed by Rotterdam. 

The aspect of Amsterdam has not changed 
in a century. It is intersected by numerous 
canals, which divide the city into islands, be- 
tween which are built numerous bridges, of 
stone or wood. Of great commercial impor- 
tance, these canals give the streets through 
which they pass a picturesque and pleasant 
appearance, filling the air with freshness, and 
mirroring the long rows of trees and houses 
which line their banks. Complaints, however, 
are made of the effluvia arising from them in 
calm and warm weather. Another singular 
feature in the scenery of Amsterdam is the 
inclosure of the city on the side of the haven, 
by means of piles, which are driven into the 
ground, and connected M'ith immense horizon- 
tal beams, affording openings suflBciently am- 
ple for the ingress and egress of ships. These 
are closed every evening. The port is a mile 
and a half long, and towering masts attract 
the eye, and give a lively appearance to the 
scene. The new canal from Amsterdam to 
Niewdiep, opposite the Texel, is an immense 
work. The canal is fifty miles and a half long. 



and so broad as to admit of one frigate passing 
another. This has removed the necessity of 
unloading large vessels, which must be done 
before they can pass through the harbor. 

The streets of Amsterdam, although narrow, 
are well paved, and exhibit that neatness 
which is peculiar to the Dutch, and which is 
equally conspicuous in their walks and in 
their smart brick or stone buildings. The 
population is estimated at more than 212,000 
persons. 

The New Church, dedicated to St. Catha- 
rine, is said to have been begun in 1408, or 
1414, and to have occupied a century in its 
erection. The interior is adorned with sculp- 
ture, and the paintings on the glass windows 
are of the richest description. The superb 
organ has been celebrated throughout the 
world. The church contains a marble monu- 
ment, erected to the memory of Admiral de 
Ruyter. The Stadthouse, now a royal palace, 
is a beautiful building, erected in 1648. The 
whole of this imposing edifice exhibits proofs 
of the characteristic neatness and industry of 
the Dutch. It is said to have a foundation of 
13,695 piles. The Beurs, or Exchange, which 
is built of free-stone, stands upon five arches 
over the Amstel; the interior galleries rest 
upon twenty-six marble columns. The prin- 
cipal houses of correction are the Rasphuis 
and the Spinhuis. In the former offenders 
were, in old times, employed sawing and rasp- 
ing Brazil-wood. Those who obstinately re- 
fused to work were carried into a cellar into 
which water was flowing, and, unless they 
worked briskly at the pump, they were in 
danger of drowning. In the spin-house women 
were compelled to spin wool, flax, and hemp. 

Rotterdam, on the right bank of the Maas, 
about twenty miles from its mouth, is now 
the most commercial town in Holland ; popu- 
lation 90,000. Haarlem, or Haerlem, on the 
river Spaaren, about four miles from the sea, 
contains many fine public edifices and some 
scientific institutions, is a thriving place, and 
has 24,000 inhabitants. The organ of the 
cathedral of St. Bavon at Haarlem, the largest 
church in Holland, is famous for its size. In 
the southern suburb of Haarlem are the flow- 
er-gardens whence, when tulips and hyacinths 
were the rage, all Europe was supplied. 

The earliest accounts of the Netherlands 
are from the Romans, by whom all the south- 



NET 



oSO 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ern and central part (called Belgia) was kept 
in subjection till the decline of their empire in 
the fifth century. North of the Rhine dwelt 
the Batavi, who were also subjugated by 
Rome. The country was incorporated with 
the duchy of Burgundy at the close of the 
fourteenth century. Mary of Burgundy, the 
only daughter and heiress of Charles the Bold, 
the last duke, married Maximilian, and the 
Netherlands came under the dominion of the 
house of Austria. Charles V. united the sev- 
enteen provinces with Spain ; but the bigotry 
of his son Philip II. produced the separation 
of the Dutch provinces, and great dissension 
and distress in the others. The Spanish tyr- 
anny being insupportable, the seven provinces 
revolted, and formed the republic called the 
United Provinces, by the union of Utrecht, 
1579. These were Holland, Zealand, Utrecht, 
Guelderland, Friesland, Overyssel, and Gro- 
ningen. The others remained subject to 
Spain. 

The ten southern provinces remained under 
the Spanish crown until the middle of the sev- 
enteenth century, when arduous exertions 
were made by Conde and Turenne to add 
tliera to the dominions of Louis XIV. The 
quadruple alliance, concluded at the Hague 
in 1G68, however, put a stop to their prog- 
ress, but the wars from 1672 to 1679, and 
1689 to 1697, were prosecuted chiefly for the 
Netherlands. At length, in 1702, Louis ob- 
tained them, but the French being defeated 
by the Duke of Marlborough at the battle of 
Ramillies, in 1706, the southern provinces 
were brought under the power of the allies, 
and assigned to Austria at the peace of 
Utrecht. A peace ensued, until the war of 
1741 was transferred to the Netherlands, and 
the French under Marshal Saxe recovered 
them. Bergen-op-Zoom was captured by the 
French in September, 1747, and Maestricht in 
the following year, when the successes of the 
British navy, and the persevering aspect of 
the coalition, led to the peace of Aix-la-Cha- 
pelle in 1748, and the southern Netherlands 
thus became restored to Austria. By the 
treachery of Austria in 1756 they were once 
more nearly ceded to France, but the scheme 
was not carried into effect. In the campaign 
of 1792, Austria again lost the Netherlands, 
<'uid though recovered in 1793, they again 
passed over to France in 1794. The hope of 



recovering them was the cause of the coali- 
tions of 1799 and 1805, both baffled in their 
object. The disasters of the French army in 
Russia in 1812, at length opened the long 
wished for prospect. In 1813 Germany 
occupied all the exertions of the allies, but in 
1814 the Netherlands were detached by a 
consequence of the revolution by which the 
Bourbons was restored. 

Meantime the republic of Holland, or the 
United Provinces, attained great maritime 
power, contended with England, and partici- 
pated in the wars against Louis XIV. Re- 
publican jealousy of the desire of the house 
of Orange to increase its might, often con- 
vulsed the land with intestine struggles. In 
1747 the house of Orange triumphed, and 
the office of stadtholder, or captain-general 
of all the provinces, was made a hereditary 
dignity in it. In 1794 the republican party, 
cheered by the approach of the victorious 
armies of France, rose against the stadtholder. 
Pichegru aided them, and the stadtholder 
fled. The provinces were organized as the 
Batavian republic. England, at that time, 
played the part of Don Quixote, ready to 
break a lance in behalf of all princes kicked 
from their thrones. The commerce of Hol- 
land was sadly shattered in the war, and for 
a time she lost her colonies. Napoleon made 
his brother Louis her king. This moody 
scholar studied the welfare of the country till 
he abdicated. Holland was then incorporated 
with the French empire. In 1813 the Dutch, 
encouraged by the disasters of Napoleon, 
revolted, and recalled the Prince of Orange. 
The British cabinet accomplished the union 
of all the seventeen provinces after a separa- 
tion of two hundred years, and their erec- 
tion into an independent state, under the 
Prince of Orange, in 1815. The prince, 
therefore, assumed the title of King of the 
Netherlands, and Grand-Duke of Luxem- 
burg. In 1830 the Belgians broke from his 
rule and became an independent state. [See 
Belgium.] 

kings of the netherlands. 

1815. William, Prince of Orange; abdicated in 
favor of his son, Oct. 7th, 1840; died 
Dec. 12th, 1843. 

1840. William II., born Dec. 6th, 1792; died 
March 17th, 1849. 

1849. William III., born Feb. 19th, 1817. 



NET 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



581 



NEW BRUNSWICK, a British province 
of North America ; population, 252,047. In 
the interior of the country the soil is good, 
and the uplands are well timbered. Grass 
and grain are the principal agricultural pro- 
ductions, and the main exports are timber and 
fish. The river St. John's is the principal 
stream. Frederickton, the capital, has 6,000 
inhabitants. St. John, the principal town, has 
a population of 12,000. The province was 
set off from Nova Scotia in 1785. Several 
thousand British soldiers settled here, after 
the close of the American Revolution. In 
October, 1825, a tract extending above a 
hundred miles along the Miramichi River, was 
swept by a great conflagration : a violent 
wind drove, the flames through the forest; 
the towns of Douglas and Newcastle were 
wholly consumed, many lives were lost, and 
a vast amount of property was destroyed. 

NEWBURY, Battle " of, fought despe- 
rately, but uncertain in its issue, Sept. 20th, 
1643, between the army of Charles I., and that 
of the parliament under Essex. A second, 
equally dubious in result, was fought here, 
Oct. 27th, 1644. 

NEWFOUNDLAND, a large island in the 
North Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the 
Gulf of St. Lawrence, discovered by Sebas- 
tian Cabot in 1497. The population is esti- 
mated at about 120,000. The face of the 
country is very rugged, and the climate is 
cold and dreary. The fisheries off the banks 
employ more than one hundred thousand 
men. St. John's, the capital, contains about 
27,000 inhabitants. 

NEW GRENADA, formerly a viceroyalty 
of South America, and more recently a por- 
tion of Colombia, is now a separate repub- 
lic. Together with Venezuela, it was for- 
merly called Terra Firma. It has an area of 
380,000 square miles, and a population of 
3,363,000 souls. The mountains are rich in 
the precious metals. 

Santa Fe de Bogota is the capital. The 
population has been variously estimated at 
from 30,000 to 60,000. It lies on an elevated 
plain to the east of the Andes, 8,000 feet 
above the sea, and contains, besides a superb 
cathedral, many fine buildings. The lands 
in the environs yield two harvests annually. 
Bogota was founded in 1538. In the vicinity 
is the cataract of Tequendama, formed by the 

" NI 



river Bogota, as it descends from its native 
plain to mingle with the current of the Mag- 
dalena. Its mass of waters, previously spread 
to a considerable breadth, are narrowly con- 
tracted, and dashed down a precipice of 650 
feet into an almost fethomless abyss, bound- 
ing back in a cloud of spray which the sun- 
shine tinges with beautiful rainbows. The 
plain above the fall is covered with the 
cereals of the temperate zone, while at its 
foot grow the palms and sugar-cane of the 
tropics. Here, too, is the bridge of Icononzo, 
a natural arch over a chasm 360 feet deep, 
at the bottom of which flows a rapid torrent, 
which would otherwise have been impassable. 
The bridge appears to have been formed by 
three masses of rock detached from their 
original bed, and thrown together by an 
earthquake. It is about fifty feet long, and 
forty broad. At one spot, a view is obtained 
into the abyss beneath. Tlie continual night 
Avhich reigns there, the birds of darkness 
whose mournful cries re-echo in the caverns, 
the gloomy waters at the bottom, and the 
thick foliage which shrouds the scene with 
darkness, convey no feeble idea of a realm 
of death. 

Carthagena, long the bulwark of the Span- 
ish possessions in this region, and equally 
noted for the successful attacks of Drake and 
the buccaneers, and for the disastrous failure 
of Admiral Vernon in 1741, has fallen from 
its former importance. It has now some 
18,000 inhabitants. Tolu, in a rich vegeta- 
ble district of the province of Carthagena, is 
noted for the balsam bearing its name. 

The ancient route across the isthmus be- 
tween the oceans, was from Panama to Porto 
Bello. These places bore a great name in 
the days when the treasure of Peru passed 
this way to Spain. But when the wealth of 
the mines diminished, and the bullion was 
borne around Cape Horn, their consequence 
declined. Porto Bello, so called from its fine 
harbor, was cursed by a pestilential climate 
that made it the grave of Europeans ; it fell 
into decay, and was supplanted by Chagres. 
When the gold seekers began to hurry over 
the isthmus on their way to Cahfornia, Pan- 
ama revived ; it became a depot for steamers ; 
a railway connects it with the Atlantic shore 
at Aspinwall on Navy Bay; and it now has 
a population of over 10,000. 
W 



382 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 




NEW HAMPSHIRE is one of the New 
England states, having an area of 8,030 
square miles, aiM a population in 1860 of 
326,073. It has a sea-coast of only eighteen 
miles, behind which there is a narrow, level 
tract of twenty-five or thirty miles in width : 
beyond, the hills increase in height until 
they swell into the lofty grandeur of the 
White Mountains, whose snow-white sum- 
mits have been seen in a clear day more than 
fifty miles out at sea, skirting the horizon 
like a silvery cloud. The highest is Mt. 
Washington, 6,428 feet above the level of the 
ocean. New Hampshire is well watered; 
the Connecticut washes its western border ; 
and fine mill streams abound. There are 
quite a number of lakes, of which the pic- 
turesque and pellucid Winnipiseogee (' Smile 
of the Great Spirit '), studded with more than 
three hundred isles, is the greatest. The bulk 
of the population of New Hampshire reside in 
the southern part, much of the north being un- 
improved, and a large portion of it too sterile 
and rugged for cultivation. The occupation 
of the people is chiefly agricultural, and 
though their hilly forms can not vie with the 
virgin soil of the West, intelligent industry 
wrests from ihem subsistence and comfort. 
There are many valuable pastures, and the 
grazing interest is very considerable. The 
source of wealth is found in the inexhausti- 
ble quarries which have given the common- 
wealth the name of the Granite State. Busy 
manufactures fill with thrift such towns as 
Manchester, Nashua, and Dover. In the 



cotton manufacture New Hampshire stands 
next to Massachusetts. 

John Smith visited New Hampshire in 
1614, but its name was bestowed by John 
Mason, to whom and Sir Ferdinand Gorges 
grants of land were made by the crown in 
1622. The country was thence popularly 
termed the Hampshire Grants. The first 
settlements were made in 1623 at Dover and 
Portsmouth. From 1641 to 1679, the settle- 
ments formed a portion of Massachusetts. 
Charles II. separated them. It was afterward 
reunited to Massachusetts, but finally separ- 
ated in 1741. In 1775 the provincial conven- 
tion declared the royal government dissolved. 

New Hampshire bore its part in the strug- 
gle for independence, and was one of the first 
colonies to shake off" the royal governor. By 
its present constitution the legislative power 
is vested in a senate and house of representa- 
tives, which together are styled the general 
court. The executive power is vested in a 
governor and council. The governor, coun- 
«cil, and general court are chosen by the 
people annually. Every male inhabitant of 
twenty-one years of age (except paupers, and 
persons excused from paying taxes at their 
own request) has the right of suffrage. The 
governor is styled ' his excellency,' and, with 
the members of the council, and of both 
branches of the legislature, must be " of the 
Protestant religion." The judiciary consists 
of a superior court, and a court of common 
pleas. The judges are appointed by the 
governor and council, and hold oflBce during 



NEW 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



583 



good behavior, though not beyond the age of 
seventy. In the matter of common schools, 
New Hampshire is outdone by few states. 
Dartmouth College, at Hanover, is an institu- 
tion of high repute. 

Concord is the capital of the state, on the 
right bank of the Merrimack ; it is the termi- 
nus of several railways, and is steadily in- 
creasing in prosperity; population in 1850, 
8,576. Manchester, lower down the Merri- 
mack, just below the Amoskeag falls, is the 
seat of extensive cotton manufactures, to 



which it owes its growth and life: it has 
sprung up since 1838, and in 1853 had 20,000 
inhabitants. Portsmouth is the only port 
of the state ; ship-building is largely engaged 
in; here is located an United States navy- 
yard; population in 1853, 11,000. On Bad- 
ger's Island, in the harbor of Portsmouth, 
during the Revolution, there was built the 
North America, the first line-of-battle ship 
launched in the western hemisphere. Dover 
and Nashua are thriving manufacturing 
towns. 




NEW JERSEY has an ;iroa oi' 0,851 square 
miles; population in 1860, 672,035. The 
northern part is hilly, being traversed by the 
prolongation of several mountain ridges from 
Pennsylvania, which nowhere reach a great 
height, yet abound in bold and varied sce- 
nery, interspersed with fertile and pleasant 
valleys, comprising some of the best land in 
the state. The southern part, from Raritan 
Bay and Trenton to Cape May, is a great 
sandy plain. From Sandy Hook to Cape 
May, the Atlantic coast consists of a long 
line of sandy beaches, sometimes interrupted 
by inlets, and enclosing narrow, shallow 
lagoons, behind which fbr several miles in- 
land is a low marshy tract. This coast is the 
scene of many and dangerous shipwrecks. 
A number of small rivers, such as the Hack- 
ensack, Passaic, and Raritan, water the state. 
It has the noble Delaware River and Bay on 
its western border, and the Hudson on the 
north-east. Valuable iron, zinc, and copper 



ores are miiiod, the pines that cover the 
sandy tracts furnishing fuel for the smelting- 
furnaces. The middle district of the state is 
the most highly tilled, and fruits and vegeta- 
bles are there raised for the markets of New 
YoB'k and Philadelphia. The northern coun- 
ties contain much good pasture land, and 
numerous handsome farms. The apples and 
cider of the north are as noted for their excel- 
lence as are the peaches of the south. There 
are large manufactures of iron, glass, cottons, 
and woolens. Carriages, harnesses, and 
leather are also largely produced. 

Settlements were made by the Swedes, at 
an early period, in the southern part of the 
state, near Salem, where some of their de- 
scendants are still found, and some names of 
places given by them still retained. The 
Dutch occupied the north-east, which was 
included in New Netherlands. The whole 
country was comprised in the grant made to 
the Duke of York, and a settlement was made 



NEW 



584 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



at Elizabethtown in 16G4. In 1G76 the coun- 
try was divided by the Duke of York into 
East and West Jersey, which were separate 
proprietary governments, and not united 
until 1702, at which time the name of New 
Jersey was given to the colony. In the 
measures of our Revolution this state was 
ever active and forward, and she sufl'ered 
severely from the war. 

The legislature is styled " the senate and 
general assembly of the state of New Jersey." 
The senators are elected for three years, one- 
third annually; the assemblymen are elected 
annually. The governor is chosen by the 
people once in three years. The right of 
suffrage is exercised by every white male 
citizen of the United States, who has resided 
in the state one year, paupers, idiots, lunatics, 
and criminals excepted. The judiciary con- 
sists of a court of errors and appeals, a 
court of chancery, a supreme court, and 
courts of common pleas. The judges are 
appointed by the governor, with the approval 
of the senate, for seven and six years. A 
superintendent of public schools is chosen by 
the people biennially. The college at Prince- 
ton is a venerable and excellent institution. 

Trenton, on the Delaware, is thd capital ; 
population in 1850, 6,461. [See Trenton, 
Pkinceton.] New Brunswick, at the head of 
navigation on the Raritan, is a handsome 
city. Population in 1850, 10,019. Here is 
Rutger's College, founded in 1770 under the 
name of Queen's. Newark, the largest and 
most important town of the state, is situated 
on the Passaic, three miles from Newark 
Bay ; population in 1853, 45,500. Its streets 
are broad and straight, and ornamented with 
lofty elms and spacious public squares. It 
is very largely busied in producing shoes, 
boots, saddles, harnesses, hats and caps, 
vehicles, cutlery, and jewelry. Newark was 
settled in 1666 by thirty families from Guil- 
ford, Branford, Milford, and New Haven, in 
Connecticut. Paterson on the Passaic, near 
the falls, has stolen the wild grandeur of the 
cascade, and by the immense water-power 
thus purloined from nature, has become the 
seat of great manufactures. In 1850 it had 
17,615 inhabitants. 

NEW ORLEANS, Battle of. Early in 
December, 1814, a large British force entered 
Lake Pontchartrain, near New Orleans, de- 



feating after an obstinate conflict, the small 
American naval force stationed there. The 
British forces were commanded by Gen. 
Packenham ; the American by Gen. Jackson. 
Several skirmishes took place in which the 
British suffered severely. On Sunday morn- 
ing early, Jan. 8th, a grand attack was made 
by the British on the American troops in 
their intrenchments. After an engagement 
of upward of an hour, the enemy were cut to 
pieces to a degree almost beyond example, 
and fled in confusion, leaving their dead and 
wounded on the field of battle. The loss of 
the British was 293 killed, 1,267 wounded, 
and 484 taken prisoners, making a total of 
2,600. The American loss in the engagement 
was 13 killed, and 39 wounded. Sir Edward 
Packenham and Major General Gibbs were 
among the slain. The attack was not re- 
newed, and in a short time the British left 
the coast, news arriving that peace had been 
concluded before the conflict. 

NEWTON, Sir Isaac, justly called the 
creator of natural philosophy, was born at 
Woolsthorpe, in Lincolnshire, Dec. 25th (o.s.), 
1642. lie evinced, in early youth, a great 
fondness for mechanical pursuits, and a re- 
markable aptitude for drawing, and con- 
structing machinery, being his own instructor 
in all his pursuits. At the age of eighteen 
he entered Trinity College, Cambridge. Here 
his fondness for mathematical studies enabled 
him to make a great proficiency in them, and 
before completing his twenty-third year, he 
made some great discoveries in the science 
to which he was attached. The fall of an 
apple led him to a train of reflections which 
resulted in his elucidation of the principles 
of gravitation which he proved to affect vast 
orbs on high not less than the smallest thing 
on earth. He was the first to divide light 
into rays of seven colors, differently refran- 
gible. It is impossible for us to follow him 
through his scientific career, tracing out the 
brilliant discoveries he made in optics, chem- 
istry, natural philosophy, and mathematics. 
In 1688 Newton was elected by his univer- 
sity to the convention parliament. In 1695 
he was made warden of the mint. In 1703 
he was chosen president of the royal society, 
and in 1705 was knighted by Queen Anne. 
He died March 20th, 1727, and was interred 
in Westminster Abbey. 



NEW 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



585 



The following is Pope's epitaph on this 
great man: — 

IsAACUS Newton hic jacet, 

QUEM IMMORTALEM CffiLI, NATURA, 

Tempus OSTENDUNT, 
MORTALEM HOC MARMOR FATETDR. 

Nature and all her works lay hid in night : 
God said, let Newton be— and all was light. 

This great man was mild and good-natured 
in his private life. He had constructed a 
small laboratory for prosecuting his chemical 
investigations, and seems, after his publication 
of his "Principia," to have devoted almost all 
his time to them. One morning (1692), he 
had accidentally shut up his little pet dog 
Diamond in his room, and, on returning, found 
that the animal, by upsetting a candle on his 
desk, had destroyed the labors of several years. 
On perceiving his loss, he only exclaimed, 
" Oh, Diamond ! Diamond ! thou little know- 
est the mischief thou hast done ! " The mis- 
chief done was so great as for a time to unset- 
tle his powerful mind, injured already by ex- 
cessive study, and he never recovered his full 
vigor of intellect, although enough remained 
for an ordinary mortal. 

Newton's modesty was equal to his merit. 
While he was aware of the value of his dis- 
coveries, he knew also how vast a region lay 



unexplored beyond. A short time before his 
death he uttered this memorable sentiment: 
" I do not know what I may appear to the 
world ; but to myself I seem to have been only 
like a boy playing on the seashore, and divert- 
ing myself in now and then finding a smoother 
pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, while 
the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered 
before me." The Latin epitaph on his monu- 
ment may be thus translated: "Here lies 
Isaac Newton, knight, who, by a vigor of mind 
almost supernatural, first demonstrated the 
motions and figures of the planets, the paths 
of the comets, and the tides of the ocean. He 
discovered, what before his time no one had 
even suspected, that rays of light are differ- 
ently refrangible, and that this is the cause of 
colors. An assiduous, sagacious, and feithful 
interpreter of natui-e, antiquity, and the holy 
Scriptures, he asserted in his philosophy the 
majesty of God, and exhibited in his conduct 
the simplicity of the gospel. Let mortals re- 
joice that there has existed such and so great 
an ornament of human nature." His greatest 
work is entitled " Philosophise Naturalis Prin- 
cipia Mathematica." 

NEWTON, Thomas, Bishop of Bristol, au- 
thor of "Dissertations on the Prophecies," 
born in 1704, died in 1782. 




NEW YORK has a territ-^rv of 46.000 
square miles; population in I860, 3,880,735. 
It forms a portion of the elevated table-land 
which runs parallel with the Atlantic coast, 
broken in some places by prolongations of 
the Alleghanies, mountainous ridges of con- 



siderable elevation, and containing some re- 
markable depressions, which form the basins 
of lakes or channels for rivers. Through the 
fertile intervales flow large rivers, among 
which may be mentioned the Hudson, Mo- 
hawk, St. Lawrence, Delaware, Susquehanna, 



NEW 



586 



COTTV.GE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Tioga, Alleghany, Genesee, Oswego, and the 
Niagara, with its stupendous cataract. The 
picturesque beauty of the Hudson, and the 
legendary and historic interest clusteringalong 
its banks, render it the Rhine of America. 
The inland seas of Erie and Ontario bathe the 
north-western borders of New York ; in the 
north-east Lake Champlain divides her from 
Vermont, and the bright waters of Lake 
George nestle among lofty hills, and about its 
islets ; and in the centre of the state is a row 
of lakes, that fortunately retain the names of 
the tribes which once dwelt on their shores, 
Canandaigua, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, 
Oneida, and lesser sheets. The lakes and 
rivers are linked together by a magnificent 
Sj'stem of canals, connecting the great central 
basin of the St. Lawrence, and the seas it 
drains, with the Atlantic coast. 

Iron ore of good quality and great quantity 
is found in the north-eastern part, and occurs 
also in some of the central, eastern, and south- 
western counties. Gypsum, limestone, mar- 
ble, and slate are procured. St. Lawrence 
county IS rich in lead. The salt springs about 
Syracuse yield large quantities of salt annu- 
ally. Most of the soil in the state is of a use- 
ful quality, and much of it is highly fertile. 
Wheat is the great agricultural staple, and 
flour and provisions are largely exported. 
About one-third of all the buckwheat, two- 
thirds of the barley, one-fourth of the rye, 
one-sixth of the oats, and one-eighth of the 
wheat grown in the United States, are raised 
in New York. In manufactures New York 
occupies a proportional rank, having her share 
of factories, mills, foundries, and workshops, 
with intelligent and thrifty mechanics. Her 
commerce is on a great scale, far exceeding 
that of any other state ; since, in addition to 
her own wants and productions, she imports 
and exports for all the Union through her 
great commercial metropolis. Her foreign 
commerce is surpassed by her inland and 
coasting trade. 

New York was visited by Henry Hudson, 
an English navigator, in 1609. He sailed up 
the river which bears his name, to the dis- 
tance of 150 miles, and on his return to Eu- 
rope communicated the results of his enter- 
prise to his employers, the Dutch East India 
Company. Dutch trading establishments 
were immediately formed at different places. 



The earliest establishment of the kind was 
Fort Orange, founded in 1613, on the site of 
the city of Albany. New Amsterdam (now 
the city of New York) was formed a few years 
later. The East India Company, having ob- 
tained from the government of Holland a grant 
of the exclusive right to trade in America, 
called the country which they settled. New 
Netherlands. In 1664 Charles II. of England 
granted to his brother, the Duke of York and 
Albany, an extensive territory which included 
the colony of New Netherlands. A small 
armament was fitted out in England to act 
against the Dutch in America, who, however, 
speedily submitted to the English. The latter 
changed the name of New Amsterdam to 
New York, and Fort Orange to Albany. 
While Canada was held by the French, New 
York was the theatre of bloody struggles with 
them and their Indian allies. In 1775 the 
inhabitants of New York asserted their inde- 
pendence, and through the Revolutionary 
war took a distinguished part in the struggle 
for liberty. 

The governor of New York holds office for 
a term of two years. The sessions of the leg- 
islature are annual; half the senatoi's are 
chosen each year. Every white male citizen, 
twenty-one years of age, resident in the state 
one year, has the right of suffrage. No man 
of color shall vote unless he shall have been 
for three years a resident, and shall have 
owned during the year previous to the election 
a freehold worth $250 above all incumbrances ; 
and no person of color shall be taxed unless 
he own such real estate. The judiciary con- 
sists of the court of appeals, the supreme and 
circuit courts, county courts, and the criminal 
courts, of sessions, and oyer and terminer. 
Judges, clerks, attorneys, &c., are chosen by 
the people. Education is liberally provided 
for, and beside a system of public schools, aid 
is extended to academies and colleges. There 
is a normal school at Albany, a lunatic asylum 
at Utica, an asylum for idiots at Syracuse, 
and indigent deaf-mute youth are sustained 
by the state at the institution in New York. 
The military academy at West Point, under 
the direction of the national government, is 
an admirable institution. The annual expend- 
iture made for the common schools exceeds 
$3,500,000. 

Albany, the capital, is pleasantly seated on 



NEW 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



587 



an eminence on the west bank of the Hudson, 
144 miles above New York city ; population 
in 18G0, 62,867, The river is navigable to 
Albany, for steamers. The Erie and Cham- 
plain canals unite above the city, and are 
connected with a basin at Albany. The 
facility of communication which it possesses, 
renders it a great thoroughfare. The Dutch 
settled Albany in 1614, calling it Fort Orange. 
After it came into English hands, it was 
named in honor of James II., then Duke of 
York and Albany. It was built up with the 
disregard to elegance so common among the 
Dutch, but its modern buildings, both private 
and public, are beautiful and tasteful. 

Brooklyn, on Long Island, is separated from 
the city of New York by the East River. In 
1860 it had 266,661 inhabitants. The houses 
of recent date are spacious and elegant, and 
the heights which overhang the river and 
command a view of New York, are studded 
with neat and pretty dwellings, embowered 
in shrubbery and flowers. The healthiness 
of Brooklyn, and its contiguity to New York, 
have tended to increase its population largely 
within a few years. Its many houses of wor- 
ship have given it the name of the City of 
Churches. The first settlement of Brooklyn 
was made at the Wallabout Bay, by George 
Jansen Rapelje, in 1625. The earliest deed 
for lands on record is to Thomas Besker, in 
1639. Oct. 18th, 1667, Governor Nicholls 
granted a patent "to certain inhabitants of 
the town Breukelen, for and in behalf of them- 
selves and their associates, the freeholders 
and inhabitants, for all the lands in the town 
not taken up in severalt3^" This patent was 
confirmed by Governor Dongan in 1686. In 
1670 license was given by Governor Lovelace 
to the inhabitants to purchase the Indian title. 

The city of Buffalo lies on the outlet of Lake 
Erie at the head of Niagara River, and on 
Buffalo Creek, which constitutes its harbor, 
288 miles west of Albany, or 863 by the Erie 
Canal. It was originally laid out by the Hol- 
land Land Company in 1801. It was entirely 
burned by the British in 1813, excepting two 
buildings. The commencement of the rapid 
growth and great importance of this place 
may be dated from the opening of the Erie 
Canal. The city is laid out in broad and reg- 
ular streets. The land rises, by a very gentle 
ascent, two miles from the water, to an exten- 



sive plain, and from the elevated parts of the 
city are fine views of the lake, of Niagara 
River, of the Erie Canal, and the Canada 
shore. There are three public squares which 
add much to the beauty of the city. The 
harbor of Buffiilo is spacious and safe, having 
twelve or fourteen feet of water a mile from 
its entrance into the lake. Buffalo stands as 
a great gate between the East and the West, 
through which much of their commerce must 
pass ; and it is a great depot for the western 
country. Population in 1860, 81,129. 

NEW YORK, the city of, the largest, most 
wealthy, most flourishing of the cities of our 
continent, and the commercial metropolis of 
America, is situated at the mouth of the 
Hudson, on Manhattan Island. In the bay 
that opens before it to the Atlantic, navies 
might lie in safety. Toward its harbor 
throng the ships of all nations, freighted 
with merchandise and emigrants from almost 
all the earth. The navigable waters of the 
Hudson, long lines of canals, and a network 
of rail-roads give it the amplest facilities for 
inland trade. In 1860 it had 805,651 inhab- 
itants. This does not include Brooklyn, Jer- 
sey City, and its other suburbs. 

The first settlement made on Manhattan 
Island, with a view to permanent occupancy, 
was by the Dutch in 1615. In 1629, being 
resolved to establish a colony at New Amster- 
dam, as New York was then called, they 
appointed Walter Van Twiller governor, who 
held the office nine years. In 1635 the gov- 
ernor erected a substantial fort; and in 1643 
a house of worship was built in the south- 
east corner of the fort. In 1644 a city hall 
or stadthouse was erected, which was on the 
corner of Pearl street and Coenties Slip. In 
1653 a wall of earth and stone was built from 
Hudson River to East River, designed as a 
defense against the Indians, immediately 
north of Wall Street, which from that circum- 
stance received its name. The first public 
wharf was built in 1658, where Whitehall 
Street now is. 

The administration of Governor Stuyve- 
sant, the last of the Dutch governors, ter- 
minated, after a continuance of seventeen 
years, with the capture of the colony by the 
English in 1664, when the city was named 
New York in honor of James, Duke of York. 
The property of the Dutch West India Trad- 



NEW 



688 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA O: 



ing Company was all confiscated. The num- 
ber of inhabitants was then about 3,000. 

In 1673 the Dutch took the city from the 
English, it having been surrendered by Cap- 
tain Manning without firing a gun. It was 
restored to the English the next year ; and 
Manning was tried for cowardice and treach- 
ery, and sentenced to have his sword broken 
over his head. The inhabitants were all then 
required to take the oath of allegiance to the 
English government. As descriptive of the 
commercial condition of the city at that period. 
Governor Andros, in his report to the govern- 
ment in England, in 1678, says : " Our princi- 
pal places of trade are New York and Kingston, 
except Albany for the Indians. Our buildings 
most wood, some lately stone and brick ; good 
country houses, and strong of their severall 
kindes. A merchant worth £1,000, or £500, 
is accompted a good substantiall merchant, 
and a planter worthe half that in moveables is 
accompted rich ; all estates may be valued att 
about £150,000 ; there may lately have traded 
to ye colony, in a yeare, from 10 to 15 ships 
or vessells of about togeather 100 tunns each, 
English, New England, and oure own built, 
of which five small shipps, and a ketch now 
belonging to New Yorke, foure of them built 
there." 

In 1686 James 11. abolished the represent- 
ative system, and prohibited the use of prmt- 
ing- presses. A meeting of commissioners, 
denominated a congress of the several colo- 
nies, was this year assembled at New York. 
A regulation for lighting the city was estab- 
lished in 1697, requiring that lights be put 
in the windows of the houses fronting on the 
streets, on a penalty of ninepence for every 
night's omission ; and that a lighted lantern 
be hung out upon a pole at every seventh 
house, the expense to be borne equally by 
the seven intervening houses. In 1703 Wall 
Street was paved from William Street to the 
English (Trinity) Church. The Presbyterian 
ministers were prohibited from preaching by 
Governor Cornbury, in 1707, and two of 
their number were arrested and tried for 
violating this prohibition ; but they were dis- 
charged on their paying $220 costs. In 
1719 a Presbyterian Church was built in 
Wall Street. In 1725 the New Yorl Gazette, 
a weekly newspaper, was established. The 



first stage began to run between New York 
and Boston in 1732. It made its trips once 
a month, and took two weeks for the journey. 
In 1745 Lady Murray owned the only coach 
in town. The following year there were 
1,834 houses and 11,717 inhabitants, all 
below the Park. This was an increase of 
about a thousand people in nine years. A 
theatre was opened in 1750. During the 
next quarter of a century streets were laid 
out and built upon more or less as far north 
as Murray Street. 

After the disastrous battle of Long Island 
in August, 1776, the British entered the 
city, and remained its masters till the con- 
clusion of peace. They evacuated it on the 
25th of November, 1783, and the same day 
Gen. Washington marched in at the head of 
the American army. At this time there were 
23,614 inhabitants, an increase of 2,000 in 
fifteen years. In 1785 the first congress 
held after the war met in the city hall, where 
the custom-house now stands ; and here, four 
years after, when the federal constitution had 
been adopted, Washington was inaugurated 
president of the United States. 

For a place of such magnitude. New York 
can not be considered unhealthy. It has 
enjoyed as great an exemption as cities of 
this class in most countries from the ravages 
of epidemic diseases. It has been four times 
visited by yellow fever, viz., in 1742, in 1 798, 
in 1805, and in 1822. The disease was the 
most fatal in 1798, when it prevailed from 
July to November. The city, with other 
cities large and 'small, suffered severely from 
Asiatic cholera in the years 1832, 1834, and 
1849. 

The most extensive and destructive fire 
which has ever occurred in New York was 
that of the 16th of December, 1835, which 
swept over between thirty and forty acres of 
the most valuable part of the city, densely 
occupied with stores and filled with the 
richest merchandise. About 674 buildings 
were consumed, and the amount of property 
destroyed was estimated, by a committee 
appointed to ascertain the loss, at nearly 
$20,000,000. Under this heavy calamity, 
the wealth and recuperative energies of the 
city were in a wonderful manner demon- 
strated, as in an incredibly short time the 



NEW 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



5S9 



whole burned district was covered again with 
stores and with pubHc edifices, more costly, 
convenient and elegant than before. 

NEY, Michael, Duke of Elchingen, Prince 
of Moscow, marshal and peer of France, 
grand-cross of the legion of honor, knight of 
St. Louis, &c., was born in Alsace, in 1769. 
He rose from the ranks to the chief command 
of the armies, but was more distinguished for 
his bravery than his tactics. He opposed 
"Wellington in Spain, and pursued the British 
army to the lines of Torres Vedras. He after- 
ward served under Napoleon in Russia, and 
at the great battle of the Moskwa acquired 
the name of " the bravest of the brave." His 
bravery was signal in the terrible retreat 
from Moscow. He commanded the rear- 
guard of the army. At one point he was 
attacked by an overwhelming force of Rus- 
sians, and summoned to surrender. " A mar- 
shal of France never surrenders," was his 
heroic answer, and by strategy and hard 
fighting he reached the wreck of the main 
army, with a handful of his original corps. 
Napoleon welcomed him with joy, for he had 
given up all hope of him, as captive or slain. 
The retreat continued, and with indomitable 
courage and energy Ney still covered the 
rear. With only thirty men he defended the 
gate of Kowno, the last Russian town in the 
march of the French, while his comrades 
escaped at the other end. He was the last 
man to leave the soil of Russia. On the 
abdication of Napoleon, Ney promised to 
support the Bourbons. At the return of Na- 
poleon from Elba, the command of the royal- 
ist army was confided to him, but when Na- 
poleon summoned him to his standard as the 
bravest of the brave, he could not resist, and 
^ent over to the emperor. He was second in 
command at Waterloo, where he fought with 
desperate tenacity, till night and defeat com- 
pelled him to flee. Five horses were shot 
under him, and his clothes were torn with 
bullets. Contrary to the general amnesty 
that was decreed, the Bourbons ordered his 
arrest : he was condemned to die, and was 
shot Aug. 16th, 1815. 

NICARAGUA, a republic of Central Amer- 
ica, bounded north by Honduras ; east by the 
Caribbean Sea; south by Costa Rica, and 
west by the Pacific. The country is fertile, 
and rich in forests. The population is 400, 000, 



and the area 44,000 square miles. Through 
the river San Juan and Lake Nicaragua, a 
route was opened, communicating on each 
coast by steamers with the Atlantic cities 
and California. Civil contentions and filibust- 
ering expeditions of piratical vagabonds from 
the United States have retarded the progress 
of this unhappy country. 

NICHOLAS, Czar of Russia. [See Ro- 
manoff.] 

NICHOLS, Charlotte Bronte, the daugh- 
ter of Rev. Patrick Bronte, a Yorkshire cler- 
gyman, was born April 21st, 1816. There 
is but little incident in her life, which was 
mostly passed at Haworth, a rough village 
in the West Riding of Yorkshire. In 1847 
the reading world was startled by three 
novels, "Jane Eyre," " Wuthering Heights," 
and "Alice Gray," whose title-pages bore 
respectively the names of Currer Bell, Ellis 
Bell, and Acton Bell. The secret of their 
authorship was kept well and long, notwith- 
standing the eagerness of the public to dis- 
cover it. The brother Patrick died, then 
Emily, then Anne, and Charlotte Bronte was 
left alone with her father in 1849. In 1854, 
she wedded Mr. Bronte's curate. Rev. Arthur 
Bell Nichols. Then, after the nine happiest 
months of her life, the knell from Haworth 
church early on Saturday morning, March 
31st, 1855, told the villagers that Charlotte 
Bronte was no more. She had written two 
novels after "Jane EjTe," — "Shirley" and 
" Villette." She is the most remarkable writer 
of all the women of English literature. Her 
novels display a startling vigor. 

NICHOLSON, James, an Americal naval 
officer, born at Charlestown, Maryland, in 
1737. Throughout the Revolutionaiy war, 
he served with distinction in our infant navy. 
June 2d, 1780, Nicholson, with the Trumbull, 
a frigate of thirty-two guns, manned with only 
199 men, fought a severe action with the 
British frigate Wyatt. This engagement 
lasted three hours, at the expiration of which 
the disabled state of the Trumbull's masts 
compelled Nicholson to withdraw, with a 
loss of nine men killed, and twenty-one 
wounded. In 1781 Captain Nicholson in the 
Trumbull was captured by the Iris and Gen- 
eral Monk, after a severe engagement at 
night. He was carried to England, and not 
released till peace was concluded. 



NIC 



590 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



NIEBUHR, Barthold Geokge, an eminent 
historian, diplomatist, and philologist, was 
born at Copenhagen, 1776 ; entered the civil 
service of Prussia in 1806; was successively 
professor of history in the universities of 
Berlm and Bonn ; and died at Bonn in 1831. 
He was the master of twenty languages. 

NINEVEH, the capital of the Assyrian 
empire, was one of the largest and most pop- 
ulous cities of the ancient world. It stood 
on the left bank of the Tigris, opposite the 
modern town of Mosul. After the dissolu- 
tion of the Assyrian monarchy by the 
Medes, it fell into decay, and even its site 
became a matter of conjecture. Within a 
few years the researches of M. Botta and Mr. 
Layard have brought to light the long buried 
city. The curious sculptures and vessels 
which have been exhumed are full of interest. 
Modern science finds in the long cuneiform 
inscriptions the records of the wars, customs, 
life, and manners of one of the greatest 
nations of antiquity. 

NINUS, a son of Belus, who built a city to 
which he gave his own name, and founded 
the Assyrian monarchy, of which he was the 
first sovei'eign, b.c. 2059. He was very war- 
like, and extended his conquests from Egypt 
to the extremities of India and Bactriana. 
Ninus reigned fifty-two years, and at his 
death he left his kingdom to the care of his 
wife Semiramis, by whom he had a son. The 
history of Ninus is very obscure, and even 
fabulous according to the opinion of some. 
Ninus after death received divine honors, and 
became the Jupiter of the Assyrians and 
the Hercules of the Chaldeans. 

NOAH, MoKDECAi Manasseh, an American 
journalist and an active politician, was born 
at Philadelphia, July 19th, 1784; died in 
New York, March 28th, 1851. He was con- 
sul to Tunis in 1813. About 1829 he con- 
ceived the project of collecting his brethren 
the Jews, and rebuilding Jerusalem. He 
issued a singular proclamation, appointing 
Grand Island, near Niagara Falls, as the 
place of rendezvous, and summoned the scat- 
tered tribes to transmit their contributions. 
The scheme came to nothing. 

NORMANDY, an ancient province in the 
north of France, now divided into five depart- 
ments. In the latter part of the ninth cen- 
tury the Northmen, led by Rollo, settled 



here, and were governed by their own dukes ; 
the most renowned of whom was William, 
who achieved the conquest of England in 
1066. Normandy was lost to England by the 
weakness of King John. The English still 
retain, however, the islands on the coast, 
Jersey, Guernsey, &c. In 1346 Normandy 
was overrun by Edward III. ; and in 1418 it 
was held by Henry V., who conquered the 
whole province, and obtained its formal ces- 
sion to England by the peace of 1420. It 
was wrested from the English in 1449 ; and 
from that time Normandy was exempt from 
the evils of war until the religious contests 
of the sixteenth century. It escaped the 
revolution, though, in 1794, a Vendcan army 
entered its western frontier, for they were 
soon put to flight. Normandy had, until the 
revolution, its separate parliaments, which 
sat at Rouen; and its provincial laws and 
usages were preserved under the name of 
Coutumier de Xormandie. 

NORRIS, Sir John, second son of Henry, 
the first Lord Norris, famous for his valor, 
was first trained up in mihtary exercises un- 
der Admiral Coligni in the civil wars of 
France ; next in Ireland, under Walter, Earl 
of Essex; then served in the Netherlands 
under Matthias, Archduke of Austria, in 
1579 ; afterward under the Duke of Lorraine, 
1582; next under William of Nassau; and, 
in the twenty-seventh year of Queen Eliza- 
beth's reign he was constituted colonel- 
general of all the horse and foot sent out 
of England to the relief of Antwerp, then 
besieged by the Spaniards, and empowered 
to treat with the states-general for the enter- 
taining of the English foot appointed to serve 
in those parts. In the 30th of Queen Eliza- 
beth, being then president of the council in 
the province of Munster, in Ireland, he had a 
commission giving him power to constitute 
such principal officers as well by sea and 
land, as he thought fit for the defense of the 
kingdom. In the 33d of Queen Elizabeth he 
was constituted captain-general of those Eng- 
lish auxiliaries that were sent to King Henry 
IV. of France, against his rebellious subjects 
in Bretagne. Having deported himself with 
great prudence and courage in all these emi- 
nent employments, to the great honor of the 
English nation as well as of his own name, 
he expected that upon the recalling of Sir 



NOR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



591 



William Russell, knight, afterward Lord Rus- 
sell, he should have been deputy of Ireland ; 
but, finding that Thomas, Lord Borough, was 
preferred to that command, and himself re- 
quired to continue still in Munster, he became 
so highly discontented, as to occasion his 
premature death. 

NORTH, Fkederick, second Earl of Guil- ^ 
ford, better known as Lord North, was the 
eldest son of Francis, the first earl, and was 
born in 1732. He was educated at Eton, and ' 
at Trinity College, Oxford ; after which he 
went to Leipsic. On his return home he was 



elected into parliament, and in 1759 he be- 
came a commissioner of the treasury. - In 
1767 he was appointed chancellor of the ex- 
chequer, and in 1770 first lord of the treasury, 
both which oflBces he held during the Ameri- 
can war, till 1782. Not long after this, the 
same statesmen who had repeatedly threat- 
ened his lordship with an impeachment, 
formed a coalition with him ; but this motley 
administration lasted a very few months. In 
1790 Lord North succeeded his fother in the 
earldom, and died in 1792, having been blind 
some years. 




NORTH CAROLINA is bounded on the 
north by Virginia, on the east by the Atlan- 
tic Ocean, on the south by South Carolina, 
and on the west by Tennessee. It is of con- 
siderable extent, comprising 45,500 square 
miles, with a population, in 1850, of 992.622 
souls, of whom 331,059 were slaves, and 
30,463 free blacks. The state is divided into 
seventy-nine counties, and Raleigh is the seat 
of government. This place is pleasantly situ- 
ated, and laid out with great regularity. The 
State-house, built upon the model of the Par- 
thenon, is celebrated for the completeness 
and beauty of its architecture. Raleigh has 
4,500 inhabitants. A senate and house of 
commons are the legislative branches of gov- 
ernment. Elections are biennial. There is 
a common-school system which is rapidly 
growing in usefulness; besides, there are 
several respectable academies at various 
places, and, at Chapel Hill, an institution 



styled the University of North Carolina, 
which is well endowed and in high repute. 
The face of the country is extremely diver- 
sified; a wide belt, skirting the sea, is 
perfectly level, while in other parts the 
surface is broken and rough, presenting in 
some places considerable elevations. One of 
these. Black Mountain, 6,476 feet high, is said 
to be the highest peak east of the Rocky 
Mountains. Pilot Mountain, or Ararat, which 
is of a pyramidal form, rises 1,550 feet from 
a wide and level area, commanding a most 
imposing view of the surrounding country. 

The coast of North Carolina is made dan- 
gerous by its capes and shoals, the names of 
some of which indicate the terror they excite. 
This state contains a portion of tl^t swamp 
which is justly called the Great Dismal 
Swamp, a marshy tract whose low brush- 
wood, in many parts impenetrable, covers a 
space of nearly thirty miles in extent. Parts 



NOR 



592 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



of the soil of North Carolina are extremely 
productive, and the earth has been found to 
possess a treasure in gold mines of considera- 
ble extent and value. The commerce of this 
state is not extensive, but many of the plant- 
ers are very wealthy. The pine forests yield 
not only lumber, but great quantities of tur- 
pentine, rosin, tar, and pitch. 

The first colony within the limits of North 
Carolina was English, and settled on Roanoke 
Island, (since the scene of Burnside's vic- 
tory,) in 1587. It soon perished, however, 
for it was never heard from. Some Virgi- 
nians made a permanent settlement near Al- 
bemarle sound in 1650. 

North Carolina joined the South in the 
rebellion, and seceded May 20, 1801, after a 
good deal of adjourning and delaying. The 
U. S. forts in the state had been seized 
in Ja,nuary. The state did not suffer much 
during most of the war, being covered by 
land and coast; but a good deal of dam- 
age was done during Sherman's last great 
march from Savannah, and the North Caro- 
lina campaign against Bragg and Johnston. 
Gen. Butler and Commodore Sl.inghum took 
the forts at Hatteras, in August, 1861, and 
Burnside's expedition, in Feb., 1862, took 
Eoanoke Island, and on March 14th succeed- 
ing captured Newbern. From that time the 
Union forces held the sea approaches, except 
Wilmington, which it was found impossible 
to close to blockade runners, until the glori- 
ous bombardment and storming of Fort 
Fisher, Jan. 15, 1865, soon followed by the 
fall of Wilmington. The state soon after 
returned formally into the Union. 

NORTH-WEST PASSAGE. The belief 
in a passage to China and the Indies through 
the Arctic seas followed close upon the dis- 
covery of the western continent. Cortereal, 
a Portuguese, sought the north-west passage 
in 1500. England made the essay in 1553, 
at the instance of Sebastian Cabot. In May 
of that year, Hakluyt has chronicled, gallant 
Sir Hugh Willoughby took his departure on 
his fatal voyage for discovering the north-east 
passage to China. He sailed with great pomp 
by Greenwich, where the court then resided. 
Mutual honors were paid on both sides. The 
council and courtiers appeared at the win- 
dows, and the people covered the shores. 



The young king, Edward VI., alone lost the 
noble and novel sight, for he then lay on his 
death-bed ; so that the principal object of the 
parade was disappointed. The three vessels 
separated : Sir Hugh with his crew perished 
on the coast of Lapland; but Chancellor en- 
tered the White Sea, a discovery of impor- 
tance, inasmuch as it led to the establishment 
of a trade between England and Archangel, 
and to the design of carrying on commerce 
with India by means of the Volga and the 
Caspian Sea, which project so engrossed the 
attention of the merchants of London that all 
farther attempts at discovering the North- 
East Passage were abandoned. The Dutch 
merchants afterward resolved to try if the 
East Indies could be reached in this direction. 
William Barents made two voyages (1594- 
1596), but was unable to proceed east of Nova 
Zembla on account of the ice. 

Frobisher tried the North-West Passage in 
1576. The project was greatly encouraged 
by Elizabeth in 1585, and a company formed 
called the " Fellowship for the Discovery of 
the North-West Passage." In that and the two 
following years John Davis made three voy- 
ages, discovering the well-known straits which 
ever since have borne his name. He retained 
full faith, and would have sailed again, had 
not the Spanish armada interrupted. From 
1607 to 1610 Hudson made several voyages, 
some for English merchants. and one in the 
service of the Dutch ; during which he dis- 
covered the noble river and the broad bay 
now known by his name. In 1616 Baffin 
discovered and in great part traced the ex- 
tensive bay called after him. A number of 
enterprises undertaken by various countries 
followed. From 1745 to 1818 there was a 
standing offer of £20,000 from the British 
government for the discovery of the north- 
west passage. Samuel Hearne, an agent of 
the Hudson Bay company, undertook a land 
expedition in 1769. Seven years later the 
celebrated Captain Cook tried to solve the 
mystery. He sailed to the Pacific, discovered 
the Sandwich Islands, and early in the sum- 
mer of 1778 reached Behring's Strait. He 
was able to penetrate no farther than lat. 
70^ 44'. On his return he lost his life. 
Mackenzie, in 1789, headed an overland ex- 
pedition, traced the great river named after 



NOR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



59^ 



him, and reached the Arctic Ocean in latitude 
69°. Hearne had gained it at the mouth 
of the Coppermine eighteen years before. 

In 1818 the attention of the English gov- 
ernment was turned anew to the possibility 
of finding a north-west passage to the Pacific 
seas, and the standing reward was modified 
by proposing that £5,000 should be paid 
whenever either 110°, 120°, or 130° W, long, 
should be passed. Two expeditions were 
dispatched, that of Buchan and Fra«iklin, 
and that of Ross and Parry. Many others 
have followed. 

Capt. Buchan and Lieut. FranWir's expedition 
in the Dorothea and Trent, 1818. 

Capt. Ross and Lieut. Parry, in the Isabella and 
Alexander, 1818. 

Lieutenants Parry and Liddon, in the Hecla and 
Griper, May 4th, 1819. They crossed the 
meridian of 110° long. W., and were entitled 
to the reward of £5,000. They returned to 
Leith, Nov. 3d, 1820. 

Captains Parry and Lyon, in the Fury and Hecla, 
May 8th, 1821. 

Captain Parry's third expedition with the Hecla, 
May 8th, 1824. 

Captains Franklin and Lyon, after having at- 
tempted a land expedition, again sailed from 
Liverpool, Feb. 16th, 1825. 

Captain Parry, again in the Hecla, sails from 
Deptford, March 25th, 1827. And returns, 
Oct. 6th, 1827. 

Capt. Ross arrived at Hull, on his return from 
his Arctic expedition, after an absence of four 
years, and when all hope of his return had 
been nearly abandoned, Oct. 18th, 183.3. 

Capt. Back and his companions arrived at Liver- 
pool from their perilous Arctic Land Expedi- 
tion, after having visited the Great Fish River, 
and examined its course to the Polar Seas, Sept. 
8th, 1835. 

Capt. Back sailed from Chatham in command of 
his majesty's ship Terror, on an exploring ad- 
venture to "Wager River, June 21st, 1836. 

Sir John Franklin and Captains Crozier and Fitz- 
james, in the ships Erebus and Terror, leave 
England, May 24th, 1845. 

Commanders CoUinson and M'Clure, in the Enter- 
prise and Investigator, sailed eastward in 
search of Sir John Franklin, Jan. 20th, 1850. 

North-West Passage discovered by M'Clure, 
Oct. 26th, 1850. 

The anxiety felt as to the fate of Sir John 
Franklin and his comrades led to many expe- 
ditions to the polar seas. Sir John, with 
Captains Crozier and Fitzjames, in H.M. 
ships Erebus and Terror (carrying in all 138 
persons), sailed on an Arctic expedition 
of discovery and survey, from Greenhithe, 
May 24th, 1845. Their last dispatches were 



from the Whalefish Islands, dated July 12th, 
1845. On the 26th of July, they were seen 
by a passing whaler moored to an iceberg 
near the centre of Baffin's Bay. Since that 
time no certain intelligence of their fate has 
been received. Franklin contemplated an 
absence of three years, so that, although 
nothing was heard of the expedition, no anx- 
iety was felt for its safety until 1848. Then 
the protracted absence began to cause in- 
tense anxiety throughout Europe, and numer- 
ous expeditions were sent from England 
and elsewhere to various parts of the polar 
regions in search. Quantities of coals, pro- 
visions, clothing, and other comforts were 
deposited in such places in the Arctic seas as 
the crews of the Erebus and Terror might 
visit, so as to afford them immediate relief, 
by the British and American governments, 
by Lady Franklin, and by numerous private 
persons. The Truelove, Capt. Parker, which 
arrived at Hull Oct. 4th, 1849, from Davis's 
Straits, brought intelligence (not afterward 
confirmed) that the natives had seen Sir 
John Franklin's ships as late as the previous 
March, beset or frozen up by the ice in Prince 
Regent's Inlet. Other like accounts were 
equally illusory. Her majesty's government, 
March 7th, 1850, offered a reward of £20,000 
to any party, of any country, that should 
render efficient assistance to the crews of the 
missing ships. Sir John's first winter quar- 
ters were found at Beechey Island by Cap- 
tains Ommanne}^ and Penny. The following 
expeditions were sent out in search. 

H. M. S. Plover, Capt. Moore (afterward imder 
Capt. Maguire), sailed from Sheerness to Beh- 
ring's Straits, Jan. 1st, 1848. 

Land expedition under Sir John Richardson, and 
Dr. Rae of the Hudson's Bay Company, left 
England, March 25th, 1848. Sir John Rich- 
ardson returned to England in 1849, and Dr. 
Rae continued his search till 1851. 

Sir James Ross, with the Enterprise and Investi- 
gator (June 12th, 1848), having also sailed in 
search to Barrow's Strait, returned to England, 
Nov. 8d, 1849. 

The Enterprise, Capt. Collinson, and Investigator, 
Commander M'Clure, sailed from Plymouth for 
Behring's Straits, Jan. 20th, 1850. Both of 
these ships proceeded through to the eastward, 
and the North- West Passage was discovered by 
M'Clure, Oct. 26th, 1850. M'Clure returned 
to England in October, 1854, and Collinson in 
May, 1855. 

Capt. Austin's expedition (Resolute, Capt. Austin, 
C. B. ; Assistance, Capt. Ommanney ; Intrepid^ 



NOR 



594 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Com. Bertie Cator ; and Pioneer, Com. Sherard 
Osborne) sailed from England lor Barrow's 
Straits, April 25th, 185U, and returned- in 
September, 1851. 

The Lady Franklin, Capt. Penny, and Sophia, 
Capt. Stewart, sailed from Aberdeen for Bar- 
row's Straits, April 13th, 1850, and returned 
home in September, 1851. 

The first American expedition, in the Advance 
and Rescue, under Lieut. De Haven and Dr. 
Kane, toward which Mr. Grinnell gave$oU,0()0, 
sailed for Lancaster Sound and Barrow's 
Straits, May 25th, 1850. After drifting in the 
pack down Baffin's Bay, the ships were re- 
leased in 1851 uninjured. 

The Felix, Sir John Ross, fitted out chiefly by 
the Hudson Bay Company, sailed to the same 
locality, May 22d, 1850, and returned in 1851. 

H.M.S. North Star, Commander Saunders, which 
had sailed from England in 1849, wintered in 
Wolstenholme Sound, and returned to Spit- 
head, Sept. 28th, 1850. 

H.M.S. Herald, Capt. Kellett, C.B., which had 
sailed in 1848, made three voyages to Beh- 
ring's Straits, and returned in 1851. 

Lieut. Pirn went to St. Petersburg in November, 
1851, with the intention of traveling through 
Siberia to the mouth of the river Kolyma ; but 
he was dissuaded from proceeding by the Rus- 
sian government. 

Sir Edward Belchers expedition (Assistance, Sir 
Edward Belcher, C.B. ; Resolute, Capt. Kel- 
lett, C.B.; North Star, Capt. Pullen; Intre- 
pid, Capt. M'Clintock ; Pioneer, Capt. Sherard 
Osborne) sailed from Woolwich, April 15th, 
1852. 

Lady Franklin, from her own resources, 
aided by a few friends (and by the " Tasma- 
nian Tribute of £1,500), equipped four sepa- 
rate private expeditions. 

The Prince Albert, Capt. Forsyth, sailed from 
Aberdeen to Barrow's Straits, June 5th, 1850; 
returned Oct. 1st, 1850. 

The Prince Albert, Mr. Keimedy, accompanied 
by Lieut. Bcllot of the French navy and John 
Hepburne, sailed from Stromness to Prince 
Regent's Inlet, June 4th, 1851 ; returned in 
October, 1852. 

The Isabel, Commander Inglefield, sailed for the 
head of Baffin's Bay, Jones's Sound and the 
Wellington Channel, July 6th, and returned in 
November, 1852. 

Mr. Kennedy sailed again in the Isabel on a re- 
newed search to Behring's Strait, 1863. 

H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commander Trollope, dis- 
patched to assist the Plover, Capt. Maguire 
(who succeeded Capt. Moore) at Point Barrow 
in April, met with it in August, 1853. 

The second American expedition, the Advance, 
under Dr. Kane, early in June, 1853. 

The Phoenix (with the Breadalbane transport), 
Commander Inglefield, accompanied by Lieut. 
Bcllot, sailed in May, and returned in October, 
1853. 

The Phoenix, North Star, and Talbot, under the 



command of Captain Inglefield, sailed in May, 
and returned in October, 1854. 

The third American expedition, in search of Dr. 
Kane, consisted of the Release and the steamer 
Arctic, the barque Eringo, and another vessel, 
under the command of Lieut. H. J. Hartstene, 
accompanied by a brother of Dr. Kane as sur- 
geon. May 31st, 1855. On the 17th of May, 
1855, Dr. Kane and his party left the Advance, 
and journeyed over the ice, 1,300 miles, to the 
Danish settlement. On their way home in a 
Danish vessel, they fell in with Lieut. Hart- 
stene, Sept. 18th, and arrived with him at 
New York, Oct. 11th, 1855. [See Kank.] 

The eighteenth British expedition (equipped by 
Lady Franklin and her friends, the govern- 
ment having declined), consisting of the screw 
steamer Fox, Captain M'Clintock, R. N., sailed 
from Aberdeen, July 1st, 1857. 

In the spring of 1853, Dr. Rae again pro- 
ceeded toward the magnetic pole, and in July, 
1854, he reported to the Admiralty that he 
had purchased from a part}^ of Esquimaux a 
number of articles, which had belonged to 
Sir John Franklin and his party, namely. Sir 
John's star or order, part of a watch, silver 
spoons, and foi'ks with 'crests, &c. He also 
reported the statement of the natives, that 
they had met with a party of white men about 
four winters previous and had sold them a 
seal, and that four months later, in the same 
season, they had found the bodies of thirty 
men (some buried) who had evidently per- 
ished by starvation ; the place appears, from 
the description, to have been in the neighbor- 
hood of the Great Fish River of Back. Dr. 
Rae arrived in England in Oct. 22d, 1854, 
with the melancholy relics, which have since 
been deposited in Greenwich Hospital. Dr. 
Rae and his companions received the reward 
of £10,000 for discovering these remains, as 
thQ first clue. 

All the ships of Sir Edward Belcher's 
expedition were finally abandoned. Capt. 
Kellett's vessel, the Resolute, was found 
adrift a thousand miles from where she was 
left, by a New London whaler, and was 
brought home. It was bought by order of 
Congress, thoroughly repaired and equipped, 
and intrusted to Capt. H. J. Hartstene to be 
presented to Queen Victoria. It arrived at 
Southampton, Dec. 12th, 1856, and was vis- 
ited by her majesty on the 16th. 

The honor of completing the north-west 
passage is due to Capt. M'Clure, who sailed 
in the Investigator in company with Com, 



NOR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



595 



Collinson in the Enterprise, in search of Sir 
John Franklin, Jan. 20th, 1850. On Sept. 
6th he discovered high land which he named 
Baring's land ; on the 9th, other land which 
he named after Prince Albert; on the 80th 
the ship was frozen in. Entertaining a strong 
conviction that the waters in which the 
Investigator then lay conimunicated with 
Barrow's Strait, he set out on Oct. 21st with 
a few men in a sledge, to test his views. 
On Oct. 26th, he reached Point Russell (73'=' 
31' N. lat, 114° 14' W. long.), where from 
an elevation of 600 feet he saw Parry or Mel- 
ville Sound beneath them. The strait con- 
necting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans he 
named after the Prince of Wales. The In- 
vestigator was the first ship which traversed 
the Polar Sea from Behring's Straits to Baring 
Island. Intelligence of this discovery was 
brought to England by Com. Inglefield, and 
the admii'alty chart was published Oct. 14th, 
1853. Capt. M'Clure returned to England 
in September, 1854. He was knighted for 
his discovery. In 1855 parliament ordered 
£5,000 to be paid to Captain M'Clure, and 
£'5,000 to be distributed between the ofiicers 
and crew. 

NORWAY, an extensive kingdom of the 
north of Europe. Its area is 122,711 square 
miles, and its population 1,490,000. The 
face of the country is broken by mountain 
ridges, the summits of which are covered 
with snow and ice. The climate presents the 
extremes of heat and cold, and a great 
proportion of the soil is barren. In fact, the 
wealth of Nortvay consists in timber, cattle, 
fisheries, and minerals. The chief towns are 
Bergen, Christiana, Drontheim, Konigsberg, 
Christiansand, and Fredericshall. Norway 
was divided into petty principalities until the 
ninth century, and was little known except 
for piracies. In 1029 Norway was conquer- 
ed by Canute the Great, King of Denmark, 
■and was governed by Sueno, as regent. On 
the death of Canute, Norway recovered its 
independence. In 1397 it was incorporated 
with Denmark. Their peaceful union con- 
tinued till 1814, when it was interrupted by 
the treaty which the King of Denmark was 
compelled to make with Great Britain, re- 
signing the sovereignty of Norway to the 
King of Sweden, to which Norway was 
forced to submit; but as an integral state, 



and with the preservation of its constitution 
and laws. 

NOVA SCOTIA, a British province of 
North America, a peninsula, jutting out into 
the Atlantic, containing about 15,607 square 
miles. It is about 280 miles in length, and 
partially separated from New Brunswick by 
the Bay of Fundy. The country is somewhat 
rough, but the soil in the interior is good. 
The exports consist principally of fish, tim- 
ber, and plaster of Paris. The population in 
1861 was 830,857. Nova Scotia was discov- 
ered by John Cabot in 1497. The French, 
who gave it the name of Acadia, were the 
first settlers. Sir William Alexander received 
a grant of the peninsula, under the name of 
Nova Scotia, in 1621, but it was surrendered 
to the French by Charles I. on the family 
alliance between him and that court in 1632. 
It was recovered by Major Sedgwick, under 
Cromwell, in 1654; delivered again to the 
French by Charles II. in 1667; recovered by 
Sir William Phipps in 1690; ceded to France 
at the peace of Ryswick in 1697; but con- 
quered again by the English in 1710, and 
continued to them by the treaty of Utrecht 
in 1714. Afterward, in conjunction with the 
Indians, the French gave great disturbance 
to the English settlers in this country ; but 
their possession was again confirmed by the 
treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in 1 748. Many loy- 
alists from the United States settled here at 
the close of the Revolution. 

Halifax, the capital and chief port of the 
province, on Chebucto Bay, has one of the 
finest harbors in the world. It was founded 
in 1749 by Gen. Cornwallis. It is the chief 
naval station in British America, and has a 
large dockyard and a fine naval arsenal. 
There are about 32,000 inhabitants. 

NOVGOROD, an ancient city of European 
Russia, containing now only 7,000 inhabit- 
ant*. It is the capital of a government of the 
same name, and foi'merly enjoyed many priv- 
ileges under an independent prince. In the 
fifteenth century it had 400,000 inhabitants,' 
and was once so rich and powerful, that a 
common proverb was, "Who can oppose 
God, or the great city of Novgorod ? " Vithold, 
Great Duke of Lithuania, was the first who, 
in 1427, obliged the city to pay a tribute of 
200,000 crowns. Ivan Wassiliewitsch I.. 
tyrant of Muscovy, made himself master of 



NOV 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA 01 



it in 1477, and placed a governor in it ; and, 
some time after, came in person and plun- 
dered the city, carrying away with him to 
Moscow, 300 wagons loaded with gold, silver, 
and precious stones, and other rich goods 
and furniture ; to which place also he trans- 
ported the inJiabitants of Novgorod, send- 
ing Muscovites to inhabit their city. Ivan 
liasilowitz, GrcalfDuke of Muscovy, in 15C9, 
upon a groundless suspicion of their design- 
ing to revolt, slew many of its inhabitants, 
besides a vast number that were trodden to 
death by a party of his horse, kt in upon 
them. After having plundered the rich 
church of Sancta Sophia, and all the treas- 
ures of the other churches, he also pillaged 
the archbishopric, and then commanded the 
archbishop to ride upon a white horse, with 
a fiddle tied about his neck, and a flute in his 
hand ; and in this posture conducted him to 
Moscow. The city was taken by the Swedes 
in 1611, and restored to the Russians in 
1634. In 1664 it was populous, and a place 
of good trade, encompassed with a timber 
wall, well stored with ammunition and brass 
ordnance, and defended by a castle. The 
building of St. Petersburg struck the final 
blow to Novgorod. This duchy, once the 
greatest in Russia, was assigned by lot to 
Ruruk Varegus, their first duke, whose pos- 
terity have enlarged their dominions as far as 
the Greek empire on one side, and Norway 
on the other. 

NUMA POMPILIUS, a Sabine, the second 
king of Rome, reigned from 714 to 672 b.c. 
At the death of Romulus, the Romans fixed 
upon him to be their new king; and two sen- 
ators were sent t& acquaint him with the 
decision of the senate, and of the people. 
Numa refused their oflfer ; and it was only 
at the repeated solicitations and prayers of 
his friends, that he was prevailed upon to 
accept the royalty. The beginning of his 
reign was popular, and he dismissed the 300 
body guards which his predecessor had kept 



around his person ; observing, that he did 
not distrust a people who had compelled him 
to reign over them. He was not, like Romu- 
lus, load of war and military expeditions ; 
but he applied himself to tame the ferocity 
of his subjects, to inculcate in their minds a 
reverence for the Deity, and to quell their 
dissentions, by dividing all the citizens inta 
different classes. 

NUMANTIA, a town of the Celtiberi in 
Spain, near the sources of the river Durius- 
(Duero), celebrated for the war of fourteen 
years, which, though unprotected by walls- 
and towers, it bravely maintained against the 
Romans. The inhabitants obtained some- 
advantages over the Roman forces, till Scipia 
Africanus was empowered to finish the war, 
and to see the destruction of Numantia. He 
began the siege with an army of 60,000 men, 
and was bravely opposed by the besieged, 
who were no more than 4,000 men able to> 
bear arms. Both armies behaved with un- 
common valor, and the courage of the Nu- 
mantines was soon changed into despair and 
fury. Their provisions began to fail, and 
they fed upon the flesh of their horses, and' 
afterward of that of their dead companions,, 
and at last were necessitated to draw lots to 
kill and devour one another. The melancholy 
situation of their affairs obliged some to 
surrender to the Roman general. Scipio de- 
manded them to deliver themselves upon the 
morrow; they refused, and when a longer- 
time had been granted to their petitions, they 
retired and set fire to their houses, and all 
destroyed themselves, b.c. 183, so that not 
even one remained to adorn the triumph of 
the conqueror. Some historian.s, however, 
deny that, and maintain that a number of 
Numan tines delivered themselves into Scipio' s- 
hands, and that fifty of them were drawn in 
triumph at Rome, and the reet sold as slaves^ 
The fall of Numantia was more glorious thaa 
that of Carthage or Corinth. 



NUM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



597 



0. 



OATES, Titus, was bom about 1619. He 
was the son of an Anabaptist preacher, was 
educated at Cambridge, and afterward took 
orders. Dismissed from his chaplaincy in 
disgrace, in 1677, he turned Roman Catholic, 
and was admitted into the society of Jesuits. 
€n his return to England, in 1678, however, 
he declared himself a Protestant, and in con- 
junction with one Dr. Ezrael Tongue, gave 
information of a pretended popish plot; 
which met with too ready a belief, and caused 
the execution and imprisonment of many 
innocent men. Gates was rewarded- with a 
pension of £1,200 a year, but when James 
II. came to the throne, he was found guilty 
of perjury. He was sentenced to be stripped 
of his clerical habit, to be pilloried in Palace 
Yard, to be led round Westminster Hall with 
an inscription declaring his infamy over his 
head, to be pilloried again in front of the 
li-oyal Exchange, to be whipped from Aldgate 
to Newgate, and, after an interval of two 
days, to be whipped from Newgate to Tyburn. 
If, against all probability, he should happen 
to survive this horrible infliction, he was to 
be kept a close prisoner during life. Five 
times every year he was to be brought forth 
from his dungeon and exposed on the pillory 
in different parts of the capital. The wretch 
barely survived his terrible flogging. In the 
reign of William III. he obtained his liberty, 
and a pension of £-±00 a year. He died in 
1705. 

OBERLIN, John Frederic, was born at 
Strasburg, August 1st, 1740. Under the 
training of devout parents and a beloved pas- 
tor, the boy early cherished the wish to give 
his life to the ministry, and for that he was 
educated. He obtained a curacy in the Ban 
de la Roche, or Steinthal, a wild, mountainous 
district in Alsace. His field was an exten- 
sive valley, lying in the primeval roughness 
of nature, and divided into two parishes, of 
which the Waldbach was one, and comprising 
nearly a hundred families. Completely se- 
questered from the world, the people were 
little better than savages, ignorant, filthy, and 
lazy. They knew nothing of the Bible, ex- 
cept that it was a large book said to have 



come from God. In this neglected nook, was 
the opportunity for the labor of good that 
Oberlin sought, and here he passed his days. 
He bestirred himself for the physical and 
social welfare of his children, as he called his 
parishioners, as well as their spiritual, and 
he was rewarded by awaking them from the 
stupor of barbarism to intelligence and indus- 
try. Roads took the place of the rude foot- 
paths ; bridges were built where before were 
only stepping stones, vinder water three- 
quarters of the year ; agricultural imple- 
ments were introduced; the youth were 
taught useful trades; neat cottages were 
reared in place of wretched cabins of turf; 
till Oberlin's cure was no longer a dreary 
waste. He wrought a similar betterment in 
the moral condition of the people. Schools 
and libraries were established, and aided him 
in his simple, earnest, evangelical teachings. 
His people grew to number three thousand. 
During the terrors of the French revolution, 
when elsewhere all worship was at an end, 
Oberlin was not molested in his work ; an 
immunity which he owed both to the obscure 
position of his parish and to his own excel- 
lence of character. He died in 1826, aged 
eighty-six, leaving to the world an eminent 
example of a life wholly consecrated to the 
highest benevolence, and illuminated by 
fidelity to both God and man. 

OCCUM, Sampson, a Mohegan Indian, con- 
verted to Christianity ; a missionary among 
the Indians of New York; died 1792. 

O'CONNELL, Daniei^ was born in the 
county of Kerry, Ireland, August 6th, 1775. 
He was educated at St. Omers and Douay in 
France, and was at first destined for the 
church, but the relaxation that admitted Ro- 
man Catholics to the bar, opened for him a 
more brilliant career. He was admitted to 
the Irish bar in 1798, and became the first 
advocate of the day. He was prominent in 
the movement for the political emancipation 
of the Catholics, and after the reform bill le 
came conspicuous as the head of a parliament- 
ary body, acknowledging his leadership and 
voting together, called "O'Connell's Tail.'' 
About 1840 he commenced agitating the re- 



OCO 



598 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



peal of the union, and in January, 1844, the 
British government procured his trial for trea- 
son. A conviction was obtained, followed by 
a sentence of imprisonment, but it was re- 
versed in the House of Lords. O'ConncIl, 
however, was now an old man : the trial shook 
his nerves and his position. It was followed 
by the miseries of the potato blight. On the 
15th of May, 1847, he died during a sojourn 
in Italy, which was called a pilgrimage, and 
supposed to partake of a penitential or relig- 
ious character. 

OCTAVIA, a Roman lady, sister to the 
Emperor Augustus, and celebrated for her 
beauty and virtues. Her marriage with An- 
tony was a political step to reconcile her 
brother and her husband. Antony proved 
for some time attentive to her, but he soon 
after despised her for Cleopatra. After the 
battle of Actium and the death of Antony, 
Octavia, forgetful of the injuries she had re- 
ceived, took into her house all the children of 
her husband, and treated them with maternal 
tenderness. The death of her son Marcellus 
continually preyed upon the mind of Octavia, 
and she died of melancholy about ten years 
liefore the Christian era. Her brother paid 
great regard to her memory, by pronouncing 
himself her funeral oration. The Roman 
people also showed their respect for her vir- 
tues, by their wish to pay her divine honors. 

(EDIPUS, son of Laius, King of Boeotia, 
and Jocasta. Laius was induced to believe 
that his son would.be his murderer, and the 
infant was accordingly exposed on Mount 
Cithaeron. He was educated at the court of 
Polybus, king of Corinth. Being reproached 
by a haughty nobleman with not being the son 
of Polybus, he resolved to satisfy himself by 
making inquiries at the shrine of the Delphic 
oracle. The answer was as follows : "Avoid 
thy country if thou wouldst escape the sin of 
murdering thy father and marrying thy 
mother." CEdipus, looking on Corinth as his 
country, fled thence to Thebes, where he 
killed his father, without knowing him, b.c. 
1276, and received the hand of his mother 
Jocasta. Discovering the horrible calamity 
which had befiiUen him, (Edipus put out his 
eyes, and died far from the scene of his mis- 
fortunes. Jocasta hanged herself. 

OEHLENSCHLAEGER, Adam, the great- 
est dramatic poet in Scandinavian literature. 



born at Copenhagen, 1777, died there Jan. 
28th, 1850. He rewrote many of his works 
in German, and thus holds a high place in 
German letters. 

OGLETHORPE, James Edward, an English 
general, was born in London, in 1GD8. He 
served under Prince Eugene. He was the 
founder of the colony of Georgia, for which 
he obtained the royal charter. He died at 
the age of eighty -seven. His private life was 
exceedingly amiable, and he has been eulo- 
gized by Thomson, Pope, and Johnson. 

OHIO comprises 39,904 square miles. In 
1860 it contained 2,339,502 inhabitants. A 
slightly elevated ridge divides the waters flow- 
ing into Lake Erie from those feeding the 
Ohio, and the eastern and the south-eastern 
parts are much diversified with hill and valley, 
but the country is nowhere mountainous. 
Swamps and morasses occasionally occur, but 
nine-tenths of the state is susceptible of culti- 
vation, and three-fourths eminently produc- 
tive. The river bottoms are of exuberant rich- 
ness. In the centre and north-west are many 
prairies, but the greater part of the country 
was originally covered with forests of gigantic 
trees. The chief are the Ohio, Muskingum, 
Hockhocking, Scioto, Miami, Maumee, San- 
dusky, and Cuyahoga. Ohio is amply provi- 
ded with the most useful of minerals, iron and 
coal, and lime. Valuable salt-springs occur. 
The fertile soil gives abundant crops of maize, 
wheat, rye, and other grains. The vintage is 
becoming an important harvest. Droves of 
fiit cattle come to eastern markets from the 
valleys of the Scioto, and beef is largely packed. 
Swine are a staple production, and Cincinnati, 
where their flesh is largely cured and packed, 
has been jocosely called Porkopolis. • 

The history of Ohio belongs almost to the 
present century. Its growth is among the 
marvels of our country. The first permanent 
settlement in its limits was made at Marietta, 
April, 1788, by a party of emigrants from 
New England. In 1791 a body of French 
emigrants founded Gallipolis. In 1796 several 
towns along Lake Erie were settled by bands 
from New England. In 1799 the first territo- 
rial legislature was assembled at Cincinnati, 
In 1802 it was erected into an independent 
state. 

The general assembly and state officers are 
chosen biennially by the people. The elective 



OHI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



599 




franchise is enjoyed by every white male citi- 
zen of tlie United States, aged twenty-one, 
who shall have been a resident of the state 
one year. The judicial power is vested in a 
supreme court, district courts, courts of com- 
mon pleas, courts of probate, justices of the 
peace, and such tribunals inferior to the su- 
preme court as the general assembly may es- 
tablish. The judges and justices are chosen 
by the people. The constitution provides that 
there shall be a thorough and eflficient system 
of common schools established throughout the 
state. An asylum for the deaf and dumb is 
sustained at Columbus, and an institution for 
the blind. 

Columbus, the capital, is pleasantly situated 
on the Scioto, in a rich and beautiful district. 
It is built on a regular plan, with a pretty 
square in the centre, about which stand some 
of the principal public buildings. In 1853 it 
had 25,000 inhabitants. The largest city of 
Ohio, and the metropolis of the West, is Cin- 
cinnati, on the north bank of the Ohio River, 
116 miles south-west from Columbus. Pop- 
ulation in 1856, 470,000. It has grown with 
great rapidity, and now ranks as the thn-d 
place in population in the United States. It 
is an extensive manufacturing place ; although 
destitute of water power, yet this destitution 
has been extensively compensated by the em- 
ployment of steam. From the position Cin- 
cinnati holds as the great emporium of the 
West, it must continue to increase with the 
growth of the rapidly rising country with 
which it is connected. Seventy years ago 
Cincinnati was a mere military outpost. 



On the 28th of December, 1788, a band of 
emigrants from New England and New Jersey 
landed on the north bank of the Ohio, oppo- 
site the mouth of Licking River, to commence 
the settlement of a town. Their first log 
cabin was built on a spot which is now on 
Front Street, a little east of Main Street. In 
January, 1789, they proceeded to lay off their 
town, which was then covered with a dense 
forest; the lower bottom bearing huge syca- 
more and sugar maple trees, and the upper, 
beech and oak. The streets were run, and 
the corners marked upon the trees. To their 
projected city they gave the name of Losanti- 
ville, which was afterward changed to Cincin- 
nati. In 1802 it was incorporated as a town, 
with a population of less than 1,000 inhabit- 
ants. Thus recent is the origin, and thus 
rapid has been the growth, of this beautiful 
city, which long since obtained the name of 
the Queen City of the West. 

Cleveland is the most important port of the 
state on Lake Erie. Its trade is great and 
growing, and in i860 it had 43,41T inhabit- 
ants. It derives its name from General Moses 
Cleveland, an agent of the Connecticut land 
company, who accompanied the first surveying 
party to the Connecticut Reserve, and under 
whose direction the town was first surveyed 
in 1796. Cleveland was incorporated as a 
village in 1814, and as a city in 1836. Pop- 
ulation in 1796, three; in 1858, 60,000. 

OLDCASTLE, Sir John, also known as 
Lord Cobham, was an adherent of Wickliffe, 
the head of the Lollards, and esteemed by 
Henry IV. and Henry V. The latter monarch 



OLD 



600 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



at the instance of the Archbishop of Canter- disarmed their courage, and she was at last 



bury expostulated with him, and endeavored 
to reconcile him to the Catholic faith. But 
Cobham persevered in his opinion, and was 
at length condemned to the flames for his 
religious tenets. Cobham escaped from the 
Tower and four years afterward was retaken. 
He was hung bj' the waist in chains from a 
gallows, his legs having been previously 
broken, and was thus roasted and consumed, 
1417. 

OLDENBURG, a grand-duchy in the north 
of Germany, containing 2,4T0 square miles, 
and 287,000 inhabitants. The house of Old- 
enburg is one of the most illustrious in Eu- 
rope ; the Emperor of Russia, the King of 
Denmark, and the late royal family of Swe- 
den are descended from it. 

OLYMPIAS, a celebrated woman, who 
was daughter of a king of Epirius, and who 
ciarried Philip, King of Macedonia, by whom 
he had Alexander the Great. Her haughti- 
ness, and more probably her infidelity, 
obliged Philip to repudiate her, and to marry 
Cleopatra, the niece of King Attains. Olym- 
pias was sensible of this injury, and Alexan- 
der showed his disapprobation of his father's 
measures by retiring from the court to his 
mother. The murder of Philip, which soon 
followed this disgrace, and which some have 
attributed to the intrigues of Olympias, was 
productive of the greatest extravagances. 
The queen paid the highest honor to her hus- 
band's murderer. She gathered his mangled 
limbs, placed a crown of gold on his head, 
and laid his ashes near those of Philip. 

When Alexander was dead, Olympias 
seized the government of Macedonia; and, 
to establish her usurpation, she cruelly put 
to death Aradajus, son of Philip, with his 
wife Eurydice, as also Nicanor, the brother 
of Cassander, with a hundred leading men 
of Macedon, who were inimical to her inter- 
est. Such barbarities did not long remain 
unpunished ; Cassander besieged her in 
Pydna, where she had retired with the 
remains of her family, and she was obliged 
to surrender after an obstinate siege. The 
conqueror ordered her to be put to death. A 
body of two hundred soldiers were directed 
to put the bloody command into execution, 
but the splendor and majesty of the queen 



massacred by those whom she had cruelly 
deprived of their children, about 316 b.c. 

OLYMPIC GAMES were celebrated by 
the ancient Greeks in honor of Jupiter Olym- 
pius, on the banks of the Alpheius, in the 
Peloponnesus. They occurred once in every 
four years, and the Greeks computed time 
from them. The competitors contended for 
glory only, and the prize was a wreath from 
the sacred olive-tree near Olympia, and the 
honor of being proclaimed victor. No 
females, except the priestesses of Ceres, 
were permitted to witness them, death being 
denounced to the woman who should be 
present. The competitors prepared them- 
selves by ten months' exercise in the gymna- 
sium at Elis. The games consisted of races 
on horseback and on foot, leaping, throwing 
the discus, wrestling, boxing, musical and 
poetical contests. 

Racing was considered in Greece a matter 
of the highest national importance ; had it 
not been so, Sophocles would have been 
guilty of a great fault in his Electra, where 
he puts into the mouth of the messenger who 
comes to recount the death of Orestes, a long 
description of this sport. Of the training and 
management of the Olympic race-horse we 
are unfortunately left in ignorance : all that 
can be inferred being the fact that the eques- 
trian candidates were required to enter their 
names and send their horses to Elis at least 
thirty days before the celebration of the 
games commenced, and that the charioteers 
and riders, whether owners or proxies, went 
through a prescribed course of exercises 
during the ensuing month. They had their 
coui'se for full aged horses, and their course 
for colts, and their prize for which mares 
only started, resembling in these respects our 
degenerate selves. It is true that the race 
with riding-horses was neither so magnificent 
nor so expensive, and consequently not con- 
sidered so royal, as the race with chariots 
yet they had their gentlemen-jockeys in those 
days, and noted ones too, for among the 
number were Philip, King of Macedon, and 
Hiero, King of Sj^racuse. The want of stir- 
rups alone must have been a terrible defi- 
ciency. But- horsemanship was an art in 
which the Greeks excelled. Homer, although 



OLY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



601 



he mentions only chariots in his account of 
the siege of Troy, speaks of riding so famil- 
iarly in some parts of his Iliad and Odyssey, 
that it must have been practiced among the 
Greeks before the composition of either of 
these poems. In the fifteenth book of the 
Iliad, he represents the strength and activity 
of Ajax, when he fought in defense of the 
Grecian ships of war that were attacked by 
the Trojans, and leaped from one ship to 
another, by the readiness and address with 
which a skillful horseman would vault from 
the back of one horse to that of another ; and 
his ability to defend many ships at once by 
that of an accomplished rider, who is capa- 
ble of managing and controlling several horses 
at the same time. 

High on the decks, with vast gigantic stride, 
The god-like hero stalks from side to side. 
So when a horseman from the watery mead 
(Skilled in the manage of the bounding steed,) 
Drives four fair coursers, practiced to obey. 
To some great city through the public way ; 
Safe in his art, as side by side they run. 
He shifts his seat, and vaults from one to one, 
And now to this, and now to that he flies ; 
Admiring numbers follow with their eyes. 

Pope's Homer. 

The Olympiad from which the Greeks be- 
gan to reckon, was, according to Petavius, 
777 ; according to Usher, 772 ; and accord- 
ing to Calvisius, 774 b.c. Gatterer and most 
of the moderns call it 776. An Olympiad 
was a period of four years. 

OMAR I., the second caliph, or successor 
of Mahomet. He was raised to this dignity 
after the death of Abubeker in 634. Soon 
after his entering upon the government, he 
carried on wars with Ali, who was the lawful 
successor of Mahomet, and who had retired 
into Arabia. Omar having defeated Ali, 
taken the city Bosra, and many other places 
of Arabia, turned his arms against the Chris- 
tians, and entered (Syria, where he gained a 
victory over Theodoras Bogarius, brother to 
the Emperor Hcraclius, and afterward re- 
turned victorious into Arabia. The emperor, 
who was then at Jerusalem, desirous to pro- 
vide for his own safety, took the relics and 
most precious ornaments of the temple ; and 
leaving Theodorus with Bahamus, retired to 
Constantinople. In 635 Omar gathered his 
forces, and marched against Damascus, which 
he took the year following, and afterward all 



Phoenicia, and committed a thousand vio- 
lences to force people to embrace his religion. 
A part of his army subdued Alexandria, 
burning the great library, and not long after 
all Egypt. In the mean time, Omar went 
in person to attack Jerusalem, and after two 
years' siege entered it victoriously in 638. 
Omar thus reduced all Judea to his obedience, 
and Jerusalem was, from that time, possessed 
by infidels till the conquest of it by Godfrey 
of Bouillon in 1099. In 639 he subdued all 
Mesopotamia, and at the same time built the 
city of Cairo, rear the ruins of Memphis, in 
Egypt. And lastly, in 643, he made himself 
master of Persia. From the time of his tak- 
ing Jerusalem he made his ordinary residence 
in that city, and built a magnificent temple 
there in honor of Mahomet ; and, after having 
reigned ten years, he was killed by a Persian, 
one of his domestics, and buried at Medina 
in G44. 

OMAR II., the tenth caliph, or successor 
of Mahomet, was chosen after the death of his 
cousin, Solyman Hascoin, in the beginning 
of the year 721, at the time Constantinople 
was besieged. He collected all his forces, and 
attacked that city ; but the besieged made so 
stout a resistance, and so good use of their 
fire-works, that he was forced to raise it. 
And scarcely was Marvan, or Masalma, the 
general of the army, safe out of the channel 
of Constantinople, when a dreadful tempest 
destroyed most of his ships, and many others 
were consumed by fire ; so that of 300 ship.s 
only fifteen escaped, five of which were taken 
by the Christians, and the other ten pro- 
ceeded with the news of this defeat to the 
caliph, who, imagining that God was angry 
with him for permitting Christians the excr 
cise of their religion in his dominions, made 
all those whose fathers or mothers were Mo- 
hammedans, embrace Mohammedanism on 
pain of death, and upon great penalties for- 
bade the eating of swine's flesh, and the use 
of wine. He discharged all Christians that 
turned Mohammedans from paying taxes 
and customs, and cruelly persecuted the 
others ; and pushed on by a false zeal, he 
sent letters to Leo Isauricus, the emperor at 
Constantinople, to embrace Mohammedanism, 
and sent a renegade to instruct him in the 
way of it ; but he died soon after, having 
reigned two years. 



OMA 



602 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 






OPIE, Amelia, was the daughter of Dr. 
Alderson, of Norwich, England, and the 
spouse of John Opie, the eminent historical 
painter, whom she survived nearly half a 
centnry. She was the authoress of many 
moral tales, of which " Illustrations of Ly- 
ing" was considered the best. The last 
twenty-five years of her life she was a mem- 
ber of the society of Friends, and lived in the 
strictest retirement at Norwich, where she 
died in 1853, over eighty years of age. 

ORACLES were impostures of the ancient 
priesthood, supported by the policy of gov- 
ernments, and apparently credited by habit 
and education ; but constantly used to im- 
pose on the soldiery and ignorant multitudes. 
No institutions were more famous than the 
ancient oracles of Egypt, Greece, and Rome. 
They were impudently said to be the will of 
the gods themselves, and were consulted, not 
only upon every important matter, but even 
in the affairs of private life. To make peace 
or war, to introduce a change of government, 
to plant a colony, to enact laws, to raise 
an edifice, or to marry, were all sufficient 
reasons to consult the pretended will of the 
gods. 

The small province of Boeotia could once 
boast of twenty-five oracles, and the Pelopon- 
nesus of the same number. Not only the 
chief of the gods gave oracles, but in process 
of time heroes were admitted to enjoy the 
same privileges ; and the oracles of a Tropho- 
nius and an Antinoiis were soon able to 
rival the flime of those of Apollo and Jupiter. 
The temple of Delphi seemed to claim a supe- 
riority over the other temples ; its fame was 
once so extended, and its riches were so great, 
that not only private persons, but even kings 
and numerous armies, made it an object of 
plunder and of rapine. 

The manner of delivering oracles was differ- 
ent. A priestess at Delphi was permitted to 
pronounce the oracles of the god, and her 
delivery of the answers was always attended 
with acts of apparent madness and desperate 
fury. Not only women, but even doves, 
were the ministers of the temple of Dodona ; 
and the suppliant votary was often startled 
to hear his questions readily answered by the 
decayed trunk or the spreading branches of 
a neighboring oak. Amnion conveyed his 
answers in a plain and open manner; but 



Amphiaraus required many ablutions and 
preparatory ceremonies, and he generally 
communicated his oracles to his suppliants in 
dreams and visions. Sometimes the first 
woi-ds that were heard, after issuing from the 
temple, were deemed the answers of the 
oracles, and sometimes the nodding or shak- 
ing of the head of the statue, the motions of 
fishes in a neighboring lake, or their reluct- 
ance in accepting the food which was offered 
to them, were as strong and valid as the most 
express and most minute explanations. 

Some have believed that all the oracles of 
the earth ceased at the birth of Christ. It 
was, indeed, the beginning of their decline ; 
but they remained in repute, and were con- 
sulted, though perhaps not so frequently, till 
the fourth century, when Christianity began 
to triumph over paganism. The oracles often 
suffered themselves to be bribed. Alexander 
did it ; but it is well known that Lysander 
failed in the attempt. Herodotus, who first 
mentioned the corruption which often pre- 
vailed in the oracular temples of Greece and 
Egypt, has been severely treated for his 
remarks by the historian Plutarch. Demos- 
thenes is also a witness of the corruption ; 
and he observed, that the oracles of Greece 
were servilely subservient to the will and 
pleasure of Philip, king of Macedon, as he 
beautifully expresses it by the word Philip- 
pized. 

When in a state of inspiration, the eyes of 
tlie priestess at Delphi suddenly sparkled, 
her hair stood on end, and a shivering ran 
over all her body. In this convulsive state 
she spoke the oracles of the god, often with 
loud bowlings and cries, and her articulations 
were taken down by the priest, and set in 
order. Sometimes the spirit of inspiration 
was more gentle, and not always violent; 
yet Plutarch mentions one of the priestesses 
who was thrown into such an excessive fury, 
that not only those that consulted the oracle, 
but also the priests that conducted her to the 
sacred tripod, and attended her during the 
inspiration, were terrified, and forsook the 
temple ; and so violent was the fit, that she 
continued for some days in the most agoniz- 
ing situation, and at last died. 

At Delphos, the Pythia, before she placed 
herself on the tripod, used to wash her whole 
body, and particularly her hair, in the waters 



ORA 



HISTORY ASD BIOGRAPHY. 



603 



of the fountain Castalia, at the foot of Mount 
Parnassus. She also shook a laurel-tree that 
grew near the place, and sometimes ate the 
leaves, with which she crowned herself. 

The priestesses of Delphi always appeared 
in the garments of virgins, to intimate their 
purity and modesty ; and they were solemnly 
bound to observe the strictest laws of tem- 
perance and chastity, that neither fantastical 
dresses nor lascivious behavior might bring 
the office, the religion, or the sanctity of the 
place, into contempt. There was originally 
but one Pythia, besides subordinate priests ; 
but afterward two were chosen, and some- 
times more. The most celebrated of all these 
is Phemonoe, who is supposed by some to 
have been the first who gave oracles at 
Delphi. The oracles were delivered in hex- 
ameter verse, a custom which was some time 
after discontinued. The Pythia was con- 
sulted only one month in the year, about the 
spring. It was always required that those 
who consulted the oracle should make large 
presents to Apollo, and from thence arose the 
opulence, splendor, and magnificence of the 
celebrated teniple of Delphi. Sacrifices were 
also offered to the divinity ; and, if the omens 
proved unflivorable, the priestess refused to 
give an answer. There were generally five 
priests who assisted at the offering of the 
sacrifices ; and there was also another who 
attended the Pythia, and assisted her in 
receiving the oracle. 

The most celebrated of the ancient oracles 
were Delphos, Delos, Amnion, Dodona, the 
Roman Augurs, and the Sibylline Books. We 
give an account derived from the credulous 
descriptions of antiquity. 

•Delphos, now called Castri, the capital 
of Phocis, in Greece, was anciently much 
celebrated for its temple and oracle of Apollo. 
It was also called Pytho by the poets, from 
the serpent Python, which Apollo killed in 
this place. Pausanias, however, says that 
this name Pytho was given to the city of 
Delphos by Pythis, son of Delphus, and 
grandson of Lycorus. The Greek historians 
gave to this city the name of Delphos, which 
some suppose to have been so called from 
adelphoi, 'brethren,' because Apollo and his 
brother Bacchus were both worshiped there ; 
and others, with greater probability, derive 
the name from deljphos, single or solitary, 



referring to the retired situation of the city 
among the mountains. 

Justin questions which was the most 
worthy of adnnration, the fortification of the 
place, or the majesty of the god who here 
delivered his oracles. The temple of Apollo 
occupied a large space, and many streets 
opened to it. The first discovery which laid 
the foundation of the extraordinary venera- 
tion in which the oracle of Delphos was held, 
and of the riches accumulated in the temple, 
is said to have been occasioned by some goats 
which were feeding on Mount Parnassus, near 
a deep and large cavern with a narrow en- 
trance. These goats having been observed 
by the goatherd, Coretas, to leap and frisk 
after a strange manner, and to utter unusual 
sounds innnediately upon their approach to 
the mouth of the cavern, he had the curiosity 
to view it, and found himself seized with the 
like fit of madness, skipping, dancing, and 
foretelling things to come. 

At the news of this discovery multitudes 
flocked thither, many of whom were possessed 
with such frantic enthusiasm, that they threw 
themselves headlong into the opening of the 
cavern, insomuch that -it was necessary to 
issue an edict, forbidding all persons to 
approach it. This surprising place was 
treated with singular veneration, and was 
soon covered with a kind of chapel, which 
was originally made of laurel boughs, and 
resembled a large hut. This, according to 
the Phocian tradition, was surrounded by 
one of wax, raised up by bees ; after this a 
third was built of solid copper, said to have 
been the workmanship of Vulcan. 

This last was destroyed by an earthquake, 
or (according to some authors) by fire, which 
melted the copper; and then a sumptuous 
temple, altogether of stone, was erected by 
two excellent architects, Trophnuus and Ag- 
amedes. This edifice was destroyed by fire 
in the 58th Olympiad, or 548 b.c. The Am- 
phictyons proposed to be at the charge of 
building another; but the Alcmeonidcs, a 
rich family of Athens, came to Delphos, ob- 
tained the honor of executing the building, 
and made it more magnificent than they had 
at first proposed. The riches of this temple, 
amassed by the donations of those who fre- 
quented it and consulted the oracle, exposed 
it to various depredations. At length the 



ORA. 



604 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Gauls, under the conduct of Brennus, came 
hither for the same purpose, about 278 n.c. ; 
but they were repulsed with great slaugh- 
ter. Last of all, Nero robbed it of five 
hundred of its most precious brazen and 
golden statues. 

It has not been ascertained at what time this 
oracle was founded. It is certain, however, 
that Apollo was not the first who was con- 
sulted here, ^schylus, in his tragedy of 
"Eumenides," says Terra was the first who 
issued oracles at Delphi ; after her, Themis ; 
then Phoebe, another daughter of Terra, and, 
as it is said, mother of Latona, and grand- 
mother to Apollo. Pausanias says, that be- 
fore Themis, Terra and Neptune had delivered 
oracles in this place, and some say that Sat- 
urn had also been consulted here. At length 
the oracle of Apollo became established and 
permanent ; and such was its reputation, and 
such were the multitudes from all parts that 
came to consult it, that the riches which were 
thus brought into the temple and city, be- 
came so considerable as to be compared with 
those of the Persian kings. 

About the time when this oracle was first 
discovered, the wliole mystery requisite for 
obtaining the prophetic gift, is said to have 
been merely to approach the cavern and inhale 
the vapor that issued from it, and then the 
god inspired all persons indiscriminately; 
but at length, several enthusiasts, in the ex- 
cess of their fury, having thrown themselves 
headlong into the cavern, it was thought 
expedient to contrive a prevention of this 
accident, which frequently occurred. Ac- 
cordingly, the priests placed over the hole, 
whence the vapor issued, a machine which 
they called a tripod, because it had three feet, 
and commissioned a woman to seat herself in 
it, where she might inhale the vapor without 
danger, because the three feet of the machine 
stood firmly upon the rock. ' This priestess 
was named Pythia, from the serpent Python, 
slain by Apollo, or from the Greek putJies- 
thai, signifying to inquire, because people 
came to Delphi to consult this deity. The 
females first employed were virgins, selected 
with great precaution ; but the only qualifi- 
cation necessary was to be able to speak and 
repeat what the god dictated. 

This was done by placing her ear close to 
one of the horns of the altar, and listening to 



the voice of one of Apollo's priests, to whom 
the question had been communicated. This 
priest, who stood near the altar, in the inte- 
rior of the temple, having been assisted by 
his brethren in the necessary devotions and 
sacrifices, opened the Book of Fate, which 
was deposited in the temple, and after many 
prayers worked the required problems. The 
answer, which from the nature of the case in 
hand, was often conditional^ being communi- 
cated to the priestess on the tripod, was, 
after various ceremonies, delivered to the 
inquiring multitude, or to the mdividual who 
came privately to consult the oracle. 

The custom of choosing young virgins 
continued for a long time, till one of them, 
who was extremely beautiful, was dishonored 
by a young Thessalian. An express law was 
then enacted, that none should be chosen but 
women above fifty years old. At first there 
was only one priestess, but afterward there 
were two or three. The oracles were not 
delivered every day : but gifts and sacrifices 
were in some cases presented for a long time, 
and even for a whole year ; and it was only 
once a year, in the beginning of spring, that 
Apollo inspired the priestess. Except at this 
time she was forbidden, under pain of death, 
to go into the sanctuary to consult Apollo. 

Alexander, before his expedition into Asia, 
came to Delphi on one of those days when 
the sanctuary was shut, and entreated the 
priestess to mount the tripod; which she 
steadily refused, alleging the law which for- 
bade her. The prince became impatient, and 
drew the priestess by force from her cell, and 
whilst he was conducting her to the sanc- 
tuary, she took occasion to exclaim, "J/y 
so/i, thou art invincible / f^^ As soon* as 
these words were pronounced, Alexander 
cried out that he was satisfied, and would 
have no other oracle. 

It is here to be observed, however, that 
great but unnecessary preparations were 
often made, for giving mysteriousness to the 
oracle, and for commanding the respect that 
was paid to it. Among other circumstances 
relating to the sacrifices that were offered, 
the priestess herself fasted three daj^s, and 
before she ascended the tripod, she bathed 
herself in the fountain Castalia. She drank 
water from that fountain, and chewed laurel- 
leaves gathered near it. She was then led 



ORA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



605 



into the sanctuary by the priests, who placed 
her upon the tripod. 

As soon as she began to be agitated by the 
divine exhalation, said to arise from the cav- 
ern, but which was merely the vapor of in- 
cense burnt there, in order to give more 
mystery to the afiivir, her hair stood on end, 
her aspect became wild and ghastly, her 
mouth began to foam, and her whole body 
was suddenly seized with violent trembhngs. 
In this condition she attempted to escape 
from the priests, who detained her by force, 
while her shrieks and bowlings made the 
whole temple resound, and filled the bystand- 
ers with a sacred horror. 

At length, unable to resist the impulse of 
the god, she surrendered herself up to him, 
and at certain intervals uttered from the 
bottom of her stomach, by the faculty or 
power of ventriloquism, some unconnected 
words, which the priests ranged in order, 
and put in form of verse, giving them a con- 
nection which they had not when they were 
delivered by the priestess. The oracle being 
pronounced, the priestess was taken off the 
tripod, and conducted back to her cell, where 
she continued several days, to recover her- 
self. Lucan tells us, that speedy death was 
frequently the consequence of her enthusi- 
asm. The oracles pronounced by the priest- 
ess being generally delivered to the poets, 
who attended on the occasion, and being put 
by them into wretched verse, gave occasion 
to the raillery that " Apollo, the prince of 
the muses, was the worst of poets." The 
priests and priestesses, to whose conduct the 
responses of the oracle were committed, were, 
however, frequently guilty of fraud and im- 
posture. And many instances might be 
mentioned, in which the Delphic priestess 
was not superior to corruption. Hence she 
persuaded the Lacedaemonians to assist the 
people of Athens in the expulsion of the 
thirty tyrants. Hence, also, she caused 
Demaratus to be divested of the royal dignity 
to make way for Cleomenes ; and supported 
the impostor Lysander, when he endeavored 
to change the succession to the throne of 
Sparta. It is not improbable, that Themis- 
tocles, who well knew the importance of 
acting against the Persians by sea, inspired 
the god with the answer he gave, " to defend 
themselves with walls of wood." 



The answers were likewise, on many occa- 
sions, equivocal. Thus, when Croesus was 
about to invade the Medes, he consulted this 
oracle upon the success of the war, and re- 
ceived for answer, that by passing the river 
Halys, he should ruin a great empire. But 
he was left to conjecture, or to determine by 
the event, whether this empire was his own or 
that of his enemies. Such was also the same 
oracle's answer to Pyrrhus, — ^ Aio te, yEnci- 
de, Romanos vincere posse,' — which meant, 
"I say, son of ^Eacus, that thou canst 
overcome the Romans," or, " I say, son 
of iEacus, that the Romans can overcome 
thee." 

The oracle of Apollo, in Delos, was one of 
the most famous oracles in the world, not 
only for its antiquity, but for the richness 
of the sacred presents dedicated to the god, 
and the numbers of persons that resorted 
hither from all parts for advice; in which 
respect it surpassed not only all the oracles 
of other gods, but even others of x\pollo 
himself, — that of Delphos alone excepted. 
Some writers say that the island had the 
name of Delos from the clear and simple 
terms in which the answers were here given 
by the oracle, contrary to the ambiguity ob- 
served in other places ; but it was consulted 
only while Apollo made Delos his summer 
residence, for his winter abode was at Patara, 
a city of Lycia. The presents offered by the 
votaries to Apollo, were laid on the altar, 
which some said was erected by Apollo him- 
self, when he was only four years old, and 
formed of the horns of goats, killed by Diana 
on Mount Cynthus. It was preserved pure 
^ from blood and every kind of pollution, as 
offensive to Apollo. The whole island was 
an asylum, which extended to all living 
creatures, dogs excepted, which were not 
suffered to be brought on shore. 

The native deities, Apollo and Diana, had 
three very magnificent temples erected for 
them in this island. That of Apollo was, 
according to Strabo (lib. x.), begun by Erysi- 
apthus, the son of Cecrops, who is said to 
have possessed this island 1558 b.c. ; but it 
was afterward much enlarged and embellished 
at the general charge of all the Grecian states. 
but Plutarch says that it was one of the 
most stately buildings in the universe, and 
describes its altar as deserving a place among 



ORA 



606 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the seven wonders of the world. The in- 
scription in this temple, as Aristotle informs 
us (Ethic, 1. i., c. 9), was as follows: "Of all 
things the most beautiful is justice; the most 
useful is health ; and the most agreeable is 
the possession of the beloved olijcct." Round 
the temple were magnificent porticoes, built 
at the charge of various princes, as appears 
from the still legible inscriptions. To this 
temple the neighboring islands sent yearly a 
company of virgins to celebrate with dancing 
the festival of Apollo and his sister Diana, 
and to make offerings in the name of their 
respective cities. Delos was held in such 
reverence by most nations, that even the 
Persians, after having laid waste the other 
islands, and everywhere destroyed the tem- 
ples of the gods, spared Delos ; and Datis, 
the Persian admiral, forebore to anchor in the 
harbor. 

The temple of Jupiter Ammon was in the 
deserts of Libya, nine days' journey from 
Alexanckia. It had a famous oracle, which, 
according to ancient tradition, was established 
about eighteen centuries before the time of 
Augustus, by two doves which flew away 
from Thebais in Egypt, and came, one to 
Dodona, and the other to Libya, where the 
people were soon informed of their divine 
mission. The oracle of xVmmon was con- 
sulted by Hercules, Perseus, and others ; but 
when it pronounced Alexander to be the son 
of Jupiter, such flattery used up its long 
established reputation, and in the age of Plu- 
tarch it was scarcely known. The situation 
of the temple was pleasant ; and there was 
near it a fountain whose waters were cold at 
noon and midnight, and warm in the morning 
and evening. There were above 100 priests 
in the temple, but the elders only delivered 
oracles. There was also an oracle of Jupiter 
Ammon in ^Ethiopia. 

Dodona was a town of Thesprotia in Epirus. 
There was in its neighborhood, upon a small 
hill called Tmarus, a celebrated oracle of 
Jupiter. The town and temple of the god 
were first built by Deucalion, after the uni- 
versal deluge. It was supposed to be the 
most ancient oracle of all Greece, and accord- 
ing to the traditions of the Egyptians men- 
tioned by Herodotus, it was founded by a 
dove. Two black doves, as he relates, took 
their flight from the city of Thebes in Egypt, 



one of which fleW to the temple of Jupiter 
Ammon, and the other to Dodona, where 
with a human voice they acquainted the 
inhabitants of the country that Jupiter had 
consecrated the ground, which in future 
would give oracles. The extensive grove 
which surrounded Jupiter's temple was en- 
dowed with the gift of prophecy, and oracles 
were frequently delivered by the sacred oaks, 
and the doves which inhabited the place. 
This fabulous tradition of the oracular power 
of the doves is explained by Herodotus, who 
observes that some Phoenicians carried away 
two priestesses from Egypt, one of whom 
went to fix her residence at Dodona, where 
the oracle was established. It may further 
be observed, that the fable might have been 
founded upon the double meaning of the word 
pelelai, which signifies doves in most parts 
of Greece, while in the dialect of the EpiroLs, 
it implies old icomen. In ancient times the 
oracles were delivered by the murmuring of 
a neighboring fountain, but the custom was 
afterward changed. Large kettles were sus- 
pended in the air near a brazen statue, 
which held a lash in its hand. When the 
wind blew strong, the statue was agitated 
and struck against one of the kettles, which 
communicated the motion to all the rest, and 
raised that clattering and discordant din 
which continued for a while, and from which 
the priests drew their predictions. Some 
suppose that the noise was occasioned by the 
shaking of the leaves and boughs of an old 
oak, which the people frequently consulted, 
and from which they pretended to receive 
the oracles. It may be observed with more 
probability that the oracles were delivered by 
the priests, who, by concealing themselves 
behind the oaks, gave occasion to the multi- 
tude to believe that the trees were endowed 
with the power of prophecy. As the ship 
Argo was built with some of the oaks of the 
forest of Dodona, there were some beams in 
the vessel which gave oracles to the Argo- 
nauts, and warned them against the approach 
of calamity. Within the forest of Dodona 
there was a stream with a fountain of cool 
water, which had the power of lighting a 
torch as soon as it touched it. This fountain 
was totally dry at noon-day, and was restored 
to its full course at midnight, from which 
time till the following noon it began to de- 



ORA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



607 



crease, and at the usual hour was again 
deprived of its waters. The oracles of Do- 
dona M'ere originally delivered by men, but 
afterward by women. 

The Roman Augurs were certain priests at 
Rome who foretold future events, and took 
their name, ah avium garritu. They were 
first created by Romulus to the number of 
thj'ee. Servius Tullius added a fourth; the 
ti'ibunes of the people, a.u.c. 454, increased 
the number to nine ; and Sylla added six more 
during his dictatorship. They had a particu- 
lar college, and the chief amongst them w\as 
called 7nagister collegii. Their office was 
honorable ; and if any one of them was con- 
victed of any crime, he could not be deprived 
of his privilege ; an indulgence granted to no 
other sacerdotal body at Rome. The augur 
generally sat on a high tower, to make his 
observations. His face was turned toward 
the east, and he had the north to his left, and 
the south at his right. With a crooked staff 
he divided the face of the heavens into four 
diflerent parts, and afterward sacrificed to the 
gods, covering his head with his vestment. 
There were generally five things from which 
the augurs drew omens : the first consisted in 
observing the phenomena of the heavens, such 
as thunder, lightning, comets, &c. The second 
kind of omen was drawn from the chirping or 
flying of birds. The third was from the sa- 
cred chickens, whose eagerness or indifference 
in eating the bread which was thrown to them, 
was looked upon as lucky or unlucky. The 
fourth was from quadrupeds, from their cross- 
ing or appearing in some unaccustomed place. 
The fifth was from different casualties, which 
were called (lira, such as spilling salt upon a 
table, or wine upon one's clothes, hearing 
strange noises, stumbling or sneezing, meeting 
a wolf, hare, fox, or pregnant bitch. Thus 
did the Romans draw their prophecies ; the 
sight of birds on the left hand was always 
deemed a lucky object, and the words sinister 
et Iceinis. though generally supposed to be 
terms of ill luck, were always used by the 
augurs in an auspicious sense. 

A strange old woman came once to Tarquin- 
ius Superbus, king of Rome, with nine books, 
which she said were the Oracles of the Sibyls, 
and proffered to sell them. But the king 
making some scruple about the price, she went 
away and burnt three of them, and returning 



with the six, asked the same sum as before. 
Tarquin only laughed at the humor; upon 
which the old lady left him once more, and 
after she had burnt three others, came again 
with those that were left, but still kept to her 
old terms. The king began now to wonder 
at her obstinacy, and thinking there might be 
something more than ordinary in the business, 
sent for the augurs to consult what was to be 
done. They, when their divinations were 
performed, soon acquainted him what a piece 
of impiety he had been guilty of, by refusing 
a treasure sent to him from heaven, and com- 
manded him to give whatever she demanded 
for the books that remained. The woman re- 
ceived her money, and delivered the writings, 
and only charging them by all means to keep 
them sacred, immediately vanished. Two of 
the nobility were presently after chosen to be 
the keepers of these oracles, which were laid 
up with all imaginable care in the capitol, in 
a chest under ground. They could not be 
consulted without a special order of the senate, 
which was never granted, unless upon the re- 
ceiving some notable defeat, upon the rising 
of any considerable mutinj'^ or sedition in the 
state, or upon some other extraordinary occa- 
sion. The number of priests in this, as in 
most other orders, was several times altered. 
The duumviri continued till about the year 
of the city 388, when the tribunes of the peo- 
ple preferred a law, that there should be ten 
men elected for this service, part out of the 
nobility, and part out of the commons. We 
meet with the decemviri all along from hence, 
till about the time of Sylla the dictator, when 
the quindecemviri occur. It were needless 
to give any further account of the Sibyls, than 
that they are generally agreed to have been 
ten in number ; for which we have the author- 
ity of Varro, though some make them nine, 
sortie four, some three, and some only one. 
They all lived in different ages and countries, 
were all prophets, and, according to common 
opinion, foretold the coming of our Saviour. 
As to the writing, Dempster tells us it was on 
linen. 

Solinus acquaints us that the books which 
Tarquin bought were burnt in the conflagra- 
tion of the capitol, the year before Sylla's dic- 
tatorship. Yet there were others of their, 
inspired writings, or at least copies or extracts 
of them, gathered up in Greece and other 



ORA 



608 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



parts, upon a special search made by order of 
the senate ; which were kept with the same 
care as the former, till about the time of The- 
odosius the Great, when the greatest part of 
the senate having chosen the Christian faith, 
they began to grow out of ftishion ; till at last 
Stilicho burnt them all under Honorius, for 
which he is severely censured by the poet 
Rutilius. 

ORDEAL. In the dark ages, when judicial 
proceedings were exceedingly imperfect, it 
was believed that on extraordinary occasions, 
the guilt or innocence of a suspected person 
would be manifested by a direct interposition 
of the Deity, and various methods were re- 
sorted to, to procure conviction or acquittal. 
These were termed ordeals, or judgments of 
God. As late as the sixteenth century it was 
generally believed that if a murderer was 
forced to touch the corpse of the person he 
had murdered, blood would flow from the lips 
and wounds. 

The ordeal was of various kinds ; that of 
fire, that of red-hot iron, that of cold water, 
that of judicial pottage, that of hallowed 
cheese, that of boiling water, that of the cross, 
and that of dice laid on relics covered with a 
woolen cloth. There were particular masses 
for each species of ordeal. 

Fire ordeal w\as performed either by taking 
up in the hand, unhurt, a piece of red-hot 
iron, of one, two, or three pounds weight ; 
or else by walking barefoot and blindfold, over 
nine red-hot ploughshares, laid lengthwise, at 
unequal distances ; and if the party escaped 
without injury, he was adjudged innocent, 
but if otherwise, as without collusion it gen- 
erally happened, he was then condemned as 
guilty. One of these proceedings was as fol- 
lows : a ball of iron was prepared, of one, two, 
or three pounds weight, according to the na- 
ture of the accusation. When all the prayers 
and religious ceremonies were finished, the 
ball w\as heated red-hot. The prisoner, having 
crossed himself, and sprinkled his hand with 
holy water, took the ball of hot iron in his 
hand, and carried it to the distance of nine 
feet ; after which his hand was placed in a 
bag, that was sealed and remained so for nine 
days ; at the expiration of which it was ex- 
amined, in the presence of twelve persons of 
each party. If any marks of burning appeared 



upon it, the accused was found guilty, if 
otherwise, he was declared innocent. 

The ordeal of water was performed either 
by plunging the bare arm up to the elbow in 
boiling water, or by casting the suspected 
person into a river or pond of cold water, 
and if he floated therein, without any action 
of swimming, it was deemed an evidence of 
his guilt, but if he sunk he was acquitted ! 
The latter ordeal was adopted with regard 
to witches and sorcerers, and was thought 
infiillible! The Chinese, Africans, Tartars, 
and Hindoos have their ordeals. 

ORIGEN, surnamed Adamantius, was born 
at Alexandria about a.d. 180. His father 
was a Christian martyr. Origen early became 
famous as a student and teacher of Christi- 
anity. He practiced peculiar austerities, and 
suffered a strange mutilation agreeably to 
w^hat he thought the meaning of Matthew 
xix. 12. Through his life he was in danger 
from the rage of heathen enemies and the 
jealousy of theological opponents. He died 
at Tyre in the year 253. His life was 
marked by great piety, moderation, meek- 
ness, humility, and industry, although his 
fancy led him astray in wild and extravagant 
speculations. Comparatively few fragments 
of his voluminous \yorks have been pre- 
served; the most important is the famous 
"Hexapla," which presents in successive 
columns, the Hebrew text of Scripture, He- 
brew in Greek characters, and the Greek 
versions of Aquila, Symmachus, the Seventy, 
and Theodotion ; other Greek versions being 
occasionally added in additional columns. 
This was a critical attempt to amend the 
text of the Septuagint. 

ORKNEY ISLANDS, or Orcades, a clus- 
ter of small islands north of Scotland, about 
sixty-seven in number, only twenty-seven of 
which are inhabited. The population of the 
group is 31,500: Pomona, or Mainland, the 
principal island, sustains about half this. 
Kirkwall, on Pomona, is the chief town, hav- 
ing some 3,500 inhabitants. These islands 
are scattered over a space fifty miles long 
and thirty broad. Little of the soil is adapted 
for agriculture, although it affords good pas- 
turage. Game is abundant; red grouse, 
plovers, and snipe, eagles, wild ducks, geese, 
solan geese or gannets, swans, &c., thronging 



ORK 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



609 



to the Orkneys. They are mentioned by 
several Roman writers, and were visited by 
the fleets of Agricola, sent to explore the 
island. The first inhabitants were the Picts, 
but they were subdued by the Norwegians, 
or Northmen, at the time that that enterpris- 
ing people effected conquests through almost 
every part of Europe. Orkney, after this, 
was governed by a succession of warlike 
^arls, who kept up a powerful fleet, with 
which they ravaged the coasts of England, 
Ireland, and Scotland; in the latter they 
conquered several of the northern counties. 
The black raven, which was the flag of Ork- 
ney, continued to be an object of terror till 
the time of James III. of Scotland, in 147-i, 
when the Orkneys were ceded to that mon- 
arch as part of the marriage portion of Mar- 
garet of Denmark ; and this treaty was 
afterward confirmed on the marriage of 
James VI. with Anne of Denmark. The 
piratical expeditions were then suppressed, 
and the group has long been a well regulated 
and peaceable portion of the British empire. 
ORLEANS, an ancient dukedom borne by 
princes of the blood royal in France. There 
are tM'o distinct lines. The first commenced 
with Louis, second son of Charles V., who 
became regent in consequence of the mental 
incapacity of his brother Charles VI. in 1393, 
and was murdered by his kinsman the Duke 
of Burgundy in 1407. His grandson came 
to the throne as Louis XII. The second line 
began with Philip, second son of Louis XIII., 
created Duke of Orleans in 1G60. His son 
Philip was regent during the minority of 
Louis XV. His great-grandson, Louis Joseph 
Philip, was born in 1747, and bore the title 
of Duke of Chartres until his father's death 
in 1787. He was rich and handsome, and, 
although not deficient in intelligence, igno- 
rant, credulous, selfish, sensual, and de- 
bauched. In the revolution he took part 
against the royal family, rendering himself 
infamous by his libels on Marie Antoinette. 
After the death of the king, for which he 
voted, the Jacobins, who had no farther 
use for him, procured his condemnation by 
the revolutionary tribunal. He met his fate 
with firmness, Nov, 6th, 1793. He is well 
known by his assumed name of Egalite^ or 
Citizen Equality. He was the father of the late 
King of the French. {See Louis Philippe.] 



89 



ORLOFF, Gkegory, a Russian general and 
political intriguer, instrumental in elevating 
his mistress, Catharine II., to the throne. 
She loaded him with honors and titles. Being 
disappointed in his hope of sharing the crown 
with her, he refused a private marriage, 
and was ordered to travel. He died insane, 
1783. He had one son by the empress, 
named Bobrinski. Alexis, his brother and 
fellow-conspirator, was a man of gigantic 
stature and strength, and is said to have 
strangled the emperor Peter with his own 
hands. 

ORONO, a chief of the Penobscot tribe, 
labored to promote Christianity, died at 
Oldtown, Me., in 1801, aged 1 13 years. His 
wife died in 1809, aged 115. 

ORPHEUS, an ancient Greek poet and 
musician, flourished before Homer. Many 
fables are related of him. 

ORTHEZ, Battle of, Feb. 27th, 1814, in 
which the Marquis of Wellington, command- 
ing the British and Spanish armies, gained a 
decisive victory over the French under Mar- 
shal Soult. The battle of Toulouse soon fol- 
lowed. 

OSSIAN, a Gaelic poet, supposed to have 
flourished in the third century. 

OSSOLI, Margaret Fuller d', was born 
in Massachusetts in 1810. In 1847, while 
on a tour in Italy, she became the wife of the 
Marquis d'Ossoli. She was at Rome during 
the revolution, and took deep interest in the 
struggles of that time. On returning to 
America in 1850, she perished with her hus- 
band and child, by shipwreck on the beach 
of Fire Island, July 19th. She was remark- 
able for her thorough intellectual cultivation, 
the vigor of her mind, her conversational 
powers, and her enthusiastic devotion to 
letters, art, and progress. 

OSTEND, a fortified and well-built seaport 
in the Belgic province of West Flanders; 
population, 15,000. It is noted for the siegf s 
which it has withstood; particularly for a 
terrible siege of three years, from July 5th, 
1601, to Sept. 22d, 1604, against the armies 
of Spain, when the town was valiantly de- 
fended by the troops of the Prince of Orange, 
assisted by the forces of Queen Elizabeth, 
under the command of Sir Francis Vere, who 
was chief general for five months. The loss 
of the Spaniards was immense, being little 



OST 



610 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



short of 100,000 men; and although they 
afterward succeeded in taking the place, it 
was yet at such an expense of men and treas- 
ure, that this siege is justly considered as one 
great cause of the ruin of their affairs in the 
Netherlands, and of the establishment of the 
independence of the United Provinces. On 
the death of Charles II. of Spain, the French 
seized Ostend : but in 1706, after the battle 
of Ramillies, it was retaken by the allies. 
The Emperor Charles VI. established an East 
India Company here, but it met with such 
a powerful opposition from the maritime 
powers, that after many negotiations it was 
abolished in 1731. Ostend was taken by 
the French in 1745, but given up at the 
peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748. In the 
war of 175G the French garrisoned the town 
for the Empress Maria Theresa. The Empe- 
ror Joseph again attempted to establish an 
East India trade, but was not very successful. 
In 1792 it was taken by the French, and re- 
taken by the English in 1793, who garri- 
soned it for the Emperor Francis II. When 
the French conquered Belgium, Ostend fell 
mto their hands. In the course of the war, 
a detachment of British troops landed, and 
destroyed the sluices of the canals through 
which the French were collecting a naval 
force. The detachment, after effecting their 
otiject, were made prisoners of war, 1798. 

OTHO, Marcus Salvils, a Roman empe- 
ror, descended from the ancient kings of 
Etruria. After Nero's death he attached him- 
self to Galba; but that emperor having 
adopted Piso as his heir, Otho excited an 
insurrection, murdered Galba and Piso, and 
ascended the throne in 69. He was acknowl- 
edged by the senate and the Roman people, 
but the sudden revolt of Vitellius, in Ger- 
many, rendered his situation precarious, and 
it was mutually resolved that their respective 
rights to the empire should be decided by 
arms. Otho obtained three victories over his 
enemies, but in a general engagement near 
Brixellum, his forces were defeated, and he 
stabbed himself when all hopes of success 
were vanished, having reigned three months. 

OTHO I., eldest son of Henry the Fowler, 
Duke of Saxony, elected Emperor of Germany 
at Aix-la-Chapelle in 936. At the earnest 
solicitation of the Italians, Otho repaired in 
person to Rome, where he was solemnly 



crowned emperor of the Romans in 962, dig- 
nified with the appellation of Augustus, and 
honored with the homage of the senate and 
people. He died in 973. 

OTHO II., his son, surnamed the Sanguin- 
ary, succeeded his father on the imperial 
throne : but his authority was warmly dis- 
puted by Henry, Duke of Bavaria, and the 
commencement of his reign was disturbed by 
some hostile incursions of the Danes and 
Bohemians. In 979 he led a numerous body 
of forces into Italy, in order to punish a 
revolt of the Romans. He died in 983, and 
was succeeded by his son Otho III., at the 
age of twelve years. 

OTIS, James, was born in Massachusetts, 
Feb. 5th, 1725, and was graduated at Har- 
vard College, after which he studied law, and 
was admitted to the bar in Plymouth. He 
removed to Boston in 1750, and rose rapidly 
in his profession. His speech against the 
"writs of assistance," in 1761, was the first 
public proof which Mr. Otis gave of his 
attachment to the cause of liberty. That 
spring he was chosen to the legislature, 
where he at once became a leader of the 
popular party. He was a member of the 
congress of 1765 in New York, and in the 
same year published a masterly defense 
of the rights of the colonies in opposition to 
the stamp act. In 1767 he resigned the 
office of judge advocate, and declined all 
other employment under a government that 
encroached upon the liberties of his country. 
His severe strictures gained him strong hate 
from the crown officials in Boston. Meeting 
John Robinson, one of the commissioners of 
customs, at a public room, one evening in 
1769, an affray followed, in which Mr. Otis 
was assaulted and beaten on the head by . 
several rufiians, who left him and a friend 
who interposed in his defense, covered with 
wounds. The fine mind of Mr. Otis was laid 
in ruins, and he lingered in imbecility through 
the arduous struggle for liberty to whose 
success he had devoted himself. A stroke 
of lightning ended his life at Andover, May 
23d, 1783. It has been well said of him that 
he was a man of powerful genius and ardent 
temper, with wit and humor that never failed ; 
as an orator, he was bold, argumentative, 
impetuous, and commanding, with an elo- 
quence that made his own excitement irresist- 



OTI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



611 



ibly contagious ; as a lawyer, his knowledge 
and ability placed him at the head of his 
profession ; as a scholar, he was rich in acqui- 
sition, and governed by a classic taste ; as a 
statesman and civilian, he was sound and just 
in his views; as a patriot, he resisted all 
allurements that might weaken the cause of 
that country to which he devoted his life, and 
for which he sacrificed it. 

QTWAY, Thomas, was born March 8d, 
1651, at Trotting in Sussex, the son of a 
clergyman. He is remembered as the author 
of " The Orphan " and "Venice Preserved," 
two tragedies of great power and pathos. 
Otway's life, passed either in excesses or 
want, closed in 1685, in the straitest indi- 
gence. He is said to have choked in hastily 
swallowing a crust after long fasting. 

OUDENARDE, Battle of, July 11th, 1708, 
between the English and allies under Marlbo- 
rough and Prince Eugene, and the French 
who were besieging Oudenarde in Flanders. 
The latter were routed with great loss. 

OUDINOT, Charles Nicholas, Duke of 
Reggio, and one of Napoleon's marshals, was 
the son of a merchant, and born in 1767. 
He early reached the rank of general, and was 
on Massena's staff in the expedition to Italy 
in 1799, distinguishing himself in the defense 
of Genoa. At Austerlitz he covered himself 
with glory. After the battle of Wagram, Na- 
poleon made him marshal of the empire and 
created him Duke of Reggio. On the capit- 
ulation of Paris in 1814, Oudinot swore 
allegiance to the restored dynasty. When 
Napoleon returned from Elba, he headed the 



grenadiers. Finding it impossible to secure 
their fidelity to Louis XVIII. , he retired to 
his seat at Montmorenci. He held various 
posts under the Bourbons, in 1830 adhered 
to the new dynasty, and in 1842 succeeded 
Marshal Moncey as governor of the Invalides. 
He died in 1847. 

OVID (PuBLius OviDius Naso), the love 
poet of the Romans, was born at Sulmo (now 
Sulmone), a town in the country of the Pe- 
ligni, about ninety miles south-east fi-om 
Rome, March 20th, b.c. 45. His father was of 
an old equestrian family, and the future poet 
was the second son. With his elder brother 
he was educated at Rome under the best mas- 
ters, and, as was usual, repaired to Athens 
to complete his studies. Before returning to 
Rome, he visited the magnificent cities of 
Asia Minor. He early displayed a high poet- 
ical genius, and devoted himself to the culti- 
vation of the muses. Till the end of his 
fiftieth year his life had been happy and 
quiet. Falling then, for some unknown 
cause, under the resentment of Augustus, 
whose imperial favor he had hitherto enjoyed, 
he was sent into exile. He died in banish- 
ment, in the sixtieth year of his age. 

OXENSTIERN, Axel, a Swedish states- 
man, was born in 1583. He was the friend 
and favorite minister of Gustavus Adolphus, 
after whose death during the minority of 
Christina, he conducted the affairs of the 
kingdom with equal ability and integrity. 
Christina continued him at the head of 
affairs. He died in 1654, shortly after her 
abdication. 



OXE 



612 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



% 



PACA, William, one of the signers of the 
Declaration of Independence, born at Wyke 
Hill, Md., Oct. 31st, 1740. After graduating 
at the college of Philadelphia, he studied law, 
and commenced practice in Annapolis. From 
1774 to 1778 he was a member of Congress, 
and vacated his seat when he was appointed 
chief-justice of the supreme court of his state, 
of which he was chosen governor in 1782. 
In 1788 he was a member of the Maryland 
convention which ratified the federal consti- 
tution. In 1789 he was appointed by Wash- 
ington judge of the district court of the 
United States for Maryland, and held that 
important post until his death, which took 
place ten years after, in the sixtieth year of 
his age. 

PAGANINI, NicoLO, a wonderful violinist, 
was born at Genoa in 1784. After a wan- 
dering life he died at Nice in 1840, leaving 
great w^ealth, acquired by his wizardry of 
fiddling and his avarice. 

PAGE, John, governor of the colony of 
Virginia, an ardent patriot, member of Con- 
gress after the adoption of the federal 
constitution, and governor of the state of 
Virginia, died in 1808. 

PAINE, Robert Treat, one of the signers 
of the Declaration of Independence, was born 
at Boston, in 1731, For some time after 
graduating from Harvard College, he kept a 
public school. Having studied theology, he 
became a chaplain in the provincial forces in 
1755, but soon studied law, in which he made 
great proficiency, and settled at Taunton. 
After having served at the general repi'esenta- 
tive assembly, he was chosen member of the 
continental congress which met at Philadel- 
phia in 1774. He was several years in Con- 
gress, and was an active member of the 
committee that framed the constitution of 
Massachusetts. He held the office of attor- 
ney-general for several years ; after which he 
was made judge of the supreme court, an 
office which he held until 1804. He died 
May 11th, 1814. 

His son, of the same name, was a popular 
lyric poet. His song of "Adams and Lib- 



erty" brought him the handsome sum of 
$750. He died in 1811, at the age of thirty- 
eight. 

PAINE, Tho.mas, a political and deistical 
writer, was born in 1737 at Thetford in Nor- 
folk, where he was brought up to his father's 
business of a stay maker. He afterward be- 
came an exciseman at Lewes ; but being 
dismissed for keeping a tobacconist's shop at 
the same time, he went to America in 1774 
at the instance of Dr. Franklin, became editor 
of the Pennsylvania Gazette, and aided on 
the Revolution by a pamphlet called " Com- 
mon Sense," for which he was rewarded with 
£500 by the legislature of Pennsylvania. 
He was also appointed clerk to the commit- 
tee for foreign affairs. He afterward wrote 
a series of pamphlets called "The Crisis." 
In 1780 he was appointed clerk to the assem- 
bly of Pennsylvania, and in 1785 received 
$3,000 from Congress, and 500 acres of land 
from the state of New York. 

In 1790 he went to London and excited 
considerable notice by his "Rights of Man," 
written in answer to Burke's "Reflections on 
the French Revolution." Advocacy of the 
rights of man was sedition in the England of 
that day, and a prosecution being commenced 
against him, he fled to France. He was 
chosen a member of the national convention, 
but incurred the displeasure of the Jacobins 
for recommending a lenient course toward 
Louis XVT., and was thrown into prison. 
Here he narrowly escaped death. The jailor, 
when he received orders for a batch of pris- 
oners to be carried to execution, was in the 
habit of marking the doors of their cells 
with chalk. One day, Paine had left his cell 
to visit a fellow-prisoner, and the door stood 
wide open. The drunken jailor, having occa- 
sion to single out some victims, chalked 
the inside of Paine's door, which was after- 
ward closed, and thus he escaped notice 
when, on the ensuing day, the devoted pris- 
oners were delivered up to the proper author- 
ities. By the publication of his " Age of 
Reason," a work leveled at revelation, he 
forfeited the esteem of many Americans who 



PAI 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



613 



had been his warm friends. He fell into dis- 
repute when, on his return to America, he 
gave himself up to intemperate habits. He 
died June 8th, 1809, the victim of his ex- 
cesses, and was buried on his own farm, 
interment on their ground having been re- 
fused by the Society of Friends, to whom 
application was made. Cobbett, who pro- 
fessed an unbounded admiration for Paine, 
dug up his bones, and carried them to Eng- 
land. While reprobating the latter life of 
Paine, it should not be forgotten that the 
vigorous paragraphs of "Common Sense" 
and "The Crisis" had an important eflFect in 
stirring the American people to a determined 
struggle for independence. 

PAINTING. The earliest account we 
have of the existence of painting is in the 
reign of Ninus, about 2,000 b.c. Egypt was 
decidedly the birthplace of the arts and 
sciences, though but few of its paintings 
remain, and their date is uncertain. The 
Greeks were very little advanced in the art 
of painting at the time of the Trojan war. 
The first important fact in the history of 
painting is, that 700 B.C. a king of Lydia 
purchased a picture of a Greek artist, and 
paid him its weight in gold. In the year 
400, Zeuxis introduced a. new style of paint- 
ing into Greece, and at this period much 
progress was made in the art. About the 
year 328 b.c. Apelles commenced a new era 
in painting, and many distinguished painters 
were his contemporaries. Before Greece was 
taken by the Romans, the art of painting had 
arrived at a high degree of perfection, but at 
that time the spirit which had animated her 
arts had departed, and with her liberty her 
arts perished. 

The first name worthy of record in the 
annals of Italian painting is Cimabue, a na- 
tive of Florence, who painted in fresco, a.d. 
1300. In 1452 Leonardo da Vinci was born 
at Florence. Many subsequent painters are 
indebted to this great artist for his im- 
provements in the art. Michael Angelo 
Buonarotti was born in the year 1475. He 
erected an academy of painting and sculpture 
at Florence, and is considered as the founder 
of the Florentine school. Raphael, born 1483, 
was the founder of the Roman school. Titian, 
born 1477, was the founder of the Venetian 
school. Correggio, born 1494, founded the 



Lombard school. The establishment of these 
four schools embraces the golden age of paint- 
ing. 

Of the German schools there are three dis- 
tinct ones, the German, Flemish, and Dutch. 
The Gothic style of painting originated in 
Germany, and terminated at the beginning of 
the fifteenth century. Albert Durer, born in 
1471, was the prince of German artists, and 
the Da Vinci of his country. The head of the 
Flemish school was Sir Peter Paul Rubens, 
born at Antwerp in 1577. What Rubens did 
for the Flemish school, Rembrandt did for the 
Dutch : he gave it a character. He died in 
1669. 

There seems to have been noregularSpanish 
school of painting, although many Spanish 
artists distinguished themselves, particularly 
Velazquez and Murillo. The Spanish style 
held an intermediate rank between the Vene- 
tian and Flemish. 

It is difficult to assign a decided era to the 
beginning of painting in France. The first 
name worthy of particular mention, is Jacques 
Blanchard, who was born in Paris, a.d. 1600. 
His paintings were very popular, and one of 
them is still preserved in the church of Notre 
Dame. Poussin flourished about the same 
time, and painted many pictures for the gal- 
lery of the Louvre. At this period also Claude 
Lorraine flourished. Louis XIII. founded 
the first school of France. Of this, the great 
master was Le Brun, born in 1690. His best 
performances are five large pictures from the 
life of Alexander. In the eighteenth century, 
French painters were numerous, but the art 
gradually sunk into mediocrity. The name 
of Vernet, however, deserves to be mentioned. 
He excelled in marine pieces. The founder 
of the modern school of painting in France 
was David, who was born in 1750. He rem- 
edied many of the defects of his contempora- 
ries, and produced many fine pictures. 

Painting did not begin to flourish in Eng- 
land till the reign of Henry VIIL Before that 
period, nothing like genius was observable in 
the rude productions of the artists. During 
this reign, Hans Holbein, under the patronage 
of the monarch, settled in England as a por- 
trait painter. During the reign of Charles L 
a gallery of pictures by the great masters, 
was ^established at Whitehall. Vandyke 
flourished at this time. In 1697 Hogarth 



PAX 



014 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



was born. His style was one in which he Cadytis. {See Jerusalem. It subsists at 



acquired lasting celebrity, and was wholly 
his own. A royal academy was planned in 
England in 1708, of which Sir Joshua Rey- 
nolds was made president. Gainsborough 
and Wilson laid the foundation of the English 
school of landscapes. Barry was a historical 
painter of great eminence. The close of the 
eighteenth century produced many names 
worthy of record. Fuseli was made keeper 
of the Royal Academy. Among other pic- 
tures, he painted forty-seven pictures from 
Milton's works, in the year 1 V90. Sir Thomas 
Lawrence was considered the first portrait 
painter in Europe. He was president of the 
Royal Academy at the time of his death in 
1830. The celebrated artist John Martin, 
was born in 1789. Most of his pictures were 
engraved by himself Turner is another illus- 
trious name in modern British art. 

The United States has produced many art- 
ists of reputation ; among others, Sir Benja- 
min West, who died in 1830, aged eighty -two ; 
Gilbert C. Stuart, born 1755, who was one of 
the first portrait painters of his time ; Allston, 
Copley, Malbone, Newton, Leslie, not men- 
tioning living men. 

PALESTINE [see Jews] is the name com- 
monly given to the country once occupied by 
the Israelites. It extends from Ccelo-Syria to 
Arabia Petrea ; on the west it has the Medi- 
terranean, and on the east Arabia Deserta. 
Before the conquest by Joshua it was called 
Canaan. The country is mountainous, and 
there is only one principal river, the Jordan, 
which rising on Mount Hermon, falls into the 
Lake of Gennesareth, Sea of Tiberias, or Sea 
of Galilee ; after which it loses itself in a more 
spacious one, the Bituminous Lake, or Dead 
Sea. On the western side of Jordan were 
Judea on the south, Samaria in the middle, 
and Galilee in the north ; on the eastern side 
was Gilead, and the land of the Moabites and 
Ammonites. The Philistines were mostly on 
the coast toward Egypt. In the kingdom of 
Judah stood Hierosolyma, or Jerusalem, built 
on several hills, the largest of which was 
Mount Sion ; it formed the southern part of 
the city. On the east of the second, or lower 
city, was Mount Moriah. Jerusalem, when 
enlarged and beautified by David, Solomon, 
&c., became a most renowned city, and as such 
is mentioned by Herodotus under the name of 



present, but in a deplorable condition, inhab- 
ited by a motley group of Turks, Jews, and 
Christians. A mosque has supplanted the 
temple. North-east of Mount Moriah was 
the Mount of Olives, beyond the brook and 
valley of Kedron ; on the south was the valley 
of Hinnom, and on the north Mount Calvary. 
Six miles to the south-east was Bethlehem. 
A rugged mountainous country lay between 
Jerusalem and Jericho, famous for its balm. 
For this, and for their palm-trees, both Judea 
and Idumea were celebrated. Hebron, a place 
of high antiquity, was the sepulchre of Abra- 
ham and his family. In the time of the cru- 
sades it bore the name of St. Abraham ; and 
the Arabs, who always respect their primitive 
names, call it Cabr Ibrahim, or the tomb of 
Abraham. Gaza and Ascalon, on the coast, 
preserve their names, as also Ekron. Gath is 
more inland. Azotus was the ancient Ashdod. 
Lydda, in the interior, has the name of Lud. 
South of it is Arimathea. Toward the south 
lay the country of Idumea, or Edom: the 
natives were subdued by the Maccabees, and 
incorporated with the Jewish nation. In Je- 
rome's time the country was deserted, the few 
inhabitants having their dwellings in caverns. 

PALEY, William, an eminent divine of the 
English church, author of "A View of the 
Evidences of Christianity," and otherexcellent 
works, born at Peterborough in 1743, died 
May 25th, 1805. 

PALMYRA, the ruins of a splendid city of 
Asia, in the desert of Syria, said to have been 
destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. The only 
brilliant part of its history was under Odena- 
tus and his queen Zenobia. [See Zenobia.] 
It afterward fell under the power of the Mo- 
hammedans, but at what period it sank into 
its present state of desolation is uncertain. 
By some Palmyra is supposed to be the Tad- 
mor in the wilderness which Solomon built. 
Its ruins are of white marble. 

PALO ALTO, Battle of. May 8th, 1846, 
between the Americans under Gen. Taylor, 
and the Mexicans ; the former were victorious. 
This was the first of the battles in the Mexican 
war. 

PAMPAS, vast level plains in South 
America, extending from the La Plata nearly 
to the Andes, a thousand miles long, and four 
hundred and fifty broad. Part of these plains 



PAM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



615 



are covered with grass, part with thistles and 
clover, and part with open forests. They 
contain herds of wild horses and cattle and 
some beasts of prey, and are inhabited by the 
Guachos, a race of men of Spanish origin who 
live on horseback and subsist by hunting, and 
the fierce Indians who lead the life of the 
Guachos, but are constantly at war with them. 
Sir Francis Head's "Rough Notes of some 
rapid journeys across the Pampas, and among 
the Andes," contain the best and most amus- 
ing account we have of them. 

The Guachos make use of the lasso in hunt- 
ing. The lasso, so called from the Spanish 
lazo, or noose, consists of a rope made of 
twisted strips of untanned hide, varying in 
length from fifteen to twenty yards, and is 
about as thick as the little finger. It has a 
noose or running-knot at one end, the other 
extremity being fastened by an eye and button 
to a ring in a strong hide belt or surcingle, 
bound tightly round the horse. The coil is 
grasped by the horseman's left hand, while 
the noose, which is held in the right, trails 
along the ground except when in use, and then 
it is whirled round the head witli considerable 
velocity, during which, by a peculiar turn of 
the wrist, it is made to assume a circular form ; 
so that, when delivered from the hand, the 
noose preserves itself open until it falls over 
the object at which it has been aimed. 

The unerring precision with which the lasso 
is thrown, is perfectly astonishing, and to one 
who sees it for the first time, has a'very mag- 
ical appearance. Even when standing still it 
is by no means an easy thing to throw the 
lasso ; but the difBculty is vastly increased 
when it comes to be thrown from horseback 
and at a gallop, and when, in addition, the 
rider is obliged to pass over uneven ground, 
and to leap hedges and ditches in his course. 
Yet such is the dexterity of the Guachos, that 
they are not only sure of catching the animal 
they are in chase of, but can fix the lasso on 
any particular part they please. 

Suppose that a wild bull is to be caught, 
and that two mounted horsemen, guassos, as 
they are called in Chili, or guaelios on the 
Pampas, undertake to kill him. As soon as 
they discover their prey, they remove the coil 
of the lasso from behind them, and, grasping 
it in the left hand, prepare the noose in the 
right, and dash off, at full gallop, each swing- 



ing his lasso round his head. The first who 
comes within reach aims at the bull's horns, 
and when he sees, which he does in an instant, 
that the lasso which he has thrown will take 
effect, he stops his horse and turns him half 
round, the bull continuing. his course till the 
whole cord has run out. The horse, mean- 
while, knowing by experience what is going 
to happen, leans over as much as he can in 
the opposite direction from the bull, and 
stands trembling in expectation of the violent 
tug which is to be given him by the bull 
when brought up by the lasso. So great, in- 
deed, is the jerk which takes place at this 
moment, that were the horse not to lean over 
in the manner described, he would certainly 
be overturned; but standing, as he does, 
across the road, with his feet planted firmly 
on the ground, he offers sufficient resistance 
to stop the bull as instantaneously as if he 
had been shot, though, the instant before, he 
was running at full speed. 

If the intention be to kill the animal for the 
sake of the .tallow and hide alone, as is often 
the case, one of the Guachos dismounts, and 
running in, cuts the bull's hamstrings with 
a long knife which he alwaj^s wears in his 
girdle, and instantly dispatches him by a 
dexterous cut across the back of the neck. 
The most surprising thing is the manner in 
which the horse, after being left by his rider, 
manages to preserve the lasso always tight ; 
this would be less difficult if the bull were to 
remain always steady, but it sometimes hap- 
pens that he makes violent struggles to dis- 
entangle himself from the lasso, rushing back- 
ward and forward in a furious manner. The 
horse, however, with wonderful sagacity, al- 
ters his pace, and prances about, as if con- 
scious of what he is doing, so as to resist 
every movement of the bull, and never to 
allow the lasso to be relaxed for a moment. 

When a wild horse is to be taken, the lasso 
is always placed round the two hind legs, and, 
as the Guacho rides a little on one side, the 
jerk pulls the entangled feet laterally, so as 
to throw him on his side, without endangering 
his knees or his face. Before the horse can 
recover the shock, the rider dismounts, and 
snatching the poncho or cloak from his shoul- 
ders, wraps it round the prostrate animal's 
head ; he then forces into his mouth one of 
the powerful bits of the country, straps a sad- 



PAM 



616 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



die on his back, cind, bestriding him, removes 
the poncho ; upon which the astonished horse 
springs on his legs, and endeavors, by a thou- 
sand vain efforts, to disencumber himself of 
his new master, who sits quite composedly 
on his back, and, by a discipline which never 
fails, reduces the horse to such complete obe- 
dience that he is soon trained to lend his 
speed and strength in the capture of his wild 
companions. 

The equestrian education of the dwellers on 
the Pampas commences early. At the age 
of four the Guacho is mounted on horseback, 
and assists in driving the cattle to the inclos- 
ure. Even then he is adventurous, and can 
bring back by force those horses that attempt 
to escape. As his years increase, he becomes 
more daring and manly, and spends his time 
in galloping after the ostrich, the gama, the 
hare, and the tiger. 

The Pampas Indians, a daring and hardy 
race of men, who have never been conquered, 
and to whom the great changes of the seasons 
appear to come with singularly little incon- 
venience, are always on horseback, whether 
beneath the burning skies of summer, or the 
piercing cold of winter ; and they are at all 
seasons wholly without clothing. They are 
formed into tribes, under the command of 
caciques, and are a warlike people. Mounted 
on their fleet and sure-footed horses, with 
their spears eighteen feet long, which they 
can manage with great power and dexterit}', 
they are most formidable. On foot they are 
almost powerless; as their habitual riding 
deprives them of the faculty of walking. 
When mounted, however, their fleetness is 
almost incredible. When they march for an 
attack, they collect a great troop of horses, 
and, raising their war-cry, set oflF at a gallop. 
If the march be long, they change horses 
several times, and always reserve their best 
ones to be mounted fresh when they are in 
sight of the enemy. The horses only are used 
for riding, but they drive mares along with 
them to serve as food. Their onset is destruc- 
tive, and, until their horses are worn out with 
fatigue, to resist them is no easy matter. 

Riding in the Pampas is rendered dangerous 
by the numerous holes which the bisacho 
burrows in the ground like a rabbit. Their 
holes frequently cause great injury to the feet 
of the horses, but custom renders the horse 



cautious amidst these dangers; and, as for 
the Guacho, it is impossible to eject him from 
the saddle, unless the horse shall actually fall. 
Sir Francis Head tried the rapid mode of trav- 
eling practiced by the Guachos, and survived 
to describe it. At first he found his head a 
little confused with the constant galloping, 
and when he dismounted he was so giddy that 
he could not stand ; but he in time got accus- 
tomed to it, and found it more pleasant. He 
found the young men the worst drivers in 
point of speed. The children had no fear, 
and therefore always dashed on at the most 
rapid rate, and the old men made up in skill, 
while the young men wanted alike the daring 
forwardness of the children, and the experi- 
ence of the old men. Sir Francis (then Cap- 
tain) Head must have traveled at a prodigious 
rate. From Mendoza he determined to gallop 
to Buenos Ayres, and, attended by a single 
Guacho, mounted horse to recross the Pam- 
pas. It was now that the captain tried the 
velocity and felt the pleasure of really inde- 
pendent traveling across the Pampas ; and 
his speed can be compared to nothing upon 
record — even that of the Guacho who accom- 
panied him, or of Mazeppa as he was bound 
to the wild horse. Starting from Mendoza 
before daybreak, he found himself at half past 
seven in the evening, at the distance of one 
hundred and fifty -three miles ; M'hich, as he 
had been just fourteen hours and a half on 
horseback, was nearly at the rate of ten miles 
an hour. He was fatigued, and could get 
nothing to eat, and so, taking his saddle into 
a shed, he laid down his head on it, and was 
asleep in an instant. The voice of the Guacho 
roused him an hour before daylight, and he 
again galloped oiF at the rate of the preceding 
day. It is needless to follow the course of 
this adventurous traveler : enough has been 
said to show the mode of life and traveling in 
the Pampas. 

PAPAL STATES, are the dominions of 
which the pope is the temporal sovereign. 
They occupy a position on the middle of the 
southwestern coast of Italy, and are only one- 
fourth as large as before the year 1860, wh( i-i 
the Romagna, the Marches and Umbria were 
transferred to the kmgdom of Italy. The tem- 
poral dominions of the pope have since occu- 
pied only 4,502 sqrar'i miles, and contain but 
'390,000 inhabitants. The former area was 



PAP 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



617 



15,881 square miles, and the population 
3,000,000. [See Popes, Rome.] 

PAOLI, Pascal, a native of Corsica, bore 
a prominent part in the war waged for inde- 
pendence against the arbitrary rule of the 
Genoese. When Genoa sold the island to 
France, Paoli headed the gallant though un- 
successful resistance to the new masters. He 
retired to England, where he died in 1807, at 
the age of eighty-one. 

PARAGUAY, a state of South America 
south of Brazil, between the rivers Parana 
and Paraguay. It contains 74,000 square 
miles, and 1,500,000 inhabitants. It was dis- 
covered by Sebastian Cabot in 152G, was set- 
tled by the Spaniards at Assuncion in 1535, 
and in 1776 formed a province of the viceroy- 
alty of Buenos Ayres. When South America 
generally threw off the rule of Spain, Paraguay 
asserted its independence. In 1814 Dr. Fran- 
cia was made dictator, and ruled till his death 
in 1840. He adopted a policy as exclusive as 
that of Japan. Paraguay has in 1865 made 
Wiir with Brazil and the Argentine Republic.' 

PARIS, the capital of France, lies upon 
both banks and two islands of the Seine, 110 
miles south-east of Havre. The population 
1,750,000. It is an archicpiscopal 

see, the residence of the court, the legislative 
body, the ministers and ambassadors, one of 
the largest, most populous, and richest cities 
in the world, containing some most superb 
monuments. Including its suburbs, it is 
eighteen miles in circumference, and is much 
superior to London in palaces and public 
edifices. Not only does it enjoy a literary 
and scientific pre-eminence : it is one of the 
gayest capitals in Europe. The houses are 
lofty and built of the stone taken from the 
quarries that extend beneath the city, thus 
forming the celebrated catacombs. It was 
very strong, when, under the name of Lute- 
tia, it resisted a Roman detachment sent 
against it by Cassar. The Romans strength- 
ened the fortifications ; in the fifth century 
it was taken by the Franks ; and in 508 was 
constituted the capital of the kingdom. It 
was improved by Charlemagne, and sur- 
rounded with walls at the end of the tM^elfth 
century. Under Louis XIV. some improve- 
ments were made : but Versailles being then 
the chief care of the Bourbons, Paris received 
only slow and partial embellishments. Na- 



poleon did much for its improvement and 
decoration, and the plans which he projected 
have pointed a path for his successors. 

PARK, MuNGO, a native of Scotland, born 
near Selkirk, Sept. 10th, 1771, fell a victim 
to the cause of science, being murdered in 
Africa, while engaged in his second expedition 
to find the source of the Niger, 1805. 

PARMA, a duchy in the north of Italy, 
with an area of 2,391 square miles, and 
503,000 inhabitants. Parma, the capital, has 
40,000. It was founded by the ancient Etru- 
rians. In the sixteenth century, Paul III. 
gave the duchy to his son Luigi Farnese, 
whose descendants continued to reign as 
dukes of Parma till the extinction of the 
male branch. In 1714 Elizabeth Farnese 
married Philip V. of Spain, and brought him 
the duchy as a dowry. Her son Don Carlos 
took possession of it in 1731 ; but it being 
settled in 1735, that Don Carlos should be 
made king of the two Sicilies, the duchies 
of Parma and Piacenza were ceded to the em- 
peror, and governed by the house of Austria 
till 1748, when they were given up to Don 
Philip, son of Philip V. By the peace of 
Luneville, the Duke of Parma was raised to 
the throne as King of Etruria, in 1801. In 
1805 Parma and Piacenza were united to 
France, and in 1814 were given to Maria 
Louisa, the ex-empress ; and after her death 
Parma was given to the Duke of Lucca, be- 
ing annexed to Tuscany. Parma became a 
part of the kingdom of Italy by virtue of 
the peace of Villa Franca, in 1859. 

PARR, Samuel, a distinguished classical 
scholar of England, long head-master of Nor- 
wich school, born 1747, died in 1825. His 
celebrated Spital sermon, when printed, pre- 
sented the singular anomaly of fifty-one 
pages of text, and two hundred and twelve 
of notes. 

PARR, Thomas, familiarly called 'Old 
Parr,' died in 1635, aged one hundred and 
fifty -two, having lived in ten reigns. 

PARRY, Sir William Edward, the dis- 
tinguished Arctic explorer, died in 1855. 

PARSONS, TiiEOPuiLus, was the son of a 
minister of Byfield, Mass., and was born in 
February, 1750. After completing his legal 
studies, he opened an office in Newburyport, 
and assumed a high standing in his profes- 
sion* in 1806 he succeeded Mr. Paoa ;p the 



PAR 



618 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



chief-justiceship of the supreme court of Mas- 
sachusetts. He died at Boston, Oct. 30th, 
1813. 

PARTHIA, a celebrated kingdom of an- 
tiquity, was situated south-east of the Cas- 
pian Sea, and was bounded on the north by 
Hyrcania, on the south by Aria, on the east 
by Carmania, and on the west by Media. 
The ancient Parthians were originally a tribe 
of Scythians, who, being expelled from the 
land of their nativity, took up their abode in 
this part of Asia. They were subject to the 
Persian empire in the time of Xerxes and 
Darius. Arsaces, the founder of the Parthian 
monarchy, assumed the regal dignity b.c. 
256. His son, Arsaces 11., subdued Media, 
but was soon dispossessed of this acqui- 
sition. 

On the death of Arsaces, the government 
devolved on his son Priapatius, who be- 
queathed the crown to his elder son, Phraates. 
This last prince subdued the Mardi, a warlike 
people of the east. He left the kingdom to 
his brother Mithridates, who soon reduced 
Bactria, Persia, Media, Elymais, and several 
other countries, and carried his victorious 
arms into India, even beyond the boundaries 
of Alexander's conquests. He afterward 
made himself master of Babylonia and Meso- 
potamia; and his reign is regarded as the 
epoch of the Parthian grandeur. 

We pass over a few unimportant reigns till 
we come to that of Orodes, who engaged in 
war with M. Licinius Crassus, which was 
attended with a vast effusion of blood, and 
proved extremely disastrous both to the Par- 
thians and the Romans. At length Crassus 
was overthrown with a great slaughter, and 
his head sent to Orodes ; whilst his van- 
quished troops tamely surrendered or were 
put to the sword. Orodes sent an army to 
besiege the city of Antioch, which, however, 
the Parthians could not take. To revenge the 
death of Crassus, the Romans entered Syria, 
B.C. 50, and, after some partial engagements, 
succeeded in defeating Pacorus, the son of 
Orodes, who was killed in the battle. Orodes 
appointed his son Phraates his successor, 
B.C. 36. 

Phraates no sooner attained to this height 
of power than he caused all his brothers by 
the daughter of Antiochus Eusebes to be put 
to death, and attempted to dispatch Orodes 



also, by poison ; this proving ineffectual, he 
ordered him to be stifled in his bed, and 
exercised the same cruelty upon the prime 
nobility, his eldest son, and the other branches 
of the royal family. To elude the vengeance 
of this barbarian, many of the Parthian no- 
bles emigrated into Syria, and prevailed on 
Marc Antony to invade their unhappy king- 
dom. The Romans, however, were so har- 
rassed by the enemy, that they were reduced 
to the most pitiable extremities, and nar- 
rowly escaped destruction. 

The Parthian monarch continuing to exer- 
cise the most wanton cruelties upon his own 
subjects, the nobles entered into a conspiracy 
and chased him from the country, conferring 
the sovereignty on Tiribates, one of their 
own body. Phraates, however, returned, and, 
defeating his rival in a pitched battle, recov- 
ered his paternal inheritance. 

At length this tyrant was poisoned by his 
wife, that her son Phraatices might ascend 
the throne. Phraatices had scarcely assumed 
the diadem, when his subjects, resolving to 
revenge the crime to which he had been 
accessory, rose in arms, and placed one 
Orodes, who was of the Arsacidan family, on 
the throne. This prince was assassinated. 

On the death of Orodes H., the Roman 
emperor Augustus was requested by the Par- 
thians to send one of the sons of Phraates, 
who had been educated at Rome, to assume 
the government. Accordingly, he sent them 
Vonones, but the Parthians growing weary 
of him, persuaded Artabanus, king of Media, 
to chase him from the throne. Artabanus, 
at length, firmly established himself in the 
government of Parthia, and died in the thirty- 
first year of his reign. He was succeeded by 
his son Bardanes, who made war upon Izates, 
king of Adiabene, a.d. 47, who had greatly 
assisted in restoring Artabanus to the throne 
of Parthia. This ingratitude was so warmly 
resented by the Parthian nobles, that they 
caused Bardanes to be assassinated, and 
bestowed the crown on his brother. 

Gotarzes was succeeded by one Venones, 
governor of Media, a.d. 49. On the demise 
of this last prince, the government devolved 
on Vologeses, the son of Gotarzes, who main- 
tained a bloody war against the Romans, on 
account of the crowns of Armenia and Syria, 
which he had bestowed on Tiridates and Pa- 



PAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



619 



corus, two of his brothers. Artabanus III. 
next ascended the throne. He was succeeded 
by his son Pacorus. 

Cosdroes, the son of Pacorus, invaded Ar- 
menia in the beginning of his reign, and 
expelled Exadares, who had been placed on 
the throne of that country by the Roman 
emperor Trajan. To revenge this insult, 
Trajan marched into the East, recovered 
Armenia, made himself master of Mesopo- 
tamia, pursued his route to Babylon and 
Ctesiphon, and bestowed their crown on 
Parthanaspates, a prince of the Arsacidan 
family. 

On the death of Trajan, however, the Par- 
thians recalled Cosdroes, and pitched Partha- 
naspate from the tlorone. After a very long 
reign, Cosdroes was succeeded by his eldest 
w°on, Yologeses II., who, after carrying on 
hostilities against Rome for about four years, 
with various success, consented to acknowl- 
edge the sovereignty of the Roman people. 

On the demise of the Parthian king, his 
nephew, Vologeses III., ascended the vacant 
throne. Having incensed the Emperor Se- 
verus, he was stripped of his treasures, his 
wives, and his children. Artabanus, the son 
and successor of Vologeses, had scarcely es- 
tablished himself in the kingdom, when the 
Emperor Caracalla, desirous of signalizing 
himself against the Parthians, sent ambassa- 
dors to demand his daughter in marriage. 
This was readily granted ; and the king, be- 
ing informed that the emperor was coming 
to solemnize the nuptials, went out to meet 
him, with the chief of the Parthian nobility, 
all unarmed and habited in splendid dresses. 
This peaceable train no sooner approached 
the Roman troops, than they were attacked 
with the utmost fury, and Artabanus himself 
was compelled to elude destruction by a 
precipitate flight. 

On account of this exploit, the base Cara- 
calla assumed the surname of Parthicus. Ar- 
tabanus swore irreconcilable hatred to the 
perfidious emperor, and inspired the whole 
nation with the same spirit of vengeance. 
An engagement was fought between the 
Parthians and the Romans, which was ter- 
minated only by darkness. Caracalla dying, 
an alliance between the two empires was 
proposed, and peace was concluded. At this 
juncture, a.d. 226, a Persian named Artax- 



erxes, pretended to be a descendant of the 
ancient kings of Persia, and called upon the 
Persians to recover their independence. 
After a dreadful engagement, he defeated Ar- 
tabanus at the head of all the Parthian forces. 
Artaxerxes caused Artabanus to be put to 
death, and restored the empire to the Per- 
sians, after they had been subject to the 
princes of Parthia for the space of 475 years. 
The royal family of Arsaces, however, con- 
tinued to reign in Armenia till the time of 
the Emperor Justinian. Artaxerxes was the 
founder of the new Persian empire usually 
known as that of the Sassanid^. 

PASCAL, Blaise, born at Clermont, Au- 
vergne, in 1623, died in 1662. He excelled 
in mathematics and physical philosophy. In 
the great controversy between the Jansenists 
and the Jesuits, Pascal battled for the former. 
His "Provincial Letters," a merciless expo- 
sure of the Jesuits, first appeared in 1656. 

PATAGONIA, a vast country occupying 
the southern extremity of South America, 
discovered by Magellan in 1519. The climate 
is cold and the natives are wandering savages. 
Some of the tribes are large-bodied, though 
not the giants which they have been described. 

PATRICK, Saint, apostle and saint of 
Ireland, supposed a native of Wales, died in 
460 or 493. Others say he was a native of 
Cornwall, or Scotland, or Brittany. Little is 
really known of him, save that he preached 
the gospel to the Irish in the fifth century. 

PAUSANIAS, a Spartan general, who 
greatly signalized himself at the battle of 
Platfea, against the Persians. He was after- 
ward set at the head of the Spartan armies, 
and extended his conquests in Asia ; but the 
haughtiness of his behavior created him 
many enemies, and the Athenians soon ob- 
tained a superiority in the affairs of Greece. 
Pausanias was dissatisfied with his coun- 
trymen, and he offered to betray Greece to 
the Persians, if he received in marriage, as 
the reward of his perfidy, the daughter of 
their monarch. His intrigues were discov- 
ered by means of a youth, who was intrusted 
with his letters to Persia, and who refused to 
go, on the recollection that such as had been 
employed in that office before had never 
returned. The letters were given to the 
Ephori of Sparta, and the perfidy of Pausa- 
nias laid open. He fled for safety to a temple 



PAU 



620 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



of Minerva, and as the sanctity of the place 
screened him from the violence of his pursu- 
ers, the sacred building was surrounded with 
heaps of stones, the first of which was carried 
there by the indignant mother of the unhappy 
man. He was starved to death in the temple, 
and died about b.c. 471. 

PAVIA, Battle of, in Lombardy, Feb. 
24th, 1525, between the French and the 
forces of the Emperor Charles V. Francis I., 
the French monarch, after maintaining the 
contest with great gallantry, was defeated, 
and obliged to yield himself a prisoner. He 
sent"to his mother, Louisa of Savoj', who was 
regent in his absence, news of his misfortune 
in these memorable words, "All is lost, 
madam, save honor." 

PEEL, Sir Robert, was the son of an emi- 
nent English manufacturer, who bequeathed 
to him a princely fortune. He was born 
February, 1788, and was educated at Har- 
row (where he was a school-fellow of Byron) 
and at Oxford, taking a high stand as a bril- 
liant student. When just of age he entered 
parliament, and thenceforth the sphere of his 
exertions and triumphs was the house of 
commons. He was no orator, nor was he, 
properly speaking, a natural and simple de- 
bater. His manner was the artificial one of 
thorough training ; but for an artificial one 
it was a good one. He could state his case 
clearly and forcibly, but he seldom liked to 
abandon a subject until he had discussed it 
at great length. In 1811 he became under- 
secretary for the colonies in the Perceval 
cabinet, and in 1812, though only twenty- 
four years of age, he was made principal 
secretary for Ireland, then an office of the 
greatest difficulty and importance. After 
carrying his celebrated currency measure 
(establishing it on its present metallic basis) 
in 1819, he became home secretary in 1822, 
which he continued till the overthrow of 
Lord Liverpool in 1827, when he retired, in 
consequence, as it is alleged, of the elevation 
of Mr. Canning, who favored the abolition of 
the Roman Catholic disabilities. Upon the 
accession of the Duke of Wellington to power 
in 1828, Mr. Peel returned to the home of- 
fice, and in conjunction with the premier, con- 
ceded Catholic emancipation. This brought 
a storm of abuse upon him from his party, who 



PEE 



accused him of tergiversation, since he had 
been so strongly opposed to the measure. 

The skirts of the Gallic storm of 1830 that 
drove the Bourbons from the throne of France, 
destroyed the Wellington ministiy, and the 
whigs entered office under Earl Grey, with 
the reform bill as their prominent measure. 
Meantime the elder Peel had died, and the 
son had succeeded to the baronetcy and an 
enormous patrimony. Sir Robert was fiercely 
assailed with the maledictions of Ireland, the 
censures of the high tory party, — whom he 
was alleged to have betrayed, — and the 
clamors of the advocates for a paper currency. 
His party imputed to him the rise of the re- 
form bill, as a consequence of his vacillation 
in reference to the emancipation of the Cath- 
olics. Nevertheless he was an active oppo- 
nent of the new ministry and the reform 
bill ; and nothing dismayed by the angry 
elements about him, or the new political 
vista of England and the continent, he dis- 
played all the resources of his statesmanship 
in concentrating the new conservative party. 
When a conservative government, through 
various accidental and personal causes, was 
established in 1834, he gallantly undertook 
to conduct it, though conscious that the task 
was hopeless. He became prime minister in 
1841 with better prospects. Though he was 
at the head of a protectionist government, 
established to defeat and suppress the free 
trade party, he opened the ports, and repealed 
the corn laws forever, to the consternation 
of the world, and in opposition to all the 
opinions of his life. This was in 1845. 
After carrying some other measures in the 
same spirit, he resigned office to the party 
to whom his later opinions legitimatelj'' be- 
longed, in the summer of 1846. After that 
his position in parliament was that of a dis- 
tinguished debater, an accomplished finan- 
cier, and the expositor of opinions which 
neither of the great parties heartily espoused. 
He died July 2d, 1850, of internal injuries 
caused by a fall from his horse. 

His talents were great, his moral integrity 
of a high order, and his private life most 
exemplary. It is a singular fact that he 
spent eleven years in parliamentary opposi- 
tion to the bullion doctrine he adopted in 
1822 ; that he waged strenuous war for eight- 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



621 



een years against the repeal of the Roman 
Catholic disabilities, and at last carried it in 
spite of his own party ; and that for thirty 
years in the house of commons he maintained 
that the prosperity of Great Britain depended 
on the retention of her corn laws, which he 
abolished in 1845. It would therefore seem 
that his final measures in reference to these 
three great departments of his political life, 
were rather concessions to the force of events, 
than the voluntary poHcy of his own mind. 
His wisdom is shown in the concession. 
Many of his chief colleagues, in each of these 
instances, would have blindly rushed upon 
destruction. Sir Robert's greater sagacity 
foresaw the gulf and turned away, choosing 
to show the courage of relinquishing his life's 
opinions, rather than that of courting the 
dangers of resistance. 

PELOPIDAS, a celebrated general of 
Thebes, son of Hippocles. No sooner had 
the interest of Sparta prevailed at Thebes, 
and the friends of liberty and national inde- 
pendence been banished from the city, than 
Pelopidas, who was in the number of the 
exiles, resolved to free his country from for- 
eign slavery. His plan was bold and ani- 
mated, and his deliberations were wise. 
Meanwhile, Epaminondas, who had been left 
by the tyrants at Thebes, as being in appear- 
ance a worthless and insignificant philosopher, 
animated the youths of the city, and at 
last Pelopidas, with eleven of his associates, 
entered Thebes, easily massacred the friends 
of the tyranny, and freed the country from 
foreign masters. After this successful enter- 
prise, Pelopidas was unanimously placed at 
the head of the government ; and so confi- 
dent were the Thebans of his abilities as a 
general and a magistrate, that they succes- 
sively re-elected him thirteen times to fill 
the honorable office of governor of Boeotia. 
Epaminondas shared with him the sovereign 
power, and it was to their valor and prudence 
that the Thebans were indebted for a cele- 
brated victory at the battle of Leuctra. In 
a war which Thebes carried on against Alex- 
ander, tyrant of Pher^e, Pelopidas was ap- 
pointed commander ; but his imprudence, in 
trusting himself unarmed into the enemy's 
camp, proved fatal to him. He was taken 
prisoner, but Epaminondas restored him to 
liberty. The perfidy of Alexander irritated 



him, and he was killed bravely fighting in a 
celebrated battle in which his troops obtained 
the victory, b.c. 364. Pelopidas is admired 
for his valor, as he never engaged an enemy 
without obtaining the advantage. It has 
been justly observed that with Pelopidas and 
Epaminondas, the glory and the independ- 
ence of the Thebans rose and set. 

PELOPONNESUS, a celebrated peninsula 
which comprehends the most southern parts 
of Greece. It included the states of Laconia 
(Sparta), Achaia, Elis, Arcadia, Argolis, Cor- 
inth, and Messenia. It received its name from 
Pelops, who settled there as the name indi- 
cates (the island of Pelops). It had been 
called before, Apia, Pelasgia, and Argos. 
Its present name is the Morea, which seems 
to be derived from a word signifying a mul- 
berry-tree, which is found there in great 
abundance. The Peloponnesus was con- 
quered, soiue time after the Trojan war, by 
the Heraclidse, or descendants of Hercules, 
who had been forcibly expelled from it. The 
inhabitants of this peninsula rendered them- 
selves illustrious like the rest of the Greeks, 
by their genius, their fondness for the fine 
arts, the cultivation of learning, and the pro- 
fession of arms ; but in nothing more than 
by a celebrated war which they carried on 
against Athens and her allies for twenty-seven 
years, and which received the name of the 
Peloponnesian war. It ended with the taking 
of Athens by the Lacedaemonians, b.c. 401. 

PENDLETON, Edmund, an eminent lawyer 
and statesman of Virginia, member of Con- 
gress in 1774, died in 1803. 

PENN, John, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, was born in Caroline county, 
Virginia, May 17th, 1741. His early educa- 
tion was defective, but a strong mind over- 
came obstacles. He studied law with Edmund 
Pendleton, went to North Carolina in 1774, 
became at once an active politician and a 
lawyer of note, and was a delegate in Con- 
gress, 1775-76 and 1777-79. He retired 
from public life in 1783, and died in Septem- 
ber, 1788. 

PENN, William, the son of Admiral Penn, 
was born in London, in 1644. At an early 
age he joined the society of Friends or 
Quakers, and was expelled from the univer- 
sity of Oxford as a nonconformist. His un- 
shaken adherence to the principles he had 



PEN 



622 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



adopted drew upon him the indignation of 
his father, which was a source of grief to 
Penn, although it did not induce him to 
relinquish the faith which he had chosen. 
In 1668 he appeared as a preacher, and also 
assumed his pen to make known and defend 
his principles, for which he was fined and 
imprisoned. Afterward, through the influ- 
ence of his family, he obtained immunity for 
his belief. In 1781 Charles II. granted him 
the patent of Pennsylvania in liquidation of 
an old debt from the crown to his father. 
He went among the Indians to propitiate them 
and assure them of his good intentions, and 
having displayed the plausibility of his 



scheme, induced a large number of respecta- 
ble families to embark for the New World. 
He remained in America two years, regulat- 
ing the atfairs of Philadelphia, and establish- 
ing amicable relations with his neighbors. 
The treaty which Penn concluded with the 
Indians was never violated. He was intimate 
at the court of James II., and procured many 
privileges for his Quaker brethren. In 1699 
he made a second visit to Pennsylvania, but 
the machinations of his enemies at home in- 
duced him to return in 1701. In consequence 
of his former intimacy with the exiled mon- 
arch, Penn was suspected of being a Jacobite. 
He died in 1718. 




PENNSYLVANIA. The Keystone State 
has an area of 47,000 square miles, on which 
in 1860 dwelt 2,906,115 people. The broad 
AUeghanian or Appalachian system of moun- 
tains passes through Pennsylvania, and the 
sta^e is thus naturally divided into three 
clearly defined regions, the eastern or Atlan- 
tic slope, the central mountainous district, 
and the western table-land. The whole 
mountain region is interspersed with beau- 
tiful and productive valleys. The soil of the 
eastern coast is in part light and sandy, but 
the inland plains and valleys are composed 
of a deep rich loam. The state is well 
watered: the Delaware, Schuylkill, Susque- 
hanna, Lehigh, Juniata, Alleghany, Monon- 
gahela, and Ohio are the large rivers ; while 
there are an abundance of smaller streams, 
which serve a useful purpose as feeders to 



the great system of canals by which the state 
is threaded. Pennsylvania is affluent in 
mineral wealth : her mines of iron, and her 
beds of coal, both anthracite and bituminous, 
seem inexhaustible in centuries. Wheat is 
her great agricultural staple, though the other 
cereal grains are extensively grown, as also 
flax and hemp. Her manufactures, especially 
in iron, are also flourishing and of great 
extent. In foreign commerce she ranks 
fourth among the states : Philadelphia is her 
only port 

At an early period Swedes settled within 
the limits of Pennsylvania. They were sub- 
dued by the Dutch, the country was annexed 
to the colony of New Netherlands, and with 
that fell into English possession. The coun- 
try was granted to William Penn by Charles 
II. in 1681. A number of Friends were the 



PEN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



623 



first colonists, and in 1682 Penn himself 
came over and laid out his ' city of brotherly 
love.' Among the articles of government 
which he drew up for his infant state was 
the provision, " That all persons in this prov- 
ince, who confess and acknowledge the one 
almighty and eternal God to be the creator, 
upholder, and ruler of the world, and that 
hold themselves obliged in conscience to live 
peaceably and justly in society, shall in no 
ways be molested or prejudiced for their relig- 
ious persuasion, or practice in matters of 
faith and worship ; nor shall they be com- 
pelled, at any time, to frequent, or maintain, 
any religious worship, place, or ministry 
whatever." Penn entered into a treaty of 
peace and friendship with the Indians, pay- 
ing them fair prices for the land needed for 
his colony. The policy of this honesty was 
shown in the freedom from Indian wars which 
Pennsylvania long enjoyed. His descendants 
held their proprietary rights in the govern- 
ment until the Eevolution, when the com- 
monwealth bought their interest for $580,000. 
A considerable proportion of the people of 
Pennsylvania are of German extraction : in 
some counties the German patois is largely 
used. Two characteristics are said to mark 
invariably the farms of these thrifty Ameri- 
can Teutons ; to wit, huge stone barns, far 
larger than the substantial dwellings, and 
gigantic horses immoderately fat, fatter even 
than the well-fed, comfortable owners. 

The first state constitution was adopted in 
1776, By the present, there is a general 
assembly, meeting annually. The senators 
are chosen for three years, one-third each 
year. The governor also is chosen for three 
years, and can not hold the office longer than 
six years in any term of nine years. The 
right of suffrage is exercised by every white 
freeman, twenty-one years of age, who has 
resided in the state one year. The judicial 
power is vested in a supreme court, in a court 
of common pleas, &c. The justices of the 
supreme court are chosen by the people of 
the state for fifteen years. The judges of 
the several courts of common pleas are 
chosen by the people of the judicial district 
over which they are to preside, for a term 
of ten years. The school system is improv- 
ing in efiiciency. There is an institution for 
the deaf and dumb at Philadelphia. In 



1799 the seat of government was removed 
from Philadelphia to Lancaster, and again, in 
1812, to Harrisburg, on the east bank of the 
Susquehanna. Little more than half a cen- 
tury ago, the site of Harrisburg was a wil- 
dernos : in 1860 it had 13,405 inhabitants. 
It was laid out in 1785, and named for the 
original proprietor, John Harris. 

The largest city of Pennsylvania is Phila- 
delphia, about five miles above the junction 
of the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The 
population of Philadelphia, in 1^60, was 
5fi2,52'.^. It is one of the most regular cities 
in the world, being handsomely built of brick, 
marble, and granite, on a rectangular plan ; 
it is a place of great trade and opulence, and 
ranks as the second city in the Union. Phila- 
delphia was laid out by Penn in 1682. When 
he returned to England two years after, it 
contained 200 houses and 2,500 inhabitants. 
In the annals of the Revolution Philadelphia 
has an illustrious share. The first conti- 
nental congress assembled here, in Carpenter 
Hall, Sept. 5th, 1774. The bell of Independ- 
ence Hall, July 4th, 1776, did "proclaim 
liberty throughout this land, to all the inhab- 
itants thereof," when its glad clangor assem- 
bled the people to hearken to the Declaration 
of Independence, just resolved upon in the 
adjoining hall. The convention that formed 
the constitution in 1787 sat here. From 1790 
to 1800 Philadelphia was the seat of the 
federal government. 

The great city of western Pennsylvania is 
Pittsburg, beautifully situated on a plain at 
the junction of the Alleghany and Mononga- 
hela Rivers. It was incorporated a city in 
1816. The principal cause which has con- 
tributed, aside from its eligible location, to 
insure the prosperity of Pittsburg, is the ex- 
haustless mass of mineral coal that exists in 
its neighborhood. The great abundance of 
this valuable material has converted Pittsburg 
into a vast workshop, and a warehouse for 
the immense country below, upon the Ohio 
and other large rivers of the valley. The city 
contains, according to the last census, 49,217 
inhabitants. Pittsburg occupies the site of 
the former French post. Fort Du Quesne, so 
important a spot in the history of the early 
frontier wars. It was christened in honor of 
William Pitt, afterward Earl of Chatham. 

PEPIN, surnamed the Fat, mayor of the 



PEP 



624 



COTTAGE C Y t; L O P E D I A OF 



palace in France, was the son of Anchises, 
and grandson of St. Arnold, afterward Bishop 
of Metz. He began to govern in Austrasia, 
and was vanquished in the year 681, bj^ Eb- 
roin ; but in 687, he defeated King Thierri, 
and acted his part so well that he had all the 
authority in the two kingdoms, under Clevis 
III., Childebert, and Dagobert III. ; and it 
must be confessed he was worthy of the em- 
pire of the Franks. He gained several battles 
against Berthairus, in 691 ; Radbord, Duke 
of Friesland, in 707 ; and Wiler, Duke of Sua- 
bia, whom he defeated in 709 and 712. He 
died in 714, near Liege. 

PEPIN, surnamed the Short, King of 
France (grandson of the preceding), the first 
of the Carlovingian dynasty, was the son of 
Charles Martel, and brother of Carloman. 
The two brothers divided the power between 
them after the death of their father, but Car- 
loman retiring afterward into Italy, Pepin re- 
mained sole manager, and carried his design 
farther ; in short, seeing that all concurred to 
set the crown upon his head, and to dethrone 
the foolish Childeric III., he called a parlia- 
ment that he might have their consent, which 
was unanimously granted him, and in the 
mean time deputed Bouchard, Bishop of 
Wurtzburg, and Fulrad, Abbot of St. Denys, 
and chaplain to the prince, to go to Rome, in 
order to be informed of Pope Zachary, who 
was the worthiest to be on the throne, he 
who took no care of the affairs of the kingdom, 
or he who, by his prudence and valor, gov- 
erned it wisely, and kept it from the oppres- 
sions of the enemy. Zachary, who stood in 
need of Pepin's forces, declared in his favor. 
This answer being related in France, the 
bishops who were assembled at Soissons with 
Boniface, Archbishop of Mayence, having the 
suffrage and universal consent of the grandees 
and people, crowned Pepin on the 1st of May, 
752. At the same time Childeric was deposed, 
and afterward put into a monastery. After 
the performance of this ceremony, the new 
king put a stop to the revolt of his brother 
Griphon, and took Vannes. Pope Stephen 
II., who succeeded Zachary, finding himself 
extremely incommoded by the Lombards, had 
recourse to Pepin, whom he came into France 
to see. The king received him at the castle 
of Poictier near Vitri, and sent him to the 
abbey of St. Dennis; and some time after. 



this pope anointed and crowned him, with 
his two sons Charles and Carloman, at Fer- 
rieres, July 28th, 754. Next year Pepin went 
into Italy, and having forced Astulphus, King 
of the same Lombards, to give up all that he 
had taken from the church of Rome, he re- 
turned into France, and sent back Pope Ste- 
phen into Italy ; but the Lombards failing to 
keep their word, Pepin repassed the Alps in 
756, and constrained them to give all manner 
of satisfaction to the pope of Rome. Being 
come back into France, he spent the rest of 
his life in making war upon the Saxons, and 
upon Gaifre, or Waifer, Duke of Aquitain, 
whom he defeated six or seven times, till the 
year 768, when this prince being killed bj' 
his own subjects, the king remained master 
of all his dominions. He died of a dropsy, 
the 24th of September, in the same year, aged 
fifty-four. The illustrious Charlemagne, his 
son, succeeded him. 

PERCEVAL, Spencer, second son of John, 
Earl of Egmont, was born in 1762. He was 
educated at Harrow school, and next at Trin- 
ity College, Cambridge, where he took his 
master's degi-ee in 1782, and the year follow- 
ing became a student of Lincoln's Inn. He 
commenced practice as a barrister in the king's 
bench, from whence he removed to the court 
of chancery. In 1796 he was made king's 
counsel, and about the same time attracted 
the notice of Mr. Pitt, by a pamphlet proving 
that an impeachment of the house of commons 
does not abate by a dissolution of parliament. 
The same year he was returned for Northamp- 
ton. In 1801 he was made solicitor-general, 
and the next year attorney-general. On the 
change of administration, in 1807, he headed 
the new ministry as chancellor of the excheq- 
uer, in which situation he displayed great 
political talents, particularly in the settlement 
of the regency. He was shot in the lobby of 
the house of commons, by an assassin named 
Bellingham, May 11th, 1812. Mr. Perceval 
was haughty, ungenial, and intolerant and 
illiberal in his views. 

PERICLES, an Athenian of a noble family, 
son of Xanthippus and Agariste. When he 
took a share in the administration of public 
affairs, he rendered himself popular by oppos- 
ing Cimon, who was the favorite of the aris- 
tocracy ; and to remove every obstacle which 
stood in the way of his ambition, he lessened 



PER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



625 



the dignity and the power of the court of the 
Areopagus, which the people had been taught 
for ages to respect and to venerate. He also 
attacked Cimon, and caused him to be ban- 
ished by ostracism, B.C. 468. Thucydides also, 
who had succeeded Cimon on his banishment, 
shared the same fate, and Pericles remained for 
fifteen years tlie sole minister, and as it may 
be said, the absolute sovereign, of a republic 
which always showed itself so jealous of her 
liberties, and which distrustedsomuchthe hon- 
esty of her magistrates. He ruled vigorously 
and with splendor. He paid especial attention 
to the maritime superiority of the republic. 
Architecture, sculpture, the drama, and poetry 
found in him a munificent patron. The Par- 
thenon, that most perfect example of Grecian 
art, the magnificent Propylaea, and other edi- 
fices that make Athens the admiration of the 
world, were erected during his administration. 

He made war against the Lacedaemonians, 
obtained a victory over the Sicyonians near 
Nemaea, and waged a successful war against 
the inhabitants of Samos. The Pcloponnesian 
war was fomented by his ambitious views, 
and when he had warmly represented the 
flourishing state, the opulence, and actual 
power of his country, the Athenians did not 
hesitate a moment to undertake a war against 
the most powerful republics of Greece, a war 
which continued for twenty-seven years, and 
which was concluded by the destruction of 
their empire and the demolition of their walls. 

The arms of the Athenians were for some 
time crowned with success ; but an unfortu- 
nate expedition raised clamors against Peri- 
cles: the enraged populace attributed all 
their losses to him, and to make atonement 
for their ill success, they condemned him to 
pay fifty talents. 

This loss of popular favor did not so much 
affect Pericles as the recent death of all his 
children ; and when the tide of unpopularity 
was passed by, he condescended to come into 
the public assembly, and to view with secret 
pride the contrition of his fellow-citizens, who 
universally begged his forgiveness for the vio- 
lence which they had offered to his ministerial 
character. He was again restored to all his 
honors; but the dreadful pestilence which 
had diminished the number of his family, 
proved fatal to him, and about b.c. 429, in 
his seventieth year, he fell a sacrifice to that 



40 



terrible malady which robbed Athens of so 
many of her citizens. 

Pericles was for forty years at the head of 
the administration, twenty-five years with 
others, and fifteen alone ; and the flourishing- 
state of affairs during his government, gave 
occasion to the Athenians publicly to lament 
his loss and venerate his memory. As he 
was expiring, and seemingly senseless, his 
friends that stood around his bed expatiated 
with warmth on the most glorious actions of 
his life, and the victories which he had won ; 
when he suddenly interrupted their tearful 
panegyric, by saying that in mentioning the 
exploits that he had achieved, and which were 
common to him with all generals, they had 
forgot to mention a circumstance which re- 
flected far greater glory upon him as a minis- 
ter, a general, and above all, as a man. "It 
is," said he, " that not a citizen in Athens has 
been obliged to put on mourning on my 
account." 

PERIER, Casimir, prime minister of France 
under Louis Philippe, the son of a rich mer- 
chant; born Oct. 12th, 1777, at Grenoble, 
and died at Paris, of cholera. May 16th, 1832. 

PERRY, Oliver Hazard, a distinguished 
captain in the American navy, gained a signal 
victory over the British naval forces on Lake 
Erie in 1813. He was born at Newport, R. 
I., in 1785, and died in 1820. 

PERSIA (called Iran by the natives), a 
country of western Asia, is an elevated table- 
land, surrounded by mountain ranges. At a 
rough estimate it contains 500,000 square 
miles, and is supposed to have 8,000,000 in- 
habitants ; some say 15,000,000. One-fourth 
of the people are nomadic tribes. Those who 
have fixed dwellings consist of Persians, Ar- 
menians, Arabs, and a few Parsees, or fire- 
worshipers. The Persians profess the Mo- 
hammedan religion, of the sect of Ali. Persia 
has excellent fruits, cotton, fine wool, silk, 
horses, camels, pearls, vines ; mines of pre- 
cious stones and diflPerent minerals. Much of 
the soil is sandy. The Persians are true Asi- 
atics, effeminate and fond of pleasures ; they 
are of small size. 

Persia has ever been a country of great in- 
terest, and its early history is crowded with 
events of importance. Chance and change 
were not unfelt by its inhabitants of former 
days. The early Persians were hardy, tem- 



PER 



626 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



pcrate, and well educated. Education received 
early and strict attention among them, and 
their magi, or wise men, are famous in the 
history of learning. The land has been a 
battle-ground for rival chieftains and contend- 
ing factions. The khans or chiefs attained 
their elevation to the throne by a wanton ex- 
penditure of blood and life. ^Vhen Ispahan 
was the capital of Persia, and famous for its 
commerce and splendor, it was taken by 
Tamerlane, and 70,000 persons slain by the 
cruel Tartars. The modern Persians exhibit 
a very marked difference from those of the 
early ages, from whom they arc descended. 
The latter, stern, temperate, and warlike, dis- 
regarded both the luxuries and elegancies of 
life. Inured to toil, living upon the plainest 
food, and taught to face death and danger 
without quailing, they became formidable to 
their neighbors, and acquired for themselves 
a military reputation, which only their subse- 
quent degeneracy could destroy. At the time 
of the invasion of Greece by Xerxes, the Per- 
sian monarch relied more upon the immense 
numbers of his army and their splendid equip- 
ments, than upon their valor. The event 
proved the superiority of the Greeks, sternly 
brave and proudly patriotic. In later times, 
the Persians have shown themselves capable 
of luxury, refinement, and the more elegant 
arts of peace. 

Persia abounds with the hallowed re- 
mains of antiquity. Among the most cele- 
brated ruins which occur are those of the 
ancient Pcrsepolis, a city formerly of im- 
mense extent, and conspicuous in the history 
of Alexander of Maccdon. It was the royal 
palace of this city that the Grecian conqueror, 
inflamed with wine, and urged by the wild 
persuasion of an abandoned woman, destroyed 
by fire, aided by his companion. She beheld 
the flames rolling around the most beautiful 
edifices, consuming splendid palaces, and 
hurling to the ground long-venerated col- 
umns, with the mad delight which the 
unprincipled seem to take in the works of 
destruction. 

The Persian empire anciently extended 
about 2,800 English miles in length, from the 
Hellespont to the mouth of the Indus, and 
about 2,000 miles in breadth, from Pontus to 
the mouth of the Arabian Gulf. The Per- 
sians are supposed to have descended from 



Elam, the son of Shem ; and, in Scripture, 
they are sometimes denominated Elamites. 
The first king of Elam mentioned in Scrip- 
ture is Chederlaomer, who conquered many 
of the Asiatic provinces, and held the kings 
of Sodom, Gomorrah, Bela, Admah, and 
Zeboim, in subjection for twelve years. He 
was, however, vanquished by the patriarch 
Abraham, and lost the sovereignty of the 
Pentapolis. From this period to the reign 
of Cyrus, the history of Elam or Persia is 
clouded with fiction. Tradition says that 
the country received the name of Persia from 
Perseus, a son of Perseus and Andromeda, 
who settled here, and probably established a 
petty sovereignty. Persia was included in 
the first Assyrian monarchy, and upon its 
dismemberment by Arbaces, appertained to 
the kingdom of Media. 

Cyrus, styled the Great, on account of his 
extensive conquests, and his restoration of 
the captive Jews, was the son of Cambyses, 
a Persian grandee, and of Mandane, daugh- 
ter of Astyages, king of the Medes. In the 
fortieth year of his age, he was called to the 
assistance of his uncle Cyaxares, who had 
ascended the throne of Media, and who ap- 
pointed him generalissimo both of the Medes 
and Persians. The powerful alliance formed 
against the Medes, B.C. 557, induced the king 
of Armenia to withhold his usual tribute. 
Cyrus, therefore, marched against him, and 
compelled him to pay his tribute, and to fur- 
nish his customary quota of auxiliaries. 

The Egyptians, Greeks, Babylonians, Thra- 
cians, and other nations of Lesser Asia, 
having entered into an alliance against Cyax- 
ares, chose Croesus, king of Lydia, to be their 
general. The confederates assembled in the 
vicinage of the river Pactolus, and advanced 
to Thymbra, whither C3'rus also marched 
with one hundred and thirty thousand troops, 
besides three hundred armed chariots, several 
moving towers, and a considerable number 
of camels, upon which were mounted Ara- 
bian archers. The forces of Croesus, however, 
were twice as numerous as those of Cyrus, 
and amounted to four hundred thousand men. 
The battle was extremely bloody, and Cyrus 
himself was some time in imminent danger ; 
but at length the confederates gave way on 
all sides. After this engagement, Cyrus 
took Sardis, the capital of Lydia, and Croesus 



PER 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



621 



prisoner, whom he replaced on the throne. 
After subduing Syria and Arabia, he inarched 
.against Babylon, which he reduced after a 
siege of two years, and put an end to the 
Babylonian empire. 

About two years after the reduction of 
Babylon, Cyaxares died, and left the whole 
government of the empire to Cyrus, u.c. 534, 
who at this time published the famous decree 
by which the Jews were permitted to return 
to their native country, and restored all the 
vessels which Nebuchadnezzar had brought 
from Jerusalem. 

Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses, 
who, soon after his accession to the throne, 
resolved to undertake an expedition against 
Egypt, and in that kingdom committed great 
cruelties and devastations. Cambyses was 
returning into Persia, to quell a revolt which 
had been occasioned by Smerdis, one of the 
magi, who pretended to be the brother of 
the king, when he accidentally received a 
wound from his sword, of which he died. 
The counterfeit Smerdis was injured by his 
excessive precautions. Cyrus having for- 
merly caused the ears of the magi to be cut 
ofl", this mutilation occasioned a discovery ; 
and a conspiracy of seven of the principal 
Persian grandees being formed against Smer- 
dis, he was assassinated. 

When the public tumults had subsided, 
the conspirators held a council on the kind 
of government which should be established, 
and, after some debate, they determined in 
fiivor of monarchy. They agreed, therefore, 
to meet next morning on horseback, at an 
appointed place near the city, and to ac- 
knowledge him whose horse first neighed, 
as king. This plan was adopted, and Darius, 
by a stratagem of his groom, obtained the 
sovereignty, b.c. 522. Darius had scarcely 
entered the fifth year of his reign, when he 
was compelled to lead all his forces against 
Babylon, which had revolted, and made great 
preparations for sustaining a regular siege. 
To prevent the consumption of their provis- 
ions, the Babylonians collected all then- old 
men, women, and children, and strangled 
them without distinction, only reserving one 
wife for each man, and a female servant. 

After Babylon had been besieged a year 
and eight months, it was taken by the con- 
trivance of Zopyrus, who cut off his own 



nose and ears, and pretending that he was 
thus mangled by the Persian monarch for 
advising him to relinquish his undertaking, 
was admitted into the city by the inhabit- 
ants, and betrayed it to Darius. 

Having settled the affairs of Babylon Darius 
undertook an expedition against the Scythi- 
ans, B.C. 514, on pretense of revenging the 
calamities which that people brought upon 
Asia, about one hundred and twenty years 
before. By means of a bridge of boats, he 
transported his army across the Bosphorus, 
and subdued Thrace; and having appointed 
his fleet to join him at the Ister, or Danube, 
he also passed over that river into Scythia. 
The Scythians avoided an engagement, and 
retired before him, laying waste the country, 
and filling up all the wells and springs, till 
the Persian troops were quite exhausted with 
tedious and fatiguing marches. At last, 
Darius resolved to abandon this wild enter- 
prise, and causing a great number of fires to 
be lighted, he left the old men and invalids 
in the camp, and marched with all expedition 
to regain the pass of the river. The king 
recrossed the Danube, and returned into 
Thrace, where he left Megabyzus, one of his 
generals, to complete the conquest of that 
country, and, repassing the Bosphorus, took 
up his quarters at Sardis. Afterward, the 
Athenians having sent a fleet to the assist- 
ance of certain Grecian cities in Asia Minor 
that had revolted from the Persian rule, 
Darius resolved .upon their chastisement. 
But the powerful army he sent into Greece 
was defeated by a handful of Athenians on 
the plain of Marathon, b.c. 490, and the 
remnant fled ingloriously back to Asia. 

Darius declared his son Xerxes, who was 
born after his father's exaltation to the 
throne, successor in the kingdom, setting aside 
Artabazanes, the eldest son. Xerxes as- 
cended the throne B.C. 485, and at once began 
to prepare to retrieve the disgrace of Mara- 
thon. He entered into an alliance with the 
Carthaginians, who were to attack the Greek 
colonies in Sicily and Italy, and who raised 
an army of three hundred thousand men in 
Spain, Gaul, Italy, and Africa. To prevent 
a repetition of a former disaster which befell 
the Persian fleet, Xerxes commanded a pas- 
sage for his galleys to be cut through Mount 
Athos. He also ordered a bridge of boats 



PER 



628 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



to be laid across the Hellespont for the pas- 
sage of his troops into Europe. 

Having made the necessary preparations, 
the Persian monarch began his march against 
Greece, B.C. 480, with a land army of 1,800,000 
men. His fleet consisted of 1,207 large 
ships, and 3,000 galleys and transports, 
which contained 517,600 men; so that the 
whole body of forces amounted to 2,317,000 
men. This number was so much increased 
on the march by such nations as matle their 
submission, that Xerxes arrived at Thermop- 
ylte with 2,641,000 men, besides servants, 
eunuchs, women, &c. 

The Grecian fleet was victorious over that 
of Persia in some partial engagements, and 
afterward completely at the battle of Salamis, 
in which the dispersion was so general, and 
the defeat so decisive, that Xerxes, afraid of 
not being able to preserve a single vessel to 
carry him from Europe, made an expeditious 
retreat, and was conveyed into Asia in a small 
boat. This success inspired the other Greeks 
with new courage ; and they joined the 
Athenians and Lacedaemonians in harassing 
the Persians on all sides. The land army 
ventured a decisive battle at Plataja in Boeo- 
tia, B.C. 479, where, out of three hundred 
thousand, only three thousand Persians es- 
caped. The same day the Persian fleet was 
defeated at Mycale on the coast of Asia Minor. 

The dissolute conduct of Xerxes rendered 
him obnoxious to his subjects ; and he was 
murdered by his chief favorite, Artabanus, 
>who persuaded Artaxerxes, the king's third 
son, that Darius, his eldest brother, had been 
guilty of the crime of parricide. Artax- 



During his reign peace was restored between 
Persia and Athens, after a war of fifty-one 
years. He died in peace, and left the succes- 
sion to Xerxes, b.c. 424, the only son he had 
by his queen, though by his concubines he 
had seventeen, among whom were Sogdianu.s, 
Ochus, and Arsites. Xerxes II. had assumed 
the diadem only fort5^-five days, when, being 
inebriated at a public entertainment, Sogdi- 
anus seized an opportunity to assassinate 
him. The regicide was scarcely seated on 
the throne, when Ochus having declared his 
intention of revenging the murder of Xerxes, 
Sogdianus was deserted by all his subjects, 
and finally doomed to expiate his crimes by 
a cruel death. 

Ochus, being now invested with supreme 
authority, assumed the name of Darius, and 
is mentioned by historians under the appel- 
lation of Darius Nothus, or Darius the bas- 
tard. In this reign, the Egyptians shook off 
the Persian yoke, and the Medes also revolted. 
Darius, having settled the affairs of the rebell- 
ious provinces, bestowed the supreme com- 
mand of Asia Minor on hife youngest son, 
Cyi'us, B.C. 407, who was ordered to assist 
the LacedjBmonians againsi the Athenians. 
This order, however, soon exposed the weak- 
ness of the king's politics; for the Lacedfe- 
monians, after conquering the Athenians, 
invaded the Persian provinces in Asia. 

Darius died, B.C. 404, and left the imperial 
diadem to his son Arsaces, who assumed the 
name of Artaxerxes, and received the ap- 
pellation of Miiemon, on account of his extra- 
ordinary memory. Cyinis resolved to exert 
all his abilities to drive his brother from the 



erxes, therefore, killed Darius, and finding throne, and having procured a number of 
that Artabanus entertained a design against Grecian auxiliaries, marched his troops to 

the plains of Cunaxa, in the province of 
Babylon, where he found Artaxerxes, at the 



him, he put him to a horrible death, b.c. 465. 
The new monarch having thus removed 
one formidable competitor, endeavored to 
secure his crown against the attempts of his 
brother Hystaspes, who held the government 
of Bactria. Artaxerxes attacked and de- 
feated the adherents of Artabanus. He then 
sent an army into Bactria, which had declared 
in favor of Hystaspes; and though victory 
was doubtful in the first battle, Artaxerxes 
was successful in the second, and firmly 
established himself in the empira This 
Artaxerxes, surnamed Longimanus, is sup- 
posed to be the Ahasuerus of Scripture. 



head of nine hundred thousand men, ready 
for battle. 

A sanguinary contest immediately com- 
menced ; and Cyrus, on seeing his brother, 
engaged him with such fury as seemed to 
change the battle into a single combat. The 
rebellious prince, however, fell by the hands 
of the king and his guards. The ten thou- 
sand Greeks, under the conduct of Xeno- 
phon, effected that memorable retreat, which 
has always been considered as a noble 
achievement among military operations. 



PER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



I 



Darius, the eldest son of the king, was 
executed for a conspiracy : wlicreupon three 
of the princes, Ariaspes, Ochus, and Arsames, 
became competitors for the crown. Ochus 
practiced so effectually on the credulity of 
Ariaspes, that he poisoned himself; and Ar- 
sames was assassinated by the son of Tiriba- 
zus. These acts of cruelty overwhelmed 
Artaxerxes with such insupportable grief 
that he died. Ochus concealed the death 
of the king, and assumed the administration 
of government in the name of Artaxerxes. 
He caused himself, in the name of the king, 
to be declared his successor ; and after ten 
months, he published the death of Artax- 
erxes. An insurrection in several of the 
provinces immediately followed; but the 
leaders of the confederacy disagreeing among 
themselves, the rebellion terminated without 
any efiTusion of blood. Ochus no sooner pos- 
sessed absolute authority, than he began to 
fill his capital and the whole empire with 
carnage and misery. He "caused his own 
sister to be buried alive ; he shut up one of 
his uncles, with a hundred of his sons and 
grandsons, in a court of the palace, where 
they were massacred by a body of archers ; 
and he put all the branches of the royal 
family to death. This insupportable tyranny 
occasioned another rebellion, which was not 
quelled without much difficulty. This revolt 
was scarcely terminated, when the Sidonians 
and other natives of Phrenicia joined the 
Cypriots and Egyptians in a confederacy 
against Persia. Ochus effected the reduction 
of Sidon, and compelled all the other cities 
to make submissions. He also reduced the 
city of Jericho, and having concluded a peace 
with the kings of Cyprus, he led his victori- 
ous troops into Egypt, which he completely 
subdued. Apis, the sacred bull, was butch- 
ered, and the holy beef served up at a royal 
banquet. Ochus passed his time amidst 
every species of luxury and voluptuousness. 
Bagoas, an Egyptian eunuch, prevailed on the 
king's physician to administer a strong poison, 
instead of medicine, to his royal benefactor. 
Having thus accomplished his purpose, he 
caused the flesh of the king to be cut in 
pieces and thrown to dogs and cats, and had 
sword handles made from his bones. He 
then placed on the throne Arses, the youngest 
prince, and condemned all the rest to death. 



But Arses, sensible of the slavery in which 
he was held, concerted measures to ft-ee him- 
self from it. Bagoas, therefore, effected his 
destruction in the second year of his reign, 
B.C. 33G, and bestowed the imperial diadem 
on Darius Codomanus, who was a descendant 
of Darius Nothus, and at that time governor 
of Armenia. 

This prince, however, had not long enjoyed 
the sovereignty, when the ambitious eunuch 
determined to remove him, and with this 
design provided a deleterious potion ; but 
Darius, being apprised of his danger, com- 
pelled Bagoas to drink the poison, and thus 
established himself on the throne. In the 
second year of this reign, Alexander of Mace- 
don crossed the Hellespont at the head of 
a well-disciplined army, with the design of 
revenging the injuries which Greece had 
received from the Persians during three hun- 
dred years. On his arrival at the Granicus, 
he found on the opposite bank a numerous 
Persian army, amounting to 100,000 foot 
and 10,000 horse. Though Alexander had 
not more than 30,000 foot and 5,000 horse, 
he crossed the Granicus at the head of his 
cavalry, and attacked with impetuosity the 
whole Persian force. An obstinate conflict 
ensued, in w^iich the Persians were defeated 
with the loss of 20,000 foot and 2,000 horse, 
and in which Alexander exposed his life to 
the most imminent danger. The invasion 
having assumed a serious aspect, Darius led 
his army into Cilicia, B.C. 333, and advanced 
to the city of Issus, near which Alexander 
drew up his troops on an advantageous ground. 
Victory clung to Macedon, and Darius re- 
treated precipitately to the adjoining moun- 
tains, where he mounted a horse, and con- 
tinued his flight. Alexander was now entire 
master of the field, and of the Persian camp, 
in which the mother, wife, and son of Darius 
were taken prisoners. 

In 331 B.C., the Persian monarch, having 
assembled a numerous army, prepared for 
battle in a large plain near the city of Arbela, 
on the confines of Persia. The Persians 
commenced the attack, but were totally 
routed, and Darius was again compelled to 
seek safety in flight. At Ecbatana, in Me- 
dia, he collected another army, with which 
he intended to make a last effort, B.C. 330. 
He was, howevei', prevented by Bessus, gov- 



PER 



630 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ernor of Bactria, and Nabarzanes, a Persian 
nobleman, who entered into a conspiracy 
against him, and binding him with golden 
chains, shut him up in a covered cart, and 
i-etreated precipitately toward Bactria. They 
intended, if Alexander pursued them, to 
deliver up the object of his resentment ; or, 
if they escaped the Macedonian conqueror, 
to murder Darius, and, usurping the impe- 
rial diadem, to renew the war. When 
Alexander was informed of the base designs 
of Bessus and Nabai'zanes, he advanced with 
a small body of light-armed cavalry ; and, 
as soon as the Macedonians came within 
sight of the enemy, they immediately took to 
flight, and having discharged their darts at 
the unfortunate Persian monarch, left him 
weltering in his blood. Thus died Darius, 
in the fiftieth year of his age, and the sixth 
of his reign, and with him ended the Persian 
empire, after it had existed 206 years. 

After the dissolution of the Macedonian 
empire, Persia fell to the Seleucidae, and 
next to Parthia. After the Persians had 
been subject to the Parthians for the space 
of 475 years, Artaxerxes, a Persian of mean 
descent and spurious birth, excited a revolt 
among his countrymen ; and, the reigning 
monarch being dethroned and put to death, 
a new Persian monarchy was founded. The 
Roman emperor, Alexander Severus, attacked 
and defeated Artaxerxes, and wrested from 
him several of his provinces. Artaxerxes, 
however, recovered these provinces, and, after 
swaying the sceptre with great reputation for 
the space of twelve years, died in peace. 

He was succeeded by his son Sapor, a.d. 
242, who was equally famous for his personal 
strength and mental abilities, but was of a 
fierce, cruel, and untractable disposition. He 
waged severe wars with the Romans. Sa- 
por left his kingdom to his son Hormisdas, 
who, refusing to interfere in the affairs of the 
Romans, died in peace, a.d. 273, after a 
reign of one year and ten days. His son 
Vararanes I. enjoyed the regal dignity three 
years, without being disturbed by the Ro- 
mans, or attempting to extend the limits of 
his empire. Vararanes H. meditated an inva- 
sion of the Roman provinces, a.d. 277, but 
on the approach of the Emperor Probus, he 
abandoned his design, and sued for peace. 
Vararanes HI. was denominated Segansaa, or 



king of the Segans, and was succeeded by 
Narses, a.d. 294, a prince of great abilities 
and resolution. 

Sapor n., a.d. 308, was a zealous assertor 
of the dignity of the Persian crown, and en- 
deavored to unite all the provinces of the 
ancient empire under his authority. This 
restless and ambitious monarch was suc- 
ceeded by Artaxerxes, a.d. 380, who lived in 
amity with the Romans, and enjoyed the 
regal dignity about four years. Vararanes 
IV. succeeded his father Saporos, and gov- 
erned his dominions eleven years. Isdigertes 
was deservedly celebrated for his virtuous 
disposition, and, at the death of his friend 
the Empero'r Arcadius, a.d. 401, was in- 
trusted with the care of his son Theodosius 
II. and the Roman empire. " He was suc- 
ceeded by his son Vararanes V., a.d. 421. 
In this reign, the indiscreet zeal of a Chris- 
tian, who set fire to a Persian temple, 
renewed the war with the Romans. The 
Persian monarch obtained the assistance of 
the Saracens, and, notwithstanding the de- 
feats which he experienced from the Romans, 
he rendered even victory disadvantageous to 
the enemy. 

Vararanes VI. was next invested with the 
diadem, a.d. 442, which he wore for seven- 
teen years and four months. His son and 
successor, Peroses, being incensed against the 
Euthalites or White Huns, marched an army 
into their country ; but the Euthalites cutting 
off his retreat, obliged him to swear that he 
would never more invade them. Peroses, 
however, assembled his forces, and marched 
a second time toward the northern frontiers ; 
but the Euthalites, rushing unexpectedly 
upon him, slew and took captive most of his 
army, and put him to death. The nobles 
bestowed the crown on his brother Valens, 
who, at the expiration of four years, fell a 
victim to the oppressive cares of government. 
He was succeeded by Cavades, the son of 
Peroses, a.d. 486. On the death of Cavades, 
his son Chosroes ascended the throne, a.d. 
531. The Persian monarch, however, was 
almost constantly engaged in hostilities -with 
the eastern empire. He raised the empire 
to great power, and the excellence of his 
government gained him the name of the 
Just. The Romans having given him a com- 
plete defeat, he was so deeply affected with 



PER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



631 



his ill success, that he sickened and died. 
He was succeeded by his son Hormisdas, 

A.D. 579. 

Hormisdas was dethroned by a person of 
the royal blood, named Bindoes, who had 
been loaded with chains for a slight offense. 
The unfortunate monarch being heard in his 
own defense, recommended his younger son 
Hormisdas as his successor, in preference to 
his elder son Chosrodes. The assembly, 
however, at the instigation of Bindoes, caused 
his son Hormisdas, and the prince's mother, 
to be cut in pieces ; and ordered the eyes of 
the deposed monarch to be put out with a 
hot iron. 

Chosroes II. ascended the throne a.d. 592. 
On the death of the Emperor Mauritius, he 
took up arms against the Komans, a.d. 605, 
and such was his success, that, in nine years, 
he plundered the provinces of Syria, Mesopo- 
tamia, Phoenicia, Armenia, Cappadocia, Gala- 
tia, Paphlagonia, and all the country as far 
as Chalcedon. He also ravaged Judea, pil- 
laged the city of Jerusalem, and sold ninety 
Christians to the Jews, who put them all to 
death. These conquests induced him to 
make an expedition into Egypt ; he reduced 
Alexandria and all the country toward Libya, 
and added the empire of Africa to that of 
Asia. At last his star waned. He was de- 
feated in several battles, and finally murdered 
in a dungeon by command of his own son, 
Siores, who having ascended the throne, a.d. 
626, concluded a treaty of perpetual peace 
with Heraclius; but he was murdered by one 
of his generals after twelve months' reign. 
His son, Ardeser, was next invested with the 
govei'nraent, but was assassinated in the 
seventh month of his reign by Sarbas, com- 
mander-in-chief of the Persian forces, who 
seized the diadem for himself A civil war, 
however, crushedthe ambitious projects of the 
usurper, and elevated to the throne Isdigertes 
II., A.D. 630. The reign of this prince was 
short and unhappy. The Moslems were then 
commencing their career of conquest. He 
defended his country with becoming resolu- 
lution against them, till the spirits of his 
subjects were entirely broken by repeated 
defeats. At last he was slain in battle ; and 
in him ended the royal line of Artaxares. 
With his death terminated the last Persian 



empire, which had maintained a splendid 
existence for upward of four hundred years. 

The Persians imbibed the literature and 
religion of the Arabs, and for two centuries 
the country was a province of the caliphate. 
After the power of the caliphs decayed, the 
land was possessed by various chiefs. The 
Seljookian Turks, among whom were the 
distinguished kings Togrel-Beg and Alp-Ars- 
lan, ruled from 1028 till 1194. The famous 
Genghis Khan included Persia in the Mogul 
empire, which held it till the end of the 
fourteenth century, when the Tartars under 
Tamerlane conquered the country, and estab- 
lished a rule which lasted, with few inter- 
ruptions, till 1502. 

The founder of the dynasty of shahs in 
Persia, was Ismael, surnamed SoofFee, who 
was remotely descended from the Caliph 
Ali; the son-in-law of Mohammed. He was 
a Turkoman, but he belonged to the sect of 
his ancestor, and hence partly the national 
enmity which has subsisted between the 
Sheah and Sooni, or Persian and Turkish 
Mohammedans. In 1500 there was a great 
number of the sectaries of AH among the 
Mohammedans of Asia. Ismael assembled 
about 700, who were attached to his family ; 
and attacking his father's murderer, slew 
him in battle, and took possession of his do- 
minions. He was a monster of inhumanity 
and cruelty, and reigned twenty-three years ; 
during which peiiod began the struggle for 
power between the Persians and the Turks. 
Ismael was succeeded by his son Tahmasp, 
A.D. 1523. He was succeeded by Ismael II. 
his son, A.D. 1575. Mohammed, the brother 
and successor of Ismael, had spent his life in 
privacy, wholly devoted to religious duties ; 
and assumed the sceptre, a.d. 1577. Mo- 
hammed left three sons, the two eldest of 
whom, Hamzeh and Ishmael, merely appeared 
upon the throne, about 1584, and are scarcely 
numbered among the shahs. 

Shah Abbas the Great began to reign in 
1582. By the contrivance of a vizier named 
Kouli Khan, Shah Abbas prosecuted the war 
against the Turks, Avhich he conducted in 
person, with great success and glory ; retook 
Tauris, and defeated his enemies in several 
engagements. In his dying moments, he 
sent for four of the chief lords of his council 



PER 



632 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



to his bed-side, and told them that it was his 
will that his grandson Mirza should succeed 
him, and assume the name of his father. 
After assembling all the lords in the neigh- 
borhood of Ispahan, they crowned hun, a.d. 
1628. On his accession to the throne, he 
assumed the name of Soofee. This prince 
was a second Nero ; bearing in his counte- 
nance every mark of clemency and good- 
ness, he cherished in his heart the vicious 
inclinations of a savage and inexorable tyrant. 
He reigned thirteen years, and left a son, 
named Abbas, who succeeded him in 1641, 
and whom his father had ordered to be 
deprived of sight ; but the compassion of the 
executioner had spared him. 

Under this Abbas II., intoxication, pas- 
sion, and an uncontrollable love of power 
rendered life not more secure than under his 
brutal ftither. On the death of Abbas* his 
eldest son Safi was immediately saluted em- 
peror, A.D. 1066, but afterward assumed the 
name of Solyman. Solyman died a natural 
death after a reign of twenty-nine years, a.d. 
1694, and was succeeded by his spn Shah 
Husseyn, the most merciful and most unfor- 
tunate prince of his race. History furnishes 
few instances of a dissolution so entire as that 
of the kingdom of Persia, under the feeble 
and inactive Husseyn. 

At length, after a series of disasters, Hus- 
seyn was obliged to abdicate the throne to Mah- 
moud. Before this ceremony took place, the 
king traveled through the principal streets of 
Ispahan on foot, deploring the misfortunes of 
his reign, and consoling the people who sur- 
rounded him, by endeavoring to excite in them 
hopes of better fortune under a new govern- 
ment. 

In dispossessing Husseyn, a.d. 1723, Mah- 
moud avenged himself on all those who, by 
negligence, ignorance, party spirit, coward- 
ice, or treason, had contributed to the ruin 
of the state. The conduct of Mahmoud tended 
to excite the odium of his subjects ; and he 
saw his projects defeated, and himself begin- 
ning to be treated with general hatred. In 
order to avert these misfortunes, which he 
imputed to the anger of heaven, he imposed 
on himself a sort of penance, which continued 
fifteen days, and which had the effect of com- 
pletely deranging his senses. His captains, 
seeing him at the point of death, turned their 



thoughts on his cousin Ashraf, who refused the 
crown except the head of Mahmoud should be 
brought to him. Mahmoud, therefore, who 
could not have lived many hours longer, was 
put to death ; and the destroyer of the 
dynasty of the Shahs enjoyed his triumph 
only two years. Ashraf ordered all the 
guards, ministers, and confidants of Mah- 
moud to be executed ; and did not spare even 
those who had placed him on the throne. 

About this time, Kouli Khan became dis- 
tinguished ; and having tendered his services 
to Tahmasp, in three campaigns he made him 
master of all the possessions of the Afghans. 
Ashraf offered to abdicate the throne, and 
to restore the ti'easures which he had inher- 
ited after Mahmoud's death ; but Kouli 
Khan, refusing to listen to any terms of ac- 
commodation, pursued his enemy even to 
death, and with him ended the transitory 
dynasty of the Afghans. Tahmasp was re-es- 
tablished on the throne by the power of Kouli 
Khan, a.d. 1730, who in a short time de- 
posed him, and introduced into his place his 
infant son, by the name of Abbas III. The 
infant emperor dying within six months, Kouli 
Khan was elected to the vacant throne ; and, 
on his accession, took the name of Nadir Shah. 

The reign of this prince was marked with 
glory and conquest. His government was 
despotic and tyrannical ; and he formed the 
design of a general massacre of the principal 
Persians. He conquered Candahar and Af- 
ghanistan, and invading India in 1739 bore 
from Delhi a booty estimated at $160,000,000. 
He conquered Usbec Tartary, but was not 
so successful against the Daghistan Tartars. 
He beat the Turks in several engagements, 
but was unable to take Bagdad. His conduct 
became so intolerable, that he was assassin- 
ated in his tent, in the year 1747. 

Many pretenders, upon his death, started 
up ; but the fortunate one was Kerim Khan. 
His death gave rise to another disputed suc- 
cession, with civil wars. At length, Aga 
Mohammed raised himself to the sovereignty. 
He fixed the capital at Teheran. His cruelty 
provoked his attendants to his assassination 
in 1797. His nephew, Futtah Ali, became 
shah. This reign was marked by two disas- 
trous wars with Russia, who had already seiz- 
ed Georgia, and now obtained fresh slices of 
territory. Futtah Ali died in 1834, and was 



PER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



683 



succeeded by his grandson, Shah Mohammed, 
at whose death in 1848 his son Nasr-ul-Din, 
or Nausscr-ood-deen, became shah. 

The Persian possession of Herat in the fall 
of 1856, brought on a rupture with England. 
The Persians were defeated at Bushire, Dec. 
10th, and at one or two other encounters, and 
peace was ratified at Teheran, April 14th) 
1857. 

PERU, like the other South American 
provinces of Spain, achieved its independ- 
ence in the early part of this century. The 
southern part of ancient Peru is now the 
republic of Bolivia; the remainder, also a 
republic, retains the old name, having an area 
of .580,000 square miles, and a population of 
2,400,000. The surface of the country is 
of the boldest and most varied description. 
The lofty Andes crowd close to the Pacific, 
leaving but a narrow desert between them 
and the shore, brightened by the luxuriant 
verdure of the valleys through which the 
torrents roll from the mountains to the sea. 
East of the mountains is a vast region, inhab- 
ited by independent Indian tribes, with all 
the luxuriant vegetation and animal life that 
belong to the tropics. Peru is considered 
the native land of the potato : here it bears 
pure white blossoms free from the purple hue 
so common in cultivated varieties. This is 
not an agricultural country : its mines of 
gold, silver, and mercury, have been the 
source of its wealth. They are seated in the 
inmost depths of the Andes, approached only 
by deep and perilous passes, and in moun- 
tains which tower into the regions of perpet- 
ual snow. They are by no means exhausted, 
though of late years, wars and political con- 
vulsions caused a diminution of their prod- 
ucts. Guano has become an important 
export of late. 

The population of Peru is made up of 
Spaniards or Creoles, Indians, mixed races, 
and negroes. Much of the commerce at 
Callao and Lima is carried on by English 
and American merchants. The Spanish 
ladies of Peru are famed for their love of 
intrigue and coquetry, which is greatly aided 
by a dress originally intended to secure re- 
serve and seclusion : the saya^ a light gown 
fitted close to the frame, being covered with 
the manto, a large loose cloak of black silk 
gauze, which is wrapped round even the face. 



Under this disguise they sally forth, and 
amuse themselves by addressing their friends 
without being known, mixing with the crowd 
to see whatever attracts their curiosity, and 
too liable to trip in more culpable indiscre- 
tions. 

The Indians, or native Peruvians, are the 
most numerous class. They have small fea- 
tures, little feet, well-turned limbs, sleek, 
coarse, black hair, and scarcely any beard. 
Conquest and oppression plunged them in 
apathy, ignorance, and degradation. An en- 
lightened government could easily raise them 
to a higher civilization, for many of them 
have courage, patience, industry, and inge- 
nuity. The monks largely converted them 
to something which was called Christianity. 
They celebrated the festivals of the Romish 
church by drinking enormous potations of 
chica (a liquor made from corn, the Indian 
women helping on the fermentation by first 
chewing the kernels), dancing through the 
streets to the sound of the pipe, with bells 
fostened to their legs, and cudgels for thwack- 
ing any who stood in their way : in which 
devout exercises a whole week was sometimes 
consumed. During the war of independence 
the missions were mostly broken up. It is 
said that amid their gloomy debasement, 
the natives yet retain a mournful recollec- 
tion of the estate of their anceestors, and in 
the more remote districts, the death of the 
last inca is annually observed by a sort of rude 
tragedy, accompanied by plaintive strains 
of their wild music. 

Lima, next to Mexico the most splendid 
city of Spanish America, is the capital of 
Peru ; population 60,000. Lima was founded 
in 1534 by Pizarro, and has been visited by 
severe earthquakes. It stands six miles from 
the coast. Callao, its port, is itself a consid- 
erable town, having 20,000 inhabitants. The 
most interesting town in Peru is Cuzco, the 
metropolis of the ancient empire, situated in 
the interior upon a table-land of the Andes, 
surrounded by valleys, and even extended 
plains, rich in pasturage and the grains of 
temperate climates. In its fallen state, it is 
still noble. The cathedral is a stately pile. 
On the site of the ancient temple of the sun 
and from its materials, the Dominican monks 
reared a church ; their altar took the place 
of the image of the Peruvian deity. On an 



PER 



634 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



eminence north of the town stand the dis- 
mantled walls of the great fortress of the 
incas. They were raised to a great height, 
and built of truly astonishing masses of stone, 
placed upon one another without cement, but 
fitted with such nicety as not to admit the 
insertion of a blade between them. Cuzco 
has some 40,000 inhabitants. 

The ancient Peruvians enjoyed a degree of 
civilization fiir above the savage state, equaled 
on the continent only by that of Mexico, and 
with that contrasting remarkably. Instead 
of the fierce and lofty spirit, the bloody 
wars, the uncouth deities, and the ferocious 
rites of that singular nation, the Peruvians 
were united in tranquil subjection to a mild 
superstition, which represented to them their 
inca as one to whom their unreserved submis- 
sion was due. They venerated the memory 
of Manco Capac, and Mama Ocello his wife, 
children of the sun, who came among them 
in the tenth or eleventh century, to teach 
the women how to spin and the men how to 
till the ground, and established peace, order, 
and religion. The truth hidden in this tradi- 
tion, is hidden from us forever. The un- 
known history of the world is greater than 
that which is written. We may repeat the 
question of quaint Sir Thomas Browne: 
"Who knows whether the best of men be 
known? or whether there be not more re- 
markable persons forgot than any that stand 
remembered in the known account of time?" 
The incas were the posterity of Manco 
Capac, and thus sacred as descendants of the 
sun. Their government was a theocracy, 
despotic though not cruel. They were at 
once temporal and spiritual sovereigns. " The 
empire of the incas," Humboldt says, " was 
like a great monastic establishment: there 
prevailed a state of general ease with little 
individual happiness; a resignation to the 
decrees of the sovereign, rather than a love 
of country ; a passive obedience without the 
courage for great undertakings; a spirit of 
order, which directed with great minuteness 
the most indifferent acts of life, but no ex- 
pansion of mind, no elevation of character." 
The religion was a worship of the sun and 
other heavenly bodies, rarely stained by hu- 
man sacrifices. The empire attained domin- 
ion over a territory inore than two thousand 
miles in length. The land was carefully 



cultivated. As moisture was the chief want, 
all the rivers were diverted into canals for 
irrigation ; mountains were formed into ter- 
races to receive them; walls were built to 
prevent the waters from escaping; and thus 
large tracts were made to blossom and smile, 
which under Spanish indolence have relapsed 
into deserts. From Cuzco to Quito, a dis- 
tance of 1,500 miles, a road was constructed, 
which though only eighteen feet broad, and 
not fitted for carriages, — which indeed were 
not known to the Peruvians, — was yet a won- 
derful work, from the natural obstacles which 
had been overcome, and the flying bridges 
that gave a passage over the deep ravines. 
The country is subject to earthquakes, and 
to this the structure of the edifices was 
adapted. The .walls were formed of huge 
blocks of stone, and seldom rose to more than 
twelve feet in height. But they inclosed 
immense spaces of ground, and were divided 
into many apartments. The people were 
decently clad. They had manufactures of 
earthenware, and woolen and cotton cloth. 
They had tools made of copper. To the 
Mexican paintings and hieroglyphics, the 
Peruvians had nothing analogous. Their 
quipos^ or strings, on which the colors repre- 
sented objects, and the knots their number, 
were apparently first used for purposes 
of calculation, and afterward employed as a 
rude record of events. Amid the mildness 
of their rites and habits, there remained one 
decided relic of barbarism. On the death 
of an inca, or even of any great chief, a num- 
ber of his vassals, often very considerable, 
were buried with his corpse. A portion of 
his wealth was also deposited, and many pre- 
cious and useful articles, destined for his use 
in the world to which he had gone. In later 
days the opening of these huacas, or tombs, 
often proved a great prize to European ad- 
venturers, and in one instance there was found 
a treasure in gold amounting to $750,000. 
Rumors of a region that vied with the 
Indies in wealth reached the Spaniards. In 
1531 Pizarro led his band into the quiet 
realm, whose unsuspecting people received 
them with hospitality and venerated them as 
superior beings. The inca Huaj^na Capac 
had violated the ancient usage forbidding him 
to wed beyond the lineage of Manco Capac. 
Ilis second wife was the daii.ghter of the 



PER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



635 



vanquished king of Quito, and the son whom 
she had borne him, named xYtahualpa, he 
made his successor in tliat kingdom, while 
Huascar, his eldest son by a princess of the 
sacred race, reigned over the other domin- 
ions. The contest between tlie half-brothers 
smoothed the way for Spanish ambition. 
The conquest was soon made. Atahualpa, 
the last of the incas, was held a captive. 
The Spaniards promised to ransom him on 
the payment of an immense sum of money ; 
when the loyalty of the people had pro- 
duced the treasure, Pizarro accepted it, but 
refused to release his prisoner, who was mur- 
dei-ed in his palace at Caxamarca. In that 
town still dwells an Indian family who boast 
a descent from the incas, and inhabit the re- 
mains of the ancient palace. The room in 
which Atahualpa was confined is shown, and 
especially the mark on the wall, to which the 
room was to be filled with silver as his ran- 
som. The Peruvians were degraded into a 
cruel bondage, and their country became the 
centre of the wealth and power of Spain in 
South America. It was the last of the vice- 
royalties to throw off the Spanish rule. 
The battle of Ayacucho, Dec. 9th, 1824, 
overthrew the last army of Spain. Peru has 
since shared the unhappy lot of all the South 
American republics. 

PESTALOZZT, Henry, the celebrated in- 
structor,born at Zurich, Jan. 12th, 1745, died 
in 1827. 

PETEU the Hermit, a French enthusiast of 
the eleventh century, who made a pilgrimage 
to Palestine, and, on his return to Europe, 



services were of high worth to the patriot 
cause. For thirty-six years he held the sta- 
tion of judge of the district court of Pennsyl- 
vania. He made many agricultural experi- 
ments, most of which were highly successful. 
He was particularly distinguished for a fertile 
fancy and wit. 

PETEARCA, Francesco, or, as he is gen- 
erally termed by English writers, Petjiakch, 
was an Italian poet and scholar who adorned 
the fourteenth century. He was born at 
Arezzo in Tuscany, July 4th, 1304. He stud- 
ied law and theology, entering into the eccle- 
siastical state in 1320. His platonic affection 
for the beautiful Laura led him to write ama- 
tory sonnets in his native tongue, which trib- 
utes of affection were continued after the death 
of the virtuous lady who inspired them. Pe- 
trarch died at Arqua, near Padua, July 18th, 
1374. 

PETRONIUS, Arbiter, a licentious Roman 
author, bled to death by order of Nero, a.d. 65. 

PHARSALIA, Battle of, fought May 12th, 
B.C. 48, in which Csesar defeated Pompey, 
who fled into Egypt, and was there slain. 

PHIDIAS, the greatest of Grecian sculptors, 
was born at Athens about b.c. 490. Under 
the patronage of Pericles, he executed his 
greatest works. He superintended the build- 
ing of the Parthenon, whose sculptures, known 
in the British Museum as the Elgin marbles, 
eloquently extol his genius. Phidias died 
432 B.C. 

PHILIP L of France, born in 1053, the son 
of Henry I., was crowned at Rheims, 1059. 
His jealousy against William the Conqueror 



preached up a crusade for the recovery of j laid the foundations of the wars between Eng- 



the holy city from the infidels. His success 
was such as might have been expected in an 
ignorant age. He passed through Hungaiy 
with an immense crowd of followers, thou- 
sands of whom perished miserably by the 
way. Peter, however, entered Syria, and dis- 
played great bravery at the taking of Jerusa- 
lem. He then returned to France, where he 
died, in the abbey of Noirmoutier, of which 
he was the founder. 

PETERS, Richard, was born near Phila- 
delphia, Aug. 22d, 1744, and was graduated 
at the University of Pennsylvania. He stud- 
ied law, and, having served a short time as 
captain in the revolutionary army, he was 
transferred to the board of war, where his 



land and France. He died at Milan, July 
29 th, 1108. 

PHILIP II. of France, surnamed Augustus, 
son of Louis VII. and of Alix, daughter of the 
Count of Champagne, was born August 22d, 
1165. He began to reign in 1180. He made 
war with the English ; but some time after, 
he joined Richard L in the crusade in 1190. 
He returned about Christmas, 1191, and in- 
vaded Normandy during Richard's captivity. 
Afterward he seized all King John's posses- 
sions in France. In 1214 the Emperor Otho 
IV., a Count of Flanders, and several confed- 
erate princes raised an army of 150,000 men 
against him, when the king engaged them at 
Bovines, and gained the victory. The king 



PHI 



636 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



fought with great intrepidity at fiovines, and 
had his horse killed under him. He died at 
Mante upon the Seine, Julj'^ 14th, 1223, after 
a reign of forty-two years. 

PHILIP III. of France, surnamed the 
Hardy, the son of St. Louis and Margaret of 
Provence, was born in 1245. After his Other's 
death before Tunis, he brought the army 
home to France, where he was crowned in 
1271. He engaged in war with Peter of Ara- 
gon, went in person against the Aragonese, 
took Girone, and on his return died of a ma- 
lignant fever at Perpignan in the sixteenth 
year of his reign, aged forty -one. 

PHILIP IV. of France, surnamed the Fair, 
as also le Grand, born at Fontainebleau in 
1208, was the son of the preceding by Isabella 
of Aragon, and succeeded his father in 1285. 
The ill conduct of James of Castillon, Earl of 
St. Paul, caused a sedition at Bruges. The 
king sent an army to reduce it, under the 
command of Robert, Earl of Artois ; but they 
were defeated at the battle of Courtray in 
1302. Philip recovered himself in some 
measure again, especially on the 18th of Au- 
gust, 1304, in the memorable battle at Mons 
in Puelle, where above 25,000 Flemings were 
slain. At length peace was made, in 1305. 
Pliilip also waged war with England, and 
quarreled with the pope, by whom he was 
excommunicated. Philip died at Fontaine- 
bleau, in 1314. 

PHILIP V. of France, surnamed the Long, 
youngest son to Philip the Fair, succeeded to 
the crown in 1317, but died after a reign of 
five years. He renewed his alliance with the 
Scots in 1318, and cruelly expelled the Jews 
from his dominions. He died at Long-Champ, 
1322, aged twenty-eight years. 

PHILIP VI. of France succeeded in 1328. 
He was the son of Charles of Valois, a son of 
Philip III. Edward III. of England claiming 
the c'own, war broke out in 1338. Next year 
Cambray was besieged by the English. The 
king had taken the part of Charles de Blois, 
his nephew, and had received homage for 
Brittany, which John de Montfort pretended 
to ; but the latter was supported by Edward, 
who made a descent into Normandy, took 
Caen, and gained a great victory at Cressy. 
The English, flushed with this victory, took 
Calais. Philip died at Nogent le Potrou, 
1350, aged fifty-seven. 



PHILIP n. of Spain, born at Valladolid in 
1527, was son of the Emperor Charles V. and 
Isabel of Portugal. He was married first to 
the Princess Mary of Portugal, and in 1554 
to Queen Mary of England. He was dis- 
satisfied with this last match; he soon re- 
turned to the continent, and by his father's 
abdication received the crown of Spain and 
the Indies. He made a league with the Eng- 
lish, and sent 40,000 men into Picardy, who 
gained a victory over 18,000 French at St. 
Quintin in 1557. Peace was made at Chateau 
Cambresis in 1559. In 1580 Philip made 
himself master of the kingdom of Portugal ; 
and his troops contributed to the defeat of the 
Turks at the battle of Lepanto. He also re- 
duced the Moors who revolted against him in 
1561. His bigotry caused the revolt of the 
Netherlands. Queen Elizabeth gave them 
succor, and Philip sent out a fleet of above 
fourscore ships, which was called the Invinci- 
ble Armada, against England. They sailed 
from Lisbon, May 29th, 1588, and were de- 
stroyed partly by storms and partly by the 
valor of the English. Philip received the 
news without the least discomposure. He 
calmly thanked God that he was able to rig 
out such another. Philip died at the Escurial, 
Sept. 13th, 1598. 

PHILIP in. of Spain, born at Madrid, 1578, 
succeeded his father Philip II. in 1598, re- 
formed the courts of judicature, expelled the 
Moors out of Spain, and made a peace in the 
Low Countries, and afterward lived in repose. 
He died on the 31st of March, 1621. 

PHILIP of Macedon, the second king of 
that name, was the fourth son of Amj'ntas. 
He was sent to Thebes as an hostage by his 
father, where he learned the art of war under 
Epaminondas, and studied with the greatest 
care the manners and the pursuits of the 
Greeks. He was recalled to Macedonia, and 
ascended the throne, b.c. 360. The neigh- 
boring nations, ridiculing the youth and inex- 
perience of the new king of Macedonia, ap- 
peared in arms; but Phdip soon convinced 
them of their error. Unable to meet them as 
yet in the field of battle, he suspended their 
fury by presents, and soon turned his arms 
against Araphipolis, a colony tributary to the 
Athenians. 

Amphipolis was conquered, and added to 
the kingdom of Macedonia ; and Philip medi- 



PHI 



HISTORY' AND BIOGRAPHY. 



637 



tated no less than the destruction of the re- 
public which had rendered itself so formidable 
to the rest of Greece, and had even claimed 
submission from the princes of Macedonia. 
He made himself master of a Thracian colony, 
to which he gave the name of Philippi. 

In the midst of his political prosperity, 
Philip did not neglect the honor of his family. 
Everj'thing seemed now to conspire to his 
aggrandizement; and historians have ob- 
served, that Philip received in one day the in- 
telligence of three things which could gratify 
the most unbounded ambition, and flatter the 
hopes of the most aspiring monarch,- — the 
birth of a son, an honorable crown at the 
Olympic games, and a victory over the bar- 
barians of Illyricum. 

But all these increased rather than satiated 
his ambition ; he declared his inimical senti- 
ments against the power of Athens, and the 
independence of all Greece, by laying siege to 
Olynthus, a place which, on account of its 
situation and consequence, was most advan- 
tageous to the intrigues of every Macedonian 
prince. 

The Athenians sent seventeen vessels and 
2,000 men to the assistance of Olynthus, but 
the money of Philip pi-evailed over all their 
efibrts. The greatest part of the citizens suf- 
fered themselves to be bribed by the Macedo- 
nian gold, and Olynthus surrendered to the 
enemy, and was instantly reduced to ruins. 
In his attempts to make himself master of 
Euboea, Philip was unsuccessful; and Pho- 
cion, who despised his gold, obliged him to 
evacuate an island whose inhabitants were as 
insensible to the charms of money, as they 
were unmoved at the horrors of war and the 
bold eiforts of a vigilant enemy. From Eu- 
boea he turned his arms against the Scythians, 
but the advantages which he obtained over 
this indigent nation were inconsiderable. 

He next advanced far into Boeotia, and a 
general engagement was fought at Chasronea. 
The fight was long and bloody, but Philip ob- 
tained the victory. At the battle of Chteronea 
the independence of Greece was extinguished ; 
and Philip, unable to find new enemies in Eu- 
rope, formed new enterprises and meditated 
new conquests. 

He was appointed general of the Greeks 
against the Persians, and was called upon to 
revenge those injuries which Greece had suf- 



fered from the invasions of Darius and pf 
Xerxes. But he was stopped in the midst of 
his warlike preparations, being stabbed by 
Pausanias at the instance of his repudiated 
spouse Olympias (the mother of Alexander 
the Great), as he entered the theatre, at the 
celebration of the nuptials of his daughter 
Cleopatra. He was murdered in the forty- 
seventh year of his age, and the twenty -fourth 
of his reign, 336 years before the Christian 
era. 

PHILIP, sachem of Pokanoket, was the 
youngest son of Massasoit. In 1G75 he com- 
menced a war with the colonists of New Eng- 
land, who suffered severely from his enmity. 
He was killed Aug. 12th, 1G76. 

PHILIPPI, Battles of, both fought in Oc- 
tober, B.C. 42, between the forces of Octavius 
Caesar and Mark Antony, and those of Brutus 
and Cassius. In the first battle the illness of 
C^sar confined him to the camp. Antony 
defeated the troops of Cassius, but Brutus 
with the other wing routed Caesar's forces. 
Cassius, thinking all was lost, withdrew into 
a lonely hut and made his freedman strike off 
his head. In the second battle both sides 
fought with desperation, but victory finally 
declared for Caesar and Antony. Brutus 
sought refuge in a glen with a few of his 
friends. Looking up at the sky, which the 
night had gemmed with the silent stars, he 
repeated two Greek verses, one from the 
"Medea" of Euripides: — 

" Zeus ! may the cause of all these ills escape thee 
not." 

He passed the night in enumerating and 
mourning over those who had fallen. Toward 
morning he fell upon his sword, and expired. 
PHILIPPINES, a group of islands in the 
Pacific Ocean. They were discovered by 
Magellan in 1521, who here lost his life, an(f 
the first settlements were made by the Span- 
iards in 1570. The population is composed 
of Chinese, Spaniards, mestizoes, and Malays, 
and amounts to about three and a half mill- 
ions. These islands are fruitful and produc- 
tive, but subject to ravages from hurricanes, 
earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions. Luzon, 
the largest, is very mountainous. Manilla 
on Luzon, the capital of the Spanish posses- 
sions, is a great mart of commerce. Three 
thousand persons perished here by an earth- 
quake in 1645, and the town was nearly 



PHI 



638 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



destroyed by a shock, Sept. 22d, 1852. Pop- 
ulation 150,000. 

PHOCION, an Athenian, celebrated for his 
virtues, private as well as public. He often 
checked the violent and inconsiderate meas- 
ures of Demosthenes, and when the Athen- 
ians seemed eager to make war against Philip 
of Macedon, Phocion observed that war 
should never be undertaken without the 
strongest and most certain expectations of 
success and victory. 

He was forty-five times appointed governor 
of Athens, and no greater encomium can be 
passed upon his talents as a minister and 
statesman, than that he never solicited that 
high though dangerous position. It was 
through him that Greece was saved from an 
impending war, and he advised Alexander 
rather to turn his arms against Persia, than 
to shed the blood of the Greeks, who were 
either his allies or his subjects. But not 
totally to despise the favors of the monarch, 
he begged Alexander to restore to their lib- 
erty four slaves that were confined in the 
citadel of Sardis. 

When the Pirseus was taken, Phocion was 
accused of ti'eason, and therefore, to avoid 
the public indignation, he fled for safety to 
Polyperchon. Polyperchon sent him back 
to Athens, where he was immediately con- 
demned to drink the fatal poison. He re- 
ceived the indignities of the people with 
uncommon composure ; and when one of his 
friends lamented his fate, Phocion exclaimed, 
" This is no more than what I expected ; this 
treatment the most illustrious citizens of 
Athens have received before me." He died 
about 318 B.C. 

It has been observed of Phocion, that he 
nj3ver appeared elated in prosperity, or de- 
jected in adversity ; he rv?ver betrayed pusil- 
lanimity by a tear, nor joy by a smile. His 
countenance was stern and unpleasant, but 
he never behaved with severity, his expres- 
sions were mild, and his rebukes gentle. At 
the age of eighty he appeared at the head of 
the Athenian armies like the most active 
oflBcer, and to his prudence and cool valor in 
every period of life his fellow-citizens con- 
fessed themselves much indebted. His merits 
were not buried in oblivion ; the Athenians 
repented of their ingratitude, and honored his 



PHO 



memory by raising hira statues, and putting 
to a cruel death his guilty accusers. 

PHOCIS, an ancient country of Greece, 
bounded north by Thessaly, east by Locris 
and Boeotia, south by the Gulf of Corinth, 
and west by Doris and the country of the 
Ozolian Locrians. Phocis was rendered 
famous by a war which it maintained against 
some of the Grecian republics, and which has 
received the name of the Phocian war. 
When Philip, of Macedon, had fomented 
divisions in Greece, and disturbed the peace 
of every republic, the Greeks universally 
became discontented in their situation, and 
jealous of the prosperity of the neighboring 
states. The Amphictyons, who were the 
supreme rulers of Greece, and who at that 
time were subservient to the views of the 
Thebans, the inveterate enemies of the Pho- 
cians, showed the same spirit, and like the 
rest of their countrymen, were actuated by 
the same jealousy and ambition. As the sup- 
porters of religion, they accused the Pho- 
cians of impiety for ploughing a small portion 
of land which belonged to the god of Delphi. 
They immediately commanded that the sacred 
field should be laid waste, and that the Pho- 
cians, to expiate their crime, should pay a 
heavy fine to the community. 

The inability of the Phocians to pay the 
fine, and that of the Amphictj^ons to enforce 
their commands by violence, gave rise to 
new events. The people of Phocis resolved 
to oppose the Amphictyonic council by force 
of arms. During two years hostilities were 
carried on between the Phocians and their 
enemies, the Thebans and the people of 
Locris, but no decisive battles were fought. 

Philip of Macedon, who had assisted the 
Thebans, was obliged to retire from the field 
with dishonor, but a more successful battle 
■was fought near Magnesia, and the monarch, 
by crowning the head of his soldiers with 
laurel, and telling them that they fought in 
the cause of Delphi and heaven, obtained a 
complete victor;^ This fotal defeat, however, 
did not ruin the Phocians : Phallus took the 
command of their armies, and doubling the 
pay of his soldiers, he increased his forces by 
the addition of 9,000 men from Athens, 
Lacedfemon, and Achaia. 

But all this numerous force at last proved 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



639 



ineffectual; the treasures of the temple of 
Delphi, which had long defrayed the expenses 
of the war, began to foil, dissensions arose 
among the ringleaders of Phocis, and when 
Philip had crossed the Straits of Thermopylse, 
the Phocians, relying on his generosity, 
claimed his protection, and implored him to 
plead their cause before the Amphictyonic 
council. His feeble intercession was not 
attended with success, and the Thebans, the 
Locrians, and the Thessalians, who then 
composed the Amphictyonic council, unani- 
mously decreed that the Phocians should 
be deprived of the privilege of sending mem- 
bers among the Amphictyons. 

The Phocians, ten years after they had 
undertaken the sacred war, saw their country 
laid desolate, their walls demolished, and 
their cities in ruins, by the wanton jealousy 
of their enemies, and the inflexible cruelty 
of the Macedonian soldiers, B.C. 348. They 
were not, however, long under this disgrace- 
ful sentence: their well known valor and 
courage recommended them to favor, and 
they gradually regained their influence and 
consequence by the protection of the Athen- 
ians, and the favors of Philip. 

PHCENICE, or Piicenicia, a small country 
of Asia, at the east of the Mediterranean, 
whose boundaries varied in different ages. 
According to Ptolemy, it extended on the 
north as far as the Elcutherus, a small river 
which falls into the Mediterranean a little 
below the island of Araddus, and it had Pe- 
lusium, or the territories of Egypt, as its 
more southern boundary, and Syria on the 
east. Sidon and Tyre were the chief towns. 
The inhabitants planted colonies on the 
shores of the Mediterranean, particularly 
Carthage, Marseilles, and Utica ; and their 
manufactures acquired such superiority over 
those of other nations, that among the an- 
cients, whatever was elegant, great, or pleas- 
ing, either in apparel or domestic utensils, 
received the epithet of Sidonian. The Phoe- 
nicians were originally governed by kings. 
They were subdued by the Persians, and 
afterward by Alexander, and remained trib- 
utary to his successors and to the Romans. 
The Phoenicians surpassed all the other 
nations of antiquity in commercial adven- 
ture. Their vessels are supposed to have 
sought Cornwall for tin. 



PICHEGRU, Charles, a French general, 
was born at Arbois, in 1761, in Tranche Comte. 
His parentage was mean, but he received a 
good education under the monks in his native 
town, and at Brienne ; after wliich he entered 
into the army, and became a sergeant. In 
the revolution he was elevated to the rank of 
a general. In 1793 he gained a victory over 
the allies at Hagenau, in consequence of 
which he succeeded to the command of the 
army of the north. His most celebrated 
exploit was the subjugation of Holland, after 
M'hich he was elected a member of the na- 
tional assembly. At length he fell under 
suspicion of being a royalist, and was ban- 
ished to Cayenne, whence he escaped to 
England. He engaged in a conspiracy against 
Napoleon, and in the spring of 1804 he went 
secretly to Paris, but was soon seized, and 
thrown into a dungeon of the Temple, where 
he probably strangled himself on the 6th of 
April of the same jcar. 

PICKENS, Andkew, a celebrated Revolu- 
tionary officer, born of Irish parents, in Bucks 
county, Pennsylvania, Sept. 18th, 1730. 
While he was still young, his father removed 
to South Carolina. He had fought against 
the French and the Cherokees before the 
breaking out of the Revolution. He was one 
of the most active of the patriot partisans 
of the South, and acted a gallant part at the 
battle of Cowpens, as well as at that of Eu- 
taw Springs. At the conclusion of the war, 
he served his country in various civil offices, 
and died, full of years and honors, Oct. 11th, 
1817. 

PICKERING, Timothy, was born at Sa- 
1am, Mass., July 17th, 1745 ; and was edu- 
cated at Harvard College. He served with 
distinction as adjutant-general during the 
Revolutionary war, toward the close of which 
he succeeded General Greene as quarter-mas- 
ter-general, and contributed greatly to the 
surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown. In 
1794 he was made postmaster-general, in 
1794 secretary of war, and at the end of the 
year he succeeded Edmund Randolph as sec- 
retary of state, in which department he re- 
mained till nearly the close of Washington's 
administration. In 1803 he was chosen 
senator to Congress from Massachusetts, and 
in 1811, when his term of office had expired, 
he was made member of the executive council. 



PIC 



640 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



During the ensuing war with Great Britain 
he was a member of the board of war for 
the defense of the state. From 1814 to 1817 
he was in the lower house of Congress. 
Having retired to private Hfe, he died Jan. 
29th, 1829. 

PIKE, Zebui.on, brigadier general of the 
United States army, killed at York, in Upper 
Canada, 1813. Gen. Pike was a native of 
New Jersey. 

PILES, Roger de, an eminent French 
painter, born 1635, died in 1709. 

PINCKNEY, Charles Cotesworth, was 
born in South Carolina, Feb. 25th, 17-16, and 
educated in England, where he studied law. 
He returned to his native state in 1769. He 
held a colonel's commission during the Rev- 
olutionary war, and aided in the defense of 
Charleston. At its fall he was takeji prisoner, 
and not released till 1782. After the conclu- 
sion of the war he was appointed minister 
plenipotentiary to France, where his treat- 
ment by the French directory was insulting. 
He was ordered to leave the French territo- 
ries. In 1797 he was appointed the second 
major-general in the army under Washing- 
ton. He died Aug. 16th, 1825. 

PINCKNEY, Thomas, a major-general in 
the army of the United States, brother of the 
preceding, was born in Charleston, South 
Carolina, Oct. 23d, 1750. He studied law in 
England. During the Revolution, he served 
with distinction, and at the conclusion of the 
war he was elected second governor of South 
Carohna. At the expiration of his term of 
office, he was appointed minister plenipoten- 
tiary to the court of St. James. After a few 
years he was appointed minister to the court 
of Spain. He returned to America in 1796, 
and was soon elected to Congress. In the 
war of 1812 he received the commission of 
major-general. He died Nov. 2d, 1828. 

PINDAR, the great lyric poet, died 442 
B.C., aged eighty. He was a native of Boeo- 
tia, and when Alexander the Great took 
Thebes, he ordered the house of Pindar to 
be spared. 

PINKNEY, William, a distinguished law- 
yer and statesman, born at Annapolis, in 
Maryland, March 17th, 1765. He was twice 
ambassador to England between 1806 and 
1815 ; and to Russia from 1815 to 1818. He 
commanded a volunteer company during the 



PIT 



war of 1812, receiving a severe wound in the 
battle of Bladensburg. He died Feb. 25th, 
1822. 

PIRON, Alexis, French poet and satirist, 
died in 1773, aged eighty -four. 

PISISTRATUS, an Athenian, son of Hip- 
pocrates, early distinguished himself by his 
valor in the field and by his address and 
eloquence at home. After he had rendered 
himself the favorite of the populace by his 
liberality, and by the intrepidity with which 
he had fought their battles, particularly near 
Salamis, he resolved to make himself master 
of his country. Pisistratus was not dis- 
heartened by the measures of his kinsman 
Solon, but he had recourse to artifice. The 
people too late perceived their credulity ; 
3'et, though the tyrant was popular, two of 
the citizens, Megacles and Lycurgus, con- 
spired together against him, and by their 
means he was forcibly ejected from the city. 

The private dissensions of the friends of 
liberty proved favorable to the expelled 
tyrant, and Megacles, who was jealous of 
Lycurgus, secretly promised to restore Pis- 
istratus to all his rights and privileges in 
Athens, if he would marry his daughter. 
Pisistratus consented, and by the assistance 
of his father-in-law, he was soon enabled to 
expel Lycurgus, and to re-establish himself. 
In the midst of his triumph, however, Pisis- 
tratus felt himself unsupported, and some 
time after, when he repudiated the daughter 
of Megacles, he found that not only the citi- 
zens, but even his very troops, were alienated 
from him by the influence, the intrigues, and 
the bribery of his father-in-law. 

He fled from Athens, where he could no 
longer maintain his power, and retired to 
Eubcea. Eleven years after, he was drawn 
from his obscure^'etreat by means of his son 
Hippias, and he was a third time received by 
the people of Athens as their master and sov- 
ereign. He died about B.C. 527, after he had 
enjoyed the sovereign power at Athens for 
thirty-three years, including the time of his 
banishment. He ruled beneficently, and to 
him we owe the collection and preservation 
of the poems of Homer. He also founded 
the first public library of which we have any 
certain account in history. 

PITCAIRN'S ISLAND, in the South Pa- 
cific Ocean, is six miles long and three broad, 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



641 



and remarkably fertile, possessing a fine 
climate. It was discovered by Carteret in 
1767, but was then uninhabited. In 1780, 
however, it was settled by some of the muti- 
neers of the English ship Bounty. The 
Bounty was an armed vessel sent to Otaheite 
by the British government for bread-fruit 
plants. An account of the mutiny may not 
be uninteresting. It is best described by 
the narrative of Captain Bligh. 

" We discovered the island of Otaheite on 
the 25th, and, before casting anchor next 
morning in Matavai Bay, such numbers of 
canoes had come off, that after the natives 
ascertained we were friends, they came on 
board, and crowded the deck so much that 
in ten minutes I could scarce find my own 
people. The whole distance which the ship 
had run, in direct and contrary courses, from 
the time of leaving England until reaching 
Otaheite, was twenty-seven thousand and 
eighty-six miles, which, on an average, was 
one hundred and eight miles each twenty- 
four hours. 

" On Monday, the 5th of January, the 
small cutter was missed, of which I was 
immediately apprised. The ship's company 
being mustered, we found three men absent, 
who had carried it off. They had taken with 
them eight stand of arms and ammunition ; 
but with regard to their plan, every one on 
board seemed to be quite ignorant. I there- 
fore went on shore, and engaged all the chiefs 
to assist in recovering both the boats and 
the deserters. Accordingly, the former were 
brought back in the course of the day, by 
five of the natives ; but the men were not 
taken until nearly three weeks afterward. 
Learning the place where they were, in a 
different quarter of the island of Otaheite, I 
went thither in the cutter, thinking there 
would be no great difficulty in securing them 
with the assistance of the natives. However, 
they heard of my arrival ; and when I was 
near a house in which they were, they came 
out wanting their fire-arms, and delivered 
themselves up. Some of the chiefs had for- 
merly seized and bound these deserters, but 
had been prevailed on, by fair promises of 
returning peaceably to the ship, to release 
them. But finding an opportunity again to 
get possession of their arms, they set the 
natives at defiance. * * * 



41 



" The object of the voyage being now com- 
pleted, all the bread-fruit plants, to the 
number of one thour ^nd and fifteen, were got 
on board on Tuesday the 31st of March. 
Besides these, we had collected many other 
plants, some of them bearing the finest fruits 
in the world ; and valuable, from affording 
brilliant dyes, and for various properties 
besides. At sunset of the 4th of April, we 
made sail from Otaheite, bidding farewell to 
an island where for twenty-three weeks we 
had been treated with the utmost afiection 
and regard, and which seemed to increase in 
proportion to our stay. That we were not 
insensible to their kindness, the succeeding 
circumstances sufficiently proved ; for to the 
friendly and endearing behavior of these 
people may be ascribed the motives inciting 
an event that effected the ruin of our expe- 
dition, which there was every reason to believe 
would have been attended with the most 
favorable issue. 

"Next morning we got sight of the island 
Huaheine ; and a double canoe soon coming 
alongside, containing ten natives, I saw 
among them a young man who recollected 
me, and called me by my name. I had been 
here in the year 1780, with Captain Cook, in 
the Resolution. A few days after sailing from 
this island, the weather became squally, and 
a thick body of black clouds collected in the 
east. A water-spout was in a short time seen 
at no great distance from us, which appeared 
to great advantage from the darkness of the 
clouds behind it. As nearly as I could 
judge, the upper part was about two feet in 
diameter, and the lower about eight inches. 
Scarcely had I made these remarks, when I 
observed that it was rapidly advancing to- 
ward the ship. We immediately altered our 
course, and took in all the sails except the 
foresail ; soon after which it passed within 
ten yards of the stern, with a rustling noise, 
but without our feeling the least effect from 
its being so near. It seemed to be traveling 
at the rate of about ten miles an hour, in the 
direction of the wind, and it dispersed in a 
quarter of an hour after passing us. It is 
impossible to say what injury we should have 
received, had it passed directly over us. 
Masts, I imagine, might have been carried 
away, but I do not apprehend that it would 
have endangered the loss of the ship. 



PIT 



642 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



" Passing several islands on the way, we 
anchored at Anamooka, on the 23d of April ; 
and an old lame man called Tepa, whom I 
had known here in 1777, and immediately- 
recollected, came on board, along with the 
others from different islands in the vicinity. 
They were desirous to see (lie ship, and on 
being taken below, where the bread-fruit 
plants were arranged, they testified great sur- 
prise. A few of these being decayed, we 
went on shore so procure some in their place. 

"The natives exhibited numerous marks 
of the peculiar mourning which they express 
on losing their relatives; such as bloody 
temples, their heads being deprived of most 
of the hair, and what was worse, almost the 
whole of them had lost some of their fingers. 
Several fine boys, not above six years old, 
had lost both their little fingers ; and several 
of the men, besides these, had parted with 
the middle finger of the right hand. 

" The chiefs went off with me to dinner, 
and we carried on a brisk trade for yams ; 
we also got plantains and bread-fruits. But 
the yams were in great abundance, and very 
fine and large. One of them weighed above 
forty-five pounds. Sailing canoes came, 
some of which contained not less than ninety 
passengers. Such a number of them gradu- 
ally arrived from different islands, that it was 
impossible to get anything done, the multi- 
tude became so great, and there was no chief 
of sufficient authority to command the whole. 
I therefore ordered a watering party, then 
employed, to come on board, and sailed on 
Sunday the 26th of April. 

"We kept near the island of Kotoo all 
the afternoon of Monday, in hopes that some 
canoes would come oflf to the ship, but in 
this we were disappointed. The wind being 
northerly, we steered to the westward in the 
evening, to pass south of Tofoa; and I gave 
directions for this course to be continued 
during the night. The master had the first 
watch, the gunner the middle watch, and 
Mr. Christian the morning watch. This was 
the turn of duty for the night. 

" Hitherto the voyage had advanced in a 
course of uninterrupted prosperity, and had 
been attended with circumstances equally 
pleasing and satisfactory. But a very differ- 
ent scene was now to be disclosed; a con 
spiracy had been formed, which was to ren 



der all our past labor productive only of 
misery and distress ; and it had been con- 
certed with so much secrecy and circumspec- 
tion, that no one circumstance escaped to 
betray the impending calamity. 

"On the night of Monday, the watch was 
set as I have described. Just before sunrise, 
on Tuesday morning, while I was yet asleep, 
Mr. Christian (the third mate), with the mas- 
ter-at-arms, gunner's mate, and Thomas 
Burkitt, seaman, came into my cabin, and 
seizing me, tied my hands with a cord behind 
my back ; threatening me with instant death 
if I spoke or made the least noise. I never- 
theless called out as loud as I could, in hopes 
of assistance ; but the officers not of their 
party were already secured by sentinels at 
their doors. At my own cabin door were 
three men, besides the four within ; all ex- 
cept Christian had muskets and bayonets; 
he had only a cutlass. I was dragged out 
of bed, and forced on deck in my shirt, suf- 
fering great pain in the mean time from the 
tightness with which my hands were tied. 
On demanding the reason of such violence, 
the only answer was abuse for not holding 
my tongue. The master, the gunner, sur- 
geon, master's mate, and Nelson the gardener, 
were kept confined below, and the fore hatch- 
way was guarded by sentinels. The boat- 
swain and carpenter, and also the clerk, were 
allowed to come on deck, where they saw me 
standing abaft the mizzen-mast, with my 
hands tied behind my back, under a guard, 
with Christian at their head. The boatswain 
was then ordered to hoist out the launch, 
accompanied by a threat, if he did not do it 
instantly, to taTce care of himself. 

"The boat being hoisted out, Mr. Hayward 
and Mr. Hallet, two of the midshipmen, and 
Mr. Samuel, the clerk, were ordered into it. 
I demanded the intention of giving this or- 
der, and endeavored to persuade the people 
near me not to persist in such acts of vio- 
lence ; but it was to no effijct ; for the con- 
stant answer was, 'Hold your tongue, sir, 
or you are dead this moment.' 

"The master had by this time sent, re- 
questing that he might come on deck, which 
was permitted ; but he was soon ordered back 
again to his cabin. My exertions to turn the 
tide of aflfairs were continued ; when Chris- 
tian, changing the cutlass he held for a bay- 



PIT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



643 



onet, and holding me bj^ the cord about my 
hands with a strong gripe, threatened me 
with immediate death if I would not be 
quiet ; and the villains around me had their 
pieces cocked and bayonets fixed. 

" Certain individuals were called on to get 
into the boat, and were hurried over the 
ship's side; whence I concluded that along 
with them I was to be set adrift. Another 
effort to bring about a change produced 
nothing but menaces of having my brains 
blown out. The boatswain and those seamen 
who were to be put into the boat, were al- 
lowed to collect twine, canvas, lines, sails, 
cordage, and a twenty-eight gallon cask of 
water ; and Mr. Samuel got one hundred and 
fifty pounds of bread, with a small quantity 
of rum and wine, also a quadrant and com- 
pass ; but he was prohibited on pain of death, 
to touch any map or astronomical book, and 
any instrument, or any of my surveys and 
drawings. 

"The mutineers having thus forced those 
of the seamen whom they wished to get rid 
of into the boat. Christian directed a dram to 
be served to each of his crew. I then un- 
happily saw that nothing could be done to 
recover the ship. The officers were next 
called on deck, and forced over the ship's side 
into the boat, while I was kept apart from 
every one abaft the mizzen-mast. Christian, 
armed with a bayonet, held the cord fastening 
my hands, and the guard around me stood 
with their pieces cocked ; but on my daring 
the ungrateful wretches to fire, they uncocked 
them. Isaac Martin, one of them, I saw had 
an inclination to assist me ; and as he fed me 
with shaddock, my lips being quite parched, 
we explained each other's sentiments by 
looks. But this was observed, and he was 
removed. He then got into the boat, at- 
tempting to leave the ship ; however, he was 
compelled to return. Some others were also 
kept contrary to their inclination. 

"It appeared to me that Christian was 
some time in doubt whether he should keep 
the carpenter or his mate. At length he 
determined on the latter, and the carpenter 
was ordered into the boat. He was permit- 
ted, though not without opposition, to take 
his tool chest. 

"Mr. Samuel secured my journals and 
commission, with some important ship pa- 



pers; this he did with great resolution, 
though strictly watched. He attempted to 
save the time-keeper, and a box with my sur- 
veys, drawings, and remarks, for fifteen years 
past, which were very numerous, when he 
was hurried away with 'Damn your eyes, 
you are well off" to get what you have.' 

"Much altercation took place among the 
mutinous crew during the transaction of this 
whole affair. Some swore, ' I'll be damned 
if he does not find his way home, if he gets 
anything with him,' meaning me ; and when 
the carpenter's chest was carrying away, 
' Damn my eyes, he will have a vessel built 
in a month ;' while others ridiculed the help- 
less situation of the boat, which was very 
deep in the water, and had so little room for 
those who were in her. As for Christian, 
he seemed as if meditating destruction on 
himself and every one else. 

"I asked for arms, but the mutineers 
laughed at me, and said I was well acquainted 
with the people among whom I was going ; 
four cutlasses, however, were thrown into the 
the boat, after we were veered astern. 

" The officers and men being in the boat, 
they only waited for me, of which the master- 
at-arms informed Christian, who then said, 
' Come, Captain Bligh, your officers and men 
are now in the boat, and you must go with 
them ; if you attempt to make the least resis- 
tance, you will instantly be put to death ; ' 
and without further ceremony, I was forced 
over the side by a tribe of armed rufBans, 
where they untied my hands. Being in the 
boat, we were veered astern by a rope. A 
few pieces of pork were thrown to us, also 
the four cutlasses. The armorer and carpen- 
ter then called out to me to remember that 
they had no hand in the transaction. After 
having been kept some time to make sport 
for these unfeeling wretches, and having un- 
dergone much ridicule, we were at length 
cast adrift in the open ocean. 

"Eighteen persons were with me in the 
boat,— the master, acting surgeon, botanist, 
gunner, boatswain, carpenter, master, and 
quartermaster's mate, two quartermasters, 
the sailmaker, two cooks, my clerk, the 
butcher, and a boy. There remained on 
board, Fletcher Christian, the master's mate, 
Peter Haywood, Edward Young, George 
Stewart, midshipmen, the master-at-arms. 



PIT 



6U 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



gunner's mate, boatswain's mate, gardener, 
armorer, carpenter's mate, carpenter's crew, 
and fourteen seamen, being altogether the 
most able men of the ship's company. 

" Having little or no wind, we rowed pretty- 
fast toward the island of Tofoa, which bore 
north-east about ten leagues distant. The 
ship while in sight steered west-north-west, 
but this I considered only as a feint, for when 
we were sent away, 'Huzza for Otaheite!' 
was frequently heard among the mutineers. 

"Christian, the chief of them, was of a 
respectable family in the north of England. 
This was the third voyage he had made with 
me. Notwithstanding the roughness with 
which I was treated, the remembrance of past 
kindnesses produced some remoi-se in him. 
While they were forcing me out of the ship, 
I asked him whether this was a proper return 
for the many instances he had experienced 
of my friendship ? He appeared disturbed 
at the question, and answered with much 
emotion, 'That — Captain Bligh — that is the 
thin^— I am in hell— I am in hell' His 
abilities to take charge of the third watch, as 
I had so divided the ship's company, were 
fully equal to the task. 

" Haywood was also of a respectable family 
in the north of England, and a young man 
of abilities, as well as Christian. These two 
iiad been objects of my particular regard and 
attention, and I had taken great pains to in- 
struct them, having entertained hopes that, 
as professional men, they would have become 
a credit to their countr3^ Young was well 
recommended; and Stewart of creditable 
parents in the Orkneys, at which place, on 
the return of the Resolution from the South 
Seas in 1780, we received so many civilities, 
that in consideration of these alone I should 
gladly have taken him with me. But he had 
always borne a good character. 

"When I had time to reflect, an inward 
satisfaction prevented the depression of my 
spirits. Yet, a few hours before, my situa- 
tion had been peculiarly flattering; I had 
a ship in the most perfect ortler, stored with 
every necessary, both for health and service ; 
the object of the voyage was attained, and 
two-thirds of it now completed. The remain- 
ing part had every prospect of success. 

"It will naturally be asked, what could be 

PI 



the cause of such a revolt ? In answer, I can 
only conjecture that the mutineers had flat- 
tered themselves with the hope of a happier 
life among the Otaheitans, than they could 
possibly enjoy in England; which joined to 
some female connections, most probably occa- 
sioned the whole transaction. 

"The women of Otaheite are handsome, 
mild, and cheerful in manners and conversa- 
tion ; possessed of great sensibility, and have 
suflBcient delicacy to make them be admired 
and beloved. The chiefs were so much at- 
tached to our people, that they rather en- 
couraged their stay among them than other- 
wise, and even made them promises of large 
possessions. Under these, and many other 
concomitant circumstances, it ought hai'dly 
to be the subject of surprise that a set of 
sailors, most of them void of connections, 
should be led away, where they had the 
power of fixing themselves in the midst of 
plenty, in one of the finest islands in the 
world, where there was no necessity to labor, 
and where the allurements of dissipation are 
beyond any conception that can be formed 
of it. The utmost, however, that a com- 
mander could have expected, was desertions, 
such as have already happened more or le,ss 
in the South Seas, and not an act of open 
mutiny. 

" But the secrecy of this mutiny surpasses 
belief. Thirteen of the party who were now 
with me had always lived forward among the 
seamen ; yet neither they, nor the messmates 
of Christian, Stewart, Haywood, and Young, 
had ever observed any circumstance to excite 
suspicion of what was plotting ; and it is not 
wonderful if I fell a sacrifice to it, my mind 
being entirely free from suspicion. Perhaps, 
had marines been on board, a sentinel at ray 
cabin-door might have prevented it; for I 
constantly slept with the door open, that the 
officer of the watch might have access to me 
on all occasions. If the mutiny had been 
occasioned by any grievances, either real or 
miaginary, I must have discovered symptoms 
of discontent, which would have put me on 
my guard ; but it was far otherwise. With 
Christian, in particular, I was on the most 
fi'iendly terms ; that very day he was engaged 
to have dined with me ; and the preceding 
night he excused himself from supping with 



I 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



64:1 



sne on pretense of indisposition, for which I 
felt concerned, having no suspicions of his 
honor or integrity." 

Captain Bligh and his fellow-sufferers 
reached the island of Timor, south of the 
Moluccas, in June, after a perilous voyage of 
nearly four thousand miles, during which 
their preservation was next to miraculous. 
A part of the mutineers were tried Sept. loth, 
1792, six condemned, and three executed. 
Ten others settled upon solitary Pitcairn's 
Island. They remained unknown until acci- 
dentally discovered in 1814, when an English 
ship nearing the island was hailed by a 
swarthy youth in the English language. It 
appeared that the mutineers had obtained 
themselves dusky wives, and finally under 
the guidance of John Adams, one of their 
number, had become an orderly and pious 
community. Adams was the last survivor 
of the mutineers. x\s the population in- 
creased, the island proved incapable for its 
support. In 1856, by permission of the 
English government, the colony removed to 
Norfolk Island, which had been given to 
them (the convict establishment being witb- 
draAvn) and stocked with sheep, cattle, and 
horses for their use. They numbered 96 men 
and 102 women. 

PITT, William, the second son of the Earl 
of Chatham, was born May 28th, 1759. In 
1780, he obtained a seat in parliament, where 
he exerted the power of his eloquence against 
Lord North. On the removal of that minister, 
Mr. Pitt did not obtain a place: but when 
the Earl of Shelburne succeeded the Marquis 
of Rockingham, he became chancellor of the 
exchequer. This ministry, however, was soon 
displaced by the coalition of Lord North and 
Mr. Fox, in 1782; but the famous India bill 
of the latter producing another change, at the 
end of 1783, Mr. Pitt became first lord of the 
treasury, as well as chancellor of exchequer. 
Though in this situation he had to encounter 
an extraordinary combination of talents and 
influence, he overcame all obstacles, and car- 
ried many important measures, particularly 
his own India bill, a commercial treaty with 
France, the acts against smuggling, and the 
establishment of a sinking fund. The illness 
of the king, in 1788, threatened an end of his 
ministrj^ The recovery of his majesty, how- 
ever, fixed him more firmly in his seat. The 



next great event in his life was that of being 
called to oppose the power of revolutionarj' 
France. He was the mainspring of the con- 
tinuous coalitions against Napoleon. At 
length he acceded to the wish that an experi- 
ment for peace should be tried in 1801, and 
yielded the ministry to Mr, Addingtcn ; but 
in 1804 Mr. Pitt was recalled to power. His 
health was now in a very precarious state, 
and he died at Putney, Jan. 23d, 1806. His 
remains were deposited in Westminster Ab- 
bey. Very honorable eulogiums were pro- 
nounced on his memory by all parties, and 
his debts were paid at the public expense, 
according to a vote of parliament. 

PIUS VI. (or Giovanni Angelo Braschi) 
was born at Cesena in 1717. He succeeded 
Pope Clement XIV. in 1 775. When the Em- 
peror Joseph II. decreed that all the religious 
orders in his dominions were free from papal 
jurisdiction, Pius, apprehensive of the conse- 
quences of such a measure, went in person to 
Vienna in 1782 ; but though he was honorably 
received, his remonstrances were ineffectual. 
The French revolution, however, was of more 
serious consequence to the papal see. The 
pope having favored the allies, Bonaparte en- 
tered the ecclesiastical territory, and com- 
pelled him to purchase a peace. Bassevillu 
was then sent from the republic to Rome, 
where the people assassinated him in 1793. 
This furnit^hed the pretext for another visita- 
tion, and accordingly Bonaparte again entered 
Italy, made the pope prisoner in his capital, 
and hurried him over the Alps to Valence, 
where he died, Aug. 29th, 1799. 

PIUS VII. (Gkegorio Luigi Barnaba Chi- 
ARAMONTi) was also a native of Cesena., and 
born in 1740. He succeeded Pius VI. in the 
papacy. He went to Paris to crown Napoleon 
emperor, and was under his power till the 
restoration of the Bourbons. He died Aug. 
20th, 1823. 

PIZARRO, Francisco, the conqueror of 
Peru, was the illegitimate son of a Spanish 
colonel, and was born at Truxillo, 1471. He 
embarked for America as a soldier, and served 
in many perilous adventures. In 1524, he asso- 
ciated at Panama with Diego de Almagro, and 
Hernandez Lucquc, a priest, in an enterprise 
to make discoveries. In this voyage they fell 
in with the coast of Peru, but being too few 
to make any attempt at a settlement, Pizarro 



PIZ 



646 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



returned to Spain, where all that he gained 
was a power from the court to prosecute his 
object. However, having raised some money, 
he was enabled again, in 1531, to visit Peru, 
where a civil war was then raging between 
the Inca Huasca, the legitimate monarch, and 
his half-brother Atahualpa. The invading 
force did not exceed 110 foot soldiers, 67 
horsemen, and two small pieces of artillery. 
Pizarro, by pretending to take the part of the 
latter, was permitted to march into the inte- 
rior, where he made the unsuspecting chief 
his prisoner, and exacted an immense ransom. 
Soon after, Pizarro murdered the unfortunate 
Atahualpa, by burning him at a stake. In 
1535 the conqueror laid the foundation of 
Lima. In 1537 a contest arose between him 
and Almagro, who was defeated and executed. 
The son and friends of Almagro, however 
avenged his death, and June 26th, 1541, 
Pizarro was assassinated in his palace. 

PLAGUE. In early times dreadful pesti- 
lences .often prevailed, which are known in 
history by the general name of plague. 

The first recorded general plague in all 
parts of the world occurred 767 b.c. At Car- 
thage a plague was so terrible that people 
sacrificed their children to appease the gods, 
534 B.C. At Rome prevailed a desolating 
plague, carrying off a hundred thousand per- 
sons in and round the city, 461 B.C. At 
Athens, whence it spread into Egypt and 
Ethiopia, and caused an awful devastation, 
430 B.C. Another, which raged in the Greek 
islands, Egypt, and Syria, and destroyed 2,000 
persons every day, 188 b.c. 

At Rome, a most awful plague; 10,000 persons 
perish daily, a.d. 78. 

The same fatal disease again ravaged the Roman 
empire, a.d. 167. 

In Britaia a plague raged so formidably, and 
swept away such muhitudes, that the living 
were scarcely sufficient to bury the dead, a.d. 
430. 

A dreadful one began in Europe in 558, extended 
all over Asia and Africa, and it is said did not 
cease for many years. 

At Constantinople, when 200,000 of its inhabit- 
ants perished, a.d. 7-46. This plague raged for 
three years, and was equally fatal in Calabria, 
Sicily, and Greece. 

At Chichester in England, an epidemical disease 
carried off 34,000 persons, a.d. 772. 

In Scotland, 40,000 persons perished of a pesti- 
lence, A.D. 954. 

In London, a great mortaUty, a.d. 1094; and in 
Ireland, 1095. 



Again in London: it extended to cattle, fowls, 
and other domestic animals, 1111. 

In Ireland: after Christmas this year, Henry II. 
was forced to quit the country, 1172. 

Again in Ireland, when a prodigious number per- 
ished, 1204. 

A general plague raged throughout Europe, caus- 
ing a most extensive mortality. Britain and 
Ireland suffered grievously. In London alone, 
2u0 persons were buried daily in the Charter- 
house-yard. 

In Paris and London a dreadful mortality pre- 
vailed in 1362 and 1367; and in Ireland in 
1370. 

A great pestilence in Ireland, called the Fourth, 
destroyed a great number of the people, 1383. 

30,000 persons perished of a dreadful pestilence 
in London, 1407. 

Again in Ireland, superinduced by a famine; 
great numbers died 1466; and Dublin was 
wasted by a plague, 1470. 

An awful pestilence at Oxford, 1471 ; and through- 
out England a plague which destroyed more 
people than the continual wars for the fifteen 
preceding years, 1478. 

The awful Sudor Anglicus, or sweating sickness, 
very fatal at London, 1485. 

The plague at London, so dreadful that Henry 
VII. and his court removed to Calais, 1500. 

Again, the sweating sickness (mortal in three 
hours). In most of the capital towns in Eng- 
land half the inhabitants died, and Oxford was 
depopulated, 9 Hen. VIII., 1517. 

Limerick was visited by a plague, when many 
thousands perished, 1522. 

A pestilence throughout Ireland, 1525; and the 
English sweat, 1528; and a pestilence in Dub- 
lin, 1575. 

30,578 persons perished of the plague in London 
alone, 160.3-1604. It was also fata! in Ireland. 

200,000 perished of a pestilence at Constantino- 
ple, in 1611. 

In London, a great mortality prevailed, and 35,417 
persons perished, 1625. 

In France, a general mortality ; at Lyons 60,000 
persons died, 1632. 

The plague, brought from Sardinia to Naples 
(being introduced by a transport with soldiers 
on board), raged with such violence as to carry 
off 400,000 of the inhabitants in six months, 
1656. 

Memorable plague, which carried off 68,596 per- 
sons in London, 1665. [/See below.'\ Fires 
were kept up night and day to purify the air 
for three days; and it is thought the infection 
was not totally destroyed till the great confla- 
gration of 1666. 

60,000 persons perished of the plague at Mar- 
seilles and neighbourhood, brouglit in a ship 
from the Levant, 1720. 

One of the most awful plagues that ever raged, 
prevailed in Syria, 1760. 

In Persia, a fatal pestilence, which carried off 
80,000 of the inhabitants of Bassora, 1773. 

In Egypt, more than 800,000 persons died of 
plague, 1792. 

In Barbary, 3,000 died daily ; and at Fez 247,000 
perished, 1799. 



PLA 



i 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



647 



In Spain and at Gibraltar, immense numbers were 
carried off by a pestilent disease in 1804 and 
1805. 

Again, at Gibraltar, an epidemic fever, much re- 
sembling the plague, caused great mortality, 
1828. 

The Asiatic cholera made its first appearance in 
England, at Sunderland, Oct. 26th, 1831; in 
Scotland, at Haddington, Dec. 2.3d, same year; 
and in Ireland, at Belfast, March 14th, 1832. 

The cholera again visited England, 1848 and 1S49. 

The awful and memoi'able scourge called 
the Great Plague in London, commenced in 
December, 1604. In the months of May, 
June, and July, it had continued with great 
severity; but in August and September it 
quickened into dreadful activity, sweeping 
away 8,000 persons in a week. Then it was 
that the whole British nation wept for the 
sufferings of the metropolis. In some houses 
carcasses lay waiting for burial ; and in others, 
persons were seen doubled up in their last 
agonies. In one room were heard dying 
groans ; and in the next, the ravings of delir- 
ium mingled with the wailings of relatives 
and friends, and the apprehensive shrieks of 
children. Infants passed at once from the 
womb to the grave. The yet healthy child 
hung upon the putrid breast of a dead mother ; 
and the nuptial bed was changed into a sep- 
ulchre. Some of the infected ran about stag- 
gering like drunken men, and fell and expired 
in the streets ; while others calmly laid them- 
selves down, never to rise but at the call of 
the last trumpet At length, in the middle 
of September, more than 12,000 perished in 
one week; in one night 4,000 died; and in 
the whole, not 68,000, as has been stated, but 
100,000, perished of this plague. 

The hearses were but dead-carts which con- 
tinually traversed the streets, while the ap- 
palling cry, '■'■ Bring out your dead,''^ thrilled 
tjirough every soul. Then it was that parents, 
husbands, wives, and children saw all those 
that were dear to them thrown with a pitch- 
fork into a cart, like the oflfal of the slaughter- 
house, to be conveyed without the walls, and 
flung into one promiscuous heap, without the 
rites of sepulture, without a cofiin, and with- 
out a shroud! Some graves were dug so 
large as to hold a thousand bodies each ; and 
into these huge holes, the living, wrapt in 
blankets and rags, threw themselves among 
the dead, in their agonies and delirium. They 
were often found in this state hugging the 



flesh of their kindred that had not quite per- 
ished. People, in the intolerable torment of 
their swellings, ran wild and mad, laying 
violent hands upon themselves; and even 
mothers in their lunacy murdered their own 
children. When the carts were insufficient 
for their office, the houses and streets were 
rendered tenfold more pestilential by the un- 
buried dead. — Defoe. 

PL ANETS. The planet Jupiter was known 
as a planet to the Chinese and the Chaldeans ; 
to the former, it is said, 3000 B.C. ; and cor- 
rectly inserted in a chart of the heavens, made 
about 600 B.C. and in which 1,460 stars are 
accurately described ; this chart is said to be 
in the imperial library at Paris. The satel- 
lites of Jupiter were discovered by Galileo, 
A.D. 1610 ; but Janssen, it is affirmed, claimed 
some acquaintance with them about twenty 
years before. We have now eleven primary 
planets, viz. : Mercury, Venus, the Earth, 
Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Georgium Sidus, 
Ceres, Pallas, Juno, and Vesta; and more 
than thirty secondary planets, or small plan- 
ets belonging to our solar system. The fol- 
lowing is a list of the late discoveries : — 

Georgium Sidus, called also Herschel and Ura- 
nus ; discovered by Herschel, March 13th, 
1781. 

Neptune, discovered (in consequence of the cal- 
culations of Le Verrier and Adams) Sept. 23d, 
1846, by Dr. Galle at Berlin. 

MINOR PLANETS. 

Ceres, discovered by Piazzi, Jan. 1st, 1801. This 
planet is visible to the naked eye. 

Pallas, discovered at Bremen, by Olbers, March 
29th, 1802. 

Juno, discovered by Harding, Sept., 1st, 1804. 

Vesta, discovered by Olbers (his second discov- 
ery), March 29th, 1807. 

Astraa, Dec. 8th, 1845, by K. C. Hencke. 

Hebe, July 1st, 1847, by K. C. Hencke. 

Iris, Aug. 13th, 1847, by J. R. Hind. 

Flora, Oct. 18th, 1847, by J. R. Hind. 

Metis, Apr. 26th, 1848, by A. Graham. 

Hygeia, Apr. 12th, 1849, by A. de Gasparis. 

Parthejiope, May 11th, 1850, by A. de Gasparis. 

Victoria, Sept. 13th, 1850, by J. R. Hind. 

Egeria, Nov. 2d, 1850, by A. de Gasparis. 

Irene, May 19th, 1851, by J. R. Hind. 

Eunomia, July 29th, 1851, by A. de Gasparis. 

Psyche, March 17 th, 1852, by A. de Gasparis. 

Thetis, Apr. 17th, 1852, by R. Luther. 

Melpomene, June 24th, 1852, by J. R. Hind. 

Fortuna, Aug. 22d, 1852, by J. R. Hind. 

Massilia, Sept. 19th, 1852, by A. de Gasparis. 

Lutetia, Nov. 15th, 1852,. by H. Goldschmidt. 

Calliope, Nov. 16th, 1852, by J. R. Hind. 

Thalia, Dec. 15th, 1852, by J. R. Hind. 



PLA 



6i8 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Themis, Apr. 6th, 1853, by A. de Gasparis. 
Phocea, Apr. 6th, 1853, by M. Chacornac. 
Proserpine, Mav oth, 1853, by R. Luther. 
Euterpe, Nov. 8th, 1858, by J. R. Hind. 
Bellona, March 1st, 1854, by R. Luther. 
Amphitrite, March 1st, 1854, by Mr. Marth. 
Urania, July 22d, 1854, by J. R. Hind. 
Enphrosipie, Sept. 1st, 1854, by Mr. Ferguson. 
Pomona, Oct. 2i3th, 1854, by H. Goldschmidt. 
Polyhymnia, Oct. 28th, 1854, by M. Chacornac. 
Circe, Apr. 6th, 1855, by M. Chacornac. 
Leucothea, Apr. 19th, 1855, by R. Luther. 
Fides, Oct. 5th, 1855, by R. Luther. 
Atalanfa, Oct. 5th, 1855, by H. Goldschmidt. 
Leda, Jan. 12th, 1856, by M. Chacornac. 
Lcetitia, Feb. 8th, 1856, by M. Chacornac. 
Harmonia, March 31st, 1856, by H. Goldschmidt. 
Daphne, May 22d, 1856, by H. Goldschmidt. 
his. May 23d, 1856, by Norman Pogson. 
Ariadne, Apr. 15th, 1857, by Norman Pogson. 

, May 27th, 1857, by H. Goldschmidt. 

Eugenia, June 28th, 1857, by H. Goldschmidt. 
Hesta, Aug. 16th, 1857, by Norman Pogson. 

, Sept. 15th, 1857, "by Dr. Luther. 

Pales, Sept. 19th, 1857, by^H. Goldschmidt. 
Boris, Sept. 19th, 1857, by H. Goldschmidt. 
Virginia, Oct. 5th, 1857, by Mr. Ferguson. 

, January, 1858, at Nismes. 

, Feb. 4th, 1858, by H. Goldschmidt. 

PLANTAGENET, House of, a race of 
fourteen English kings, from Henry II. to 
Richard III. The first called Plantagenet 
was Fulke Martel, Earl of Anjou, in the tenth 
century. That noble having contrived the 
death of his nephew, the Earl of Brittany, 
in order to succeed to that earldom, his con- 
fessor sent hi'ra, in atonement for the murder, 
to Jerusalem, attended by only two servants, 
one of whom was to lead him by a halter to 
the holy sepulchre, the other to strip and 
whip him there, like a common malefoctor. 
Broom (in French genet, in Latin genista) 
being the only tough pliant shrub in Pales- 
tine, the knightly criminal was smartly 
scourged with it, and from this instrument 
of his chastisement, he (and his descendants 
after him) was called Planta-genista, or Plan- 
tagenet. 

Henry IL, born in 1133, was the son of 
Matilda, daughter of Henry I., and Geoffrey 
Plantagenet, Earl of Anjou. The only son 
of the English monarch having perished at 
sea, Matilda was the heir to the crown, and 
her infant son was invested with the rights 
of both his parents. Upon the death of the 
usurper Stephen in 1154, he ascended the 
throne. He had previously married Eleanor, 
the repudiated queen of Louis VII. of France, 
the heiress of Guienne, Aquitaine, and Poitou 



in her own right. These acquisitions to his 
hereditary domain made him master of the 
larger portion of France, and his possessions 
were far more extensive than those of the 
French king, to whom he owed feudal alle- 
giance. In 1170 he had his son Henry 
crowned King of England. In 1172 he 
reduced Ireland to subjection. During his 
reign great improvement was made in the 
administration of the laws, and England was 
divided into three judicial circuits. The 
king attempted so to limit the ecclesiastical 
jurisdiction, that the clergy should be amen- 
able to the royal tribunals in temporal mat- 
ters, without any appeal to the pope. This 
met strong opposition from Thomas a Becket, 
the Archbishop of Canterbury. The anath- 
emas of the obstinate ecclesiastic exasperated 
Henry into exclaiming, " What an unhappy 
prince am I, who have not about me one 
man of spirit enough to rid me of this inso- 
lent prelate." Four barons who heard 
departed at once for Canterburj'-, where they 
murdered the archbishop before the altar. 
The superstitious horror aroused by this 
bloody sacrilege, and the fear of excommuni- 
cation, forced Henry into unconditional sub- 
mission to the pope, and for the intemperate 
speech which had instigated the assassina- 
tion, he atoned by a vow to serve three years 
against the infidels in Palestine, should the 
pope demand it. Afterward, when his sons 
were armed against him, he trudged bare- 
foot to the tomb of Becket, fasted and prayed 
all day, watched all night, and bared his 
shoulders that the monks might scourge him. 
A great victory obtained by his army over 
the Scots that day was considered a sure 
token that Heaven and the murdered Becket 
accepted his penitence. The jealousy of 
Queen Eleanor against Henry's ftimous mis- 
tress the Fair Rosamond, and the unnatural 
rebellions of his sons, troubled the last years 
of Henry's reign, and embittered his closing 
days. He died at the castle of Chinon in 
Normandy, July 6th, 1189, in the thirty- 
fifth year of a reign wherein he had displayed 
great wisdom and bravery. Two of his sons 
(Henry and GeofTre}') had died during his 
lifetime ; the other two successively held the 
sceptre. 

RicnARD I., born at Oxford in 1157, suc- 
ceeded the father whom his haughty, rebel- 



PLA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



649 



lious conduct had helped to lay in the grave. 
Martial enthusiasm led him to join the cru- 
sade against Saladin. Pledges were inter- 
changed between him and Philip Augustus 
of France, that neither should invade the 
other's kingdom while the holy expedition 
lasted. The French and English forces ren- 
dezvoused before Messina, in the latter part 
of the year, and took that city from the Sara- 
cens. Then took place the romantic episode 
of Richard's expedition against Cyprus, and 
his marriage with Berengera, daughter of the 
King of Navarre. At last, in the summer 
of 1191, Richard arrived before St. Jean d' 
Acre, whose walls the crusaders had now 
beleaguered for two weary years. Freder- 
ick Barbarossa, the Emperor of Germany, 
had been drowned in the previous year, and 
the vacant leadership was assumed by the 
English monarch. The vigor with which he 
entered into the siege effected the downfall 
of the Saracenic stronghold and aroused the 
envy of the French sovereign, who soon 
after set out for home, maddened by the 
exploits of his rival. The prowess of Rich- 
ard gained him the surname of Cfetw de Lion 
(the lion-hearted). Gaining the great battle 
of Ascalon over Saladin, he burned to press 
forward to the capture of Jerusalem. Bick- 
erings among the Christian leaders prevented 
this glorious consummation of his successes, 
and news of the perfidy of his brother John 
and Philip of France, induced him to con- 
clude a truce with Saladin and voyage home 
in the autumn of 1192. Shipwrecked on the 
coast of Italy, he disguised himself as a pil- 
grim, and set out for England by land. Near 
Vienna the itinerant king was discovered and 
imprisoned by Leopold, Duke of Austria, 
in revenge both for Richard's capture of the 
King of Cyprus, Leopold's brother-in-law, 
and for the contempt Richard had shown for 
the Austrian banner at Acre. The place of 
Richard's captivity was carefully concealed, 
and his fate was long in doubt. The story 
of his release is romantic. Blondel, a min- 
strel, who had been his servant and friend, 
wandered through Palestine and Germany in 
search of his royal master. Placing himself 
beneath a grated window of the castle of 
Lowestein, and singing one of the lays which 
he had formerly taught the king, he but just 
completed the first stanza, when, to his great 



delight, he heard the voice of Richard, re- 
plying in the same strain. He received the 
name of the faithful Blondel. Richard was 
ransomed by his subjects for a hundred thou- 
sand marks (about $2,000,000), having lain 
two years in bondage. John, who had as- 
sumed the crown in his absence, was advised 
of his return by Philip Augustus, with the 
pithy warning to "take care of himself, for 
the devil had broke loose." Richard's re- 
venge, however, was bestowed upon Philip, 
and for the remainder of his life war sub- 
sisted between France and England. In the 
battle of Gisors, in 1198, Richard gave Dieu 
et mon droit ("God and, my right") to his 
army as the parole of the day, and so signal 
was his success in the contest that he made 
the watchword the motto of the royal arms 
of England, in which it has ever since been 
retained. A truce with France the next year, 
Richard occupied in quarreling with his vas- 
sal Vidomar, Count of Limoges, who having 
found a treasure, sent only a part to the king 
as his feudal superior, whereas the king 
claimed all. Coeur de Lion invested the 
count's castle of Chaluz, and haughtily refus- 
ing all overtures, threatened to hang the 
whole garrison. While reconnoitering the 
fortress, he was shot in the shoulder with an 
arrow by a crossbowman, named Bertrand de 
Gourdon. The wound proved mortal, and 
Richard expired in the tenth year of his 
I'eign, April 16th, 1199. Before he died the 
castle was taken, and he magnanimously 
ordered that Gourdon should go unharmed. 
On the contrary the hapless man was flayed 
alive, and then hung. Richard, in his love 
for war, had paid but little heed to the welfare 
or concerns of England. His violence and 
cruelty were mantled by his intrepid courage 
and the deeds in arms whose renown spread 
through Asia as well as Europe. Arabian 
chroniclers recorded with unwilling admira- 
tion the fall of Acre, the defense of Joppa, 
and the victorious march to Ascalon; and 
Arabian mothers long awed their infants to 
silence with the name of the lion-hearted 
Plantagenet. 

Coeur de Lion dying without issue, his 
brother John ascended the throne he had 
before usurped. The new king was then in 
the thirty-fourth year of life. Although he 
had been his father's favorite son, he had 



PLA 



650 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



none of the qualities which had rendered 
the royal Plantagenets illustrious. In the 
place of his father's wisdom, John was cursed 
with weakness. While he was as cruel and 
violent as his brother, the daring which had 
gained Richard the name of the lion-hearted 
was contrasted in John by a cowardice and 
an irresolution that brought him misfortune 
and the name of Lackland. Arthur of Brit- 
tany, son of John's deceased brother Geoffrey, 
laid claim to the crown. The youthful aspi- 
rant was captured and murdered, but the 
revolt ended in the loss of Normandy to 
England. John having resisted the pope's 
nomination of Stephen Langton to the see of 
Canterbury, sentence of excommunication 
was pronounced against him ; the kingdom 
was placed under an interdict, and given by 
the offended pope to Philip of France. John 
advanced to Dover with sixty thousand men, 
to meet the French king, who was preparing 
an army to take possession of England. In 
this posture of affairs, the pope, whose high 
authority in temporal as well spiritual con- 
cerns was considered to be then almost om- 
nipotent, intimated to John, by his legate, 
that there was but one way to secure himself 
from the threatened danger ; which was to 
put himself entirely under the papal protec- 
tion, and to perform whatever the pope should 
command. John, accordingly, resigned his 
crown and dominions to Innocent III., get- 
ting in return absolution for the murder of 
his nephew Arthur; and having, in a full 
assembly of clergy and nobles, submitted to 
the humiliation of receiving them again from 
the papal legate, he paid homage for them, 
and took an oath upon his knees, with his 
hands raised between those of the legate, 
to hold them as the pope's vassal, under a 
yearly tribute of a thousand marks. By 
this scandalous concession, John once more 
averted the threatened blow; but he had 
now incurred the detestation of his subjects. 
The barons and bishops, incensed at such 
indignity and roused by his exactions, con- 
federated against him, rose in arms, and on 
the field of Runnymede, June 19th, 1215, 
forced him to sign that famous bulwark of 
English liberty, the Magna Gharta. John, 
however, refused to be governed by this 
charter. This produced a second civil war, 
in which the barons had recourse to the 



King of France for assistance. John directed 
his route toward Lincolnshire with an army, 
but being obliged to keep close to the sea- 
shore, and not being apprised of the influx 
of the tide at a particular place, he lost all 
his carriages, treasure, and baggage. Grief 
for the loss he had sustained, threw him into 
a fever, of which he died at Newark, in the 
fifty-first year of his age, and the eighteenth 
of his detested reign, Oct. 18th, 1216. 

It is noticeable that the use of the plural 
pronoun we, now the style royal of all mon- 
archs as well as editors, was begun by John. 
Before his time sovereigns had used the sin- 
gular person in all their edicts. 

Henky III. was a lad of ten years at the 
decease of his father; he was crowned at 
Gloucester, Oct. 28th, 1216, and married 
Eleanor, daughter of the Count of Provence, 
Jan. 14th, 1236. His long reign was favora- 
ble to the growth of liberty, although the 
kingdom was in a disturbed condition. His 
extravagant profuseness to favorites, and the 
exactions of the priesthood, drove the people 
to rebel and seize upon the person of the 
king. He was rescued by the bravery of 
Prince Edward, regained his power, and died 
at Westminster, Nov. 16th, 1272. 

His chivalrous son, Edward I., had won 
great warlike reputation, both in the civil con- 
tests at home and in Palestine, and to this he 
added during his reign. He subjugated the 
hitherto independent principality of Wales, in 
1282. He promised the conquered Welsh a 
countryman of their own to rule over them. 
His queen was brought to bed at Caernarvon, 
and the wily king presented the son to whom 
she gave birth, to the subjugated chieftains as 
their future prince. This prince, by the 
death of his elder brother, afterward became 
king of England ; and since that time the 
heir apparent to the English throne has 
borne the title of Prince of AVales. When 
the quarrel for the Scottish crown broke out 
between Robert Bruce and John Baliol, Ed- 
ward, being chosen umpire, decided in favor 
of the latter, who was ready to do him hom- 
age as a vassal. The Scots, proud of their 
independence, were aroused by the Norman 
tyranny ; they bared the sword, and led by 
heroic champions like Wallace, fought many 
a battle now of renown in song and legend. 
Blood drenched the border; Wallace was 



PLA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



651 



taken prisoner and hanged at London ; the 
stone on which for ages the Scottish kings 
had been crowned at Scone was brought to 
Westminster Abbey, where it still remains ; 
Edward's victorious host marched through 
the Lowlands of Scotland ; and yet the Scots 
held out. Robert Bruce, the grandson of 
Baliol's competitor, obtained the crown after 
many vicissitudes. Edward L died July 7th, 
1307, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. He 
was about to invade Scotland anew, and his 
last words to his son were that the war 
might be earnestly waged. 

Edwakd IL, however, could neither win 
conquests abroad nor keep order at home. 
The barons repeatedly rose in arms against 
him, killing his obnoxious favorites, Piers 
Gaveston and Hugh Spencer. Edward had 
wedded in 1308, Isabella, daughter of the 
King of France. The queen deserted her 
husband, invaded his realm with a foreign 
force, and aided by her paramour, Roger 
Mortimer, Earl of March, thrust him from 
the throne in 1327. After several months of 
close imprisonment at Kenilworth, he was 
inhumanly murdered in Berkeley Castle the 
September following. This atrocity was 
avenged by his energetic son, Edward IH., 
who was at once proclaimed king, being in 
his fourteenth year. Mortimer was gibbeted, 
and the queen immured for life. 

The reign of the third Edward was glo- 
rious in vigor and renown. He withstood 
the encroachments of the pope, profiting by 
the advice of an Oxford professor, John 
WicklifFe. The wars which he and his great 
son, the Black Prince, waged with France, 
crowned the English arms with success. 
Calais was reduced, and the memorable fields 
of Cressy and Poitiers were won. The king 
renewed the war of his grandfather with 
Scotland, raising Edward Baliol to a tribu- 
tary throne, and imprisoning David Bruce. 
Two kings were at one time captives at the 
English court, David of Scotland and John 
of France. The Black Prince did not sur- 
vive to reach the throne which his stout arm 
and heroic heart had defended and magnified. 
He died in 1376 ; his father followed him 
the next year. 

The eldest son of the Black Prince reigned 
as- Richard IL During his minority of 
eleven years, his imcles the Dukes of Lan- 



caster and Gloucester ruled as regents. The 
line of the Plantagenets thus far is curiously 
chequered ; first an able king, then a weak 
one. The reign of the feeble and irresolute 
Richard was harassed by domestic troubles, 
and ended with his dethronement in 1399, 
by his cousin Henry, son of John of Gaunt, 
the Duke of Lancaster. The fallen mon- 
arch perished in Pomfret Castle. Henry IV. 
was the first king of the Lancaster branch, 
and his unlawful seizure of the crown en- 
tailed upon England in after years the wars 
of the roses. Various rebellions against his 
power he quelled; among others that of 
Northumberland and Hotspur. To gain for 
himself and family the good will of the Ro- 
mish priesthood, he persecuted the disciples 
of WicklifFe, called Lollards, and his reign 
is blackened by the first martyrdom in Eng- 
land for religion. At his death in 1443, he 
left the house of Lancaster firmly seated on 
the throne, and its power was still increased 
by his valiant son, Henry V., the Prince 
Hal of Shakspeare. His victory over the 
French at Agincourt revived the ancient 
glories of Cressy and Poitiers. He pushed 
his conquests in France, till he wedded the 
Princess Catherine, was made regent of the 
kingdom, and was declared the heir of the 
insane Charles VL Just as he had reached 
this summit of power, death leveled him to 
the dust. In the same year died the crazy 
Charles, and the infant Henky VI. was pro- 
claimed king of both England and France, 
his uncle the Duke of Bedford, acting as 
regent. But this sixth Henry was more un- 
fortunate than his father had been successful. 
Inspirited by Joan of Arc, the French wrested 
from him all his possessions in France except 
Calais, and the Enghsh crown was snatched 
from him by the house of York. This was 
the commencement of the intestine wars by 
which England was so long wasted. The 
partisans of the faction of Lancaster chose the 
red rose as their symbol ; those of York, the 
white rose ; and the contest thus came to be 
known as the war of the Roses. Henry VL 
was the great-grandson of John of Gaunt, 
the third son of Edward IJL Richard, Duke 
of York, grandson of Lionel, the second son 
of Edward III., asserted his better claim to 
the crown. Margaret of Anjou, Henry's 
queen, a woman of great strength of char- 



FLA 



652 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



acter, compensated for her spouse's inefH- 
ciency. The sun of success shone now upon 
the red rose, and now upon the white. 
Richard was captured by the forces of Mar- 
garet, who mocked his gory head with a 
paper crown, and set it on the battlements of 
York. 

Edward IV., his son, was proclaimed king 
in 14G0, after winning the bloody field of 
Towton. The stout Earl of Warwick, who 
had aided to raise him to the throne, hurled 
him down in 1470, and Henry VI. was re- 
stored. Edward finally established himself 
on the throne, after Henry, who had four 
times exchanged the throne for a dungeon, 
had ended his miserable existence in the 
Tower, Margaret had fled, and their boy met 
a cruel death. Edward IV., died April 9th, 
1483, leaving two infant princes, the oldest 
of whom was proclaimed as Edward V., 
his uncle Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, 
being made protector. This protectorate 
ended with the assumption of royalty by 
Gloucester in the following year, his young 
nephews having been smothered in the 
Tower. Historians are divided concern- 
ing the character of Richard III. Some 
make him out nothing but an ambitious, un- 
scrupulous, and bloodthirsty monster; and 
others contend, that although he was cruel 
and vicious, he was no more so than Ed- 
ward IV. or Henry VII., while the bravery, 
policy, and statesmanship of his short reign 
augured well for what he would have done 
had he gained the day at Bosworth. But 
Richmond was victorious there ; the crown 
of Richard was found in a hawthorn bush on 
the plain where the fight was waged ; and so 
impatient was the victor to be crowned, that 
he had the ceremony performed on the spot 
with that very crown. Thus, on the 22d of 
August, 1485, the throne was forever lost to 
the Plantagenet race. Thus, too, were ended 
the civil wars, in which many of the most 
ancient families in the land had been extin- 
guished, and in which no less than a hund- 
red thousand human beings had lost their 
lives. Plantagenets had sat on the throne 
for more than three hundred years: there 
had been fourteen kings of the dj'nasty ; 
seven of them were deposed, and five lost 
their lives as well as their crowns. 

PLASSEY, Battle of, June 23d, 1757, 



fought between Lord Clive with little more 
than 3,000 British, and .Surajah Dowlah with 
70,000 Hindoos. The victory laid the corner- 
stone of the British empire in India. 

PLATiEA, a town of Boeotia, near Mount 
Cithaeron, on the confines of Megaris and 
Attica, celebrated for a battle fought there, 
between Mardonius, the commander of the 
army of Xerxes, King of Persia, and Pausa- 
nias the Laccdasmonian and the Atlienians. 
The Persian army consisted of 800,000 men, 
8,000 of whom scarce escaped with their 
lives by flight. The Grecian army, which 
was about 110,000, lost but few men; and 
among these, ninety-one Spartans, fifty-two 
Athenians, and sixteen Tegeans, were the 
only soldiers found in the number of the 
slain. The plunder which the Greeks ob- 
tained in the Persian camp was immense. 
Pausanias received the tenth of all the spoils, 
on account of his uncommon valor during the 
engagement, and the rest were rewarded each 
according to their respective merit. This 
battle was fought on the 22d of September, 
the same day as the battle of Mycale, b.c. 
479, and by it Greece was delivered from the 
continual alarms to which she was exposed 
on account of the Persian invasions, for from 
that time none of the princes of Persia dared 
to appear with a hostile force beyond the 
Hellespont. Plataea was taken by the Lace- 
daemonians, after a famous siege, in the 
beginning of the Peloponnesian war, and 
afterward destroyed by the Thebans, b.c. 427. 
Alexander rebuilt it, and paid great encomi- 
ums to the inhabitants, on account of their 
ancestors, who had so bravely fought against 
the Persians at the battle of Marathon, and 
under Pausanias. 

PLATO was a disciple of Socrates. After 
the death of his master he traveled and stud- 
ied in Egypt. Upon his return to Athens 
he set up his school in a grove called the 
Academy. He visited Sicily several times. 
The elder Dionysius, offended at his freedom, 
sold him as a slave. The philosopher was 
ransomed by his friends. His teachings were 
reverenced by the most illustrious of the an- 
cients. He died at Athens in his seventy- 
ninth year, b.c. 488. 

PLATTSBURG, Battle of. On the 11th 
of September, 1814, Plattsburg, N. Y., was 
the scene of an important conflict between 



PLA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



653 



the Americans and British forces, both on 
the land and on the water, in which the 
Americans were victorious. The land forces 
of the enemy, consisting of about 14,000 
men, were led on to the attack by Sir George 
Prevost, and were successfully repulsed by 
about 3,000 men, under the command of 
General Macomb. The engagement on the 
lake was between Commodore McDonough, 
of the American navy, and Commodore 
Downie, of the British. The fleet under 
McDonough carried 86 guns and 820 men, 
and the British fleet 95 guns and 1050 men. 
The action lasted, without any cessation, on 
a smooth sea, at close quarters, two hours 
and twenty minutes, in full view of both the 
armies fighting on land. The fortune of the 
day was in a great measure decided by the 
issue on the lake. When the British army 
saw their fleet completely conquered, they 
were at once dispirited, and commenced their 
retreat. Their loss in the mean time had 
been more than six times as great as that 
of the Americans. Among the slain in the 
naval engagement was the British command- 
ant, Commodore Downie, who was a brave 
and skillful ofiicer. The fact is stated as 
showing the frame of mind in which the 
brave McDonough entered the battle, and in 
whom he put his trust for success, that, 
"after the enemy's fleet hove in sight, the 
men of his ship were assembled on the quar- 
ter deck, when he kneeled down, and, in 
humble and fervent prayer, commended him- 
self, his men, and the cause in which they 
were engaged, to the God of battles." 

PLAYFAIR, John, born in Scotland, 1749, 
professor of mathematics and natural philoso- 
phy at Edinburgh, died in 1819. 

PLINY, the Elder, after Aristotle the most 
learned of ancient writers in natural philoso- 
phy and history, was born at the modern 
Como, A.D. 23. His love of science cost him 
his life in the year 79. During the great erup- 
tion of Vesuvius by which Pompeii and Her- 
culaneum were overwhelmed, his desire to 
save the poor people threatened by the burn- 
ing torrents, and also to witness the awful 
spectacle, led him to sail too near the coast, 
and he was suffocated by the smoke and 
ashes. 

PLINY, the Younger, a nephew and 
adopted son of the foregoing, and distin- 



guished as a Roman orator, historian, and 
statesman, was born a.d. 62, and died in 116. 
He was a pro-consul in Bithynia in the reign 
of Trajan. 

PLUTARCH, the philosopher and histo- 
rian, born in Boeotia, died a.d. 120, aged 
seventy. 

POCAHONTAS, an Indian princess, cele- 
brated in the annals of Virginia, married Mr. 
Rolfe, and from them descended families in 
Virginia: she died in England in 1616. 

POET LAUREATE. The origin of this 
appointment is not known. It is said to be 
peculiar to England. In the reign of Henry 
III. there was a 'king's versifier,' to whom 
was -paid an annual stipend of one hundred 
sfcillings. It is said that the first mention 
of a Poet Laureate occurs in the reign of Ed- 
ward IV., when John Kay was laureate. 
Andrew Bernard was laureate in the time of 
Henry VII., and John Skelton in the succeed- 
ing reign. The following poets and versifi- 
ers have since held the post. Edmund 
Spenser, died 1598 ; Samuel Daniel, died 
1619; Ben Jonson, died Aug. 6th, 1637; Sir 
William Davenant, died Apr. 7th, 1668; 
John Dryden, dismissed as a papist, 1688; 
Thomas Shadwell, died December, 1692; 
Nahum Tate, died Aug. 12th, 1715 ; Nicholas 
Rowe, died Dec. 6th, 1718; Rev. Lawrence 
Eusden, died 1730 ; Colley Gibber, died 1757; 
William Whitehead (appointed on the refusal 
of Gray), died Apr. 14th, 1785; Rev. Thomas 
Warton, D. D., died May 21st, 1790; Henry 
James Pye, died 1813 ; Robert Southey, died 
Mar. 21st, 1843; William Wordsworth, died 
Apr. 23d, 1850 ; Alfred Tennyson. 

James I. granted the Laureate a yearly 
pension of a hundred marks. Charles I. in- 
creased the stipend to £100, and added a 
tierce of Spanish wine. Southey commuted 
the tierce for £27 a year. 

James II., when he came to the throne, 
ordered, with characteristic parsimony, that 
the annual butt of sack originally granted to 
Jonson, and continued to Rare Ben's suc- 
cessors, should be omitted. But when Dry- 
den, then the laureate, became a Catholic, 
James granted him a pension of a hundred 
pounds a year. 

POITIERS, anciently Pictavi, a town of 
France, now capital of the department of the 
Vienne, containing 26,000 inhabitants. It is 



POI 



654 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



memorable for a battle between the English 
under Edward the Black Prince, and the 
French under John II., fought here Sept. 
19th, 1356. The van of the English army 
(which consisted altogether of only 8,000 
men) was commanded by the Earl of AYar- 
wick ; the rear by the Earls of Salisbury and 
Suffolk ; the main body by the Black Prince 
himself. The first division of John's army 
(which was 50,000 strong) was commanded 
by the Duke of Orleans, the king's brother ; 
the second by the dauphin ; the third by the 
king himself. A French detachment which 
advanced first to the charge was discomfited 
and overthrown ; one of the marshals was slain, 
the other taken prisoner ; and the remainder 
of the detachment fell back, and put ever^ 
thing into disorder. In that critical moment, 
the Captal de Buch unexpectedly appeared 
and attacked the dauphin's line, which fell 
into confusion. Landas, Bodenai, and St. 
Venant now set the example of flight, which 
was followed by that of the whole division. 
The Duke of Orleans, seized with a panic, 
thought no longer of fighting, but carried off 
his division by a retreat which soon after 
turned into a flight. The division under King 
John was still, however, more numerous than 
the whole English army ; and the only resist- 
ance made that day was by his line of battle. 
The Black Prince fell with impetuosity on 
some German cavalry placed in the front ; a 
tierce battle ensued : but the German generals 
falling in the engagement, that body of cavalry 
gave way, and left the king himself exposed 
to the whole fury of the enemy. The king, 
spent with fatigue, and overwhelmed by num- 
bers, might easily have been slain, but every 
English gentleman, ambitious of taking alive 
the royal prisoner, spared him in the action, 
exhorted him to surrender, and offered him 
quarter. Several who attempted to seize him 
suffered for their temerity. In this dilemma 
he cried out, "Where is my cousin, the Prince 
of Wales?" and seemed unwilUng to become 
prisoner to any person of inferior rank ; but 
being told that the prince was at a distance, 
he threw down his gauntlet, and yielded him- 
self, together with his son, to Dennis de Mor- 
bec, a fugitive knight of Arras. The modera- 
tion which Edward displayed on this occasion, 
has forever stamped his character. At a re- 
past which was prepared in his tent for his 



royal prisoner, he served behind his chair, as 
if he had been one of his retinue. He refused 
to seat himself at table with his majesty: 
and John received, when a captive, those 
honors which had been denied him when on 
a throne. 

POLAND, in Polish Polska, a country in 
the northern part of Europe, was formerly of 
vast extent; although now dismembered, a 
part of it retains the ancient name, as an in- 
tegral part of the Russian empire. It is a 
vice-royalty with an area of 49,000 square 
miles, and 4,852,000 inhabitants. [See War- 
saw.] Poland was formerly called the gran- 
ary of Europe ; but this was when its bound- 
aries extended from the Baltic to the Black 
Sea; and when the Ukraine and Lithuania 
were included. At present its limits are so 
circumscribed and its arable surface so indif- 
ferently cultivated, or naturally so infertile, 
that the kingdom of Poland, strictly speaking, 
furnishes little more corn than supplies its 
own population. The immense supplies of 
wheat sent to Dantzic are chiefly from the 
detached provinces of Galicia, united to Aus- 
tria, and from Volhynia and Podolia, now be- 
longing to Russia. 

The climate of Poland, though severe, is 
much less precarious than that of the south 
of Germany or of France. A winter of from 
five to seven months, during the greater part 
of which the ground is covered with snow, is 
succeeded by a rapid spring and warm sum- 
mer; and these are followed by a short, cold, 
wet autumn. The surface of Poland is re- 
markably even; to the traveler passing 
through the country it appears an intermina- 
ble forest. Wheat is raised only in the hilly 
southern region; elsewhere rye, oats, buck- 
wheat, and some barley are cultivated. 
Horses and cattle are of inferior size, but 
rather numerous ; and cattle, as well as hides 
and tallow, are articles of export. Hogs also 
are numerous, and bacon to a considerable 
amount is exported. Sheep and goats are less 
abundant ; the wool is coarse. As much of 
the country is still covered with forests, 
chiefly of pine and fir, timber is an important 
export. Wild animals are numerous, espe- 
cially wolves. 

The early history of Poland is obscure. In 
the year 842 Piastus, a peasant, was chosen 
duke. Under his descendants Poland became 



POL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



655 



a kingdom, and Christianity was introduced armies of the imperial thieves. In 1795 the 



in the latter years of the tenth century. The 
dynasty ended with Casimir the Great in 
1370. He was succeeded by his nephew 
Louis, King of Hungary, who neglected his 
new acquisition, only visiting Poland twice 
during his reign. After his death, 1382, his 
youngest daughter, the beautiful and gracious 
Hedvige, was crowned Queen of Poland. She 
wedded Jagellon, Grand Duke of Lithuania, 
who thereupon renounced his paganism for 
the Christian faith. 

On the death of Sigismuiid, the last of the 
Jagellon family, in 1572, Henry Duke of An- 
jou, and brother to Charles IX. of France, 
was elected to the Polish throne; but the 
death of Charles giving him the French crown, 
he quitted Poland, and was succeeded by Ste- 
phen Bathori. This prince subdued the bar- 
barian Cossacks. 

Poland was often engaged in war, with the 
Swedes or the Muscovites or the Turks. In 
1668 Michael Wiesnowiski was chosen to suc- 
ceed John Casimir as king. The Turks in- 
vaded Poland in great force, but were stoutly 
withstood by brave John Sobieski. On the 
death of Michael in 1673, Sobieski was chosen 
his successor. [See Sobieski.] 

After a glorious reign, Sobieski died ; when 
Frederic Augustus, Elector of Saxony, was 
chosen king, in opposition to the Prince of 
Conti. Augustus was dethroned by Charles 
Xn. of Sweden, who placed on the throne 
Stanislaus ; but Augustus was afterward re- 
established by the Czar of Russia. On his 
death, Stanislaus was chosen king a second 
time ; but through the influence of Germany 
and Russia, his election was annulled; and 
the son of the late king was invested with the 
sovereignty, by the name of Augustus IIL 
At his death, through the intervention of 
Russia, Count Poniatowski was elected king, 
and proclaimed by the title of Stanislaus Au- 
gustus ; but his reign was one continued scene 
of confusion and distress. 

The weak kingdom was elbowed by power- 
ful neighbors. The first partition of Poland, 
in 1772, was planned by Frederick II. of 
Prussia. Russia, Prussia, and Austria, in a 
most unprincipled manner, divided among 
themselves the greater part of this unfortu- 
nate country. The brave Kosciusko and 
Poniatowski struggled vainly against the 



trio completed this great political crime, by 
seizing on the remaining part, and expunging 
Poland from among independent nations. At 
the congress held at Vienna in 1815, part of 
Poland was united to the Russian empire, 
with the preservation of its own constitution ; 
and, on this event, Alexander, Emperor of 
Russia, assumed the title of King of Poland. 
The rule of Russia became less and less lib- 
eral; her determination to crush out the 
nationality of the Poles was more and more 
evident. Smouldering dissatisfaction broke at 
last into the flame of revolt. 

The unhappy struggle for independence, 
with the most powerful empire of Europe, 
aroused the world's .attention. The revolution 
commenced with an insurrection at Warsaw, 
Nov. 29th, 1830. The Polish diet, on the 
24th of January, 1831, declared the indepen- 
dence of their country. The spirit of resist- 
ance was not quelled without a long struggle 
and a horrible effusion of blood on both sides. 
Nicholas severely punished the insurgents 
and their country. Siberia was filled with 
exiled Poles; others, little more fortunate, 
wandered in penury through Europe, or to 
the shores of America. The universities of 
Wilna and Warsaw, whose students had been 
conspicuous in patriotism, were abolished; 
public libraries and museums were carried to 
St. Petersburg; the Polish language was pro- 
hibited; the Catholic religion, long the na- 
tional faith, was assailed and burdened with 
restrictions ; the last vestige of national in- 
dependence was sw^ept off, and Poland was 
declared an integral part of the great Russian 
empire. There was one more attempt for in- 
dependence at Cracow in 1846, soon put down 
by Austria and Russia. 

What a melancholy task is his who seeks 
for the records of Poland on the historical 
tablet for the last fifty years! The nation 
which once carried its conquests as far as 
Dacia, made the divan tremble, and chased 
the flying Spahi beyond the Danube; the 
king who once paternally planned his coun- 
try's weal ; the nobles who once appeared at 
the signal of foreign invasion, clad in brass 
and steel; the peasant who once bared his 
brawny breast and stood in the last rampart 
of his country, — where are their names re- 
corded ? Can we avoid recurring to the past, 



POL 



6:56 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



to that moment which promised to be so pro- 
pitious, when the hopes of the country wore, 
after a long interval of death-like sleep, awak- 
ened, but awakened to slumber again, perhaps 
in eternal sleep ? The giant warrior of Cor- 
sica spread before the Poles a golden vision. 
He mocked Poland with the name of liberty ! 
At the head of his myriad men of war he said 
to the Polish mother, "That son, which is in 
thy cradle, shall be free! Poland shall be 
free ! " Six months passed, and the dome 
which had echoed these words was filled with 
the lances of the Cossacks. 

POLE, Reginald, was a younger son of 
Lord Montacute, cousin of Henry VH. He 
was born at Stourton Castle in Staffordshire, 
1500, and educated at Oxford and in Italy. 
Pole could not stoop to abet the plans and 
deeds of Henry VHL, — not to gain the mitre 
of York. Therefore it was safer that he 
should dwell in Italy, where he rose to be 
cardinal. Higher honors seemed within his 
reach. It was said, that whereas Cardinal 
Wolsey would have been pope if he could. 
Cardinal Pole could have been pope if he 
would. He returned to England, upon the 
accession of Mary, and succeeded the martyred 
Cranmer as Archbishop of Canterbury. For 
the cruel fires that bigotry fed during Mary's 
time, Pole is not responsible. His humanity 
and his inclination toward the Protestant 
doctrines led him to advocate lenient and 
moderate measures. He died the day after 
Mary, Nov. 17th, 1558. 

POLIGNAC, Jules, Prince de, was born in 
1783. He passed through various vicissitudes 
and dangers during the French revolution and 
the empire of Bonaparte, for which he tasted 
his reward after the restoration of the Bour- 
bons. In 1829 he became premier. His policy 
brought on his overthrow and the deposition 
of Charles X. The remainder of his life was 
chiefly spent in exile. He died in 1847. 

POLIGNAC, MELcnioR de, a cardinal, was 
born in 1661, at Puy, in Languedoc. He 
studied at Paris, after which he was employed 
in diplomatic concerns, in which he gave such 
satisfaction as to be rewarded with the pur- 
ple. During the regency he was banished to 
his abbey of Anchin ; but afterward he was 
recalled, and appointed agent for French af- 
fairs at Rome. In 1726 he was made Arch- 
bishop of Auch. He died in 1741. 



POLK, James Knox, the eleventh president 

of the United States, was born Nov. 2d, 1795, 
in Mecklenburg county, North Carolina. The 
name was originally Pollock, and his ances- 
tors came from tha north of Ireland, early in 
the eighteenth century. James was the old- 
est of ten children. His father, a modest 
farmer, removed in 1806 to Tennessee, where 
he was one of the pioneers of the fertile valley 
of Duck River, a branch of the Cumberland ; 
then a wilderness, but now among the most 
populous parts of the state. Two obstacles 
.lay in James's way to knowledge — scanty 
means of instruction, and an organic affection 
from which he did not find relief till after 
years of suffering. Nevertheless he fitted for 
college, and entered the university of North 
Carolina, where he graduated in 1818, sur- 
passing his fellows both in the mathematics 
and the classics. With the same closeness of 
application which had won his collegiate 
honors he devoted himself to the study of law, 
tinder Felix Grundy (a leading lawyer and 
citizen of Tennessee), and commenced practice 
in Maury county in 1820. He was highly 
successful in his profession. After a couple 
of terms in the state legislature, he was picked 
by the Democratic party to represent his dis- 
trict in congress. He took his seat in De- 
cember, 1825, being then thirty years of age. 
He was prominent among the most decided 
Democi'atic members, and in 1835 was made 
speaker, the arduous duties of which station 
he discharged with eminent ability till his re- 
tirement from congress in March, 1839. The 
autumn of that year he was elected governor 
of Tennessee. Being nominated for the office 
of president by the Democratic party in 1844, 
he was elected over his competitor, Mr. Clay, 
and administered the national affairs for four 
years from the 4th of March, 1845. The dis- 
tinguishing measures of his administration 
were the annexation of Texas, the ensuing 
war with Mexico, and the treaty of peace with 
that republic by which California and New 
Mexico were added to our domain. Having 
declined a renomination to the presidency, he 
retired to Nashville, Tennessee. The earthly 
rest which he sought after the severe fatigues 
of his high office, was suddenly cut short. 
Seized by a chronic diarrhea, he suffered a 
few days, and died June 15th, 1849, in the 
fifty-fourth year of his age. Public honors 



POL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



65: 



were paid to his memory throughout the 
Union. His wife survived him, but they had 
no offspring. 

Mr. Polk was of middle stature, with a full, 
angular brow, and a quick, penetrating eye. 
His countenance was grave, though often re- 
lieved by a pleasant smile, betokening the 
amenity of his disposition ; and at the close of 
his official career, he was worn with care. 
He was an intimate personal and political 
friend of Gen. Jackson. 

POLLIO, Caius Asinius, a Roman con- 
sul under the reign of Augustus, who distin- 
guished himself as much by his eloquence 
and writings, as by his exploits in the field. 
He was with Ciesar when he crossed the Ru- 
bicon. He defeated the Dalmatians, and 
favored the cause of Antony against Augus- 
tus. He was greatly esteemed by Augustus, 
when he had become one of his adherents, 
after the ruin of Antony. He died in the 
eightieth year of his age, a.d. 4. 

POLO, Marco, was a Venetian merchant 
of the thirteenth century. Commercial enter- 
prise led his father and uncle to the court of 



Kublai Khan, the great Mongol emperor, and 
Marco accompanied them. He dwelt at the 
Mongol court in China from 1275 to 1292. 
As he enjoyed the eminent favor of the great 
monarch, and was often sent on missions to 
remote pi-inces, he had great advantages for 
becoming acquainted with eastern Asia, then 
an unknown land to Europeans. Kublai 
Khan reluctantly allowed the Poll to return. 
Marco published an account of those distant 
realms, which modern discovery has shown 
to be wonderfully accurate. It materially 
influenced the views of Columbus, and in- 
spired Vasco de Gama to seek his path to 
India. 

POMPADOUR, Jeanne Antoinette Pois- 
soN, Marchioness of Pompadour, the mistress 
of Louis XV., was the daughter of a finan- 
cier, and the wife of M. d'Etioles when she 
attracted the notice of the king, who made 
her a marchioness in 1745. She liberally 
encouraged the arts, and collected a valuable 
cabinet of curiosities. She died in 1764, 
aged forty-four. 




^l^-l. 




TEMPLE OF ISIS AT POMPEII. 



POMPEII This ancient city of Campania 
was partly demolished by an earthquake in 
A.D. 63. It was afterward rebuilt, but was 
swallowed up, like Herculaneum, by an awful 
eruption of Vesuvius, accompanied by an 



42 



earthquake, on the night of the 24th of Au- 
gust, A.D. 79. Many of the principal citizens 
happened at the time to be assembled at a the- 
atre where public spectacles were exhibited. 
The ashes buried the whole city, and covered 



POM 



658 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the surrounding country. After a lapse of 
fifteen centuries, a countryman, as he was 
turning up the ground, accidentally found a 
bronze figure ; and this discovery attracting 
the attention of the learned, further search 
brought numerous productions to light, and 
at length the city was once more shone on by 
the sun. Different monarchs have contrib- 
uted their aid in uncovering the buried city ; 
the part first cleared, a.d. 1750, was sup- 
posed to be the main street. 

POMPEY, Cneius, surnamed the Great, 
from the greatness of his exploits, was the 
son of Cneius Pompeius Strabo and Lucilia, 
and was born B.C. 106. He early distin- 
guished himself in the field of- battle, and 
fought with success and bravery under his 
father, whose courage and military prudence 
he imitated. In the disturbances which agi- 
tated Rome, by the ambition and avarice of 
Marius and Sylla, Pompey followed the inter- 
est of the latter, and by levying three legions 
for his service gained his friendship and his 
protection. In the twenty-sixth year of his 
age, he conquered Sicily, which was in the 
power of Marius .and his adherents, and in 
forty days he regained all the territories of 
Africa which had forsaken the interest of 
Sylla. 

After the death of Sylla, Pompey supported 
himself against the remains of the Marian 
faction, which were headed by Lepidus, and 
afterward by Sertorius in vSpain. He was 
soon made consul, and in that ofiice he re- 
stored the tribunitial power to its original 
dignity ; and in forty days he removed the 
pirates from the Mediterranean, where they 
had reigned for many years, and by their 
continual plunder and audacity almost de- 
stroyed the whole naval power of Ptome. 

"While he extirpated these maritime rob- 
bers, Pompey was called to greater under- 
takings, and empowered to finish the war 
against Mithridates, king of Pontus, and 
Tigranes, king of Armenia. His operations 
against the king of Pontus were bold and 
vigorous ; and in a general engagement the 
Romans so totally defeated the enemy, that 
the Asiatic monarch escaped with difficulty 
from the field of battle. Pompey did not 
lose sight of the advantages which dispatch 
would insure : he entered Armenia, and re- 
ceived the submission of Tigranes. 



Part of Arabia was subdued ; Judea became 
a Roman province; and when he had now 
nothing to fear from Mithridates, who had 
voluntarily destroyed himself, Pompey re- 
turned to Italy with all the pomp and majesty 
of an eastern conqueror. The Romans 
dreaded his approach ; they knew his power, 
and his influence among his troops, and they 
feared the return of another tyrannical Sylla. 
Pompey, however, banished their fears ; he 
disbanded his army, and the conqueror of 
Asia entered Rome like a private citizen. 

Pompey soon after united his interest with 
that of Caesar and Crassus, and formed the 
first triumvirate, all solemnly swearing that 
their attachment should be mutual, their 
cause common, and their union permanent. 
But this powerful confederacy was soon after 
broken ; the sudden death of Julia, the wife 
of Pompey, and daughter of Ca3sar, and the 
total defeat and death of Crassus in Syria by 
the Parthians, shattered the political bands 
which held the jarring interests of Caesar and 
Pompey united. 

Pompey dreaded his father-in-law, and yet 
he affected to despise him ; and, by suffering 
anarchy to prevail in Rome, he convinced 
his fellow-citizens of the necessity of invest- 
ing him with dictatorial power. The ene- 
mies of Cgesar unjustly demanded that he 
should resign the command in Gaul. His 
friends claimed, either that the consulship 
should be given to him, or that he should be 
continued in the government of Gaul. This 
would perhaps have been granted, but Cato 
opposed it. The breach became more wide, 
and a civil war was inevitable. 

Caesar was privately preparing to meet his 
enemies, while Pompey remained indolent, 
and gratified his pride in seeing all Italy cel- 
ebrate his recovery from an indisposition by 
universal rejoicings. But he was soon roused 
from his inactivity ; and it was now time to 
find his friends, if anything could be obtained 
from the caprice and the fickleness of a people 
which he had once delighted and amused by 
the exhibition of games and spectacles in a 
theatre which could contain twenty thousand 
spectators. 

Caesar was near Rome ; he had crossed the 
Rubicon, upon hearing of the hostile meas- 
ures with which the senate threatened him. 
Pompey, who had once boasted that he could 



POM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



659 



raise legions to his assistance by stamping 
with his foot, fled from the city with precipi- 
tation, and retired to Brundusium wath the 
consuls and part of the senators. Ctesar was 
piaster of Rome ; in sixty days all Italy ac- 
knowledged his power, and the conqueror 
hastened to Spain, there to defeat the interest 
of Pompey, and alienate the hearts of his 
soldiers. He was too successful ; and when 
he had gained to his cause the western parts 
of the Roman empire, he crossed Italy, and 
arrived in Greece, whither Pompey had re- 
tired, supported by all the pow:er of the east, 
the wishes of the conservative Romans, and 
a numerous and well-disciplined army. 

Pompey at first met with success ; and 
he might have decided the war if he had con- 
tinued to pursue the enemy while their 
confusion was great, and their escape almost 
impossible. Want of provisions obliged Cge- 
sai* to advance toward Thessaly ; Pompey 
pursued him, and in the plains of Pharsalia 
the two armies engaged. The cavalry of 
Pompey soon gave way, and the general 
retired to his camp overwhelmed with grief 
and shame. But here there was no safety ; 
the conqueror pushed on every side, and 
Pompey disguised himself and fled to the sea- 
coast, whence he passed to Egypt, where he 
hoped to find a safe asylum, till better and 
more favorable moments returned, in the 
court of Ptolemy, a prince whom he had 
once protected and insured on his throne. 
When Ptolemy was told that Pompey claimed 
his protection, he consulted his ministers, and 
had the baseness to betray and deceive him. 
A boat was sent to fetch him on shore ; the 
Roman general left his galley after an affec- 
tionate and tender parting with his wife 
Cornelia. The Egyptian sailors sat in sullen 
silence in the boat ; and when Poinpey disem- 
barked, Achillas and Septimius assassinated 
him. His wife, who had followed him with 
her eyes to the shore, was a spectator of the 
bloody scene ; and she hastened away from 
the bay of Alexandria, not to share his 
miserable fate. He died b.c. 48, in the 
fifty-eighth year of his age, the day after his 
birth-day. 

PONDTCHERRY, a city on the sea-coast 
of the Carnatic in India, since 1672 a French 
colony. Ineffectually besieged by the Brit- 
ish, under Admiral Boscawen, in 1748. In 



1761 it was taken, after a tedious siege and 
blockade, by the English under Colonel 
Coote, when 2,000 Europeans were made 
prisoners, and 5,000 pieces of cannon and 100 
mortars taken. In 1763 it was restored to 
the French. Subsequently it has been sev- 
eral times taken by the British, but in 1814 
it was finally restored to France. Pondi- 
cherry is the principal seat of the French 
power in the East Indies. The population 
of the town and district is 80,000. 

PONIATOWSKI, Joseph, a nephew of 
Stanislaus Augustus, the last king of Poland, 
was born at Warsaw in 1703. He stood by 
the side of Kosciusko in the resistance to the 
dismemberment of his native land. Prince 
Poniatowski commanded the Polish forces 
which joined the army of Napoleon, and par- 
ticipated in the varied campaign of 1812 in 
Russia. After the battle of Leipsic, during 
which Napoleon made him a marshal of the 
empire, he was ordered to cover the retreat. 
The enemy were ahead}' in possession of the 
suburbs, and had thrown light troops over 
the Elster, when Prince Poniatowski ar- 
rived wth a few followers at the river. The 
bridge had already been blown up by the 
French. The brave Pole, wounded as he was, 
spurred his steed into the rapid current, and 
was drowned, Oct. 19th, 1814. His body 
was found on the 24th, and having been 
embalmed, was buried at Warsaw, with all 
the honors of his rank, by order of the Em- 
peror Alexander. 

PONTUS, an ancient kingdom of Asia Mi- 
nor. This country came into subjection to 
Croesus, king of Lydia, about 560 b.c, and 
underwent the revolutions of the Lydian and 
Persian empires till about 300 B.C., when it 
became independent of the Macedonians 
under Mithridates II. It grew very consid- 
erable under Mithridates VI., who extended 
his empire over all Asia Minor, but could not 
retain his conquests against the Romans, be- 
ing defeated successively by Sylla, LucuUus, 
and Pompey. The Roman conquest was 
complete on his death in 63 b.c. Upon the 
taking of Constantinople by the Latins in 
1204, Alexius Comnenus established at Trebi- 
zond, in this country, a new empire of the 
Greeks, which continued till Mohammed II. 
put an end to it in 1459. 

POPES. The title of pope was origin- 



POP 



QoO 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



ally given to all bishops. It was first adopted 
by Hyginus, Bishop of Rome, a. d. 138. Bon- 
iface III. induced Phocas, Emperor of the 
East, to confine it to the prelates of Rome, 
and by the connivance of Phocas, also, the 
Romish bishop's supremacy over the Chris- 
tian church vras established. The custom 
of kissing the pope's toe was introduced in 
708. The first sovereign act of the popes of 
Rome was by Adrian I., who caused money 
to be coined with his name, 780. Sergius II. 
was the first pope who changed his name on 
his election, in 8i4. Some contend that it 
was Sergius I., and others John XII. or XIII. 
John XYIII., a layman, was made pope, 
1024. The first pope who kept an army was 
Leo IX., 1054. The pope's authority was 
firmly fixed in England, 1079. Appeals from 
English tribunals to the pope were introduced 
19 Stephen, 1154. The pope collected the 
tenths of the whole kingdom of England, 
1226. The papal seat was removed to Avig- 
non, in France, in 1308, for seventy years. 
The holy see's demands on England were 
refused by parliament, 1363. Appeals to 
Rome from England were abolished, 1533. 
The words "Lord Pope" were struck out of 
all English books, 1541. The papal author- 
ity declined about 1600. Kissing the pope's 
toe, and other ceremonies, were abolished by 
Clement XIV., 1773. The pope became des- 
titute of all political influence in Europe, 
1787. Pius VI. was burned in eflSgy at 
Paris, 1791. He made submission to the 
French republic, 1796 ; was expelled from 
Rome, and deposed, Feb. 22d, 17^8, and 
died at Valence, Aug. 19th, 1799. Pius 
VII. was elected in exile, March 13th, 1800 ; 
was dethroned. May 13th, 1809 ; remained 
a prisoner at Fontainebleau till Napoleon's 
overthrow ; and was restored May 24th, 1814. 

752. Stephen II. ; the first who was carried to 
the Lateran on men's shoulders. 

757. Paul I. 

768. Stephen in. 

772. Adrian I.; sanctioned images; caused 
money to be coined with his name, 780. 

795. Leo III. 

816. Stephen IV. 

817. Pascal I. 
824. Eugenius II. 

827. Valentine. 

828. Gregory IV. 

844. Sergius II. ; the first that changed his 

name on his election. 
847. Leo IV. : defeated the Saracens. 



858. 
867. 
872. 
882. 
884. 
885. 
891. 

896. 
897. 
897. 



904. 
911. 
913. 
914. 

928. 
929. 
931. 



942. 
946. 
956. 



965. 

972. 

974. 

974. 

975. 

983. 

984. 

985. 

996. 

999. 
1003. 
1003. 
1009. 
1012. 
1024. 

1033. 

1044. 
1046. 
1047. 
1048. 
1048. 

1054. 
1055. 
1057. 
1058. 
1058. 



Benedict III. opposed by an anti-pope 
called Anastasius. 

Nicholas I., styled the Great. 

Adrian II. 

John VIII. 

Martin II. 

Adrian III. 

Stephen V. 

Formosus; died detested; his corpse 
thrown into the Tiber. 

Boniface VI. ; deposed. 

Romanus, anti-pope. 

Stephen VI. ; strangled in prison. 

John IX. 

Benedict IV. 

Leo V. ; deposed in a few months, and 
died in prison. 

Sergius III. ; disgraced by his vices. 

Anastasius III. ' 

Landonius, or Lando. 

John X.; resigned, and was stifled by 
Guv, Duke of Tuscany. 

Leo VL 

Stephen VII. 

John XL ; imprisoned in the castle of St. 
Angelo, where he died. 

Leo VII. ; great in zeal and piety. 

Stephen VIII. ; of ferocious character. 

Martin III. 

Agapetus II. ; of holy life. 

John XII., the Infamous; deposed for 
adultery and cruelty, and finally mur- 
dered. By some he is said to be the 
first that changed his name upon com- 
ing to the papal chair. 

Benedict V. chosen, but opposed by Leo 
VIII., who was successfully supported 
by the Emperor Otho. 

John XIII. ; elected by the imperial au- 
thority. 

Benedict VI. ; murdered in prison. 

Boniface VII. 

Domnus II. 

Benedict VIL 

John XIV, 

John XV. 

John XVI. 

Gregory V. 

Silvester II. 

John XVII. ; died same year. 

John XVIII. ; abdicated. 

Sergius IV. 

Benedict VIII. 

John XIX. ; a layman, made pope by dint 
of money. 

Benedict IX. ; became pope, by purchase, 
at twelve years of age ; expelled. 

Gregory VI. ; abdicated. 

Clement II. ; died next year. 

Benedict IX. again; again deposed. 

Damasus II. ; died soon after. 

Leo IX.; canonized; the first pope that 
kept an army. 

[The throne vacant one year.] 

Victor II. 

Stephen IX. 

Benedict X. ; anti-pope, who was expelled 

Nicholas II. 



POP 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



661 



1061. Alexander IT.; the papal power greatly 1276. 
increased. 

1073. Gregory VII., the celebrated Hildebrand. 
Now began the pretensions to the power 
of excommunicating and deposing sov- 
ereignfe. Gregory VII. obliged Henry 
IV., Emperor of Germany, to stand three 
days in the depth of winter, barefooted, 
at his castle-gate, to implore his pardon, 
1077. 

1085. [Throne vacant one year.] 

1086. Victor III. 
1088. Urban II. ; in whose pontificate commenced 

the great crusade. 
1099. Pascal II. 

1118. GelasiusII. ; retired to a monastery. 

1119. Calixtus II. 
1124. Honorius II, 
1130. Innocent II. 

1143. Celestine II. ; ruled five months. 

1144. Lucius II. ; killed by accident in a popular 

commotion. 

1145. Eugenius III. ; canonized. 

1153. Anastasius IV. 

1154. Adrian IV.; Nicholas Brakespeare, the 

only Enghshman that ever obtained the 
tiara. He arrogantly obhged Frederick 
I. to prostrate himself before him, kiss 
his foot, hold his stirrup, and lead the 
white palfrey on which he rode. 

1159. Alexander III. ; avenger of the murder of 
Thomas a Becket ; Henry II. of England 
held the stirrup for him to mount, in 
token of repentance. 

1181. Lucius III. 

1185. Urban IIL 

1187. Gregory VIII.; ruled only two months. 

1187. Clement III. 

1191. Celestine III. ; kicked the Emperor Henry 
VI. 's crown off his head, while kneeling, 
to show his prerogative of making and 
unmaking kings. 

1198. Innocent III. (Lothario Conti); excommu- 
nicated King John of England. 

1216. Honorius III. ; demanded an annual sum 
for every cathedi'al and monastery in 
Christendom, but was refused, 1226; 
collected the tenths of the whole king- 
dom of England, 1226. 

1227. Gregory IX. ; caused a new crusade to be 
undertaken. 

1241. Celestine IV. ; died in eighteen days after 
his election. 

1241. [The throne vacant one year and seven 
months.] 

1243. Innocent IV. ; first bestowed the red hat 
upon cardinals, and made them princes 
of the church. 

1254. Alexander IV. 

1261. Urban IV. 

1265. Clement IV. ; an enlightened Frenchman, 
previously cardinal and legate to Eng- 
land ; discouraged the crusades. 

1 268. [Throne vacant two years and nine months.] 

1271. Gregory X.; elected while he was with 
Edward I. of England in Palestine. 

1276. Innocent v.; died soon. 

POP 



1276. 
1277. 
1277. 
1281. 
1285. 
1288. 

1292. 
1294. 
1294. 



1304. 
1305. 



1314. 
1316. 
1334. 

1342. 



1352. 
1362. 
1370. 



1389. 
1394. 



1404. 
1406. 



1409. 



1417. 
1431. 



1447. 
1455. 
1458. 
1464. 
1471. 
1484. 
1492. 



1.503. 
1513. 



Adrian V. ; legate to England in 1254 ; died 
soon. 

Vicedominus; died the next day. 

John XX. or XXI. ; died in eight months. 

Nicholas III.; died in 1280. 

Martin IV. 

Honorius IV. ; promoted the crusades. 

Nicholas IV. ; endeavored in vain to stir 
up a new crusade. 

[Throne vacant two years, three months.] 

Celestine V. ; resigned from fear. 

Boniface VIII. ; proclaimed that "God had 
set him over kings and kingdoms," im- 
prisoned his predecessor, and laid France 
and Denmark under interdict. 

Benedict XI. ; a pious and liberal pontiff, 
poisoned by ambitious cardinals shortly 
after his election. 

[Throne vacant eleven months.] 

Clement V.; Bertrand the Goth; he re- 
moved the papal court from Rome to 
Avignon. 

[Tlirone vacant two years and four months.] 

John XXII. 

Benedict XII. [Nicholas V. anti-pope at 
Rome.] 

Clement VI. ; eulogized by Petrarch as a 
learned prelate, a generous prince, and 
an amiable man. 

Innocent VI. 

Urban V. ; illustrious as a patron of learning. 

Gregory XL ; also an eminent protector of 
learning; he restored the papal chair to 
Rome. 

Urban IV. ; so severe and cruel that the 
cardinals chose Robert of Geneva, under 
the name of Clement VII., which led to 
great violence. 

Boniface IX. 

Benedict (called XIIL), anti-pope at Avig- 
non. 

Innocent VII. ; died in 1406. 

Gregory XII. ; elected during the schism 
in the east, Benedict XIII. being the 
other pope. Both were deposed. 

^ supposed to have been 



elected during the great 



Alexander V 
poisoned. 

John XXIII. 
schism; deposed 

Martin V. (Otho Colonna). 

Eugenius IV. (Gabriel Condolmera); de- 
posed by the council of Basle, and Ama- 
deus of Savoy chosen as Fehx V. in 1439. 

Nicholas V. 

Calixtus III. 

Pius II. (^neas Silvius Piccolomini). 

Paul II., a noble Venetian. 

Sixtus IV. 

Innocent VIII. , a noble Genoese. 

Alexander VI. ; the infamous Roderic Bor- 
gia, poisoned at a feast by quaffing a 
bowl he had prepared for another. 

Pius III. (Francis Todeschini); died in 
twentv-one days. 

Julius li. (Julian de la Ruvere). 

Leo X. (John de Medici); he was made 
cardinal while a lad of fourteen: his 



662 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



1534. 
1550. 
1555. 
1555. 



1559. 
1566. 
1572. 



1585. 
1590. 
1590. 
1591. 
1592. 
1605. 
1605. 
1621. 
1623. 

1644. 
1C55. 
1667. 
1670. 
1676. 
1689. 
1691. 
1700. 
1721. 

1724. 
1730. 
1740. 
1758. 
1769. 



1775. 
1800. 
1823. 



grant of indulgences for crime liurried 
on the Reformation. 

Adrian VI. 

Clement VII. (Julius de Medici); refused 
to divorce Catharine of Aragon from 
Henry VIII. of England, and denounced 
the marriage with Anne Boleyn; he 
brought pluraUties to their consumma- 
tion, making his nephew Hippolito, Cardi- 
nal de Medici, commendatory universal, 
granting to him all the vacant benefices 
in the world, for six months, and ap- 
pointing him usufructuary from the first 
day of his possession. Rome sacked, 
and Clement imprisoned, 1527; moved 
his residence to Avignon, 1531. * 

Paul III. (Alexander Farnese). 

Julius III. 

Marcellus II. ; died soon after election. 

Paul IV. (John Peter Caraffa). When 
Elizabeth of England sent him an ambas- 
sador to announce her accession, he an- 
swered, " that to the holy see, and not 
to her, belonged the throne, to which 
she had no right, as being a bastard;" 
by which impolitic arrogance the queen 
was confirmed in her father's opposition 
to papal supremacy. 

Pius IV. (Cardinal de Medici). 

Pius V. 

Gregory XIII.; the greatest civilian and 
canonist of his time, under whom the 
calendar was reformed. 

Sixtus V. ; an extraordinary man. 

Urban VII. ; died twelve days after election. 

Gregory XIV. (Nicolas Sfondrate). 

Innocent IX. ; died in two months. 

Clement VIII. ; learned and just. 

Leo XL ; died same month. 

Paul V. (Camille Borghese). 

Gregory XV. (Alexander Ludovisio). 

Urban VIII. ; gave the title of 'eminence' 
to cardinals. 

Innocent X. (John Baptist Pamphilus). 

Alexander VII. (Fabio Chigi). 

Clement IX. 

Clement X. (John Baptiste Emile Altieri). 

Innocent XL 

Alexander VIII. 

Innocent XII. (Antonio Pignatelli). 

Clement XL (John Francis Albani). 

Innocent XIII. (Michael Angelo Conti); 
the eighth pontiff of his family. 

Benedict XIII. 

Clement XII. 

Benedict XIV. ; the amiable Lambertini. 

Clement XIII. (Charles Rezzonico). 

Clement XIV. ; the illustrious Ganganelli ; 
he abolished kissing the toe, and some 
other ridiculous ceremonies, in 1773, and 
suppressed the Jesuits. 

Pius VI. (Angelo Braschi) ; dethroned by 
Napoleon. 

Pius VII. (Cardinal Chiaramonte); deposed 
by Napoleon in 1809; restored in 1814. 

Leo XII. (Annibal della Ganga), Sept. 28th. 



POR 



1829. Pius VIII. (Francis Xavier Castiglioni), 
March 31st. 

1831. Gregory XVI. (Mauro Capellari), Feb. 2d; 
died June 1st, 1846. 

1 846 . Pius IX. (Mastai Feretti), elected June 1 6th. 
Pius IX. fled in disguise "to Gaeta from 
an insurrection at Rome, Nov. 24th, 
1848. The provisional government de- 
clared him divested of all temporal power, 
Feb. 8th, 1849. French bayonets put 
down the republic, and the pope returned 
April 12th, 1850. 

POPE, Alexander, a celebrated English 
poet, born in London, May 22d, 1688. His 
application and talent for versification were 
manifested at an early age; his "Pastorals" 
being written at the age of sixteen. His 
translation of Homer's Iliad, his "Epistle from 
Eloisa to Abelard," the "Essay on Man," and 
"The Dunciad," are well known to every 
English scholar. He died at Twickenham, 
May 30th, 1744. His temper was soured by 
his bodily infirmities, for he was sickly and 
deformed from youth. Yet there is nothing 
finer in literary biography than his undeviat- 
ing affection and reverence for his venerable 
parents. 

PORSENNA, a powerful Etrurian prince, 
who declared war against the Romans because 
they refused to restore Tarquin to his throne, 
and to his royal privileges. He was at first 
successful, the Romans were defeated, and 
Porsenna would have entered the gates of 
Rome, had not Codes stood at the head of a 
bridge over the Tiber, and supported the fury 
of the whole Etrurian army, while his com- 
panions behind were cutting off the commu- 
nication with the opposite shore. This act of 
bravery astonished Porsenna; but when he 
had seen Mutius Scajvola enter his camp with 
an intention to murder him, and when he had 
seen him burn his hand without emotion, to 
convince him of his fortitude and intrepidity, 
he no longer dared to make head against a 
people so brave and so generous. He made 
a peace with the Romans, and never after 
supported the claims of Tarquin. The gen- 
erosity of Porsenna's behavior to the captives 
was admired by the Romans, and to reward 
his humanity they raised a brazen statue to 
his honor. 

PORSON, Richard, professor of the Greek 
language, in the university of Cambridge, 
had the reputation of being the best Greek 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



663 



scholar in England, yet his learning scarcely 
produced him a living; born in 1759, and died 
in 1808. Porson had wit as well as scholar- 
ship. He once said that he could pun on any 
subject ; he was defied to do so upon the Latin 
gerunds, which, however, he immediately did 
in this admirable couplet: — 
" When Dido found jEneas would not come, 
She mourned in silence, and was i>i-uo-dum." 

PORTA, John Baptist, a philosopher and 
mathematician of Naples, invented the camex'a 
obscura, born in 1540, died in 1616. 

PORTER, David, a brave commodore in 
our navy, w^as born in Boston, February, 1780. 
During the war of 1812 with Great Britain, 
he commanded the frigate Essex, and made a 
brilliant cruise in the Pacific, ending in his 
capture off Valparaiso by a British frigate and 
two sloops of war. He afterward served a 
while under the Mexican flag, and was our 
minister at Constantinople from 1831 till his 
death in 1843. 

PORTUGAL, a kingdom of Europe, having 
an area of 35,189 square miles, and a popula- 
tion of 3,500,000. The separation of Brazil 
deprived Portugal of its most important colo- 
nial possession. It still retains the Azores, 
Madeira, and the Cape Verde Isles, Macao in 
China, Goa, &c., in India, and various estab- 
lishments on the coast of Africa in Guinea, 
Angola, Benguela, and Mozambique. 

Portugal is a mountainous country, several 
bold ranges crossing it from east to west. 
The principal rivers have the same direction, 
entering from Spain and flowing to the Atlan- 
tic ; the Douro, the Tagus, and the Guadiana 
are the chief. The warm clime of the valleys, 
and the generally fertile soil, are abused by a 
slovenly husbandry. The cultivation of the 
vine is the most important bi'anch of industry. 
Salt is made in large quantities by evaporation 
in the marshes on the coast. Wine is the 
great export : fruits and cork rank next. 

The religion of the state is Roman Catholic, 
but other creeds are tolerated. The govern- 
ment is a constitutional monarchy, the parlia- 
ment consisting of a'chamber of peers and a 
chamber of deputies. Education is at a low 
ebb. The peasantry in the northern and 
mountainous districts are active- and spirited : 
in the lower districts they are indolent and 
dejected, dirty in their persons and dwellings, 
and ill fed with coarse bread, dried fish, goat- 



milk cheese, chestnuts, garlic, and oil. The 
educated classes are polished and courteous. 
The provincial nobility are very numerous, 
but mostly poor. 

Lisbon (Lisboa), the capital, near the mouth 
of the Tagus, whose broad estuary gives it a 
safe and spacious harbor, has 280,000 inhab- 
itants. The city rises from the river on a 
succession of hills, like an amphitheatre, 
massive buildings that were convents in former 
time crowning the summits. The streets are 
steep, irregular, and crooked, shadowed by 
high, old-fashioned houses. Exception must 
be made for the section rebuilt since the great 
earthquake, which is regular and handsome. 
Of that terrible throe of the earth we have 
already spoken. [See Earthquakes, 1755.] 
The Moors are said to have called the city 
Lisboa. It became the capital of the kingdom 
in 150G. Oporto (O Porto, 'the port'), the 
second city of Portugal, lies on both sides of 
the Douro, about 175 miles north of Lisbon. 
It contains 80,000 inhabitants. It was in the 
possession of the French in 1808 and 1809 ; 
and its commerce suffered much from the ty- 
rannical regulations of Don Miguel. Its prin- 
cipal trade is in wines, the red wine of the 
adjacent districts taking from Oporto the name 
of ' port.' Abrantes, in the province of Estre- 
madura, on the right bank of the Tagus, has 
a population of 5,000. The abruptness of the 
hills, the strength of the castle, and the state 
of the river, render it a place of great impor- 
tance in a military point of view. In 1762 
the Portuguese defended it against the Span- 
iards ; and in 1808 it was garrisoned by Junot, 
one of Napoleon's generals, who, from the 
perseverance with which he marched to this 
place, in spite of many obstacles, and the gal- 
lantry with which he made himself master of 
Lisbon with 1,500 grenadiers, was named 
Duke of Abrantes. When the place was sur- 
rendered to the English, they strengthened it 
to such a degree that it was believed to be 
almost impregnable. 

The Romans knew Portugal by the name 
of Lusitania. After their day it was success- 
ively subject to the Suevi, the Goths, and the 
Moors. About the beginning of the twelfth 
century, it regained its liberty b}^ the valor of 
Henry of Lorraine (grandson of Robert, King 
of France), who possessed it with the title of 
count. His son, Alphonso Henriquez, having 



POR 



664 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



obtained a decisive victory at Ourique over 
five Moorish kings, \yas proclaimed king by 
the soldiers. On the death of Ferdinand, in 
1383, the states gave the crown to his natural 
brother John, surnamed the Bastard, who 
was equally politic and enterprising, and in 
whose reign the Portuguese first projected 
discoveries in the western ocean. In the reign 
of his great-grandson, John II., who was a 
prince of profound sagacity and extensive 
views, the Portuguese made conquests in the 
interior of Africa, and discovered the Cape of 
Good Hope. Emmanuel adopted the plan of 
his predecessors, and sent out a fleet under 
Vasco de Gama, which, ranging through un- 
known seas, arrived at the city of Calicut on 
the coast of Malabar. Others of his vessels 
discovered Brazil, in 1501. 

These princes had the merit of exciting that 
spirit of discovery which begot many subse- 
quent improvements of navigation and com- 
merce. Their discoveries on the coast of Af- 
rica led to the voyage of Columbus and the 
discovery of America. They also established 
valuable colonies in Africa and America, and 
an extensive empire in India. John III., the 
son of Emmanuel, extended the Indian discov- 
eries and commerce still further. But the in- 
troduction of the Inquisition, in 15.36, and the 
admission of the Jesuits, were fatal errors, 
and aided on the commencing decadence of 
the realm, already evinced by the maladmin- 
istration of the colonies. To the Jesuits was 
intrusted the education of John's grandson 
Sebastian, the heir to the throne ; and thus 
he imbibed the fanaticism which buried him 
in an early grave. He led an army against 
the Moors in Africa, where he perished in 
battle. 

Sebastian, leaving no issue, was succeeded 
by his uncle. Cardinal Henry, who also dying 
without children, Philip of Spain obtained 
the crown, a.d. 1580. In 1604 Portugal ren- 
dered itself independent of Spain ; and John, 
Duke of Braganza, a descendant of the old 
royal line, ascended the throne, by the title of 
John IV. His son, Alphonso VI., was deposed 
on account of his cruelties ; and the sceptre 
was transferred to his brother. Peter II. 
reigned peaceably thirty years; and under 
the mild government of his son, John V., the 
arts began to flourish. In the reign of Joseph 
I., in 1755, the city of Lisbon was laid in ruins 



by an earthquake, in which ten ♦liousand per- 
sons lost their lives. In this reign, too, the 
Jesuits were banished. He was succeeded by 
his daughter, Maiy Frances Isabella ; who for 
many years was so infirm in body and mind 
that the affairs of the kingdom were managed 
by a regency. In 1807, when in consequence 
of the Portuguese alliance with England, the 
French mastered the country, the 'prince re- 
gent retired with the queen, his mother, and 
the rest of the royal family, to the Brazils, in 
South America. Rio de Janeii'o then became 
the seat of the Portuguese government. Por- 
tugal was, however, wrested by the English 
out of the hands of the French in 1808. 

John VI. returned to Portugal in 1821. 
The people succeeded in substituting a con- 
stitutional government for the old absolutism. 
Brazil became an independent empire, John 
retaining only the imperial title. John died 
in March, 1826. His son Pedro, after grant- 
ing a new constitution, very soon abdicated 
the Portuguese throne in favor of his daugh- 
ter Dona Maria da Gloria (he remaining king 
during her minority), on condition of her 
marrying her uncle Dom Miguel. But a fac- 
tion secretly favored by Spain, aimed at the 
overthrow of the constitution. At its head 
was Dom Miguel, who during the life of his 
father John VI., had clutched at supreme 
power. He assumed the royal title, claiming 
that Pedro had forfeited all right to the 
crown, as well as to the appointment of a 
successor, by becoming a Brazilian citizen, 
and not residing in Portugal. The civil war 
ended in 1834 with the expulsion of Miguel- 

KINGS OP PORTUGAL. 

1093. Fcnry, Count or Earl of Portugal. 
1111. Alfonso, his son, and Theresa. 
1 1 28. Alfonso, Count of Portugal, alone. 
1139. Alfonso declared king, having obtained a 

signal victory over a prodigious army 

of Moors on the plains of Ourique. 
1185. Sancho I., son of Alfonso. 
1212. Alfonso II., surnamed Crassus, or the Fat. 
1223. Sancho II., or the Idle: deposed. 
1248. Alfonso III. 
1279. Denis or Dionysius, styled the Father of 

his country. 
1325. Alfonso IV. 

ISot. Peter the Severe: succeeded by his son. 
1367. Ferdinand I.: succeeded by his natural 

brother. 
1384. John I., the Bastard, and the Great: mar' 

ried Fhilippa, daughter of John of 

Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster. 



POR 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



66'i 



I 



1433. Edward. 

1438. Alfonso v., the African. 
1481. John II., whose actions procured him the 
titles of the Great, and the Perfect: 
succeeded by his cousin. 
1495. Emmanuel, the Fortunate. 
1521. John III., son of Emmanuel; he admitted 
into his kingdom the rehgious institu- 
tion of the Inquisition. 
1557. Sebastian; slain in the great battle of Al- 
cazar, in Africa, Aug. 4th, 1578; when 
the crown reverted to his great-uncle. 
1578. Henry, the Cardinal, son of Emmanuel. 
1580. Anthony, Prior of Crato, son of Emman- 
uel : deposed by Philip II. of Spain, 
who united Portugal to his other do- 
minions, till 1640. 

1640. John IV., Duke of Braganza: dispos- 
sessed the Spaniards in a bloodless 
revolution, and was proclaimed king, 
Dec. 1st. 

1656. Alfonso VI.: deposed in 1668, and his 
brother and successor Peter made re- 
gent; the latter ascended the throne in 

«»683. Peter II.: succeeded by his son. 

1706. John V. : succeeded by his son. 

1750. Joseph. The daughter and successor of 
this prince married his brother, by dis- 
pensation from the pope, and they as- 
cended the throne as 

1777. Maria (Frances Isabella) and Peter III., 
jointly. 

1786. Maria, alone: this princess afterward falls 
into a state of melancholy and derange- 
ment. 

1792. Regency. John, son of the queen, and 
afterward king, declared regent of the 
kingdom. 

1816. John VI., previously regent. He had 
withdrawn in 1807, owing to the French 
invasion of Portugal, to his Brazilian 
dominions; but the discontent of his 
subjects obliged him to return in 1821 ; 
died in 1826. 

1826. Peter IV. (Dom Pedro), son of John VI. : 
making his election of the empire of 
Brazil, abdicated the throne of Portu- 
gal in favor of his daughter. 

1826. Maria II. (da Gloria), who became queen 
at seven years of age. 

1828. Dom Miguel, brother to Peter IV., usurp- 
ed the crown, which he retained, amid 
civil contentions, until 1833. 

1833. Maria II. restored: declared in September, 
1834 (being then fifteen), to be of age, 
and assumed the royal power accord- 
ingly; died Nov. 15th, 1853: succeeded 
by her son. 

1853. Peter V. (Dom Pedro), born Sept. 16th, 
1837. 

POTEMKIN, Gregory Alexandrovitsch, 
a Russian prince and field-marshal. He suc- 
ceeded OrloflT as the favorite of Catharine II., 
and died in 1791, aged fifty-five. 

POTTER, Paul, a celebrated Dutch pain- 



ter of cattle and landscapes, born in 1625, 
died in 1654. 

POUSSIN, Nicholas, was born at Andely 
in Normandy. He studied painting at Paris 
and Rome, and after various vicissitudes 
gained great fame and fortune by his art. 
He excelled in landscapes as well as figures, 
and an antique simplicity marks his works. 
He died at Rome, Nov. 19th, 1665. His 
brother-in-law and pupil, Gaspard Duchet 
(1613-1675), commonly called Poussin, was 
also an eminent painter of sombre landscapes. 

POWHATAN, a powerful Indian chief in 
Virginia, hostile to the English ; he was the 
father of Pocahontas, and on her marriage 
became reconciled to the whites ; he died in 
1618. 

PRAGA, a town of Poland, taken by 
storm by Suwarrow, Oct. 10th, 1794, when 
it was plundered, set on fire, and the inhab- 
itants and the troops of the Polish insurgents 
who had taken refuge there, together amount- 
ing to 30,000, were barbarously massacred. 

PRAGUE, the ancient capital of Bohemia; 
population, 143,000. In size and beauty it 
is the third city in Germany, and at a dis- 
tance its commanding site, its many and lofty 
steeples, and its fine palaces and public 
edifices, produce a striking effect. It has 
been a memorable spot in warfare. The 
great battle of Prague was fought May 6th, 
1757, when the Austrians were defeated by 
Prince Henry of Prussia, their whole camp 
taken, their illustrious commander General 
Browne mortally wounded, and the brave 
Prussian marshal Schwerin killed. After this 
victory the Prussian king besieged Prague, 
but was soon compelled to raise the siege. 
PREBLE, Edward, a celebrated American 
naval oflScer, was born in Falmouth (now 
Portland), Maine, Aug. 15th, 1761. In 
1779 he obtained a midshipman's warrant 
on board the Protector, a state ship of twen- 
ty-six guns, which was captured by the 
English. Preble, however, was released at 
New York, and returned home. When first 
lieutenant of the Winthrop sloop of war, he 
displayed great gallantry, in cutting out a 
hostile brig of war in Penobscot harbor. 
After performing various services, in 1803, 
he was invested with the command of the 
Constitution, and being stationed in the 
Mediterranean, he not only prevented a war 



PRA 



C^Q6 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



between Morocco and the United States, 
but bombarded Tripoli, and brought the 
bashaw to terms. For this service he receiv- 
ed the thanks of Congress, and an emblemati- 
cal medal. He died Aug. 25th, 1807, in the 
forty -seventh year of his age. 

PRESCOTT, William, one of the heroes 
of the American Revolution, was born at 
Groton, Mass., in 1V26. He was a lieuten- 
ant in the provincial forces at the taking of 
Cape Breton in 1758, and greatly distin- 
guished himself on that occasion. He com- 
manded in the redoubt at the battle of 
Bunker Hill, and was the last to leave the 
intrenchments. He resigned his colonel's 
commission in 1777, but was present at the 
capture of Burgoyne, as a volunteer under 
Gates. He died Oct. 13th, 1795. 

William H. Prescott, the eminent histo- 
rian, is his grandson. 

PRESTON-PANS, a Scotch village ten 
miles east of Edinburgh, memorable for the 
defeat of the royalists under Sir John Cope, 
by the troops of the Pretender, Sept. 21st, 
1745. 

PRETENDER. The person known in 
English history by this name, or as the Chev- 
alier de St. George, was the son of James II., 
born in 1688, and acknowledged by Louis 
XIV. as James III. of England in 1701. 
He was proclaimed, and his standai'd set up, 
at Braemar and Castletown, in Scotland, 
Sept. 6th, 1715 ; and he landed at Peterhead, 
in Aberdeenshire, from France, to encourage 
the rebellion that the Earl of Mar and his 
other adherents had promoted, Dec. 26th the 
same year. This rebellion was soon sup- 
pressed. The Pretender died at Rome, Dec. 
30th, 1765. 

His son. Prince Charles Edward, the 
Young Pretender, was born in 1720. He 
landed in Scotland, and proclaimed his father 
king, in June, 1745. His arms were victo- 
rious at Preston Pans and Falkirk, but after 
the disastrous defeat of Culloden, April 16th, 
1746, he sought safety in flight, and finally 
escaped to the continent. He died March 
3d, 1788. His natural daughter assumed the 
title of Duchess of Albany ; she died in 
1789. His brother, the Cardinal York, call- 
ing himself Henry IX. of England, born 
March, 1725, died at Rome in August, 1807. 
PRICE, Richard, an eminent dissenting 



divine in England, born in Wales, died in 
1791, aged sixty-eight 

PRIESTLY, Joseph, a very celebrated dis- 
senting clergyman, philosopher, and chemist. 
His religious and political views forced him 
to leave his native England, and he died in 
1804 in Pennsylvania, aged seventy-one. He 
was the discoverer of oxygen, among many 
important services he rendered for science. 

PRINCETON, Battle of. Gen. Wash- 
ington, withdrawing at night from his camp 
at Trenton, where he was threatened with an 
attack by Cornwallis, fell suddenly upon a 
corps of the British at Princeton, Jan. 3d, 
1777. In the brief but brilliant action the 
British were routed. Gen. Mercer was 
among the slain of the Americans. 

PRINTING. The honor of the invention 
of this, the greatest of all the arts, has been 
claimed by Mentz, Strasburg, Haerlem, Ven- 
ice, Rome, Basle, and Augsburg ; but only 
the three first are entitled to attention. Lau- 
renzes John Koster, of Haerlem, is said to 
have printed, with blocks, a book of images 
and letters. Speculum Humanm Salvationist 
and compounded an ink more viscous and 
tenacious than common ink (which blotted), 
about 1438. The leaves of this book, being 
printed on one side only, were afterward 
pasted together. John Faust printed the 
Tractatus Petri Eiq^ani at Mentz in 1442. 
John Guttenberg invented cut metal types, 
and used them in printing the earliest edition 
of the Bible, which was commenced in 1444, 
and finished in 1460. Peter Schseflfer cast the 
first metal types in matrices, and was there- 
fore the inventor of complete printing, 1452. 
[See Books.] 

Book of Psalms, printed a.d. 1457. The 
Diirandi Bationale^ first work printed with 
cn»t metal types, 1459. The types were uni- 
formly Gothic, or old German (whence our 
old English, or Black Letter), until 1465. 
Greek characters (quotations only) first used 
in the same year. Cicero de Officiis printed, 
1466. Roman characters, first used, at 
Rome, 1468. 

William Caxton, a mercer at London, set 
up the first press at Westminster, 1471. 
He printed "Willyam Caxton's Recuyel of 
the Hystoryes of Troy, by Raoul le Feure," 
1471. His first pieces were, "A Treatise on 
the Game of Chess" and "Tully's Offices," 



PRI 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



667 




FAUST TAKING FIRST PROOF FROM MOVEABLE TYPES. 



1474. " ^sop's Fables," printed by Caxton, 
is supposed to be the first book with its 
leaves numbered. 

Aldus cast the Greek alphabet, and a 
Greek book was printed, 1476. He intro- 
duced the Italic. The Pentateuch, in He- 
brew, 1482. Homer, in folio, beautifully 
done at Florence, eclipsing all former printing, 
by Demetrius, 1488. 

Printing used in Scotland, 1509. The first 
edition of the tchole Bible was, strictly speak- 
ing, the Complutensian Polyglot of Cardinal 
Ximenes, 1517. The Liturgy, the first book 
printed in Ireland, by Humphrey Powell, 
1550. Printing in Irish characters intro- 



duced by Nicholas Walsh, Chancellor of St. 
Patrick's, 1571. The first newspaper printed 
in England, 1588. First patent granted for 
printing, 1591. First printing-press im- 
proved by William Blaeu, at Amsterdam, 
1601. First printing in America, in New 
England, when the Freeman's Oath and an 
Almanac were printed, 1639. First Bible 
printed in Ireland was at Belfast, 1704. 
First types cast in England by Caslon, 1720. 
Stereotype printing suggested by William 
Ged, of Edinburgh, 1735. The present mode 
of stereotype invented by Mr. Tilloch, about 
1779. By others the invention is ascribed to 
Francis Ambrose Didot, of Paris, about the 



PRI 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



same year ; and still others say that stereo- 
type printing was in use in Holland, in the 
last century. The invention is also claimed 
for Cadwallader Golden, of New York, who 
sent the details of his plan in 1779 to Dr. 
Franklin, then in Paris. Franklin commu- 
nicated the plan to Didot, the famous printer, 
and Hcrbau, a German, who had been an 
assistant to Didot, took it up in opposition to 
him. 

In the oldest mode of printing, the writ- 
ing is carved on wooden tables ; they are 
then covered with ink, the paper is put upon 
them, and an impression is taken. This 
ancient method of printing, is still in use 
in China, Japan, and Thibet. The Chi- 
nese, even in the reign of the Emperor Wu- 
Wang, who lived about 1100 b.c, are said to 
have been well acquainted with this way of 
printing ; but the Japanese assume the merit 
of the invention. In Thibet, also, according 
to the accounts of various travelers, this art 
has been exercised from time immemorial. 
Although it had been the custom, for thou- 
sands of years, to make impressions with seals 
on wax, which might have easily led to the 
invention of the art of printing, Guttenberg 
first made this discovery about three centuries 
and a half ago; for it may justly be ques' 
tioned whether the Europeans had then any 
knowledge of the art of printing among the 
Chinese: although it is not to be denied, 
that before the time of Guttenberg, and even 
in M23, the art of cutting images on wood 
with a few lines of text, was well known. 

Caxton and Wynkyn de Worde were the 
earliest English printers. The titles of some 
of their books may not be uninteresting. 

Tlte Game and Playe of the Ches.ie. Translated 

* out of the J^renche and empryrited by me 

William Caxton Fynys.shid tJie last day of 

Marche the yer of our Lord God a thousand 

foure hondred and Ixxiiij. 

TULLT. 

Tlie Boke of Tidle of Olde age Empryntcd by me 
simple persone William Caxton in to Englyshe 
as the playsir solace and reverence of men 
growyng in to old age the xij day of August 
the yere of our lord M.cccc.Zxa:^/. 

THE POLTCRONTCON. 

The Polycronycon conteyning the Berynges and 
Dedes of many Tymes in eyght Bokes. Im- 
printed by William Caxton after having some- 
what chaunged the rude and olde Englysshe, that 
is to ivete [to wit] certayn Words which in these 



Dayes be neither vsyd ne understanden. Ended 
the second day of Juyll at Westmestre the xxij 
yere of the Rcgne of Kynge Edward the fourth, 
and of the Incarnacion of oure Lord a Thou- 
sand four Hondred four Score and tweyne 
[1482]. 

THK CHRONICLES. 

The Cronicles of England Empnted by me Wyll- 
jani Caxton thabbey of Westmynstre by london 
the V day of Juyn the yere of thincarnacion of 
our lord god m.cccc.lxxx. 

POLYCRONYCON. 

Polycronycon. Ended the thyrtenth daye of 
Apryll the tenth yere of the reyne of kinge 
Harry the seuenth And of the Jncarnacyon of 
our lord mcccclsxxxv Empryntedby Wyukyn 
Theworde at Westmestre. 

HILL OP perfection. 

The Hylle of Perfection emprynted at the instance 
of the reverend relygyous fader Tho. Prior of 
the hotis of St. Ann, the order of the charterouse 
Accomplysshe\d'\ and fynysshe[d] att West- 
mynster the uiii day of janeuer the yere of our 
lord Thousande cccc.LXXXXVii. And in the 
xii yere of kynge Henry the vii by me wyiikyu 
de worde. 



The Descripcyon ofEnglonde Walys Scotland and 
Irlond speaking of the Noblesse and Worthy- 
nesse of the same Fynysshed and enprynted 
in Flcte strete in the syne of the Sonne by me 
Wynkyn de Worde tJie yere of our lord a 
M.ccccc and ij. mensis Mayiis [mense Mali]. 

THE festival. 

The Festyvall or Sermons on sondays and holi- 
dais taken out of the golden legend enpry^ited 
at london in Fletestrete at ye syne of y^ Sonne 
by wynkyn de worde. In the yere of our lord 
M.ccccc. viii. And ended the xi daye of May e 

THE LORD'S PRAYER. 

[As printed by Caxton in 1483.] 
Father our that art in heavens, hallowed be thy 
name: thy kingdome coyne to us; thy will be 
done in earth as is in heaven: oure every days 
bred give us to day ; and forgive us oure tres- 
passes, as we forgive them that trespass against 
lis; and lead us not in to temptation, but 
deliver us from all evil sin, amen. 

Among the early printers, the only points 
used were the comma, parenthesis, interroga- 
tion, and full stop. To these succeeded the 
colon ; afterward the semicolon ; and last the 
note of admiration. The sentences were full 
of abbreviations and contractions ; and there 
were no running titles, numbered leaves, or 
catch-words. Our punctuation appears to 
have been introduced with the art of printing. 

PRIOR, Matthew, an English poet and 
statesman, born 1664, and died in 1721. 



PRI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



669 



PRUSSIA consists of two great divisions, 
unconnected with one another. The western 
and smaller, comprising Westphalia and 
Rhenish Prussia, lies on both sides of the 
Rhine, between Belgium and Hanover; the 
main portion borders upon Russia. The en- 
tire kingdom has an area of 107,954 square 
miles, and a population of 17,203,000. The 
principal rivers are the Rhine, Elbe, Oder, 
Vistula, and Niemen. The situation of Prus- 
sia debars her from prominence in maritime 
commerce, but her transit and inland traffic 
is extensive. There is, properly speaking, 
no state religion in Prussia ; that of the royal 
family, and of a majority of the people, is 
Calvinism, but men of all denominations are 
equally admissible to all public employments. 
In 1817, the three hundredth year of the 
Reformation, the Calvinists, Lutherans, and 
other Protestant sects in Prussia, and in some 
other parts of Germany, united themselves 
into one religious body, under the name of 
Evangelical Christians. The system of edu- 
cation maintained by the state is thorough, 
extending from primary schools to the great 
universities of Berlin, Bonn, Greifswald, 
Halle, Miinster, and Konigsberg. The at- 
tendance of children at school is enforced by 
law. All male subjects are bound to military 
service. The government was until recently 
an unlimited monarchy. Various struggles 
for greater freedom have succeeded in obtain- 
ing from the king a species of constitutional 
liberty based upon representation. 

Berlin, the capital of the Prussian domin- 
ions, is situated in the provence of Branden- 
burg, on the Spree. It is twelve miles in 
circuit, including six quarters, and four sub- 
urbs. In 1852 it contained 441,931 inhabit- 
ants. Berlin Proper was built in 1163, by 
the Margrave Albert the Bear. Koln or 
Cologne, on the Spree, was so called from the 
lollnen (piles), on which the Vandals had built 
their huts. Friedricliswerder was founded by 
the Elector Frederick William the Great. 
ISfeu or Dorotheenstadt was built by the same 
elector and named in honor of his wife. 
Friedrichsstadt, founded in 1688 by the 
Elector Frederick III., is the most extensive 
and handsome division of this vast city. The 
number of its public establishments of va- 
rious kinds, makes Berlin very interesting. 



The university of Berlin, founded in 1809, 
when Prussia was groaning beneath the yoke 
of the French, is at present one of the first 
literary institutions of the continent, Berlin 
has thirty squares and market-places, sixteen 
gates (that of Brandenburg, modeled on the 
Propylgea at Athens, but larger, being the 
most beautiful), forty bridges, &c. On the 
top of the Mountain of the Cross, before the 
Halle gate, a monument of iron was erected 
in 1820 in commemoration of the wars against 
France. In the Dorothenstadt is the cele- 
brated street called Unter-den-Linden, 2 744 
feet long, 174 broad, and shaded by two 
double lines of linden-trees. Berlin is one 
of the finest cities in Europe. Besides its 
numerous public edifices of elegance, it has 
many litei'ary, scientific, and charitable insti- 
tutions. Its manufactures and commerce 
are also important. 

Dantzic (Danzig), on the Vistula near the 
Baltic, population 70,000, is one of the 
strongest fortresses and most flourishing 
towns in Prussia. It was founded in the 
tenth century, and formerly belonged to Po- 
land. In 1709 it was ravaged by the plague, 
and in 1734 taken by the Russians and Sax- 
ons. May, 1807, the French captured it 
pfter a long siege. It was occupied by a 
French garrison until Napoleon's disastrous 
campaign in Russia, after which it was block- 
aded, and bravely defended by Gen. Rapp. 
It surrendered, however, and in 1814 re- 
verted to Prussia. 

Prussia was anciently inhabited by the Bo- 
russi, who denominated it Prussia, which has 
been corrupted to Prussia. They were con- 
quered by the knights of the Teutonic order ; 
whom Casimir IV. of Poland compelled to 
acknowledge themselves his vassals, and to 
allow Polish Prussia to continue under the 
protection of Poland. Albert, Margrave of 
Brandenburg and grand-master of the order, 
renounced his vows, embraced Protestantism, 
and had the dukedom of East Prussia given 
to him, by Sigismund I. of Poland, 1525. 
It was united with Brandenburg in 1594. 

Frederick William, Elector of Branden- 
burg, surnamed the Great, was freed from 
paying any homage to the crown of Poland. 
His son Frederick raised the duchy of Prus- 
sia to a kingdom, 1701. His son, Frederick 



PRU 



670 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



William, was a wise and politic prince, who 
amassed a prodigious treasure, though he 
maintained an army of 60,000 men. 

He was succeeded by his son, Frederick 
II., one of the first military, political, and 
literary characters that ever filled a throne, 
but very despotic in his administration. His 
reign was pregnant with striking historical 
events. In 1756, Russia, Austria, and France 
leagued against him, and he maintained 
against them the fomous seven years' war. 

He was succeeded by his nephew, Frederick 
William II., a weak and unwise prince. 

Dying in 1797, he was succeeded by Fred- 
erick William III., who unhappily revived 
some obsolete pretensions to Hanover, in 
1805. Napoleon proposing to restore that 
electorate to England, in 1806, Frederick took 
the field ; but being totally defeated at Jena, 
his kingdom was conquered by Napoleon. 
Prussia, in conjunction with the other powers 
of Europe, twice assisted in deposing Napo- 
leon, and recovered the conquered provinces. 

The revolutionary wave of 1848 rolled 
through Prussia, but the king, by bowing to 
the popular will for a time, allayed the tumult. 

As the result of the war with Austria in 
1860, (see Austria p. 90,) Prussia, that on 
the 14th of June was the tail of the Pentar- 
chy, had, on the 4th of July, by a sudden 
and brilliant stride, leaped to a commanding 
place among European nations. Her cam- 
paign was a swift and splendid success. This 
was achieved by the statesmanship of Count 
Bismarck, premier of William I, and by a 
soldiery gathered from the best educated 
peasantry and people of Eui'ope. 

ELEQTORS AND DUKES. 

1616. John Sigisraund. 
1619. George William. 
1640. Frederick William, his son; generally 

styled the great elector. 
1688. Frederick, his son; crowned king, Jan. 

18th, 1701. 



1701. Frederick I. 

1713. Frederick William I., his son. 

1740. Frederick the Great, his son. 

1786. Frederick WiUiam II., nephew of the great 

Frederick. 

1797. Frederick William III. 

1840. Frederick William IV., his son 

1861. William I., Ids brother. 



PRYNNE, William, an eminent Puritan 
lawyer and writer in the reign of Charles I., 
born in 1600; tried by the star chambci", 
1638; stood in the pillory, and was heavily 
fined, May, 1634; again, 1637; took his seat 
in the long parliament, Nov. 28th, 1640 ; 
died Oct. 24th, 1669. The first time that he 
stood in the pillory, his ears were cropped, 
his nose slit, his forehead branded, and then 
he was thrown into prison : the second time, 
the stumps of his ears were hacked off, and 
both cheeks branded: all for opposing the 
ecclesiastical tyranny of Laud. 

PTOLEMY I., surnamed Soter, was the 
natural son of Philip of Macedon by Arsi- 
noe. When Alexander invaded Asia, the son 
of Arsinoe attended him as one of his gener- 
als. During the expedition, he behaved with 
uncommon valor, and killed one of the In 
dian monarchs in single combat. After the 
conqueror's death, in the general division of 
the Macedonian empire, Ptolemy obtained, 
as his share, the government of Egypt, with 
Libya and part of the neighboring territo- 
ries of Arabia. He made himself master of 
Coelos)a-ia, Phoenicia, and the neighboring 
coast of Syria; and when he had reduced 
Jerusalem, he carried about 100,000 prison- 
ers to Egypt, to people the extensive city of 
Alexandria, which became the capital of his 
dominions. He made war with success 
against Demetrius and Antigonus, who dis- 
puted his right to the provinces of Syria. 
The bay of Alexandria being dangerous of 
access, he built a tower to conduct the sailors 
in the obscurity of the night ; and that his 
subjects might be acquainted with literature, 
he laid the foundation of a library, which, 
under the succeeding reigns, became the most 
celebrated in the world. He also established 
in the capital of his dominions, a society 
called Museum, of which the members, main- 
tained at the public expense, were employed 
in philosophical researches, and in the ad- 
vancement of science and the liberal arts. 
Ptolemy died in the eighty -fourth year of 
his age, after a reign of thirty-nine years, 
about R.c. 284. 

PTOLEAIY IL, the second son of Ptolemy 
I., succeeded his father on the Egyptian 
throne, and was called Philadelphus by 
antiphrasis, because he killed two of his 



PTO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



671 



brothers. While he strengthened himself 
by alliances with foreign powers, the inter- 
nal peace of his kingdom was distui-bed by 
the revolt of Magas, his brother, king of 
Cyrene. The sedition, however, was stopped, 
though kindled by Antiochus, king of Syria ; 
and the death of the rebellious prince re-es- 
tablished peace for some time in the family 
of Philadelphus. Philadelphus died in the 
sixty -fourth year of his age, b.c. 246. Dur- 
ing the whole of his reign, Philadelphus was 
employed in exciting industry, and in encour- 
aging the liberal arts and useful .knowledge 
among his subjects. The inhabitants of the 
adjacent countries were allured by promises 
and presents, to increase the number of the 
Egyptian subjects ; and Ptolemy could boast 
of reigning over 33,339 well-peopled cities. 
He gave every possible encouragement to 
commerce; and by keeping two powerful 
fleets, one in the Mediterranean, and the 
other in the Pied Sea, he made Egypt the 
mart of the world. His army consisted of 
200,000 foot, and 40,000 horse, besides 300 
elephants, and 2,000 armed chariots. His 
palace was the asylum of learned men, whom 
he admired and patronized. He increased 
the library which his father had founded, 
and showed his taste for learning and his 
wish to encourage genius. This celebrated 
library, at his death, contained 200,000 vol- 
umes of the best and choicest books ; and it 
was afterward increased to 700,000. Part of 
it was burnt by the flames of Caesar's fleet, 
when he set it. on fire to save himself; a cir- 
cumstance, however, not mentioned by the 
general ; the remainder was again magnifi- 
cently repaired by Cleopatra, who added to 
the Egyptian library that of the kings of 
Pergamus. It is said that the Old Testament 
was translated into Greek during this reign ; 
a translation which has been called the Sep- 
tuagint, because translated by the labors of 
seventy different persons. 

PTOLEMY HI., sur named Euergetes, suc- 
ceeded his father Philadelphus on the Egyp- 
tian throne. He early engaged in a war 
against Antiochus Theus, for his unkindness 
to Berenice, the Egyptian king's sister, whom 
he had married with the consent of Philadel- 
phus. With the most rapid success he con- 
quered Syria and Cilicia, and advanced as far 
as the Tigris ; but a sedition at home stopped 



his progress, and he returned tO Egypt loaded 
with the spoils of conquered nations. The 
last years of Ptolemy's reign were passed in 
peace, if we except the refusal of the Jews to 
pay the tribute of twenty silver talents, which 
their ancestors had always paid to the Egyp- 
tian monarchs. Euergetes (as he was called 
by the Egyptians) died b.c. 221, after a reign 
of twenty-five years. Like his two illustrious 
predecessors, he was the patron of learning, 
and, indeed, he is the last of the Lagides who 
gained popularity among his subjects by clem- 
ency, moderation, and humanity, and who 
commanded respect even from his enemies, by 
valor, prudence, and reputation. 

PTOLEMY IV. succeeded his father Euer- 
getes, and received the surname of Philopator 
by antiphrasis; because, according to some 
historians, he destroyed his father by poison. 
He began his reign with acts ot the greatest 
cruelty and debauchery. In the midst of his 
pleasures, Philopator was called to war against 
Antiochus, king of Syria ; at the head of a 
powerful army, he soon invaded his enemy's 
territories, and might have added the kingdom 
of S)'ria to Egypt, if he had made a prudent 
use of the victories which attended his arms. 
In the latter part of his reign, the Romans, 
whom a dangerous war with Carthage hal 
weakened, but at the same time roused to su. 
perior activity, renewed, for political reasons, 
the treaty of alliance which had been made 
with the Egyptian monarchs. Philopator at 
last, weakened and enervated by intemperance 
and continual debauchery, died in the thirty- 
seventh year of his age, after a reign of seven- 
teen years, b.c. 204. 

PTOLEMY V. was the son of Philopator, 
whom he succeeded as king of Egypt, though 
only in the fourth year of his age. The Ro- 
mans renewed their alliance with him after 
their victories over Hannibal, and the conclu- 
sion of the second Punic war. When Ptolemy 
had reached his fourteenth year, according to 
the laws and customs of Egypt, the years of 
his minority expired. He received the sur- 
name of Epiphanes, or Illustrious, and was 
crowned at Alexandria, with the greatest so- 
lemnity. Young Ptolemy was no sooner de- 
livered from the shackles of his guardian, than 
he betrayed the same vices which had charac- 
terized his father. His cruelties raised sedi- 
tions among his subjects; but these were 



PTO 



672 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



twice quelled by the prudence and the mod- 
eration of Polycrates, the most faithful of his 
corrupt ministers. In the midst of his ex- 
travagance, Epiphanes did not forget his alli- 
ance with the Romans ; above all others, he 
showed himself eager to cultivate ^'iendship 
with a nation from whom he could derive so 
many advantages; and during their war 
against Antiochus, he offered to assist them 
with money against a monarch whose daugh- 
ter Cleopatra he had married, but whom he 
hated on account of the seditions he raised in 
the very heart of Egypt. After a reign of 
twenty-four years, b.c. 180, Ptolemy was 
poisoned by his ministers, whom he had 
threatened to rob of their possessions, to carry 
on a war against Seleucus, king of Syria. 



most obscure corner of the city. He received 
an audience from the senate ; and the Romans 
settled the dispute between the two royal 
brothers, by making them independent of one 
another, and giving the government of Libya 
and Cyrene to Physcon, and confirming Phi- 
lometor in the possession of Egypt and the 
island of Cyprus. The death of Philometor, 
B.C. 145, left Physcon master of Egypt and 
all the dependent provinces. 

PTOLEMY VIL, surnamed Physcon, as- 
cended the throne of Egypt after the death of 
his brother Philometor ; and as he had reigned 
for some time conjointly with him, his succes- 
sion was approved, though Cleopatra, the wife, 
and Ptolemy Eupator, the young son, of the 
deceased monarch, laid claim to the crown. 



PTOLEMY VL, the son of Epiphanes, re- Physcon wedded the one and slew the other ; 
ceived the surname of Philometor, on account Cleopatra was also the sister of Philometor 



of his hatred against his mother Cleopatra. 
He made war ag-ainst Antiochus Epiphanes,- 
king of Syria, to recover the provinces of Pal- 
estine and Coelosyria, and after several suc- 
cesses, he fell into the hands of his enemy, 
who detained him in confinement. During 
the captivity of Philometor, the Egyptians 
raised to the throne his younger brother, 
Ptolemy Physcon ; but he was no sooner es- 
tablished in his power, than Antiochus turned 
his arms against Egypt, drove o^lt the usurper, 
and restored Philometor to all his rights and 
privileges as king of Egypt. This artful be- 
havior of Antiochus was soon comprehended 
by Philometor ; and when he saw that Pelu- 
sium, the key of Egypt, had remained in the 
hands of his Syrian ally, he recalled his 
brother Physcon, made him partner on the 
throne, and concerted with him how to repel 
their common enemy. This union of interest 
in the two royal brothers incensed Antiochus ; 
he entered Egypt with a large army, but the 
Romans checked his progress, and obliged him 
to retire. No sooner were they delivered from 
the impending war, than Philometor and 
Physcon, whom the fear of danger had united, 
began with mutual jealousy to oppose each 
other's views. Physcon was at last banished 
by the superior power of his brother ; and as 
he could find no support in Eg3^pt, he imme- 
diately repaired to Rome. To excite mova 
effectually the compassion of the Romans, and 
to gain their assistance, he appeared in the 
meanest dress, and took his residence in the 



and Physcon. He ordered himself to be called 
Uuergetes, but the Alexandrians refused to do 
it, and stigmatized him with the appellation 
of Kalxrgetes^ or evil-doer, a surname which 
he deserved by his tyranny and oppression. 
A series of barbarities rendered him odious ; 
but as no one attempted to rid Egypt of her 
tyranny, the Alexandrians abandoned their 
habitations, and fled from a place which con- 
tinually streamed with the blood of their mas- 
sacred fellow-citizens. Physcon endeavored 
to repeople the city which his cruelty had laid 
desolate ; but the fear of sharing the fate of 
the former inhabitants, prevailed more than 
the promise of riches, rights, and immunities. 
He died at Alexandria in the sixty-seventh 
year of his age, after a reign of twenty -nine 
years, about b.c. 116. 

PTOLEMY VHL, surnamed Lathyrus, from 
an excrescence, like a pea, on the nose, suc- 
ceeded his father Physcon as king of Egypt. 
He had no sooner ascended the throne, than 
his mother Cleopatra, who reigned conjointly 
with him, expelled him, and placed the crown 
on the head of his brother, Ptolemy Alexan- 
der, her favorite son. Lathyrus, after he had 
exercised the greatest cruelty upon the Jews, 
by his conquest of Judea, and made vain at- 
tempts to recover the kingdom of Egypt, re- 
tired to Cyprus till the death of his brother 
Alexander restored him to his native domin- 
ions. In the latter part of his reign, Lathyrus 
was called upon to assist the Homans with a 
navy for the conquest of Athens ; but Lucul- 



PTO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



67^ 



lus, who had been sent to obtain the wanted 
suppljr, though received with kingly honors, 
was dismissed with evasive and unsatisfactorj' 
answers, and the monarch refused to part with 
troops which he deemed necessary to preserve 
the peace of his kingdom. Lathyrus died b.c. 
81, after a reign of thirty -six years since the 
death of his father Physcon ; eleven of which 
he had passed with his mother Cleopatra on 
the Egyptian throne, eighteen in Cyprus, and 
seven after his mother's death. He left the 
crown to his daughter Berenice, called also 
Cleopatra. 

PTOLEMY IX., who was surnamed Alex- 
ander, usurped the kingdom a short time dur- 
ing the reign of his brother Lathyrus, and 
was dethroned, after murdering his mother 
Cleopatra, b.c. 88. 

PTOLEMY X., son of the preceding and 
also surnamed Alexander, succeeded Ptolemy 
VIIL under the protection of the Romans in 
the time of Sylla. He wedded his cousin Ber- 
enice Cleopatra, and had her assassinated, for 
which he was himself massacred, after a reign 
of nineteen days. 

PTOLEMY XL After the above tragedy 
fhe only scion of the race of Ptolemy was an 
illegitimate son of Lathyrus. He was not 
acknowledged king till b.c. 59. He received 
the surname of Auletes, because he played 
skillfully on the flute. His rise showed great 
marks of prudence and circumspection ; and 
as his predecessor, by his will, had left the 
kingdom of Egypt to the Romans, Auletes 
knew that he could not be firmly established 
on his throne, without the approbation of the 
Roman senate. When he had suffered the 
Romans quietly to take possession of Cyprus, 
the Egyptians revolted, and Auletes was 
obliged to fly from his kingdom, and seek 
protection among the most powerful of his 
allies. The senators of Rome decreed to re- 
establish Auletes on his throne. He was no 
sooner restored to power, than he sacrificed 
to his ambition his daughter Berenice, and 
behaved with the greatest ingratitude and per- 
fidy to Rabirius, a Roman who had supplied 
him with money when expelled from his king- 
dom. Auletes died four years after his resto- 
ration, about B.C. 51. 

PTOLExMY XIL, surnamed Dionysius, or 
Bacchus, ascended the throne of Egypt con- 
jointly with his sister Cleopatra, whom he 



had married, according to the directions of 
his father. He was in the thirteenth year of 
his age, when Pompey, who had aided his 
fiither Auletes to the throne, came to the 
shores of Egypt, after the fatal battle of Phar- 
salia, and claimed his protection. He refused 
to grant the required assistance ; and by the 
advice of his ministers, he basely murdered 
Pompey, after he had brought him to shore 
under the mask of friendship and cordiality. 
To obtain the favor of the conqueror of Phar- 
salia, Ptolemy cut off the head of Pompey; 
but C«esar turned with indignation from such 
perfidy, and when he arrived at Alexandria, 
he found the Egyptian king as faithless to his 
cause as to that of his fallen enemy. Caesar 
sat as judge to hear the various claims of the 
brother and sister to the throne ; to satisfy 
the people, he ordered the will of Auletes to 
be read, and confirmed Ptolemy and Cleopatra 
in the possession of Egypt, and appointed the 
two younger children masters of the island of 
Cyprus. This fair and candid decision might 
have left no room for dissatisfaction; but 
Ptolemy refused to acknowledge Caesar as a 
judge or a mediator. The Roman enforced 
his authority by arms, and three victories 
were obtained over the Egyptian forces. 
Ptolemy, who had been for some time a pris- 
oner in the hands of Cgesar, now headed his 
armies ; but a defeat was fatal, and as he at- 
tempted to save his life by flight, he was 
drowned in the Nile, about b.c. 46, and three 
years and eight months after the death of 
Auletes. [See Cleopatk.v.] 

PUFFENDORF, Samuel, a celebrated civil- 
ian, a native of Saxony, was for a time in the 
diplomatic service of Sweden. He died at 
Berlin in 1G74, aged sixty-three. 

PULASKI, Count Casimir, a noble-minded 
Pole, who having been banished from his 
native land, entered the service of the United 
States, was made a brigadier, and was mor- 
tally wounded in the attack on Savannah, 
Oct. 9th, 1T79. 

Pulaski was as chivalrous as a baron of ro- 
mance. He landed upon our shores an exile, 
and threw the energies of his character into 
our cause — the cause of freedom and man. 
He preferred the wilds of America to the re- 
finements of European courts, to most of 
which he would have been welcome. With 
the enthusiasm of a crusader, he drew his 



43 



PUL 



674 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



sword in our cause. Military glory and love 
of freedom were the strong passions of his 
soul. Ilis ancestors were soldiers ; and many 
of them fell, foremost in the fight, while the 
glow of early manhood was upon them, and 
slept in the bed of honor. He felt and de- 
clared, that to-be alive with a head white with 
the snows of age, was a stain on his family 
name ; and he feared, in the wild and romantic 
valor of his soul, that a winding-sheet unstained 
with blood would be disgraceful to him. If 
Pulaski saw not the close of the contest, he 
died as he wished, in the fury of the fight, 
and rests in his grave in a warrior's shroud. 
No solemn dirge, no peaceful requiem, soothed 
the hero's shade ; the hasty funeral rites of 
the battle-field were his. Such honors only 
were suited to the genius of the dead. 

PULTOWA, a fortified town of Russia, 450 
miles south-west of Moscow, with 16,000 in- 
habitants, before which Peter the Great de- 
feated Charles XII. of Sweden, July 8th, 1709. 
Charles, who had been wounded in a former 
engagement, was much indisposed. The litter 
in which he caused himself to be carried was 
twice overturned, and the second time broken 
by the enemy's cannon. After an obstinate 
and bloody engagement, the Swedish army 
was entirely routed and dispersed ; 9,000 of 
the vanquished were left dead on the field of 
battle, and a great number surrendered them- 
selves prisoners of war. Charles, with 300 
of his guards, escaped with difficulty to Ben- 
der, a Turkish town in Moldavia. 

PULTENEY, William, Earl of Bath, was 
born of an ancient family, in 1682. After 
traveling through Europe, he was elected into 
parliament, and became distinguished as a 
zealous whig. On the accession of George I. 
he was appointed a privy-councilor and secre- 
tary at war, being then the friend of Sir Rob- 
ert Walpole ; but afterward a difference arose 
between them, and Pulteney became the leader 
of opposition. He also joined Bolingbroke in 
conducting a paper called The Omftsman, the 
object of which was to annoy the minister. 
This produced a duel between Pulteney and 
Lord Hervey ; and the king was so much dis- 
pleased with the conduct of the former, that 
he struck his name out of the list of privy- 
councilors, and also from the commission of 
the peace. On the resignation of Walpole, in 
1741, Pulteney vras created Earl of Bath ; but 



from that time his popularity ceased. He died 
June 8th, 1764. 

PUNIC AVARS. The first Punic war was 
undertaken by the Romans against Carthage, 
B.C. 264. Sicily, an island of the highest con- 
sequence to the Carthaginians as a commercial 
nation, was the seat of the first dissensions. 
The Mamertini, a body of Italian mercenaries, 
were appointed by the king pf Syracuse to 
guard the town of Messana ; but this tumult- 
uous tribe, instead of protecting the citizens, 
basely massacred them, and seized their pos- 
sessions. This act of cruelty raised the indig- 
nation of all the Sicilians against the Mamer- 
tini ; Hiero, king of Syracuse, who had em- 
ployed them, prepared to punish their perfidy ; 
and the Mamertini, besieged in Messana, with- 
out friends or resources, resolved to throw 
themselves for protectioH into the hands of 
the first power that could relieve them. They 
were, however, divided in their sentiments ; 
while some implored the assistance of Car- 
thage, others called upon the Romans for pro- 
tection. AVithout hesitation or delay, the 
Carthaginians entered Messana, and the Ro- 
mans also hastened to give to the Mamertini 
that aid which had been claimed from them 
with as much eagerness as from the Cartha- 
ginians. At the approach of the Roman 
troops, the Mamertini, who had implored their 
assistance, took up arms, and forced the Car- 
thaginians to evacuate Messana. 

From a private quarrel the war became 
general. The Romans obtained a victory in 
Sicily, but as their enemies were masters at 
sea, the advantages which they gained were 
small and inconsiderable. Duilius at last ob- 
tained a naval victory, and he was the first 
Roman who ever received a triumph after a* 
battle by sea. The losses which they, sus- 
tained induced the Carthaginians to sue for 
peace; the Romans, whom an unsuccessful 
descent upon Africa, under Rcgulus, and other 
defeats, had rendered diffident, listened to the 
proposal, and the first Punic war was con- 
cluded B.C. 241, on the following terms. The 
Carthaginians pledged themselves to pay to 
the Romans, within ten years, the sum of 
3,200 Euboic talents; they promised to re- 
lease all the Roman captives without ransom, 
to evacuate Sicily, and the other islands of 
the Mediterranean, and not to molest Hiero, 
king of Syracuse, or his allies. 



PUN 



BISTORT AND BIOGRAPHY. 



6: 



The Romans, to stop the progress of the 
Carthaginians toward Italy, made stipulations 
with them by which they were not permitted 
to cross the Iberus, or to molest the cities of 
their allies the Saguntines. When Hannibal 
succeeded to the command of the Carthaginian 
armies in Spain, he spurned the boundaries 
which the jealousy of Rome had set to his 
arms, and immediately formed the siege of 
Saguntum. The Romans were apprised of 
the hostilities which had been begun against 
their allies, but Saguntum was in the hands 
of the active enemy before they had taken 
any steps to oppose him. 

Without delay, b.c. 218, Hannibal marched 
an array of 90,000 foot and 12,000 horse, 
toward Italy, resolved to carry on the war to 
the gates of Rome. The battles of Trebia, of 
Ticinus, andof thelakeof Thrasymenus, threw 
Rome into the greatest apprehensions, but the 
prudence and dilatory measures of the dictator 
Fabius soon taught them to hope for better 
times. Yet the conduct of Fabius was uni- 
versally censured as cowardice, and the two 
consuls who succeeded him in the command, 
pursuing a different plan of operations, 
brought on a decisive action at Cannao, b.c. 
216, in which 4-5,000 Romans were left on the 
field of battle. This bloody victory caused 
so much consternation at Rome, that some 
authors have declared that if Hannibal had 
immediately marched from the plains of Can- 
nae to the city, he would have met with no 
resistance, but could have terminated a long 
and dangerous war with glory to himself, and 
the most inestimable advantages to his coun- 
try. The news of this victory was carried to 
Carthage by Mago, and the Carthaginians re- 
fused to believe it, till three bushels of golden 
rings were spread before them, which had 
been taken from the Roman knights in the 
field of battle. 

Af!^iirs now took a different turn, and 
Marcellus, who had the command of the Ro- 
man legions in Italy, taught his countrymen 
, that Hannibal was not invincible in the field. 
In different parts of the World the Romans 
were making very rapid conquests. Hanni- 
bal no longer appeared formidable in Italy ; 
if he conquered towns in Campania or Magna 
Grsecia, he remained master of them only 
while his army hovered in the neighborhood ; 
and if he marched toward Rome, the alarm 



he occasioned was but momentary ; the Ro- 
mans were prepared to oppose him, and his 
retreat was therefore the more dishonorable. 
The conquests of young Scipio in Spain raised 
the expectations of the Romans, and he had 
no sooner returned to Rome than he proposed 
to remove Hannibal from the capital of Italy 
by carrying the war to the gates of Carthage. 
This was a bold and hazardous enterprise, but 
though Fabius opposed it, it was universally 
approved by the Roman senate, and young 
Scipio was empowered to sail to Africa. 

The conquests of the young Roman were as 
rapid in Africa as they had been in Spain, and 
the Carthaginians, apprehensive for the fate 
of their capital, recalled Hannibal from Italy. 
Hannibal received their orders with indigna- 
tion, and with tears in his eyes he left Italy, 
where for sixteen years he had known no su- 
perior in the field of battle. At his arrival in 
Africa, the Carthaginian generalsoon collect- 
ed a large armj^, and met his exulting adver- 
sary in the plains of Zama. The battle was 
long and bloody ; one nation fought for glory, 
and the other for the dearer sake of liberty ; 
the Romans obtained the victory, and Hanni- 
bal, who had sworn to the gods eternal hatred 
of Rome, fled from Carthage, after he had ad- 
vised his countrymen to accept the terms of 
the conqueror. This battle of Zama was 
decisive ; the Carthaginians sued for peace, 
which the haughty conquerors granted with 
difficulty, 201 b.c. 

During the fifty years which followed the 
conclusion of the second Punic war, the Car- 
thaginians were emploj^ed in repairing their 
losses by unwearied application and indus- 
try ; but they found still in the Romans a 
jealous rival and a haughty conquei'or, and 
in Masinissa, the Numidian ally of Rome, 
an intriguing and ambitious monarch. The 
king of Numidia made himself master of one 
of their provinces ; but as they were unable to 
make war without the consent of Rome, the 
Carthaginians sought relief by embassies, and 
made continual complaints in the Roman 
senate of the tyranny and oppression of Mas- 
inissa. Commissioners were appointed to 
examine the cause of their complaints ; but 
as Masinissa was the ally of Rome, the in- 
terest of the Carthaginians was neglected, 
and whatever seemed to depress their repub- 
lic was agreeable to the Romans. Cato, who 



PUN 



676 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



was in the number of the commissioners, 
examined the capital of Africa with a jealous 
eye; he saw it with concern, rising as it 
were from its ruins ; and when he returned 
to Rome, he declared in full senate, that the 
peace of Italy would never be established 
while Carthage was in being. Henceforth he 
concluded all his speeches in the senate with 
these words, " I also think that Carthage 
should be destroyed." Most of the senators 
agreed with him, and waited only for a pre- 
text to make war. A few were for moderate 
measures. 

But while the senate were debating about 
the existence of Carthage, and while they 
considered it a dependent power, and not as 
an ally, the wrongs of Africa were without 
redress, and Masinissa continued his depre- 
dations. Upon this the Carthaginians re- 
solved to do their cause that justice which 
the Romans had denied them ; they entered 
the field against the Numidians, but they 
were defeated in a bloody battle by Masinissa, 
who was then ninety years old. In this bold 



all their naval and military stores. The Car- 
thaginians complied; 40,000 suits of armor, 
20,000 large engines of war, with a plentiful 
store of ammunition and missile weapons, 
were surrendered. After this duplicity had 
succeeded, the Romans laid open the final 
resolutions of the senate, and the Carthagin- 
ians were then told, that, to avoid hostilities, 
they must leave their ancient habitations, 
retire into the inland parts of Africa, and 
found another city, at the distance of not less 
than ten miles from the sea. This was heard 
with horror and indignation ; the Romans 
were fixed and inexorable, and Carthage was 
filled with tears and lamentations. 

But the spirit of liberty and independence 
was not yet extinguished in the capital of 
Africa, and the Carthaginians determined to 
sacrifice their lives for the protection of their 
gods, the tombs of their forefathers, and the 
place which had given them birth. Before 
the Roman army approached the city, prepa- 
rations to support a siege were made, and the 
ramparts of Carthage were covered with 
measure they had broken the peace ; and as , stones, to compensate for the weapons and 



their late defeat had rendered them desperate, 
they hastened with all possible speed to the 
capital of Italy to justify their proceedings, 
and to implore the forgiveness of the Roman 
senate. The news of Masinissa's victory had 
already reached Italy, and immediately forces 
were sent to Sicily, and thence ordered to 
pass into Africa. The ambassadors of Car- 
thage received evasive and unsatisfactory 
answers from the senate : and when they saw 
the Romans landed at Utica, they resolved 
to purchase peace by the most submissive 
terms which even the most abject slaves could 
offer. 

The Romans acted with the deepest policy : 
no declaration of war had been made, though 
hostilities appeared inevitable ; and in answer 
to the submissive offers of Carthage the con- 
suls replied, that to prevent every cause of 
quarrel, the Carthaginians must deliver into 
their hands three hundred hostages, all chil- 
dren of senators, and of the most noble and 
respectable families. The demand was great 
and alarming ; yet it was no sooner granted, 
than the Romans made another demand, and 
the Carthaginians were told that peace could 
not continue, if they refused to deliver up all 
their ships, their arms, engines of war, with 



PUN 



instruments of war which they had igno- 
rantly betraj^ed to the duplicity of their 
enemies. The town was blocked up by the 
Romans, and a regular siege begun. Two 
years were spent in useless operations, and 
Carthage seemed still able to rise from its 
ruins, to dispute for the empire of the world ; 
when Scipio, the descendant of the great 
Scipio who finished the second Punic war, 
was sent to conduct the siege. Despair and 
famine now raged in the city, and Scipio 
gained access to the city walls where the bat- 
tlements were low and unguarded. His 
entrance into the streets was disputed with 
uncommon fury ; the houses, as he advanced, 
were set on fire, to stop his progi-ess ; but 
when a body of 50,000 persons, of either sex, 
had claimed quarter, the rest of the inhabit- 
ants were disheartened, and such as disdained 
to be prisoners of war, perished in the flames, 
which gradually destroyed their habitations, 
146 B.C., after a continuation of hostilities for 
three years. During seventeen days Car- 
thage was in flames ; the soldiers were per- 
mitted to redeem from the fire whatever 
plunder they could. The news of this vic- 
tory caused the greatest rejoicings at Rome ; 
and immediately commissioners were ap- 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



677 



pointed by the Roman senate, not only to 
raze the walls of Carthage, but even to de- 
molish and burn the very materials with 
which they were made. In a few days, that 
city which had been once the seat of com- 
merce, the model of magnificence, the common 
store of the wealth of nations, and one of the 
most powerful states of the world, left behind 
no traces of its splendor, of its power, or even 
of its existence. {See Carthage.] 

PURCELL, Henky, an eminent English 
musician, was born in Westminster, 1G58. 
He died Nov. 21st, 1695. His epitaph in 
Westminster Abbey (written by Drydcn) 
tells that "Here lies Henry Purcell, Esq., 
who left this life, and is gone to that blessed 
place where only his own harmony can be 
exceeded." 

PUTNAM, Israel, a distinguished Amer- 
ican officer, who served both in the French 
and English wars, was born at Salem, Mass., 
Jan. 7th, 1718. In 1739 he settled at Pom- 
fret, Conn., where he had purchased a tract 
of land. Here he descended into a dark 
cavern, and killed a wolf which had com- 
mitted great depredations upon the flocks of 
the formers. He entered on his first cam- 
paign in the war of 1755, being then appointed 
to command a company, and he received a 
major's commission in 1757. His services 
prior to the breaking out of the Revolution- 
ary war were various and valuable. The 
news of the battle of Lexington found Put- 
nam at the plough. He unyoked his oxen, 
and set off at once for the scene of action. 
Having levied a regiment, he was appointed 
major-general, and, on the retreat of the 
Americans from Bunker Hill, in which he 
commanded, he checked the pursuing forces. 
He was indefatigable and ardent in the 
discharge of his duty, and his value was 
properly appreciated, as we see from the 
important duties which were intrusted to him. 

After the battle of Monmouth, he was 
posted at Reading, Conn., with orders to pro- 
tect the sound and the garrison at West 
Point. On a visit to one of his outposts, 
attended by only 150 men< he was closely 
pursued by Gov. Tryon, at the head of 1,200 
royal troops, and escaped by plunging on 
horseback down a precipice so steep that 
foot-passengers descended only by an artificial 
stairway. Putnam commanded the Maryland 



line, stationed near West Point, in the cam- 
paign of 1779. This ended his military 
career. A paralytic affection seized upon 
his right side, but did not impair his cheer- 
fulness and spirit. He died at Brooklyn, 
Conn., May 29th, 1790, aged seventy-two 
years. 

PYRRHUS, a king of Epirus, was saved 
when an infant, by the fidelity of his ser- 
vants, from the pursuit of the enemies of his 
father, who had been banished from his king- 
dom. He was carried to the court of Glau- 
tias, king of Illyricum, who educated him 
with great tenderness. Cassander, king of 
Macedonia, wished to* dispatch him, as he had 
so much to dread from him. Glautias not 
only refused to deliver him into the hands of 
his enemy, but he even went with an army 
and placed him on the throne of Epirus, 
though only twelve years of age. 

About five years after, the absence of Pyr- 
rhus to attend the nuptials of one of the dallgh- 
ters of Glautias, raised new commotions. 
The monarch w^as expelled from his throne 
by his great-uncle, Neoptolemus, who had 
usurped it after the death of ^acides ; and 
being still without resources, he applied to 
his brother-in-law Demetrius for assistance. 
He accompanied Demetrius at the battle of 
Ipsus, and afterward passed into Egypt, 
where, by his marriage with Antigone, the 
daughter of Berenice, he soon obtained a suffi- 
cient force to attempt the recovery of his 
throne. He was successful in the undertak- 
ing, but to remove all causes of quarrel, he 
took the usurper to share with him the roy- 
alty, and some time after he put him to death 
under pretense that he had attempted to 
poison him. 

In the subsequent years of his reign, Pyr- 
rhus engaged in the quarrels which disturbed 
the peace of the Macedonian monarchy. He 
marched against Demetrius. By dissimula- 
tion he ingratiated himself into the minds of 
his enemy's subjects, and when Demetrius 
labored under a momentary illness, Pyrrhus 
made an attempt upon the crown of Macedo- 
nia, which, if not then successful, soon after 
rendered him master of the kingdom. This 
he shared with Lysimachus for seven months, 
till the jealousy of the Macedonians, and the 
ambition of his colleague, obliged him to 
retire. Pyrrhus was meditating new con- 



PYR 



678 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



quests, when the Tarentines invited him to 
Italy to assist them against the encroaching 
power of Rome. He gladly accepted the in- 
vitation, but his passage across the Adriatic 
proved nearly fatal, and he reached the 
shores of Italy after the loss of the greatest 
part of his troops in a storm. 

At his entrance into Tarentum, b.c. 280, 
he began to reform the manners of the in- 
habitants, and by introducing the strictest 
discipline among their troops, to accustom 
them to bear fatigue and to despise dangers. 
In the first battle which he fought with the 
Romans, he obtained the victory, but for this 
he was more particularly indebted to his 
elephants, whose bulk and uncommon appear- 
ance astonished the Romans and terrified 
their cavalry. The number of the slain was 
equal on both sides, and the conqueror said 
that such another victory would totally ruin 
him. He also sent Cineas, his chief minister, 
to ftome, and though victorious, he sued for 
peace. These offers of peace were refused. 
A second battle was fought near Asculum, 
but the slaughter was so great, and the valor 
so conspicuous on both sides, that each claim- 
ed the victory as their own. Pyrrhus still 
continued the war in favor of the Tarentines, 
when he was invited into Sicily by the inhab- 
itants, who labored under the yoke of Car- 
thage and the cruelty of their own petty 
tyrants. His fondness for novelty soon de- 
termined him to quit Italy ; he left a garrison 
at Tarentum, and crossed over to Sicily, 
where he obtained two victories over the 
Carthaginians, and took many of their towns. 
He was a while successful, and formed the 
project of invading Africa; but soon his 
popularity vanished. 
He had no sooner returned to Tarentum than 



PYT 



he renewed hostilities with the Romans with 
great acrimonj', but when his army of 80,000 
men had been defeated by 20,000 of the 
enemy, under Curius, he left Italy with pre- 
cipitation, B.C. 274, ashamed of the enterprise. 
In Epirus he attacked Antigonus, who was 
then on the Macedonian throne. He gained 
some advantages over his enemy, and was at 
last restored to the throne of Macedonia. 
He afterward marched against Sparta, at the 
request of Cleonymus, but when all his vig- 
orous operations were insufficient to take the 
capital of Laconia, he retired to Argos, where 
the treachery of Aristeus invited him. The 
Argives desired him to retire and not to inter- 
fere in the affairs of their I'epublic, which were 
confounded by the ambition of two of their 
nobles. He complied with their wishes, but 
in the night he marched his forces into the 
town, and might have made himself master of 
the place had he not retarded his progress by 
entering it with his elephants. The combat 
that ensued was obstinate and bloody, and 
the monarch, to fight with more boldness, and 
to encounter dangers with more facility, ex- 
changed his dress. He was attacked by one 
of the enemy, and as he was going to run 
him through in his own defense, the mother 
of the Argive, who saw her son's danger from 
the top of the house, threw down a tile, and 
brought P3nThus to the ground. His head 
was cut off", and carried to Antigonus, who gave 
his remains a magnificent funeral, and pre- 
sented his ashes to his son Helenus, b.c. 272. 
Pyrrhus was about forty -six years old when 
he was slain. 

PYTHAGORAS, one of the most illus- 
trious philosophers of ancient Greece, died 
B.C. 497, at the age of eighty-nine. He held 
the doctrine of metempsychosis. 



HIS TO 11 y AND BIOGRAPHY. 



679 



Q. 



QUARLES, Francis, the author of " The 
Divine Emblems " and other poems, was born 
in 1592. He espoused the cause of Charles 
I., and was sorely harassed by the opposite 
party, who injured his property and plun- 
dered him of his books and rare manuscrijits, 
which afflictions brought him to ill health, 
and that to the next and last stage, the grave, 
■in 1644. 

QUATRE-BRAS, Battle of, June 16th, 
1815, between the allied army under the 
Duke of Brunswick, the Prince of Orange, 
and Sir Thomas Picton, and the French under 
Marshal Ney, two days before the great con- 
test of Waterloo. The Duke of Brunswick 
was mortally wounded. 

QUEENSTOWN, Battle of, between the 
Americans and Britisli, in Canada, Oct. 13th, 
1812. The former were victorious. 

QUEVEDO, Fkancisco, an eminent Span- 
ish author, born in 1570, died in 1645. 

QUIN, James, a famous English comedian, 
born in 1693, died m 1766. 

QUINCEY, Edmund, a judge of the su- 
preme court of Massachusetts, and agent for 



the colony at the court of St. James ; died 
in London, October, 1738, aged fifty-seven. 

QUINCY, JosiAH, was born in Boston, 
Feb. 23d, 1744, and graduated at Harvard 
College in 1763, after which he studied law, 
and raised himself to eminence in his pro- 
fession. Together with John Adams, Mr. 
Quincy defended the soldiers who fired upon 
the Bostonians on the 5th of March, and pro- 
cured the acquittal of all but two, who were 
punished by a slight branding. In May, 
1774, he pubHshed his " Observations on the 
Act of Parliament commonly called the Bos- 
ton Port Bill, with Thoughts on Civil Soci- 
ety and Standing Armies," a work of great 
power. In September, 1774, Mr. Quincy 
sailed for London, in the hopes of benefiting 
his country by his patriotic exertions in Eng- 
land. His services were indeed valuable; 
but his application completed the prostration 
of his bodily powers, which had been pre- 
viously sapped by long. and hopeless disease. 
He died just at the close of his voyage home, 
Apr a 20th, 1775. 



R. 



RAAB, a town of Hungary, where the 
Austrians, commanded by the Archduke 
John, were defeated by the French under 
Eugene Beauharnais, viceroy of Italy, June 
i4th, 1809. 

RABELAIS, Francis, the great French 
humorist, was born of poor parentage, at 
Chinon in Touraine, about 1483. He led a 
varied life in youth, settled at last into a par- 
ish priest at Mudon near Paris, and continued 
such till his death in 1553, despite the gibes 
and jeers at church, and state, and all else, 
in his " Inestimable Life of the Great Gar- 
gantua, Father of Pantagruel, a book full of 
Pantagruelism." 

RACHEL. Elizabeth Rachel Felix, the 
greatest actress of modern times, was of 



RAC 



humble origin. Her fiither was a hawker 
of the Hebrew persuasion, and she was born 
on the 24th of March, 1820, at the Swiss 
village of Munf, while her parents were 
engaged on a professional tour. The family 
afterward settled for some time at L3^ons, 
where the eldest child, Sarah, pursued the 
vocation of a vocalist at the various cafes, 
while Rachel (the future actress) collected 
money from the admiring connoisseurs. In 
1830 Paris became the residence of the FeHx 
family, and little Rachel, rising from her 
merely financial department, joined with her 
sister as a singer at the cafes on the Boule- 
vards. While thus employed, it seems she 
attracted the attention of M. Choron, founder 
of the royal institution for the study of 



680 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



sacred music, who at once took charge of her 
fortunes. He soon discovered that she was 
more suited for the dramatic than the musical 
profession, and he placed her under the tui- 
tion of M. St. Aulaire. In 1836 she was 
admitted as a pupil at the Conservatoire. 

Her first appearance in public as an actress 
was in April, 18:37, at the Gymnase, without 
making any particular sensation. It is from 
her performance of Camille at the Theatre 
Franyais, on the 24th of June, 1838, that her 
European reputation is to be dated, and to 
the end this character ever remained the 
most celebrated in her repertoire. In 1850 
she made her first appearance in London. 
In 1855 she came upon a professional visit 
to the United States. The fatal malady of 
which she died was contracted at Boston in 
the autumn of that year. It was greatly 
aggravated at Philadelphia, where she played 
a single night in a cold theatre, the perform- 
ance being followed by a violent pneumonic 
attack. Her last appearance on the stage 
was at Charleston, S. C, where she played 
Adrienne le Gouvreur. She died at Cannes, 
France, Jan. 5th, 1858. Her disease was at 
first an affection of the throat, to which there 
came to be appended a complication of dis- 
orders. 

RACINE, Jean, one of the greatest of 
the tragic dramatists of France, was the son 
of a tax-collector in Picardy, and born in 
1639. He died in 1699. 

RADCLIFFE, John, an English physician 
of uncommon eminence, born in 1650, and 
died in 1714. He was the founder of the 
RadclifFe Library at Oxford. 

RADETZKY, Marshal, a distinguished 
Austrian general, was born in Bohemia in 
1766. He began his military career as a 
cadet in a cavalry regiment, Aug. 1st, 1781. 
He tendered his resignation as field-marshal 
in 1857. In the seventy-six years between, 
he had borne a conspicuous part on most of 
the fields where Austrian troops had been 
called to battle. He died Jan. 5th, 1858. 

RAGLAN. Lord Fitzroy Somerset, born 
in 1788, was a cadet of the ducal house 
of Beaufort. He was the military secre- 
tary of the Duke of Wellington (whose 
niece he married) through the peninsular 
campaign, and lost his right arm at Water- 
loo. In 1852 he was created Baron Raglan. 



The command of the British troops dis- 
patched to Turkey was given to Lord Raglan. 
He died in the camp before Sebastopol, June 
28th, 1855. 

RAIKES, Robert, was born in 1736. In 
1781 he planned the institution of Sunday 
schools. He died at Gloucester, England^ 
his native place, in 1811. Mr. Raikes was 
proprietor of the Gloucester Journal^ a paper 
of extensive circulation. 

RALEIGH or RALEGH, Walter, one of 
the most distinguished men in the brilliant 
constellation that adorned the reigns of Eliz- 
abeth and James, was born of ancient lineage 
in Devonshire in 1552. He was educated at 
Oxford and the Temple, and in early youth 
evinced great acuteness of intellect and a dis- 
position for adventure. He became a soldier 
at seventeen, and fought for the Protestant 
cause in France, as a volunteer under Coligni 
and Conde. Subsequently he served a short 
time in the Netherlands under the Prince of 
Orange. In 1579 he accompanied his half- 
brother, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, in a voyage 
to America. The design was to plant a colony 
in Newfoundland, but the expedition was 
driven back by a superior Spanish force. On 
his return, he served in Ireland against the 
revolt headed by the Earl of Desmond. 

In 1582 he appeared at Elizabeth's court, 
speediljr became a favorite with his sover- 
eign, was knighted at her hand, and re- 
warded by her with wealth and honors. The 
well known anecdote illustrates his gallantry 
and tact as a courtier. One day, when he 
was attending the queen on a walk, she came 
to a miry spot in the way, and for a moment 
hesitated to proceed. Raleigh instantly pull- 
ed off his rich plush cloak, and, by spreading 
it at her feet, enabled her to pass on unsoiled. 
This mark of attention delighted the queen, 
from whom, it was afterward facetiously re- 
marked, his soiled cloak was the means of 
procuring him many a good suit. 

In 1584 he obtained letters patent for col- 
onizing America, and two expeditions, each 
unsuccessful, were dispatched to Virginia, 
which then received its name in honor of the . 
virgin queen. The last expedition is said 
to have been the means of introducing to- 
bacco into England, and also of making known 
the potato, which was first cultivated in Eu- 
rope on Raleigh's land. At Youghal, Ireland, 



RAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



681 



he had a quiet mansion, and in its garden 
there, he is said to have planted the potato, 
which he brought from South America. His 
gardener, imagining that the apple on the 
stalk was the part to be used, gathered it. 
He did not like its taste, and so neglected the 
roots, till the ground being dug to sow grain, 
the potatoes were found to have increased 
vastly. 

Raleigh bore an active part in the destruc- 
tion of the Spanish armada, and the follow- 
ing year he served in the expedition to aid 
the King of Portugal in recovering his domin- 
ions from the Spaniards. The young Earl 
of Essex was also in the expedition ; Raleigh 
and he quarreled on a military question ; 
and thus their unhappy jealousy began. On 
his Irish estates he met Spenser, the author 
of the "Faery Queen," befriended and en- 
couraged him, and presented him at court. 
An amour with Elizabeth Throgmorton, maid 
of honor to the queen, drew down upon him 
his sovereign's displeasure, though he had 
married the lady, and he was imprisoned sev- 
eral months. While banished from court, he 
fitted out an expedition at his own cost, and 
sailed in search of the fabled El Dorado. He 
visited Guiana, explored the Orinoco four hun- 
dred miles from its mouth, and wrote a glow- 
ing account of his voyage and the marvelous 
regions he had found. 

He was now restored to the queen's. favor, 
and held a command in the expedition of 1590 
against Cadiz. In 1597 he was rear-admiral 
of the armament which sailed under Essex to 
intercept the Spanish fleet from the West 
Indies. By capturing Fayal, one of the 
Azores, before the earl arrived, he gave great 
offense to Essex, who thought himself robbed 
of glory that should have been his. Raleigh 
joined Cecil in intrigues against Essex, and 
the latter was brought to the scaffold. Eliza- 
beth's death and the accession of James T. soon 
came. Raleigh's fortune ebbed. The hypo- 
critical Cecil poisoned the king's ear, and Sir 
Walter was accused of complicity in Lord 
Cobham's plot to set Lady Arabella Stuart on 
the throne, and likewise of being in the pay 
of Spain to establish popery. Coke, then at- 
torney-general, virulently conducted the pros- 
ecution, assailing the prisoner in court with 
the grossest abuse, and the servile jury con- 
victed him upon the paltriest testimony. His 



property was confiscated, and he was sen- 
tenced to die. The king reprieved him, how- 
ever, and he was imprisoned in the Tower 
twelve years, during which he wrote his 
"History of the World," vastly superior to 
all his previous historical productions in the 
language, and a work of great merit. In 1715 
the king released but did not pardon him, 
and permitted him to sail on a second expe- 
dition to Guiana, where his purpose was to 
colonize, and work gold mines. Upon his 
return to England he found himself again 
under the ban, and was committed to the 
Tower. A match was pending between 
Prince Charles and the Infanta of Spain. In 
the last Guiana expedition a portion of Ra- 
leigh's forces had attacked the Spanish town 
of St. Thomas and burned it ; Raleigh's eld- 
est son was killed in the affair. For other 
causes, too, he was obnoxious to the Spanish 
government, and to smooth Prince Charles's 
wooing, James sacrificed him. The old sen- 
tence of death was revived, and he was 
beheaded Oct. 29th, 1G18. 

His behavior in his last hours was calm 
and manly. The morning of the fatal day, 
taking a cup of sack, he remarked that he 
liked it as well as the prisoner who drank of 
St. Giles's bowl in passing through Tj^burn 
and said, " It is good to drink if a man might 
tarry by it." He turned to his old friend, 
Sir Hugh Ceeston, who was repulsed by the 
sheriff from the scaffold, saying, "Never fear 
but /shall have a place." When an extremely 
bald man pressed forward to see and to pray 
for him. Sir Walter took from his own head 
a richly embroidered cap, and placing it on 
the aged spectator, said, "Take this, good 
friend, to i-emember me, for you have more 
need of it than I." " Farewell, my lords," he 
exclaimed to a courtly group who took an 
affectionate leave of him; "I have a long 
journey before me, and must say good-bye." 
After a few last words to the people in justi- 
fication of his character and conduct, " Now 
I am going to God," he said, and gently touch- 
ing the axe, continued, " This is a sharp med- 
icine, but a sound cure for all diseases." 
Having tried how the block fitted his head, 
he told the executioner that he would give 
the signal by lifting up his hand ; "And then," 
he added, " fear not, but strike home ! " He 
laid himself down, but was requested by the 



RAL 



682 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



headsman to alter the position of his head. 
" So the heart be right," he said, " it is no 
matter which way the head hes." When the 
signal was given, the executioner foiled to 
strike promptly, and Sir AValter exclaimed, 
" Why dost thou not strike ? Strike, man ! " 
Two strokes were given ; he received them 
without shrinking ; and all was over. 

The night before execution he composed 
these verses, in prospect of death : — 

"Even such is Time, that takes on trust 
Our youth, our joys, our all we have, 
And pays us but with age and dust; 
Who in the dark and silent grave, 
When we have wandered all our ways, 
Shuts up the story of our days." 

The versatility of Sir Walter Raleigh's 
genius was remarkable. He was a brilliant 
scholar, a vigorous writer, an adventurous 
voyager, and a brave warrior. He was inde- 
fatigable in schemes for extending the com- 
merce and colonial power of his country. As 
a statesman he was in advance of his age, 
though his fame is not altogether unsullied 
by the prevailing selfishness and worldliness 
of ambition. He was illustrious in all his 
varied enterprises. 

RAMILLIES, a village of Belgium, twenty- 
six miles south-east of Brussels, celebrated 
for a victory gained over the French and Ba- 
varians, by the Duke of Mai;lborough, May 
23d, 1700. The victories obtained about this 
time by the allies in Spain determined Louis 
to assemble all his forces in Flanders and on 
the Rhine. Villcroi was sent to check the 
conquests of Marlborough. His army was 
attacked by Marlborough near the village of 
Ramillies with such impetuosity, that scarcely 
were the French assailed, when they were 
vanquished. The troops of the royal house- 
hold, however, on the right, forced the Dutch 
and Danish cavalry to retreat toward the left, 
and would have completely routed them had 
not Marlborough hastened to their succor. 
The French troops were driven back, and 
their ranks broken. The detachments sta- 
tioned in the village were either put to death 
or made prisoners; and Villeroi and the 
Elector of Bavaria escaped with great diffi- 
cultJ^ In the tumultuous disorder of the 
French, the fugitives who were pursued by 
the enemy's cavalry were impeded in their 
retreat by the baggage, and great numbers of 



RAN 



them were slain. The field of battle was 
strewed with 8,000 killed, and 6,000 were 
made prisoners. Thus the most formidable 
army which Louis XIV. had raised for a con- 
siderable time, as the last effort of his despair, 
melted away with the glory of the nation, of 
which it was the sole resource. 

RAMMOHUN ROY, a learned Hindoo, was 
born in 1774, in Bengal, his paternal ancestors 
being Brahmins of a high order. He studied 
several years at the celebrated seminary of 
Benares, and traveled in Persia and other ori- 
ental countries. He was acquainted more or 
less with ten languages, — Sanscrit, Arabic, 
Persian, Hindostanee, Bengalee, English, He- 
brew, Greek, Latin, and French. The two 
first he knew critically, as a scholar; the 
third, fourth, fifth, and sixth he spoke and 
wrote fluently ; in the seventh and eighth 
perhaps his studies did not extend much be- 
yond the originals of the Christian Scriptures ; 
and in the latter two, his knowledge was ap- 
parently limited. He published works in 
Sanscrit, Arabic, Persian, Bengalee, and Eng- 
lish. He held important posts under the East 
India company, and secured various adminis- 
trative reforms. In 1830 he came to England 
as the agent of the Mogul emperor, and at- 
tracted much attention. In politics he was a 
zealous republican ; he expressed warmly his 
hearty approbation of all liberal institutions, 
associated chiefly with the liberal portion of 
the community, and took a very deep interest 
in the progress of the measure of English par- 
liamentary reform. He died suddenly at Bris- 
tol, Sept. *27th, 1833. 

RAMSAY, Allan, a Scotch poet, born in 
1686, died in 1758. 

RAMSAY, David, eminent physician, his- 
torian, and statesman of South Carolina, died 
in 1815, aged sixty -six. 

RANDOLPH, Edmund, eminent lawyer of 
Virginia, member of Congress in 1779 ; after- 
ward governor of Virginia; first attorney- 
general of the United States ; second secretary 
of state of the United States; died in 1813. 

RANDOLPH, John, or, as he himself wrote 
his name, John Randolph of Roanoke, a man 
distinguished for genius, eloquence, and ec- 
centricity, was born in Virginia, on the 2d of 
June, 1773, and was descended from Poca- 
hontas, the daughter of Powhatan, a great 
Indian chief, through his grandmother, whose 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



688 



uiaiden name was Jane Boiling, the great- 
grand-daughter of Jane Rolfe (married to Rob- 
ert Boiling), the daughter of John Rolfe and 
Pocahontas ; so that he was of the seventh 
generation from Pocahontas. His father died 
in 1775, leaving three sons and a large estate ; 
and his mother was married in 1783 to St. 
George Tucker, who was the guardian to Ran- 
dolph during his minority. Mr. Randolph's 
early life was spent at different places under 
different instructors, of most of whom he said 
he "never learned anything." He passed a 
short time at Princeton College, at Columbia 
College, and at William and Mary College, 
and was a little while a student at law under 
Edmund Randolph. Of himself he remarks, 
" With a superficial and defective education, 
I commenced politician." He was elected a 
member of Congress in 1799, and continued 
a member of the house of representatives, with 
the exception of three intervals of two years 
each (during one of these intervals he was in 
the United States senate), till 1829; and he 
was afterward appointed minister plenipoten- 
tiary to Russia. Mr. Randolph was never 
married. He was possessed of a large and 
valuable estate on the Roanoke, and had, at 
the time of his death, 318 slaves, and 180 
horses, of which about 120 were blood horses. 
He died at Philadelphia, May 24th, 1833, aged 
sixty. He arrived in Philadelphia a few days 
before his death, in a state of extreme debilitj^, 
purposing to proceed to Europe, with the hope 
of a partial restoration of his health. 

RANDOLPH, Peyton, president of the first 
congress, was born in Virginia, and received 
his education in England. In 1748, having 
returned to Virginia, he was appointed king's 
attorney-general for the colony, although but 
twenty-five years of age. Apr. 12th, 1766, 
he was chosen speaker of the house of bur- 
gesses, and resigned the office of attorney- 
general. As soon as he joined the first con- 
tinental congress, he was chosen its president. 
His patriotic exertions were unfortunatelj'' ter- 
minated by a stroke of apoplexy, Oct. 21st, 
1775, at the age of fifty-two. 

RAPHAEL SANTI, or SANZIO, was born 
at Urbino, in the Contrada del Monte, April 
6th, 1483. His father was his first instructor 
in painting, and afterward Pietro Perugino. 
From 1504 to 1508 Raphael dwelt chiefly at 
Florence. Thence he went to Rome, which 



was his residence till his death, on his birth- 
day, April 6th, 1520. After lying in state, 
his corpse was interred with great pomp in 
the church of Santa Maria ad Martyres, the 
ancient Pantheon. This eminent artist was 
of a sallow complexion, brown eyes, slight in 
form, and about five feet eight inches in height. 
He was never married, but is said to have been 
betrothed to Maria Bibiena, niece of Cardinal 
Bibiena : she preceded him to the grave. 

RAUCH, Chkistian, was born in the prov- 
ince of Waldeck, AVestphalia, Jan. 2d, 1777) 
and, after preliminary studies at Cassel and 
Dresden, in 1804 went to Rome, where he 
gained the friendship of Baron William von 
Humboldt and the sculptors Thorwaldsen and 
Canova. Under the guidance and influence 
of such men he made great progress in his 
art, and previous to his return to Berlin, in 
1811, had executed, among other works, a 
noble bust of his kind patroness. Queen Louisa 
of Prussia. He was afterward commissioned 
by Frederick William HL to erect a monu- 
ment to the queen, which occupied him for 
several years. For the next thirty years 
Rauch labored in his art with such activity as 
to distribute his works all over Germany. 
Besides an immense number of busts and mis- 
cellaneous works, he executed statutes of Blu- 
cher, Scharnhorst, Bulow, King Maximilian 
of Bavaria, Goethe, and the colossal Victory 
for the Walhalla. The monument to Albert 
Diirer at Nuremberg is also one of his finest 
works. But his crowning work and master- 
piece is the monument to Frederick the Great 
in Berlin. Rauch was called the Prussian 
Phidias. He died at Dresden, Dec. 3d, 1857. 
His remains were borne with great honor to 
Berlin for interment. 

RAVAILLAC, Francis, a fanatic who as- 
sassinated Henry IV. of France, May 14th, 
1610. The king had got into his carriage at 
four in the afternoon, to pay a visit to his 
minister Sully. He had been followed eight 
days by the regicide, who had a poniard in 
his hand, and had not quitted the side of the 
carriage since its departure from the palace of 
the Louvre. In a very narrow street there 
was a stoppage which induced the monarch 
to alight from his carriage. While he was 
stepping out, the assassin stabbed him twice 
with his poniard ; the second blow was fatal, 
and the coi'pse was conveyed to the Louvre. 



RAV 



684 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Ravaillac was seized, and put to death by the 
most horrid tortures which cruelty could 
devise. 

RAWDON, Lord Francis, was an active 
British commander in the South during the 
Revolution. He afterward succeeded his lather 
as Earl of Moira, served several years as gov- 
ernor-general of India, and was created Mar- 
quis of Hastings. He died in 1825, aged sev- 
enty-one. 

READ, Gkorge, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, was born in Cecil county, 
Maryland, in 1734, and educated at Philadel- 
phia. In 1T53 he was admitted to the bar, 
though but nineteen years of age ; he com- 
menced practicing law at Newcastle, Del. He 
was a member of Congress from 1774 to 1777, 
was a member of the convention to frame the 
federal constitution, was admiralty judge in 
1782, was president of the convention which 
framed the constitution of Delaware, and rep- 
resented Delaware in the United States senate 
from 1789 to 1793, when he was made chief- 
justice of the state. He died in the autumn 
of 1798. 

REBELLION, Southern. Began in form 
by the secession of South Carolina, Dec. 20, 
1860 ; ended in fact by the overwhelming 
defeat and rout of Lee by Gen. Grant, in 
the first week of April, 18G5. For the dates 
of its chief occurrences, see chronological 
table at close of this work. 

REED, Joseph, was born in New Jersey, 
Aug. 27, 1741. Through part of the Revolu- 
tionary war he served with distinction, in 
the rank of Adjutant-General. He first de- 
tected and exposed the character of Arnold, 
v.-hom he brought to trial for malpractiees. 
He died March 5, 1785. He was long held 
in high repute for having refused a British 
bribe; later researches have thrown some 
doubts upon his character for patriotism and 
for bravery also. 

REFORMATION, that great change in the 
corrupted system of Christianitj^, begun by 
Luther in the year 1517. Leo X., when 
raised to the papal throne, found the revenues 
of the church exhausted by the vast projects 
of his two ambitious predecessors, Alexander 
VI. and Julius II. His own temper, natu- 
rally liberal and enterprising, rendered him 
incapaljle of that severe and patient econom}^ 
which the situation of his finances required, i 



On the contrary, his schemes for aggrandizing 
the family of Medici, his love of splendor, his 
taste for pleasure, and his magnificence in 
rewarding men of genius, involved him daily 
in new expenses ; in order to provide a fund 
for which, he tried every device that the fer- 
tile invention of priests had fallen upon, to 
drain the credulous multitude of their wealth. 
Among others, he had recourse to a sale of 
indulgences. 

The right of promulgating these indulgen- 
ces in Germany, together with a share in the 
profits arising from the sale of them, was 
granted to Albert, Elector of Mentz and Arch- 
Ijishop of Magdeburg, who, as his chief agent 
for retailing them in Saxony, emplo3^ed Tetzel, 
a Dominican friar of licentious morals, but of 
an active spirit, and remarkable for his noisy 
and popular eloquence. Assisted by the 
monks of his order, he executed the commis- 
sion with great zeal and success, but with little 
discretion or decency ; and though by magni- 
fying excessively the benefit of their indul- 
gences, and by disposing of them at a very 
low price, they carried on for some time an 
extensive and lucrative traffic among the cred- 
ulous and the ignorant, the extravagance of 
their assertions, as well as their irregularities 
in conduct, came at last to give general ofiense. 

"Whilst Luther was at the height of his rep- 
utation and authority as a preacher, Tetzel 
began to publish indulgences in the neighbor- 
hood of Wittemberg, and to ascribe to them 
the same imaginary virtues which had in 
other places imposed on the credulity of the 
people. As Saxony was not more enlightened 
than the other provinces of Germany, Tetzel 
met with prodigious success there. It was 
with the utmost concern that Luther beheld 
the artifices of those who sold, and the sim- 
plicity of those who bought. 

The opinions of Thomas Aquinas and the 
other schoolmen, on which the doctrine of in- 
dulgences was founded, had already lost much 
of their authority with him ; and the Scrip- 
tures, which he began to consider as the great 
standard of theological truth, afforded no 
countenance to a practice eqvially subversive 
of faith and of morals. His warm and impet- 
uous temper did not suffer him long to conceal 
such important discoveries, or to continue a 
silent spectator of the delusion of his country' 
men. 



REF 






HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



685 



From the pulpit, in the great church at 
Wittemberg, he inveighed bitterly against the 
irregularities and vices of the monks who 
published indulgences ; he ventured to exam- 
ine the doctrines which they taught, and 
pointed out to the people the danger of relying 
for salvation upon any other means than those 
appointed by God in his word. The boldness 
and novelty of these opinions drew great at- 
tention ; and being recommended by the au- 
thority of Luther's personal character, and 
delivered with a popular and persuasive elo- 
quence, they made a deep impression on his 
hearers. Encouraged by the favorable recep- 
tion of his doctrines among the people, he 
wrote to Albert, Elector of Mentz and Arch- 
bishop of Magdeburg, to whose jurisdiction 
that part of Saxony was subject, and remon- 
strated warmly against the false opinions, as 
well as wicked lives, of the preachers of in- 
dulgences; but he found that prelate too 
deeply interested in their success to correct 
their abuses. His next attempt was to gain 
the suffrage of men of learning. For this pur- 
pose he published ninety-five theses, contain- 
ing his sentiments with regard to indulgences. 
These he proposed, not as points fully es- 
tablished, or of undoubted certainty, but as 
subjects of inquiry and disputation ; he ap- 
pointed a day, on which the learned were in- 
vited to impugn them, either in person or by 
writing; to the whole he subjoined solemn 
protestations of his high respect for the apos- 
tolic see, and of his implicit submission to its 
authority. No opponent appeared at the time 
fixed ; the theses spread over Germany with 
astonishing rapidity ; they were read with the 
greatest eagerness ; and all admired the bold- 
ness of the man, who had ventured not only 
to call in question the plenitude of papal 
power, but to attack the Dominicans, armed 
with all the terrors of inquisitorial authority. 
The friars of St. Augustine, Luther's own 
order, gave no check to the publication of 
these uncommon opinions. Luther had, by 
his piety and learning, acquired extraordinary 
authority among his brethren ; he professed 
the highest regard for the authority of the 
pope ; his professions were at that time sin- 
cere ; and as a secret enmity subsisted among 
all the monastic orders of the Romish church, 
the Augustines were highly pleased with his 
invectives against the Dominicans, and hoped 



to sec them exposed to the hatred and scorn 
of the people. 

His sovereign, the Elector of Saxony, the 
wisest prince at that time in Germany, se- 
cretly encouraged his attempts, and flattered 
himself that this dispute among the ecclesias- 
tics themselves might put some stop to the 
exactions of the court of Rome, which the sec- 
ular princes had long, though without suc- 
cess, been endeavoring to oppose. 

Several theses appeared in opposition to the 
ninety -five published by Luther; the argu- 
ments produced for his confutation were the 
sentiments of schoolmen, the conclusions of 
the canon law, and the decrees of popes. 
Meantime, those novelties in Luther's doc- 
trines which interested afl Germany, excited 
little attention and no alarm in the court of 
Rome. Leo, fond of elegant and refined pleas- 
ures, intent upon gi-eat schemes of policy, a 
stranger to theological controversies, and apt 
to despise them, regarded with the utmost in- 
difference the operations of an obscure friar, 
who, in the heart of Germany, carried on a 
scholastic disputation in a barbarous style. 
He imputed the whole to monastic enmity 
and emulation, and seemed inclined not to in- 
terpose in the contest, but to allow the Au- 
gustines and Dominicans to wrangle about 
the matter with their usual animosity. 

The solicitations, however, of Luther's ad- 
versaries, together with the surprising prog- 
gress which his opinions made in different 
parts of Germany, roused at last the attention 
of the court of Rome, and obliged Leo to take 
measures for the security of the church against 
an attack that now appeared too serious to be 
despised. For this end he summoned Luther 
to appear at Rome, Avithin sixty daj's, before 
the auditor of the chamber, and the inquisi- 
tor-general, who had written against him, 
whom he empowered jointly to examine his 
docti'ines, and to decide concerning them. He 
wrote, at the same time, to the Elector of 
Saxony, beseeching him not to protect a man 
whose heretical and profane tenets were so 
shocking to pious ears, and enjoined the pro- 
vincial of the Augustines to check, by his au- 
thority, the rashness of an arrogant monk, 
which brought disgrace upon the order of St. 
Augustine and gave offense and disturbance 
to the whole church. The professors in the 
university of Wittemberg, anxious for Lu- 



REF 



686 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



ther's safety, wrote to. the pope, and, after 
employing several pretexts to excuse Luther 
from appearing at Rome, entreated Leo to 
commit the examination of his doctrines to 
some persons of learning and authority in 
Germany. The elector requested the same 
thing of the pope's legate at the diet of Augs- 
burg; and as Luther himself, who at that 
time did not entertain even the smallest sus- 
picion concerning the divine origin of papal 
authority, had written to Leo a submissive 
letter, promising an unreserved compliance 
with his will, the pope gratified them so far 
as to empower his legate in Germany, Cardi- 
nal Cajetan, a Dominican, eminent for scho- 
lastic learning, and passionately devoted to 
the Roman see, to *liear and determine the 
cause. 

Luther, having obtained the emperor's safe- 
conduct, immcdiatel}'' repaired to xiugsburg. 
The cardinal required him, by virtue of the 
apostolic powers with which he was clothed, 
to retract his errors with regard to indulgen- 
ces and the nature of feith, and to abstain for 
the future from the publication of new and 
dangerous opinions. Luther, fully persuaded 
of the truth of his own tenets, and confirmed 
in the belief of them by the approbation which 
they had met with among persons conspicuous 
both for learning and piety, was surprised at 
this abrupt mention of a recantation, before 
any endeavors were used to convince him that 
he was mistaken. He declared with the ut- 
most firmness, that he could not, with a safe 
conscience, renounce opinions which he be- 
lieved to be true ; nor should any considera- 
tion ever induce him to do what would be so 
b ise in itself and so offensive to God. At the 
same time, he continued to express no less 
reverence than formerly for the authority of 
the apostolic see ; he signified his willingness 
to submit the whole controversy to certain 
universities which he named, and promised 
neither to write nor preach concerning indul- 
gences for the future, provided his adversaries 
were likewise enjoined to be silent with re- 
spect to them. All these offers Cajetan dis- 
regarded or rejected, and still insisted per- 
emptorily on a simple recantation, threatening 
fiim with ecclesiastical censures, and forbid- 
ding him to appear again in his presence, un- 
less he resolved instantly to comply with what 
h id been required. 



REF 



The judges before whom Lather had been 
required to appear at Rome, without waiting 
for the expiration of the sixty days allowed 
iiim in the citation, had alread}"- condemned 
him as a heretic. Leo had, in several of his 
briefs and letters, stigmatized him as a child 
of iniquity, and a man given up to a repro- 
bate sense. As eveiy step which was taken 
by the court of Rome convinced Luther that 
Leo would soon proceed to the most violent 
measures against him, he had recourse to the 
only expedient in his power, in order to pre 
vent the effect of the papal censures. He ap- 
pealed to a general council, Avhich he affirmed 
to be the representative of the Catholic church, 
and superior in power to the pope, who, being 
a fallible man, might err, as St. Peter, the 
most perfect of his predecessors, had erred. 

It soon appeared that Luther had notformed 
rash conjectures concerning the intentions of 
the church of Rome. A bull, of a date prior 
to his appeal, was issued by the pope, in 
which he magnified the virtue and efficacy of 
indulgences ; he required all Christians to as- 
sent to what he delivered as the doctrine of 
the Catholic church, and subjected those who 
should hold or teach any contrary opinion to 
the heaviest ecclesiastical censures. Among 
Luther's followers, this bull, which they con- 
sidered as an unjustifiable effort of the pope 
in order to preserve that rich branch of his 
revenue which arose from indulgences, pro- 
duced little effect. But among the rest of his 
countrymen, such a clear decision of the sov- 
ereign pontiff against him, and enforced by 
such dreadful penalties, must have been at- 
tended with consequences very fiital to his 
cause, if these had not been prevented, in a 
great measure, by the death of the Emperor 
Maximilian, whom both principles and inter- 
est prompted to support the authority of the 
holy see. To this event was owing the sus- 
pension of any farther proceedings against 
Luther for eighteen months. Perpetual ne- 
gotiations, however, in order to bring the 
matter to some amicable issue, were carried 
on during that space. The manner in which 
these were conducted having given Luther 
many opportunities of observing the corrup- 
tion of the court of Rome, he began to utter 
some doubts with regard to the divine original 
of the papal authority. A public disputation 
was held upon this important question at 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



687 



Leipsic, between Luther and Eccius, one of bull of excommunication; and being now per- 



his most learned and formidable antagonists ; 
but it was fruitless and indecisive. 

Nor did this spirit of opposition to the doc- 
trines and usurpations of the Eomisli church 
break out in Saxony alone : an attack no less 
violent, and occasioned by the same causes, 
was made upon them about this time in Swit- 
zerland. The Franciscans being intrusted 
with the promulgation of indulgences in that 
country, executed their commission with the 
same indiscretion which had rendered the 
Dominicans so odious in German)^ They 
proceeded, nevertheless, with uninterrupted 
success till they arrived at Zurich. There 
Zuinglius, a man not inferior to Luther in zeal 
and intrepidity, ventured to oppose them ; and 
being animated with a republican boldness, 
he advanced with more daring and rapid steps 
to overturn the whole fabric of the established 
religion. The appearance of such a vigorous 
auxiliary, and the progress which he made, 
was at first matter of great joy to Luther. 
On the other hand, the decrees of the univer- 
sities of Cologne and Louvaine, which pro- 
nounced his opinions to be erroneous, afforded 
great cause of triumph to his adversaries. 

But the undaunted spirit of Luther acquired 
additional fortitude from eveiy instance of 
opposition ; and he began to shake the firmest 
foundations on which the wealth or power of 
the church was established. At last, on the 
15th of June, 1520, the bull so fatal to the 
church of Rome was issued. Forty -one prop- 
ositions, extracted out of Luther's works, were 
therein condemned as heretical, scandalous, 
and offensive to pious ears ; all persons were 
forbidden to read his writings, upon pain of 
excommunication ; such as had any of them 
in their custody, were commanded to commit 
them to the flames ; he himself, if he did not, 
within sixty days, publicly recant his errors, 
and burn his books, was pronounced an obsti- 
nate heretic, — was excommunicated, and de- 
livered unto Satan for the destruction of his 
flesh ; and all secular princes were required, 
under pain of incurring the same censure, to 
seize his person, that he might be punished 
as his crimes deserved. 

This sentence, which he had for some time 
expected, did not disconcert or intimidate Lu- 
ther. After renewing his appeal to the gen- 
eral council, he published remarks upon the 



suaded that Leo had been guilty of both im- 
piety and injustice in his proceedings against 
him, he boldly declared the pope to be that 
man of sin, or antichrist, whose appearance is 
foretold in the New Testament ; he declaimed 
against his t3a-anny and usurpations with 
greater vehemence than ever; he exhorted 
all Christian princes to shake off such an 
ignominious yoke, and boasted of his own 
happiness in being marked out as the object 
of ecclesiastical indignation because he had 
ventured to assert the liberty of mankind. 
In the following year he was requested to ap- 
pear before his avowed enemy, the Emperor 
Charles V., in tlie diet at Worms. Unmoved 
by the apprehensions of his friends, who re- 
mmded him of the fate of Huss, he instantly 
obeyed, and there acknowledged that his 
writings had occasionallj^ been violent and 
acrimonious; but he refused to retract his 
opinions, until they should be proved errone- 
ous by the Scriptures. An edict, pronouncing 
him an excommunicated criminal, and com- 
manding the seizure of his person as soon as 
the duration of the safe-conduct which he had 
obtained should have expired, was immedi- 
ately promulgated. Frederick the Wise, 
Elector of Saxony, who had all along counte- 
nanced him without professing his doctrines, 
now withdrew him from the storm. As Lu- 
ther was returning from Worms, a troop of 
horsemen, in masks, rushed from a wood, 
seized him, and conveyed him to the castle of 
Wartburg, where he was concealed nine 
months, encouraging his adherents by his 
pen, and cheered in return by accounts of the 
rapid diffusion of his doctrines. 

John, the successor of Frederick, took a 
decisive step, and established the reformed 
religion in 1527 throiighout his dominions. 
In a diet at Spires, held about the same time, 
the execution of the edict of Worms against 
the Lutherans, now too formidable to be op- 
posed with impunity, was suspended until 
the convocation of a general council to rem- 
edy the disorders of the church. But in 
another diet held in the same place, in 1529, 
the suspension was revoked by a decree ob- 
tained through the influence of Charles V., 
who then found himself at more leisure to 
push forward his vicAVS against the supporters 
of the Reformation. Against this new de- 



REF 



688 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



cree, six princes, and the deputies of thir- 
teen imperial cities and towns, solemnly pro- 
tested; and from this the appellation of 
Protestants became common to all who em- 
braced the reformed religion. At the diet of 
Augsburg, in Suabia, the following year, a 
clear statement of the reformed faith, drawn 
up by Luther and Melancthon, was presented 
to Charles and the diet, in behalf of the Prot- 
estant members of the empire ; and hence 
it obtained the name of the confession of 
Augsburg. This confession was received as 
the standard of the Protestant faith in Ger- 
many. The same or next year, the Protestant 
princes made the famous league of Smalkalde, 
for the mutual defense of their religion, which 
obliged the emperor to grant the Protestant 
Lutherans a toleration, till the differences in 
religion should be settled in a council, which 
he engaged himself to call in six months. 
The Protestant party gaining strength every 
day, instead of being viewed only as a relig- 
ious sect, as hitherto, soon came to be consid- 
ered as a political body of no small conse- 
quence ; and having refused the bull for 
convening a council at Mantua, Charles sum- 
moned a general diet at Ratisbon, where a 
scheme of religion, for reconciling the two 
parties, was examined and proposed, but 
without effect. 

At length, in 1545, the famous council of 
Trent was opened for accommodating the 
differences in religion; but the Protestants 
refused to attend or obey a council convoked 
in the name and by the authority of the 
pope, and governed by his legates. The fol- 
lowing year Luther died ; but the work of 
reformation which he had begun, did not 
die with him; for though Charles, having 
concluded a treaty with the pope for the de- 
struction of the reformed religion and its 
adherents, assembled troops on all sides, and 
was at first successful in the field, yet on the 
appearance of Maurice, Elector of Saxony, in 
arms against him, with a force which he was 
wholly unprepared to resist, he was checked 
in his career, and the consequences were, the 
"relio-ious peace," concluded at Passau, in 
Bavaria, in 1552, and the complete security 
of religious fi-eedom to the Protestant states 
in Germany, which they have enjoyed ever 
since. 

During the course of these events the 



reformed opinions were extending their in- 
lluence in various other countries. Before 
this time, they were completely adopted in 
Sweden, and had likewise obtained perfect 
toleration in Denmark, where they were 
adopted soon after as the doctrines of the 
national church. They were, also, daily 
gaining converts in other kingdoms of Eu- 
rope. They acquired many friends even in 
Italy. They privately diffused themselves in 
Spain, notwithstanding the crowded dun- 
geons and busy flames of the inquisition. 

In France they had still more ample suc- 
cess, where their abettors were contemptu- 
ously termed Huguenots. This appellation 
was given to the Protestants in France in 
1560, and is supposed by some to be derived 
from a gate in Tours called Huguon, where 
they first assembled. According to others, 
the name is taken from the first words of 
their original protest, or confession of faith, 
Hug nos venimus, &c. At Geneva, the Prot- 
estant doctrines were firmly established by 
Calvin. In England, the papal power and 
jurisdiction were abohshed by Parliament; 
the king was declared supreme head of the 
church, and all the authority of which the 
popes were deprived was vested in him. 
That vast fabnic of ecclesiastical dominion, 
which had been raised with such art, and of 
which the foundations seemed to have been 
laid so deep, being no longer supported by 
the veneration of the people, was overturned 
in a moment. In the reign of Edward VI., a 
total separation was made from the church 
of Rome in articles of doctrine, as well as in 
matters of discipline and jurisdiction. 

The force of the secular arm, and the fire 
of the inquisition, were employed to support 
the tottering edifice of papacy. In the Neth- 
erlands, particularly, the most grievous per- 
secutions took place ; so that, by the Empe- 
ror Charles V., upward of 100,000 were 
destroyed, whilst still greater cruelties were 
exercised upon the people there by his son, 
Philip II. The formidable ministers of the 
inquisition put so many to death, and perpe- 
trated such horrid acts of cruelty and op- 
pression in Italy, &c., that most of the re- 
formed consulted their safety by a voluntary 
exile, while others returned to the religion 
of Rome, at least in external appearance. 
In France, too, the Huguenots were perse- 



REF 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



689 



cuted with unparalleled fury ; and though 
many princes of the blood, and of the first 
nobility, had embraced their sentiments, yet 
in no part of the world did the reformers 
suffer more. 

Luther was not the first who attempted to 
renovate the church. Wickliffe in England, 
and Jerome of Prague and John Huss in Bo- 
hemia, had before him denounced the errors 
and corruptions that had crept into the sys- 
tem. 

REGULUS, Marcus Attilius, a Roman 
consul during the first Punic war. In his sec- 
ond consulship he took sixty-four galleys of 
the Carthaginian fleet on the coast of Sicily, 
and sunk thirty. Afterward he landed in 
Africa ; and so rapid was his success, that 
in a short time he defeated three generals, 
and made himself master of about two hun- 
dred places of consequence on the coast. The 
Carthaginians sued for peace, but the con- 
queror haughtily refused to grant it. Soon 
after, he was defeated in battle by Xanthip- 
pus ; 30,000 of his men were left on the field 
of battle, and 15,000 taken prisoners. Rcg- 
ulus was in the number of the captives, and 
he was carried in triumph to Carthage. He 
was afterward sent by the Carthaginians to 
Rome to propose an accommodation, and an 
exchange of prisoners ; and if his commis- 
sion was unsuccessful, he was bound by the 
most solemn oaths to return to Carthage 
without delay. When he came to Rome, 
Regulus dissuaded his countrymen from ac- 
cepting the terms which the enemy proposed ; 
and when his opinion had had due influence on 
the senate, he then retired to Carthage, agreea- 
bly to his engagements. The Carthaginians, 
when told that their offers of peace had been 
rejected at Rome by means of Regulus, pre- 
pared to punish him with the greatest sever- 
ity. His eyelids were cut off, and he was 
exposed for some days to the excessive heat of 
the meridian sun, and afterward confined in a 
barrel whose sides were everywhere filled 
with large iron spikes, till he died in the 
greatest agonies. His sufferings were known 
at Rome, and the senate permitted his widow 
to inflict whatever punishments she pleased, 
on some of the most illustrious captives of 
Carthage who were in their hands. She con- 
fined them also in presses filled with sharp 
iron points, and was so exquisite in her cru- 



44 



elty, that the senate at last interfered, and 
stopped the barbarity. Regulus died about 
250 B.C. 

REID, Thomas, a distinguished Scottish 
metaphysician, born in 1710, died in 1796. 
Dr. Reid in 1752 was appointed professor of 
moral philosophy in King's College at Aber- 
deen, and in 1765 succeeded Adam Smith in 
the corresponding chair at Glasgow. 

REMBRANDT GERRITZ, commonly call- 
ed Rembrandt van Royn, from the circum- 
stance of his having been bred on the banks of 
the Rhine, was born in his father's mill, near 
Leyden, June 15th, 1606. The boy's pas- 
sion for art disappointed the father's desire to 
make him a scholar. After some instruction 
in art at Amsterdam and Haarlem, he re- 
turned home, and became a diligent and 
exclusive student of nature. He met with 
very early success. In his twenty-fourth 
year, he settled at Amsterdam, where he con- 
tinued until his death. In 1634 he married 
a handsome peasant girl, who often sat to 
him as a model. Her frugality hoarded up 
his earnings, which he increased by many 
unworthy tricks to enhance the demand for 
his works. But after her death he lived as 
lavishly as in her time miserly, so that he 
died bankrupt. His death occurred at Am- 
sterdam in October, 1669. Rembrandt was 
equally great as a painter and an etcher. He 
is supposed to have acquired his taste for the 
concentration and unity of light and shade, 
which mark his works, from the peculiar 
light to which he must have been early 
accustomed in his father's mill. 

RESACA DE LA PALMA. This battle 
was fought May 9th, 1846, two days after 
the contest of Palo Alto. General Arista, 
the Mexican commander, fell back from that 
field to Resaca de la Palma, and awaited the 
advance of Gen. Taylor. In the gallant 
charge of May's dragoons on the Mexican 
artillery, Gen. La Vega was captured. The 
engagement ended in the precipitate flight of 
the Mexicans beyond the Rio Grande. The 
American loss was 39 killed and 71 wounded ; 
that of the Mexicans was estimated at 1,000 in 
killed, wounded, and prisoners. 

REVOLUTION, American. For an ac- 
count of the causes which produced this great 
event, the reader is referred to the article 
United States. In the present article we 



EEV 



690 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



shall present a somewhat detailed account of 
the war, touching briefly, however, on those 
events wliich have been noticed under their 
respective heads. 

The first conflict in which blood was spill- 
ed, at Lexington and Concord, Mass., April 
19th, 1775, we have elsewhere described. 
The news of this first battle produced a tre- 
mendous excitement throughout the country. 
The dead were buried with great ceremony 
and pomp. Great bodies of militia marched 
toward Boston. Agreements were entered 
into by thousands of people, to defend the 
Bostonians to the last gasp. The English 
forts, arsenals, magazines, and public money 
were seized upon by the people ; more money 
was coined, and more troops were raised. 

Everybody was armed, and ready for bat- 
tle. When the news from Lexington reached 
Barnstable, a company of militia started off 
for Cambridge at once. In the front rank 
was a young man, the only child of an old 
farmer. As they came to the old gentleman's' 
house, they halted a moment. The drum and 
fife ceased. The farmer came out, with his 
gray head bare. "God be with you all," 
said he ; "and you, John, if you must fight, 
fight like a man, or never let me see you 
again." The old man gave his boy his bless- 
ing. The poor fellow brushed a tear from 
his eye, and the company marched on. 

The news of the battle reached a small town 
in Connecticut, on the morning of the Sab- 
bath. It was nearly time to go to meeting, 
when the beating of a drum and the ringing 
of the bell attracted the attention of the peo- 
ple. In expectation that some great event 
was about to happen, every unusual signal 
had then a startling effect upon the public 
ear. When the drum and the bell wera 
heard, therefore, the men came running to 
the meeting-house green, in breathless haste. 
Soon the clergyman was among them, and 
they were all told that some of their country- 
men had been shot by the British soldiers, at 
Lexington. The faces of the men, as they 
heard it, were pale, but not from fear; it 
was immediately resolved that thirty persons 
should be equipped, and set out for Boston. 
Those who could best go, were selected, and 
went home to make preparations. 

At noon, they had all returned to the little 
lawn in front of the meeting-house. There 



was a crowd of people around ; there were 
friends and acquaintances, and wives and 
children. Such as were not well provided 
with clothes and equipments were imme- 
diately supplied by their neighbors. There 
was a rich old miser, never known to part 
with his money but with extreme reluctance. 
On the present occasion his nature seemed 
changed. He took several of the soldiers 
apart, whom he supposed likely to be desti- 
tute, and put into their hands about thirty 
dollars in hard cash ; at the same time saying, 
in a low voice, " Shoot the rascals ! shoot 
them ! If you come back, perhaps you will 
pay me; if not, God bless you." 

After all the arrangements were made, the 
soldiers entered the broad aisle of the church. 
An affecting and fervent prayer was then 
offered by the clergyman, in behalf of the 
country, and in behalf of these brave men 
that were about to enter upon the dangerous 
chances of war. After the prayer, he made a 
short but animated address, encouraging the 
men to do their duty. He pronounced a 
blessing, and then they departed. 

Israel Putnam was ploughing in a field 
when the tidings from Lexington were 
brought to him. He did not stay even to 
unharness his cattle : but, leaving the plough 
in the unfinished furrow, he went to his 
house, gave some hasty directions respecting 
his affairs, mounted his horse, and with rapid 
pace proceeded to Boston. 

The Massachusetts assembly M^as, at this 
time, sitting at Watertown, a few miles from 
Boston. They addressed a letter, explaining 
the whole affiiir, to the English people. They 
complained that the troops had long been in- 
sulting the provincials, and had now under- 
taken to murder them. They begged the 
government to interfere, and prevent war, de- 
claring they would submit to no more tyr- 
anny. They called God to witness the justice 
of their cause, and pledged themselves to 
defend each other to the last drop of blood. 

Letters were sent also to other colonies. 
They voted to raise a large army, and, in a 
short time, 30,000 militia were assembled 
about Boston ; thousands, who were not need- 
ed, were sent home. General Putnam com- 
manded at Cambridge, and General Thomas 
at Roxbury. All intercourse between the 
English troops and the countiy ended at once. 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



691 



It must be considered, however, that this 
collection of people was very different from a 
well-trained arm3^ They were brave, and 
heartily devoted to the cause. But they went 
and came as they pleased. They had few 
uniforms ; their muskets were of all sizes and 
shapes ; they had only sixteen cannon, and 
half of these were not tit for use ; and, though 
all the men were good marksmen, only a few 
regiments had been trained enough to appear 
like regular soldiers. 

The same might be said of the militia 
throughout the country. But they deter- 
mined to make the best of themselves, of 
their heavy old cannon and rusty muskets, 
and were in great hopes that, by a few short 
battles, the English would be entirely driven 
from the country. The English, on the other 
hand, especially in England, had a mean 
opinion of the American courage. One of 
their generals promised, if they would give 
him five or six regiments, he would drive the 
whole of these cowardly rebels from one end 
of the continent to the other. 

The British troops soon began to feel a 
little uncomfortable in Boston. The provin- 
cials had surrounded them so completely that 
no provisions could enter the city. Fresh 
meat and vegetables were very scarce ; and 
though they had vessels enough, they could 
get no supplies on the coast of New England. 
The people everywhere had driven their cattle 
into the back country. 

The governor would not suffer the inhabit- 
ants of Boston to leave the town. He feared 
that, if they left, the Americans would fall 
tipon him at once. But he promised them, 
at last, that if all their arms should be handed 
in at Faneuil HaU, or some other place, they 
should be allowed to go away, and thirty 
carts should be admitted from the country to 
carry off their furniture. 

About eighteen hundred muskets, and a 
great many pistols and bayonets, were given 
up accordingly ; and several of the citizens 
received passports, and left the town. But 
the governor soon after pretended, that the 
people had deceived him, in keeping back 
part of their arms, and he refused any more 
passports. The poor and sick only were suf- 
fered to go. Among these, there were several 
who were terribly affiicted with the small- 
pox. The disease spread among the militia 



about Boston, and the Americans were now 
more angry than ever, for they suspected this 
to be a matter of design on the part of Gen- 
eral Gage. 

While these things were passing, the other 
provinces were also preparing for war. The 
people of New York refused the English 
troops there all supplies. They armed and 
trained themselves, seized upon the ammu- 
nition in the arsenals, removed the women and 
children, and determined, if nothing else would 
do, to burn the whole of that large and beauti- 
ful city. In New Jersey, at the news of the 
Lexington battle, the people seized upon the 
public treasure; and at Baltimore they pos- 
sessed themselves of fifteen hundred English 
muskets. Similar steps were taken in South 
Carolina, wliere two regiments of infantry and 
one of cavalry were raised in a few days. 

There was, at this time, a great deal of diffi- 
culty in Virginia, between the English gover- 
nor, Dunmore, and the assembly. He feared 
the people would seize on the powder of the 
public magazine at Williamsburgh, and or- 
deretl it to be carried on board a vessel called 
the Jasper, lying at anchor in the river James. 
The mob crowded about the house ; and he 
began to talk of setting free the negro slaves 
and destroying the city. On the whole, it 
was clear that both the governor and the 
people were in a humor for fighting. 

In Connecticut it was resolved to under- 
take an expedition to Ticonderoga, on Lake 
Champlain, near Canada. As this fortress 
was full of stores, and stood upon the great 
route between Canada and the provinces, it 
was important to conquer it. The Connecti- 
cut assembly voted $1,800 for the purpose; 
and powder, ball, and whatever would be 
needed for a siege, were provided. 

The troops assembled with as little display 
as possible, at Castleton, on the banks of 
Wood Creek, on the great road to Ticonde- 
roga. Some of these troops were from Con- 
necticut, some from the Boston army, and 
some were people from the Green Mountains, 
in Vermont. These latter were called Green 
Mountain Boys, and were famous for skill in 
the use of the rifle. 

The captain of one of these companies cap- 
tured an English oflicer, a year or two after 
the time of which we are speaking. The 
Englishman complained to the American 



REV 



892 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



captain that these riflemen gave the regulars 
a great deal of trouble. " They aim," said he, 
" at an English officer as far as they can see 
his uniform plainly, and shoot him dead. 
They hardly condescend to kill anything less 
than a corporal." " They can do better still," 
said the Americaa captain ; and he ordered 
up two of his riflemen. " Is your piece in 
good order ? " said he to the first. " Yes, 
sir," answered the Green Mountaineer. The 
captain stuck a knife in a tree, about fifty 
paces distant, and ordered the man to split 
his ball. He fired, and the ball was cut in 
two pieces on the edge of the knife. The 
other was ordered to shoot the ace of clubs 
out of a card ; and he did so. The English- 
man was amazed. These sharp-shooters had 
only been four weeks from their ploughs in 
Vermont. 

The leaders of the expedition against Ti- 
oonderoga were Colonel Ethan Allen and Col- 
onel Easton. They were joined at .Castle- 
town by Colonel Arnold, from the Boston 
army. They marched on quietly, and ar- 
rived in the night on the bank of the lake, 
opposite Ticonderoga. They crossed over, 
and landed on the other side, close by the 
fortress. 

They entered it under the covered way, by 
daybreak, with a tremendous shout. The 
soldiers of the garrison were roused, ran out, 
half dressed, and began firing. A hot scufi^e, 
with gun-breeches and bayonets, hand to 
hand, ensued. Colonel Allen ordered the 
commander of the fort to surrender. "To 
whom?" said the officer, in great astonish- 
ment. "To the American congress!" said 
Allen, in a voice of thunder. The commander 
saw it was in vain to resist, and he gave up 
the fort. Here were found 124 fine brass 
cannon and a large quantity of ammunition. 

A hundiod cannon more were taken by the 
Americans at Crown Point, another fort on 
the same lake, defended by a small garrison. 
The next plan was to seize upon an English 
armed vessel, called a corvette, which lay 
anchored near fort St. John. The Ameri- 
cans soon rigged out a schooner. Arnold 
commanded it, and sailed with a fair wind 



shifted, and he was far on his way back, with 
the prize, when he met Allen and the boats. 
After taking another fort at Skenesborough, 
(now Whitehall), the party returned. 

Meanwhile, the English were skirmishing 
with the provincials at Boston. There were 
some islands in the harbor, where the Eng- 
lish found forage for their horses and cattle. 
The Americans undertook to carry ofi" these 
cattle from Noddle's Island and Hog Island, 
and succeeded after some fighting. They 
scoured Pettick's Island and Deer Island, 
soon after, in the same way. The English 
were put to a good deal of trouble to get 
food. 

They were finally so much pressed by the 
American army, that General Gage found 
himself obliged to make a new effort against 
them. The provincials sent a thousand men, 
under Putnam and Prescott, to fortify Bunk- 
er's Hill, in Charlestown. Instead of doing 
so, however, by some mistake, they forti- 
fied Breed's Hill, which is nearer the city. 
The Americans took possession of it in the 
evening, and worked so well, that, before 
morning, they had thrown up a redoubt 
eight rods square, and so silently, that the 
British knew nothing of it till daybreak. 

The latter, when they discovered the re- 
doubt, began- firing upon its daring occu- 
pants ; but the Americans worked on, till they 
raised a breastwork, reaching from the east 
side of the redoubt to the bottom of the hill. 
As Breed's Hill commands the city, the Brit- 
ish saw they must either be driven off, or drive 
off" the provincials. They opened a tremen- 
dous fire from the batteries and armed vessels? 
that floated on all the waters about Boston. 
Showers of bombs and balls were fired. A 
terrible battery was raised upon Copp's Hill, 
opposite Breed's ; but all in vain. The Amer- 
icans worked on, and had finished a trench 
or ditch before noon, which reached to the 
bottom of the hill. 

It was the 17th of June, and the famous 
battle of Bunker Hill. The British were 
determined to make a great effbrt. The pro- 
vincials lay ready for them on the hill. Gen- 
eral Putnam, of Connecticut, commanded the 



for the fort, while Allen followed slowly, with whole force. They had muskets, but few of 



his troops in flat-boats. The former came 
upon the corvette, and captured it without 
the least difficulty. The wind suddenly 



them bayonets or rifles. They were sharp- 
shooters, however, and were brave men as 
ever breathed. 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



698 



About noon of a terribly hot day, the whole 
British camp seemed to be in motion. A 
vast multitude of sloops and boats started 
from the Boston shore, covering the water 
far and wide. The soldiers landed at More- 
ton's Point, in Charlestown, protected by 
their batteries behind them. Here they pa- 
raded in fine order. They were the flower 
of the English army, and were commanded 
by General Howe and General Pigot. But 
the Americans appeared a little too strong 
and too cool for them ; and they waited for a 
few more companies to join them. 

The xVmericans took this opportunity to 
protect themselves still more, by pulling up 
post and rail fences, which they set before 
them, in two rows, filling the space between 
with fresh hay which they gathered from the 
hill. The British began to march. The mi- 
litia left to defend Charlestown, retreated. 
The British entered it, and set fire to the 
buildings. In a few moments five hundred 
wooden buildings were in flames. The wind 
blew high, and the fire streamed up, and 
roared in a terrible manner. 

Thousands of people were gazing at the 
scene, from the Boston steeples, and waiting 
with great anxiety for the fate of the battle. 
There were multitudes, also, on all the high 
roofs and hills roundabout. Never was there 
such a bustle and stir. The English marched 
slowly toward the redoubt, halting now and 
then, for the cannon to come up and fire. 
They came, at last, within musket-shot; and 
the redoubt, which had been as still as the 
grave till this moment, blazed all at once, 
with a tremendous volley. 

The British were soon thinned off, and 
compelled to retreat. Many fled for their 
lives, and threw themselves into the boats. 
The green slope of battle was covered with 
dead bodies. The oflBcers ran hither and 
thither, to rally the troops, and, after some 
time, persuaded them to march forward again. 
The Americans waited for them quietly, and 
received them once more with a flood of balls. 
The British fled down the hill to the shore. 

General Howe was alone upon the field; 
all his officers being killed and wounded 
around him. General Clinton, who had been 
watching the battle from Copp's Hill, now 
came to his aid with new troops. They made 
a third effort, with more spirit than before. 



Clinton led on the whole body ; the cannon 
still firing from the ships and batteries, and 
the flames and smoke of the burning town 
sweeping over them like the blast of a furnace. 

The powder of the Americans was exhaust- 
ed, and they were compelled to draw off. 
They retired to Prospect Hill, fighting with 
their muskets as if they were clubs, and there 
began throwing up new works. The British 
intrenched themselves on Bunker Hill, and 
neither army seemed willing to attack the 
other. They had had fighting enough for 
one day. Of 3,000 British troops, 1,054 were 
killed or wounded. A large part of these 
were officers. The sharp-shooters had taken 
the poor fellows down like so many gray 
squirrels. 

The Americans lost five pieces of cannon. 
Their killed, of about 1,500 engaged in the 
battle, amounted to 134; their wounded to 
814. Brave General Warren was among the 
dead. He was loved and lamented by all 
classes of people. An English oflicer, who 
knew him by sight, saw him in the retreat, 
rallying the Americans. He borrowed a gun 
of one of his soldiers, and, taking a fatal aim, 
shot him in the head, and he fell dead on the 
spot. 

The battle of Bunker Hill (as it is called, 
though fought on Breed's Hill) had no decisive 
effect; yet it roused the countrj^ showed the 
Americans that they were able to contend 
with the regulars, and taught the British that 
the provincials were not exactly the cowards 
they had taken them for. The capture of 
Breed's Hill did them more hurt than good. 
They were obliged to defend it now, and they 
had not too many men before to defend the 
town. Their soldiers were also worn out with 
fatigue, and were much depressed b}^ the hot 
weather. 

The Americans began now to fortify the 
town of Roxbury. Their works went up very 
fast, notwithstanding the continual fire of the 
British cannon. They had plenty of food, 
too, while the British were near starving. 
The latter could get nothing on the Boston 
islands, or along the Massachusetts coast, but 
by hard fighting; and very little by that. 
They were at last obliged to let most of the 
Bostonians pass out of the town. They had 
not provisions enough to keep them alive. 

A British sloop of war, the Falcon, Captain 



REV 



694 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Linzee, one day, " hove in sight," as the sail- 
ors saj, off the coast. She had been in 
search of two American schooners from the 
West Indies. One of these, Captain Linzee 
had just captured, and he followed the other 
into Gloucester harbor. He anchored, and 
sent two barges, with fifteen men in each, 
armed with muskets and swivels, and followed 
by a whale-boat, in which were a lieutenant 
and six privates, with orders to seize^ the 
schooner, and bring her off. The Gloucester 
people saw what was going on, and brought 
out their rusty muskets along shore in great 
numbers. The lieutenant, with the barge- 
men, boarded the schooner at the cabin win- 
dows. The militia began to blaze away at 
them off the shore. Three of the British were 
killed, and the lieutenant was wounded in the 
thigh. He soon made off for the Falcon, as 
fast as his boat would carry him. 

Captain Linzee now sent a cutter and the 
schooner he had taken, with orders to fire on 
the "saucy rebels," wherever they should see 
them. He amused himself, meanwhile, by 
cannonading the town. He fired a broadside 
into the thickest part of the settlement, to 
begin with. "Now," said he to the crew, 
"now, my boys, we'll aim at that dirty old 
church. Well done ! crack away ! one shot 
more! knock 'em down!" The balls went 
through the houses in every direction ; but 
not a man, woman, or child was injured. 
Meanwhile the men of Gloucester had gone 
out upon the water, and taken possession of 
both schooners, the cutter, the two barges, 
the boat, and every man in them all. They 
had but one killed, and two wounded. The 
British lost about fortj' men. 

The continental congress met again at Phil- 
adelphia, May 7th, 1775. There were dele- 
gates sent from all the colonies but Georgia; 
and though they had no precise right, by any 
law, to act for the whole country, yet the 
whole country was ready to obey them. They 
chose George Washington, of Virginia, com- 
mander-in-chief of the American army, and 
appointed many other officers to act under 
him. Among these were Gates and Lee, of 
Virginia ; Schuyler and Montgomery, of New 
York ; Pomeroy, Heath, and Thomas, of Mas- 
sachusetts; Green, of Rhode Island; Putnam, 
Wooster, and Spencer, of Connecticut ; Ward 
and Sullivan, of New Hampshire. These were 



some of the bravest and best men of the 
country. 

General Washington went directly to the 
army at Cambridge. He arrived there on the 
3d of July. Though he used no parade, wear- 
mg only a small sword at his side, epaulettes 
on his shoulders, and a black cockade on his 
hat, he was easily known, by his fine figure 
and noble countenance. He was treated every 
where with the greatest respect. 

Having reviewed the army, he found only 
14,500 men in a condition for service ; these 
had to defend a line of twelve miles. They 
were now arranged and trained as well and as 
fast as possible, no man understanding this 
business better than General Gates, who was 
an old soldier, as well as Washington. They 
had not 10,000 pounds of powder, at this time, 
in the army, being only nine charges to a 
man. Had the enemy known this, and at- 
tacked them, they must have fled like a flock 
of deer. Great efforts were made, however, 
and several tons soon arrived from New 
Jersey. 

The provincials had, at this time, no corps 
of riflemen ; though light troops of this kind 
were exceedingly needed, to bring in recruits 
and provisions, and to scour such a wild coun- 
try as America then was, abounding in rivers, 
swamps, mountains, and woods. Congress 
soon raised a few companies in Pennsylvania 
and Virginia; and 1,400 of them arrived at 
the camp early in August. These troops had, 
some of them, marched five or six hundred 
miles, and were stout and hardy men ; many 
of them were moi"e than six feet tall. They 
were dressed in white frocks, or rifle shirts, 
and round hats. They were terrible fellows 
for sharp-shooting ; equal to the Green Mount- 
ain Boys already mentioned. At a review, a 
company of them, on a quick march, fired 
their balls into marks seven inches across, at 
the distance of 250 yards. They often shot 
down the British officers, in Boston, like so 
manjf wild animals, at more than double the 
common musket distance. 

More powder was procured about this time, 
from the coast of Africa, in exchange for New 
England rum. This was managed so shrewdly 
that every ounce in the British forts there 
was bought up for the American army. The 
Massachusetts rulers passed a law, also, that 
no powder should be fired at any beast, bird, 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



695 



or mark ; they wished it all to be saved for way to the American army, will show the 



the war. 

Congress took measures for the coining of 
money, and the raising of troops in all quar- 
ters. The people obeyed the directions of 
Congress with alacrity. Every man, from 
sixteen years of age to fifty, was a member of 
some militia company ; and a fourth part of 
the whole, called minute-men, were to keep 
themselves ready for action at a moment's 
notice. Captains were to be paid twenty 
dollars a month; lieutenants and ensigns, 
thirteen ; corporals and sergeants, eight ; and 
privates, six. 

No province was more active than Pennsyl- 
vania. Companies were raised in all the 
country towns. Many of the Quakers, even 
though they did not approve of fighting, were 
so carried away with the general feeling as to 
turn out and train with the rest. Three large 
battalions were raised in Philadelphia alone, 
besides artillery, cavalry, riflemen, pioneers, 
and others. They often maneuvred in pres- 
ence of Congress. The whole city was full of 
the music of drums, fifes, and bugles. 

Among others, a company was formed of 
eighty old Germans, who had, most of them, 
fought a long time before in Europe. It was 
called the old men's companj^ Instead of 
cockades, tlicy wore black crape, to signify 
their sorrow at the need of taking up arms at 
such an age. The captain was near a hundred 
years old, and had been in seventeen battles ; 
he had been a soldier forty years. The drum- 
mer was ninety -four, and the youngest in the 
carps was about seventy. In the county of 
Bristol, a regiment was raised, and they were 
clothed, armed, and furnished with colors by 
the women. 

About this time. Congress took the neces- 
sary steps to keep peace with the Indian tribes. 
But they never employed them to fight against 
the English, though the English hired them 
to fight against the Americans. The Ameri- 
cans thought the Indian w^ay of fighting en- 
tirely too barbarous and cruel to be suffered 
among civilized people. Another objection 
was that the savages could not be depended 
on. They were greedy for wages, but so de- 
ceitful, that they could not be safely trusted. 
A story told of a sergeant, who traveled 
through the woods of New Hampshire, on his 



character of the Indians. 

He had twelve men with him. Their route 
was far from any settlement ; and they were 
obliged every night to camp in the woods. 
The sergeant had seen a good deal of the In- 
dians, and understood them well. Early in 
the afternoon, one day, as they were marching 
on, over bogs, swamps, and brooks, under the 
great maple trees, a body of Indians, more 
than their own number, rushed out upon a 
hill in front of them. They appeared to be 
pleased at meeting with the sergeant and his 
men. They considered them, they said, as 
their best friends. For themselves, they had 
taken up the hatchet for the Americans, and 
would scalp and strip those rascally English 
for them, like so many wild-cats. "How do 
you do, pro?" (meaning brother) said one; 
and " How do ye do, pro ? " said another ; and 
so they went about, shaking hands with the 
sergeant and his twelve men. 

They went off, at last ; and the sergeant, 
having marched on a mile or two, halted his 
men, and addressed them. "My brave fel- 
lows," said he, " we must use all possible cau- 
tion, or, before morning, we shall all of us be 
dead men. You are amazed; but, depend 
upon me, these Indians have tried to put our 
suspicion to sleep. You will see more of them 
by and by." 

They concluded, finally, to adopt the follow- 
ing scheme for defense. They encamped for 
the night near a stream of water, which pro- 
tected them behind. A large oak was felled, 
and a brilliant fire kindled. Each man cut a 
log of wood about the size of his body, rolled 
it nicel)^ up in his blanket, placed his hat on 
the end of it, and laid it before the fire, that 
the enemy might take it for a man. Thirteen 
logs were fitted out in this way, representing 
the sergeant and his twelve men. They then 
placed themselves, with loaded guns, behind 
the fallen tree. By this time it was dark ; 
but the fire was kept burning till midnight. 
The sergeant knew that if the savages ever 
came, they would come now. 

A tall Indian was seen, at length, through 
the glimmering of the fire, which was getting 
low. He moved cautiously toward them, 
skulking, as an Indian always does. He 
Sfiomcd to suspect, at first, that'a guard might 



EEV 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



be watching ; but, seeing none, he came for- 
ward more boldly, rested on his toes, and was 
seen to move his finger, as he counted the 
thirteen men, sleeping, as he supposed, by 
the fire. 

He counted them again, and retired. An- 
other came up, and did the same. Then the 
whole party, sixteen in number, came up, and 
glared silently at the logs, till they seemed to 
be satisfied they were fast asleep. Presently 
they took aim, fired their whole number of 
guns upon the logs, yelled the horrid war- 
whoop, and rushed forward to murder and 
scalp their supposed victims. The sergeant 
and his men were ready for them. They fired 
upon them ; and not one of the Indians was 
left to tell the story of that night. The ser- 
geant I'eached the army in safety. 

Treaties having been made with the Indi- 
ans, Congress recommended that the 20th 
day of Jul)'-, 1775, should be observed, in all 
the provinces, as a day of fasting and prayer ; 
and it was so. The people were everywhere 
disposed td implore Heaven to prevent war, 
and to soften the hearts of their enemies. In 
Philadelphia, Congress attended church in a 
body. As they were entering the house of 
worship, they received news from Georgia, 
that this province had at last concluded to 
join in the common cause, with the other 
twelve. Until this time, the people there had 
said and done but little ; but they determined 
now to make amends for lost time. 

A declaration of rights was soon after put 
forth by Congress, and sent over every part 
of the country. It gave a history of the whole 
difficulty, from first to last, between England 
and America ; and ended with an account of 
the burning of Charlestown, the seizure of the 
provincial vessels by the British, and the hir- 
ing of the savages to fight against the Ameri- 
cans. "We are compelled," said they, "to 
submit to tyranny, or to take up arms. We 
have counted the cost of this war, and have 
determined to be free, as our fathers have been 
before us, and as we trust our children shall 
be after us. We declare, before God, that we 
will defend each other, and the liberties of the 
whole country, to the last moment of life." 
This was signed by John Hancock, president, 
and by Charles Thompson, secretary, of Con- 
gress. The ministers read it from their pul- 
pits in all parts of the land. It was read in 



Cambridge, to a vast multitude, and General 
Putnam assembled his troops on Prospect 
Hill to hear it. This was followed by a prayer 
from a clergyman. All the troops cried, three 
times, "Amen;" the artillery fired a general 
salute, and a new flag was unfurled, with 
these mottoes, — on one side, "An appeal 
to Heaven," and, on the other, "He who has 
brought us over will defend us." 

A petition to the English king was next 
drawn up, and addresses were wi'itten to the 
people of England, Ireland, and Canada. 
Congress were resolved to leave nothing un- 
said, or undone, that ofiered any chance of 
restoring peace. The Canadians were per- 
suaded to remain neutral, taking no part on 
either side. The British general, Carleton, 
used efforts to make them enlist as soldiers. 
They were offered two hundred acres of land 
in any part of America they should choose, 
at the end of the war. Each married man 
was to have fifty acres more for his wife, 
and fifty for each of his children, with a 
guinea as a bounty at the time of enlisting. 
A few only were persuaded in this way. A 
good many Indians, however, were hired. 
They collected at Montreal, in great numbers, 
in July, 1775. Among the rest were six 
famous tribes of Western New Yoi-k, called 
the Six Nations. They swore, in the presence 
of Carleton, to fight for the English king ; 
and thus, soon after, the Indian war began. 

It may seem strange, that, during the dis- 
turbances in the various colonies, little or 
nothing should have been done, by the Eng- 
lish governors, to put down the rebellion. 
The truth is, the)- had no troops, and not 
much money at their disposal ; and, before 
these could be supplied, the spirit of inde- 
pendence had gone too far to be repressed. 

In Virginia, Governor Dunmore, being com- 
pelled to leave Williamsburg, and fearing that 
it would not be safe for him to remain upon 
the land, went on board a royal armed vessel. 
Having collected a fleet, he resolved to har- 
ass the Virginians as much as possible, if he 
could not govern them. He was joined by 
the Tories, that is, the Americans who favor- 
ed the English. 

He laid waste the coast, at various places, 
murdering and burning like a pirate. He 
burnt Hampton, on the baj^ of Hampton, 
among the rest, and undertook to establish 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



697 



his camp there. But the Virginians soon 
drove him back upon the water. He then 
declared all the negro slaves to be free, and 
invited them to join him. A few of them 
succeeded in doing so. 

He landed again at Norfolk, where the To- 
ries were numerous ; and a battle was fought, 
a few miles from that city, at a place called 
Great Bridge, with a regiment of Virginia 
militia and minute-men. The governor had 
only 200 regulars about him. The rest was 
a mere mob, of black, white, and gray. 

The first attack was made by the British, 
on the American intrenchment. The battle 
lasted some tune, with a good deal of spirit. 
At last, the British captain was killed, and the 
troops fell back upon the bridge. The gov- 
ernor did not like fighting ; so, during the 
battle, he contented himself with looking on 
at a distance. The negroes loved fighting as 
little as the governor. They found it by no 
means pleasant to have their flesh cut to 
pieces with bullets ; so, after a few shots, they 
ran away as fast as they could. The gov- 
ernor also thought it best to retreat, and, 
accordingly, he and his men went on board 
of their vessels. 

This affair did not serve to sweeten Gover- 
nor Dunmore's temper ; nor did it put him in 
a better humor, to find that his friends, the 
Tories at Norfolk, had been handled roughly 
by the people there after his retreat with his 
negro allies. He returned into the bay, with 
a ship of war, and sent a message ashore, 
declaring, that, unless the people furnished 
him provisions, he should batter the town 
down about their ears. They refused to sup- 
ply him : so he gave them notice, in the 
morning, to remove the women and children ; 
and then, with his own sloop of war, the 
frigate Liverpool, and two corvettes, he blazed 
away upon the place, till scarcely one stone 
was left upon another. The provincials, to 
disappoint him of his provisions, burnt the 
whole country round about. 

In South Carolina, Governor Campbell ar- 
rived at Charleston, from England, about the 
same time with the news of the bloodshed at 
Lexington. The people were on their guard ; 
and he tried in vain to get thebetter of them, 
by inviting the Tories to assist him ; but the 
Tories were afraid to do so. He began to be 
frightened a little himself, being a man of less 



courage than Governor Dunmore ; so he said 
little or nothing for some time. To unmask 
him, the American leaders sent privately to 
him one Adam Macdonald, captain in a miU- 
tia regiment. He called himself Dick Wil- 
liams, and offered his services to the governor. 
The latter was delighted, and told him all his 
plans. Having heard them attentively, Adam 
went away, and told the whole to the persons 
who employed him. They immediately sent 
a committee, Macdonald among the number, 
to wait upon his excellency, and request him 
to show his royal commission, if he had any, 
as governor. He declined this proposal. 
There were some hints then thrown out, 
about putting him in confinement. These 
came to his ears, and he retreated, with very 
little ceremony or delay, to an English cor- 
vette in the harbor. The assembly requested 
him to return ; but he refused. Nothing 
more was seen of him, or his government, 
in Charleston. The Tories were numerous 
in other sections of the province, however, 
and he mustered them together in great 
force. The people were alarmed. The mili- 
tia were ordered out; and the two parties 
were on the eve of an enga,gement But at 
length the Tories were dispersed, and they 
gave no more trouble at that time. 

The provincials in South Carolina contin- 
ued to be very active. They captured Fort 
Johnson, on James's Island, in Charleston 
harbor, and placed batteries on Point Hud- 
drel. The English ships were at last driven 
off. The next thing with the people was to 
send an expedition after an English vessel 
laden with powder, which was anchored oflf 
St. Augustine, a town on the coast of East 
Florida. She was taken, and 15,000 pounds 
of powder were carried to Charleston. 

In North Carolina, the provincial congress 
raised 1,000 regular militia, and 3,000 min- 
ute-men. The English governor, Martin, 
disliked the appearance of things, and en- 
deavored to muster a force of the Irisli and 
Scotch part of the inhabitants. He also for- 
tified his own house, at Newbern, with artil- 
lery. The people seized upon his cannon ; 
and he fied to a fort upon Cape Fear River. 
The provincials marched after him, led on by 
Colonel Ashe. He retreated on board a ves- 
sel, as the other governors had done. Colo- 
nel Ashe burnt the fort to ashes the same 



REV 



698 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



night. The assembly declared the governor 
a traitor. He answered them in a very long 
letter, vi'hich they ordered burnt by the 
common hangman. A large quantity of ball 
and powder was found in his cellar and gar- 
dens, at Newbern. 

In Pennsylvania, the people prepared ac- 
tively for war. A single mill, near Phila- 
delphia, manufiictured five hundred pounds 
of powder a week. Governor Tr3^on, after 
endeavoring a long time to manage the prov- 
ince, followed the example of the other gov- 
ernors. 

In other parts of the country, the enemy was 
not asleep. One Captain "Wallace, command- 
ing an English squadron of small vessels off 
Rhode Island, was doing all the damage in his 
power, by ravaging the coast, and making 
prize of the merchant vessels. His chief ob- 
ject seemed to be to supply himself and his 
force with provisions. With this view, he 
made a furious attack upon the town of Bris- 
tol, and fired, from morning till night, upon 
their houses and churches. He bored them 
through and through, till, finally, the people 
supplied him and his squadron with fresh 
meat; and he sailed away. 

About this time, a body of American troops 
were • sent from Massachusetts to Rhode 
Island, under Gen. Lee. He was a man of 
great courage and warm temper. He obliged 
all the inhabitants, whom he went to defend, 
to take the most terrible oaths to do precisely 
what Congress should command ; and, at all 
events, to break off all intercourse with the 
tools of tyranny, "vulgarly called," as the 
oath said, " the fleets and armies of the king." 
Congress were not much pleased with this 
maneuvre. It was well meant, without 
doubt, but it was very rough, and of no real 
use. 

On the 18th of October, 1775, Falmouth, 
now Portland, in Maine, was bombarded bj- 
Lieut. Mowattt, of the ship Canccaux, of six- 
teen guns, and the whole town was consumed. 
He had formerl}'^ received some affront in the 
place, and revenged himself in this way. He 
sent the people word at night that he should 
destroy the town in the morning ; they re- 
moved their furniture, and he went to work 
early the next day with his cannon. The 
town had been twice sacked by the Indians, 
but never suifercd so severely before. 



The most important affair of this year was 
an expedition to Canada. The provincials 
had done so well upon Lake Champlain, that 
the scheme of another expedition in the same 
quarter was much approved of Congress 
hoped that, if Canada was invaded at once, 
many of the inhabitants would join the Amer- 
icans. 

Three thousand men, commanded by Gen- 
erals Montgomery, Wooster, and Schu3'ler, 
were fitted out. Boats were built for them 
on the lake, at Crown Point, and the sum of 
$50,000 was collected to pay the expenses. 
Sir Guy Carleton, governor of Canada, in- 
trenched himself, with a strong force, at the 
entrance of the river Sorel, which leads out of 
the lake, and which the Americans would be 
obliged to pass. 

The latter took possession of an island in 
the lake, at the mouth of the river, and, from 
that place, planned an attack on Fort St. 
John, where the governor was. This fort 
stood on the left bank of the Sorel, and com- 
manded the passage to Canada. The Amer- 
icans moved on without cannon, to a swamp 
within a mile and a half of the fort. They 
defeated a bodj^ of Indians, who attacked them 
in crossing a small river, waited for re-en- 
forcements, and laid siege to the fort. 

Farther north, on the Sorel, was a small 
fort, called Chambly. The English had no 
idea of the provincials passing St. John to 
fall upon Chambly ; but they did so ; took 
the garrison prisoners ; obtained 124 barrels 
of powder for the siege of St. John, and sent 
the colors they had captured to Congress. 
Other detachments scoured the country be- 
tween the Sorel and the St. Lawrence ; the 
Canadians supplying them everywhere with 
arms and provisions. 

Just at this time. Colonel Ethan Allen and 
Major Brown undertook an expedition against 
the city of Montreal, which stands on an 
island in the St. Lawrence. Allen found 
boats ready for him at Longucvillc, and cross- 
ed the river in the night, below Montreal. 
Here Brown was to have joined with his 
troops, but he missed his way, and Allen was 
left, with a small force, in the neighborhood 
of the city. It was just sunrise. The mur- 
min- of the city was heard at a few miles' 
distance, and by and by the roll of the Eng- 
lish drums came upon the ear. The Ameri- 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



699 



cans saw that thej were discovered. Before 
long, a coluQin of British infantry came 
marching down the bank of the river. There 
was an ahnost breathless silence in Allen's 
small band, as they came up. Even Allen 
himself stood fast, and gazed at them. " To 
the boats ! to the boats ! " cried a dozen of 
his soldiers ; " there's a thousand of them." 
" Silence ! every man of ye ! " roared Allen, 
brandishing a huge horse-pistol. " The first 
man that turns his back upon the red coats, 
shall smeU gunpowder." They were satisfied 
with this arrangement, on the whole, exam- 
ined their rifles, and stood ready for the 
onset. 

" Stand your ground, boys ! " shouted Al- 
len. A party of British soldiers was moving 
toward them from the main body, at double 
quick time. " Let them come ! " cried a tall, 
fine-looking hunter at his side; "let them 
come ! " He brought his rifle to his eye, as 
he spoke. " Fire ! " shouted the British offi- 
cer, and instantly the hunter dropped dead 
at the feet of Allen. His hardy followers 
shrunk back; they wei-e sprinkled with 
the blood of the poor hunter. " Fire ! fire ! " 
shouted xiUen, with a voice of thunder. A 
hot skirmish ensued. Allen was at last com- 
pelled to surrender. 

He was kept a prisoner more than two 
years, and then was exchanged for some 
English officer whom the Americans had 
taken. The irons put upon him were so fos- 
tencd about him, and so heavy, that for a 
long time he could lie down only on his back. 
A chest was his seat by day, and his bed by 
night. He was sent to England, to be tried 
as a prisoner of state, not as a fair and open 
enemy, but as a rebel. At this time, all the 
Americans were called rebels, and the Eng- 
lish used to speak of hanging great numbers 
of them when the war was over. 

Allen was a man of very large frame and 
prodigious strength. He possessed great 
courage, and was much inclined to daring 
enterprise. His reputation, it seems, had 
gone before him to England; an#he was 
therefore kept in very close confinement. 
The people were as much afraid of him as if 
he had been a whale or a sea-serpent. They 
sometimes used to come and set' liim in his 
prison ; but they were very shy, and if he so 



much as turned round, they would run away 
like a flock of startled sheep. 

The Americans were always on the watch. 
They thought it probable, that Carleton 
would set out about this time, and were ready 
for him. He embarked 800 men in boats, 
and undertook to cross the St. Lawrence, 
precisely where Allen had crossed it, at 
Longueville. But Col. Warner, with three 
hundred of the Green Mountain sharp-shoot- 
ers, and a few cannon, lay among the bushes, 
on the river bank, as the governor's boats 
came over. The Americans waited quietly 
till they were fairly within reach, and then 
poured out upon them a tremendous volley 
of grape-shot. The governor's party retreated 
in great haste, with some loss of Uves ; and 
nothing more was seen of them. 

News of this defeat soon came to Major 
Preston, the British commander of the be- 
sieged fort of St. John. He began to think 
it a desperate case with him, and so concluded 
to surrender to the American general, Mont- 
gomery. This he did on the 3d of Novem- 
ber, 1775. He had held out like a brave man, 
the siege having lasted six weeks. The Amer- 
icans found in this fort seventeen brass can- 
non, twenty-two iron ones, and a large quan- 
tity of balls and bombs. The powder had 
been used to the last kernel, and the provis- 
ions to the last morsel. The capture was an 
important one. St. John, standing on the 
Sorel, which leads from Lake Champlain to 
the St. Lawrence, commanded the passage to 
and from Canada, and was,' therefore, called 
the key of Canada. 

The next movement of the Atnericans was 
to take possession of the mouth of the Sorel, 
where it empties into the St. Lawrence. The 
point of land that is formed by the meeting 
of the two rivers, was fortified with batteries, 
which swept the river in such a manner that 
no English vessel could pass without being 
bored through and through. As the St. Law- 
rence is wide here, the Americans provided a 
fleet of boats and floating batteries to guard 
the other side, and thus completely stopped 
the passage up and down that river. 

Governor Carleton had left Montreal, which 
stands farther up the St. Lawrence from the 
sea, with a fleet of English ships under his 
command, without having heard of these for 



REV 



700 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



tifications. What added to the difficulty of 
his situation was that, the very day after he 
left Montreal, another body of Americans, 
under Montgomery himself, appeared under 
the walls of that city, and called upon the 
people to surrender. 

This detachment had marched across the 
country from Fort St. John. The land is flat 
and marshj^, and their journey had been slow 
and difficult. It gave them great satisfaction 
to have reached Montreal just as the governor 
had gone off with his force. The city, having 
no defense, was compelled to surrender. Gen- 
eral Montgomery treated the people so hand- 
somely, that they supplied him with a large 
quantity of clothes for his troops. These were 
very much needed. It was now the middle 
of November, and they were weary of a long, 
cold march. 

Governor Carleton was now unpleasantly 
situated on the river, with Montreal, in the 
possession of Montgomery, above him, and 
the fortifications at the mouth of the Sorel 
below. If he could have been taken, all Can- 
ada would have been easily conquered ; but 
he contrived, one dark night, to pass through 
among the floating batteries, in a small boat, 
with the oars muffled. Thus he escaped safely 
to a town on the northern bank, called Trois 
Rivieres; and from that place he went to 
Quebec. 

The English fleet, which the governor had 
left behind, surrendered to the Americans, in 
a day or two, with a large number of soldiers 
and officers aboard. General Montgomery 
left garrisons in Montreal, and Forts Chambly 
and St. John, on the Sprel, to keep the Indi- 
ans in awe, and marched on to Quebec, with 
the small force of three hundred men. 

While these things were going forward. 
General Washington, in his camp at Cam- 
bridge, had conceived the plan of sending an 
expedition against Quebec, by way of a rough, 
wild route, known only to the backwoodsmen 
and hunters, through the district of Maine. 
He selected Colonel Arnold to commancj the 
expedition ; a rash but brave man, who had 
assisted in the capture of Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point. Fourteen companies were put 
under his command; three of riflemen, and 
one of artillery, under Captain Lamb, being 
among the number; in all, there were about 
eleven hundred men. A few others joined 



them, of their own accord ; and among these 
volunteers was Aaron Burr, then twenty years 
of age. 

Maine is crossed, from north to south, as a 
map will show, by the river Kennebec, rising 
in the mountains between Maine and Canada, 
and emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. On 
the other side of the same mountains, ■ and 
close, therefore, by the small upper streams 
of the Kennebec, another river rises, called 
the Chaudiere, which empties into the St. 
Lawrence, nearly opposite Quebec. In cross- 
ing these mountains, between the sources of 
the two rivers, on the two sides, it is neces- 
sary to pass very steep and wild and desolate 
places, over marshes and torrents. Such was 
the route Arnold and his brave soldiers were 
to travel. 

He left Boston in September, 1775, and ar- 
rived at Newburyport. The vessels that 
waited for him here conveyed him and his 
men to the mouth of the Kennebec. With a 
fresh south wind, they sailed up the river fifty 
miles, to the town of Gardiner. Here were 
two hundred batteaux ready for them. These 
were long, light flat-boats, much used by the 
Canadians, hunters, and others in shoal waters. 

Having laden these with his arms and pro- 
visions, Arnold proceeded up the river, to Fort 
Western, on the light bank. Here he divided 
his corps into three detachments. The rifle- 
men, under Capt. Morgan, moved on forward, 
as a vanguard, to explore the country; to 
sound the fords, — that is, ascertain where the 
river might be crossed easily ; and to look out 
for the portages. These are places where the 
river ceases to be navigable, on account of 
shoals, falls, or rocks. The lading of the 
boats must, therefore, be carried forward upon 
the banks, by hand, or by beasts of burden. 
The batteaux are then carried on, also, till 
the river becomes deeper and smoother. 

Arnold's second detachment marched the 
next day after the first ; and the third detach- 
ment the day after that. The current of the 
river was rapid, the bottom rocky, and often 
interrupted b}" falls. Every hour, the water 
entered some of the batteaux, and damaged 
the provisions and arms. At every portage, 
— and these occurred very often,— the boats 
were to be unladen, and carried on the shoul- 
ders of the troops. In places where the river 
was rapid, yet free of rocks, the batteaux were 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGUAPHY. 



701 



hauled up slowly by soldiers on the banks, 
who dragged them along with ropes. 

The army, however, advanced, and at length 
they had wild mountains to cross, steep prec- 
ipices to climb, vast shady forests to pass un- 
der, and quagmires to wade through. They 
had deep valleys to traverse, where the pine- 
trees were tossing over their heads in the 
stormy wind, and where the river was rushing 
and foaming over the rocks, with a noise like 
the ocean. They were sometimes a whole 
day in traveling four or five miles, with their 
baggage lashed on their backs, and axes in 
their hands to hew a road through the wil- 
derness. Some of the men died at last with 
weariness ; many others fell sick ; and all of 
them were at length sorely pressed for food. 
Many a young soldier, as he lay down at night, 
hungry and tired, on his pillow of green 
boughs, thought of the warm bright fireside, 
where a mother was weeping for him. But 
these thoughts were vain. They rose in the 
morning, and pressed on patiently, brave men 
as they were. 

By the time they had reached the source of 
Dead River, a branch of the Kennebec, their 
provisions were almost exhausted. The sol- 
diers were living, or rather starving, now, 
upon the poor lean dogs they had taken with 
them, and even this food was a luxury. At 
this place, Col. Enos received orders from Ar- 
nold, to send back the sick to Boston. He 
took the opportunity to return himself, with 
his whole detachment. He was afterward 
tried for this desertion, by a court-martial, 
and acquitted, for the reason that the men 
must otherwise have starved. 

But Col. Arnold marched on. For thirty- 
two days, not a single human dwelling was 
met with. The army arrived at last upon the 
mountains, between the Kennebec and the 
Chaudiere. The little food still left was di- 
vided equally, and then the troops were di- 
rected to look out as they could for their own 
living. They discovered, finally, with incon- 
ceivable joy, the sources of the Chaudiere, 
and the first log-houses of the Canadians. 

These people received them well, and as- 
sisted them. Arnold addressed a proclama- 
tion to the Canadians, waited for his rear- 
guard to. overtake him, pressed on, and ar- 
rived, Nov. 9th, at Point Levy, nearly oppo- 
site Quebec. The people of the city were as 



much amazed at the sight of him and his men, 
as if they had been so many goblins. 

The English colonel, Maclean, had heard of 
their coming, however, by a letter which Ar- 
nold had given to an Indian on the Kennebec, 
to carry to Gen. Schuyler. The Indian gave 
it to Maclean, and the latter removed all his 
batteaux from the Point Levy side of the river 
to the other bank. The wind blew a gale, 
too ; and thus the city had time to prepare 
for defense. All the people of Quebec were 
immediately armed, and brought within the 
walls, soldiers or not soldiers, English, French, 
Scotch, and Irish, regulars and marines. 

The wind moderated, and Arnold undertook 
to pass the river on the night of Nov. 13th, 
the same day that Montgomery took Montreal. 
One hundred and fifty men remained to make 
ladders for scaling the city walls. The rest 
succeeded in crossing the river. The banks 
being very steep here, Arnold and his men 
marched down upon the edge of the river 
toward Quebec, and climbed the heights of 
Abraham, close by the city, and almost over- 
looking it. Here he waited for his 150 ladder 
men, and hoped that the city would surrender. 

They were prepared for him, however ; and 
Maclean not only refused to receive the mes- 
sage requiring him to surrender, but fired 
upon the beai'er of it. Arnold had no cannon, 
and only six charges of powder to each man. 
Hearing, therefore, that Maclean was about to 
sally out upon him, he retired twenty miles 
up the river, to Point au Tremble. He met 
on his march the ship in which Governor 
Carleton was sailing down to Quebec; and 
heard, when he reached the Point, that he 
had left it but a few hours before. 

Montgomery arrived here, and joined Ar- 
nold, on the 1st of December, 1775, after a 
weary march from Montreal. The weather 
was excessively cold, and the roads were 
blocked up with snow. His force was about 
three hundred men ; and never were people 
more delighted to see each other, than were 
these three hundred, and the little band of 
brave fellows who had followed Arnold. 
Montgomery had brought clothing for the 
latter; and they stood in great need of it, 
indeed. 

The soldiers now marched in company, and 
arrived in sight of Quebec on the 5th. A 
summons was sent to Carleton to surrender ; 



REV 



702 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



but he ordered his troops to fire upon the 
bearer. Montgomery then planted a battery 
of six cannon wittiin seven hundred paces of 
the walls. They were laid upon banks -of 
snow and ice ; the pieces were small ; and the 
fire had little effect. The snow had now Mien 
in huge drifts, and the weather was excess- 
ively^ cold. A council of war was called, and 
an immediate assault on the city was resolved 
upon. 

Two detachments, under Montgomery and 
Arnold, were to attack the walls of the lower 
part of the town. This taken, the rest would 
probably submit without fighting. On the 
last day of the year 1775, between four and 
five in the morning, in the midst of a heavy 
snow-storm, the American columns advanced. 

An Irish captain, going his rounds upon 
the walls of the town, observed the guns fired 
by the Americans as a signal, and at once 
caused the di'ums to beat, and roused the gar- 
rison to arms. Montgomery, with his detach- 
ment, passing alo«g imder Cape Diamond, 
came to a small battery of cannon. The 
guard threw down their arms, and fled. The 
Americans had nearly taken possession of it, 
but the road was impeded with immense 
masses of snow. Montgomery, with his own 
hands, opened a path for his troops. Two 
hundred of them came up at last, and rushed 
on. Just then, a cannoneer, who had fled, 
on seeing the Americans halt, returned to his 
post, at the little battery, and, taking a match, 
■\rhich happened to be still burning, fired a 
cannon charged with grape-shot. The Amer- 
icans were within forty paces. Montgomer}- 
dropped dead upon the spot, and his troops 
soon fled. 

Arnold had made an assault, meanwhile, at 
another point. But he soon received a mus- 
ket ball in the leg, which spHntered the bone ; 
and he was carried off to the hospital, almost 
by force, as he was unwilling to quit the field. 
Captain Morgan, with two companies of rifle- 
men, now advanced upon the battery. His 
sharp-shooters killed many of the English 
through the embrasures. The guard fled. 
Morgan rushed forward, and some prisoners 
were taken. But here the courage of his 
troops failed them. Morgan alone stood firm. 
As the morning dawned, he rallied his rifle- 
men with a voice of thunder, and they pushed 
forward. A detachment sallied out upon 



them, at this moment, from the walls; and 
the English captain summoned them to lav 
down their arms. Morgan aimed a musket at 
him, and shot him dead. The English re- 
treated; a hot skirmish ensued. Ladders 
were planted against the walls, but a terrible 
fire was poured down upon the men who at- 
tempted to ascend them. A detachment of 
the British now assaulted the Americans on 
another side, and they were compelled, at 
last, to surrender. 

Arnold, with his remaining force, retreated 
three miles from the city, and intrenched him- 
self Governor Carleton kept within the 
walls of Quebec, satisfied with waiting till re- 
enforcements should reach him from Engdand, 
in the spring. So ended the fsimous assault 
upon Quebec. 

A braver man than Montgomery never fell 
on a field of battle. The whole country wept 
for his loss. Even the Canadians lamented 
him, and Carleton buried his body with all 
the honors of war. Colonel Barre, and Fox 
and Burke, the great orators of England, pro- 
nounced his praises in the English parliament. 
Congress ordered a monument to be procured 
from France, and erected to his memory. 

We come now to 1776. In the winter and 
spring of this year, Boston was still surrounded 
by the American army under Washington. 
The British in the town, meanwhile, were 
reduced to great extremity. For fuel, they 
used the timber of houses, which they pulled 
down for the purpose. They were in want of 
food. Armed ships were ordered to Georgia, 
to buy up rice ; but the people of that prov- 
ince opposed them with so much success, 
that, of eleven vessels, only two got off with 
their cargoes. 

The old South church, in Washington street, 
was entirely destroyed inside, and used as a 
riding-room for a regiment of dragoons. The 
pulpit and pews were taken out, and the floor 
covered with earth. The frame-work of one 
pew, carving, silk furniture, and all, was taken 
out, and used for a pig-sty. The North 
church, so called, was entirely demolished. 

All this time, notwithstanding there was 
much suffering in the town, the English of- 
ficers and the Tories contrived to pass the 
time, when they were not fighting the Amer- 
icans, in dancing and other amusements. 
They had a small theatre, and in the evening 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



(03 



of Feb. 8th were acting a farce, called "The 
Blockade of Boston." One figure, meant to 
ridicule Washington, was rigged out in the 
most uncouth style, with a large wig, and a 
long rusty sword. Another character was an 
American sergeant, in his country dress, with 
an old gun on his shoulder, eight feet long. 
At the moment this figure appeared, one of 
the British sergeants came running on the 
stage, and cried out, "The Yankees are at- 
tacking our works on Bunker Hill." The au- 
dience took it for a part of the play ; but Gen. 
Howe knew it was no joke, and called out, 
" Officers, to your alarm-posts ! " 
^ The American army at this time about 
Boston was but little better provided for than 
the English. Many fell sick with fatigue and 
exposure. They had provisions enough from 
the country, to be sure, while the English 
troops were said to be living wholly on salt 
meat, and the Boston Tories upon horse-flesh. 
But the whole number, in January, was re- 
duced to less than ten thousand ; and these, 
having enlisted for a few months only, were 
every day going home. 

At one time, there were hardly men enough 
to man the lines. As for powder, they had 
but four rounds to a man ; and but four small 
brass cannon, and a few old iron pieces full 
of holes, with the wood-work broken off". 
These were fitted into logs, like the barrel of 
a gun into the stock, and lifted up and down, 
and wheeled about, in this way, but to some 
good purpose. The British laughed at these 
machines, at first, but they soon found them 
no laughing matter. They kept up a contin- 
ual cannonade, in return; firing about two 
thousand shot and bomb-shells, it is said, in 
the course of a few months. But the whole 
of this firing killed only twelve Americans. 

There were two cannon kept in a gun-house 
opposite the Mall, in Boston, at the corner of 
West street, in the care of one Paddock. The 
British found it out, and Paddock promised 
to deliver them up. A party of school-boys 
undertook to prevent him from doing it The 
school-house was the next building to the 
gun-house, separated only by a yard, com- 
mon to both, and surrounded by a high 
fence. The boys contrived to enter the gun- 
house windows, in the rear, in spite of an 
English guard which had been placed before 
the building. The guns were taken oflf thei 



carriages, carried into the school-room, and 
placed in a large box under the master's 
desk, in which wood was kept. The English 
soon missed the guns, and began to search 
the yard. They entered the school-house, 
and examined it all over, excepting the box, 
which the master placed his lame foot upon. 
They were too polite to disturb him, and 
excused him from rising. The boys looked 
on, but lisped not a word. The guns re- 
mained in the box for a fortnight, when one 
of the largest boys carried them away in a 
trunk, one evening, on a wheelbarrow. A 
blacksmith at the south end kept them some 
time under a pile of coal ; and they^ were at 
last put into a boat at night, and conveyed 
safely to the American camp. 

The condition of the American army in the 
early part of the year 1776 was miserable. 
They soon after received five brass cannon, 
small arms of all kinds, cargoes of provisions, 
&c. These were all captured from the Brit- 
ish, off the coast, by American privateers. 

In England, the year 1776 opened with 
new resolutions, on the part of the ministry, 
and the majority of parliament, to continue 
the war. The party called the Whigs were 
violently opposed to it ; but the Tories, the 
ministry, and the king regarded the Amer- 
icans as rebels, and resolved to spare no 
pains to punish them severely. They found 
it difficult to enlist soldiers in England, for 
the war was unpopular with the lower classes. 
Recruiting officers were sent about, the royal 
standard was raised in all the cities, and large 
bounties and wages were promised ; but to 
little purpose. In Scotland, some thousands 
were raised ; and a bargain was made with 
some of the small states of Germany, for 
about seventeen thousand German troops. 
These mercenaries were called Hessians, be- 
cause a part of them came from Hesse. 

In the mean time, the American army at 
Boston began to form plans for seizing upon 
the town, for taking the British garrison pris- 
oners, and for destroying their fleet in the 
harbor. But they kept quiet in thejr quar- 
ters till March, 1776 ; the British now and 
then sallying out on the American lines ; 
and the latter returning the compliment, 
by playing upon the town with their rusty 
cannon. 

During this month, the news came of the 



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704 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



doings of the ministry in England, and of the 
king's violent speech at the close of the ses- 
sion of parliament. The whole American 
armj^ was greatly excited. The speech was 
publicly burnt in the camp. At the same time, 
the red ground of the American flag was 
changed, and, in place of it, thirteen blue and 
white stripes were inserted, as an emblem of 
the thirteen colonies that were united in the 
struggle for liberty. These stripes are still 
retained in our national flag. 

There was the same feeling in Congress as 
in the army. Stimulated by the conduct of 
the king and parliament, they resolved, from 
this time, to follow up the war, at all haz- 
ards. Hearing that an attack would be made 
upon New York, they urged General Washing- 
ton to press, as closely as possible, the siege of 
Boston, so that the British might not be able 
to spare troops to send against New York. 
He wished to attack the town at once, but 
most of his generals opposed this plan ; and 
he concluded to fortifj^ the heights of Dor- 
chester, which commanded the entire city on 
the south side. 

Heavy batteries were opened from the 
American works in Cambridge, Roxbury, and 
Lechmere Point. The bombs fell into the 
town every hour, and houses were constantly 
set on fire by them. All this was to employ 
the British upon that side, wdiile the Amer- 
icans, on the night of the 4th of March, 
secretly marched over Dorchester neck. 

The frost rendered the roads good, and 
such was the silence of the march, and the 
tremendous roar kept up by the batteries, 
that 2,000 troops passed over, with three 
hundred loaded carts, and nothing was known 
of it till morning. Had the British suspected 
this maneuvre, they would have taken meas- 
ures to prevent it. By four o'clock in the 
morning, two fortifications were raised upon 
the heights. 

The British were amazed. " These rebels 
have done more in one night," said General 
Howe, who now commanded, " than my army 
would have done in a week." A terrible can- 
nonade now opened from the British forts 
and the shipping, upon the heights. But few 
men, however, were killed ; and the Amer- 
icans worked on in high spirits, taking no 
notice of the cannon-balls, as they came 
plougjiing the ground about them. 



REV 



General Howe saw that he must either 
leave the town, or dislodge the Americans 
from the heights. He resolved upon the lat- 
ter ; but a long storm and a very high sea 
prevented his troops from crossing over. He 
finally concluded to give up the town, and 
transport his whole force to Halifax, in Nova 
Scotia. 

Knowing that his shipping might be pre- 
vented from passing out of the hai'bor, by the 
American fortifications, he prepared a great 
mass of stuff for setting fire to the town, and 
then proposed to Washington and the select- 
men, that if his troops were suffered to pass 
safely, the town should be left standing. 
This was agreed to. 

He had 150 transports in the harbor ; and 
he embarked on board these, on the 17th of 
March, taking with him 1,500 of the Amer- 
ican Tories. Never was such a scene of 
confusion, plunder, hurrying, crying, and 
quarreling ; there were fathers bearing their 
baggage, mothers leading their children, 
beasts of burden loaded with furniture. The 
vessels were crowded. The British were 
some days getting out of the bay ; and had 
the pleasure, meanwhile, of seeing the Amer- 
ican army march into Boston, with great 
rejoicing. 

The siege had lasted sixteen months. Pro- 
visions had become so scarce that fresh fish 
sold at a shilling a pound; geese at nine 
shillings apiece; turkeys at two dollars; 
hams at two shillings a pound ; sheep at six 
dollars each ; and apples at six dollars a bar- 
rel. Two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon 
were left behind •, also a quantity of wheat 
and other grain, a good deal of coal for fuel, 
and 150 horses. 

The English soldiers now began to think 
that the Americans were an enemy worth 
conquering, and that powder was not abso- 
lutely wasted upon them, as upon so many 
crows. They were provoked by the treat- 
ment they had received from the sharp- 
shooters at Breed's Hill, and the rough com- 
pliments of the old cannon. 

The Americans, on the other hand, now 
entered upon the war with their whole hearts. 
They were irritated more than ever at the 
conduct of the English ministry, in hiring the 
Hessian soldiers. This irritation was not 
allayed by the bill which had just passed 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



705 



through parUament, compelling all persons 
found in American vessels, to serve on board 
his majesty's ships of war. 

Thus from this time, the war, on both 
sides, assumed a more determined character. 
A strong English force was sent to relieve 
Carleton, in Canada. Arnold's whole force 
before Quebec now amounted to only 3,000 
men. Many of these were sick of the small- 
pox. General Thomas died of the disease. 
The river was clear of ice, April, 1776, and 
English re-enforcements were expected every 
day by the governor. An attack was made 
upon Quebec, but it failed of success ; and 
Arnold was obliged to break up his camp 
and retreat, leaving his baggage behind. 
Governor Carleton pursued, till the Amer- 
icans reached the mouth of the river Sorel. 

About the last of May, English forces ar- 
rived at Quebec, amounting to 13,000 men, 
commanded by Burgoyne, Phillips, and a 
German general, called Reidesel. Arnold, 
meanwhile, was skirmishing with the Cana- 
dians and Indians, about Montreal and the 
Sorel. In a short time, he went down the 
St. Lawrence to Trois Rivieres, where there 
was a large body of English. 

He expected to surprise them in the night, 
but was misled by his guide ; and when he 
arrived late in the morning, the enemy was 
drawn up in battle array. A skirmish be- 
gan, and the Americans were defeated. They 
fled over a wild, swampy country of woods, 
leaving many prisoners behind them, and, 
having crossed the St. Lawrence, at last ar- 
rived at Fort St. John, on the Sorel. The 
English pursued them to this place. Ar- 
nold's force was too small to resist a siege. 
He therefore set fire to the magazine and bar- 
racks, and retreated farther south to Crown 
Point. The English, having lost their bat- 
teaux, could pursue him no farther, and soon 
after returned to Quebec. 

The Americans had suffered exceedingly 
in the retreat. They sometimes waded in the 
water to the waist, and dragged the loaded 
batteaux up the rapids by main strength. 
Two regiments, at one time, had not a single 
man in health ; another had only six, and a 
fourth only forty. On the first of July, they 
reached Crown Point. And thus ended the 
courageous but unfortunate expedition to 



Canada. 



45 



During the summer of 1776, Crown Point 
was taken by the British ; and the Americans, 
now commanded by Gen. Gates, withdrew to 
Ticonderoga. A fleet was built on the lake, 
at Skenesborough, consisting of a sloop, three 
schooners, and six gondolas, which were large 
flat vessels. They carried, in the whole, more 
than 100 guns, and more than 400 men. Ar- 
nold commanded the fleet. 

Bj^ the month of October the British had 
collected a much larger naval force ; and, as 
nothing could be done, by way of invading 
the provinces from Canada, till Lake Cham- 
plain should be cleared of the Americans, 
they sailed up the lake and engaged them. 
The two fleets fought till night. Arnold then 
very skillfully made his escape, and in the 
morning not an American sail was to be seen. 

The British fleet followed on, however, and 
found them again off Crown Point. Some of 
the American vessels escaped to Ticonderoga. 
Seven of them remained. They were attack- 
ed, and the action continued some hours. 
Arnold was determined that his vessels should 
not be taken. He contrived, therefore, to 
run them on shore, and there they were 
blown up. He did not leave his own vessel 
till she was wrapped in flames. Lake Cham- 
plain was now in the power of the British ; 
but Gates and Arnold had prevented them, 
strong as their force was, from invading the 
provinces farther south. It was now too late 
in the season to attempt it. 

The British, finding that the provinces of 
North Carolina and Virginia were too strong 
for them, determined to make an attack upon 
the city of Charleston, in South Carolina. 
Admiral Parker and General Clinton reached 
Charleston harbor on the 28th of June, and 
with eleven large vessels of war commenced 
a tremendous attack upon Fort Moultrie. 
This stood upon Sullivan's Island, six miles 
from the city, and was built of a kind of wood 
called palmetto, so spongy and soft that the 
balls were buried in it, and no splinters were 
thrown off. 

The fort was defended by sixty pieces of 
cannon. Ship after ship poured in their stun- 
ning broadsides. The whole harbor seemed: 
but a sheet of flame. The Americans aimed 
well, and every shot had its effect. Some of 
the English vessels were soon stranded. The 
Thunderer, after firing more than sixty 
REV 



706 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



bombs, was disabled. The Bristol was al- 
most destroyed, and a great number of men 
were killed. 

The fire of the fort suddenly stopped. The 
powder was exhausted. The enemy thought 
themselves sure of the victory, and the ships 
moved nearer, with their flags flying and 
their drums beating. But the Americans 
were soon supplied from the shore, and the 
battle lasted, hotter than ever, till seven in 
the evening. The English drew off in the 
night, and the enterprise was abandoned. 
This defense of Fort Moultrie was one of the 
most gallant actions of the war. Every man 
and every officer fought like a hero. Con- 
gress voted thanks to the whole garrison, and 
to several of the officers by name. A sword 
was presented to Sergeant Jasper. In the 
heat of the battle, the staff of the fort flag had 
been cut down by a ball. It fell from the 
parapet to the ground below. Jasper sprang 
after it, fastened it to the rammer of a cannon, 
and hoisted it again, amid the fire of the 
enemy. 

General Clinton arrived at Staten Island, 
off the harbor of New York, about the 12th 
of July. General Howe, with the army 
which left Boston for Halifax in March, had 
taken possession of the island on the second 
of the month. Two hundred of the inhabit- 
ants enlisted under his banner. Some of the 
New Jersey people came into his camp, and 
Governor Tryon of New York visited him, 
informed him of the state of the province, and 
encouraged him to believe that everything 
must soon yield to his army. 

The British plan now was, to direct the 
whole English force upon the province of New 
York, and to make it, with the city of New 
York, the centre of all their operations in 
America. From this point, they could march 
south upon the southern provinces ; here 
they could receive stores from England by 
water, and provisions from Staten and Long 
Islands; and here they could ascend the 
Hudson, and meet Burgoyne, in his route 
south from Canada. 

The revolution in America had reached a 
point from which it could not turn backward. 
The feelings of a great part of the people 
were alienated from England, and a deep hos- 
tility was planted in their bosoms. They had 
originally asked for justice, and that was de- 



nied. Oppression followed, and that they 
resisted. Then came the British armies, with 
fire and sword, to consume their dwellings, 
and shed their blood. A high-spirited people 
were not likely to look on these things but 
with resentment. Their love and respect for 
England were originally very strong. These, 
indeed, lasted up to the period of which we 
are now speaking. But now all thoughts of 
reconciliation were abandoned. The people 
no longer asked for redress ; they cast off 
their allegiance to the king, and determined 
to be fi-ee ; the " spirit of '76," which is often 
alluded to, was the earnest voice of a nation, 
resolving that they would risk everything 
for independence. 

In June, 1776, Congress had chosen five of 
their members to consider the great question, 
whether the colonies should declare them- 
selves a free and independent nation. These 
were Jefferson, Adams, Franklin, Sherman, 
and Livingston. They reported in favor of 
so doing; and Congress agreed with them. 
Independence was solemnly declared on the 
4th of July. The declaration was signed by 
John Hancock, president, and afterward by 
every other member of Congress. 

This declaration has become famous among 
all nations. It was drawn up by Thomas 
Jefferson ; and then it was a great deal dis- 
cussed by the members of Congress, and 
amendments and alterations were made. It 
was a long time before Congress could satisfy 
themselves. One gentleman objected to one 
word, and another to another word, till, as 
Franklin said to Mr. Jefferson, it fared like 
the sign of a hatter in Philadelphia, composed 
in these words, "John Thompson, hatter, 
makes and sells hats for ready money," with 
a figure of a hat at the end. Before nailing 
it over his door, the hatter submitted it to his 
friends for correction. One thought the word 
"hatter" of no use, it being followed by the 
words "makes hats." So "hatter" was 
struck out. A second said that "makes" 
might as well be omitted; his customers 
would not care who made the hats. A third 
thought "ready money" was useless; it was 
not the custom of the place to sell for any- 
thing but money. These were brushed out, 
and it now read, "John Thompson sells 
hats." "Sells hats!" said the next man the 
hatter met; "why, nobody will expect you 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



707 



to give them away." " Sells " was knocked 
out, and then "hats," because there was 
one painted on the board. This, with " John 
Thompson," was all that remained. The 
declaration was not trimmed quite so badly 
as this. It satisfied everybody at last. 

This story, therefore, only applies to the 
manner in which the Declaration of Independ- 
ence was discussed in Congress. As it was 
finally passed and signed by the members 
of Congress, it was one of the most noble 
efforts of the human mind. The people re- 
ceived and read it with great joy. Independ- 
ence was proclaimed, with great parade, at 
Philadelphia, on the 8th. Cannon were 
fired, the bells rung, bonfires were kindled, 
and the people seemed to be mad with joy. 
On the 11th, the declaration was read to each 
brigade of the American army, then assem- 
bled at New York, and received with pro- 
digious peals of applause. The same eve- 
ning, the statue of George III, erected in 
1770, was dragged through the streets, by 
the ' sons of liberty ; ' and the lead it was made 
of was melted into musket-balls. 

At Baltimore, an immense multitude re- 
ceived the declaration in similar manner ; the 
air ringing with shouts and the roar of can- 
non. The king's eflfigy was made the sport 
of the populace, and burnt in the pubHc 
square. 

In Boston, the declaration was read from 
the gallery of the state-house, to an immense 
crowd, gathered from all quarters. Men, wo- 
men, and children assembled to hear it, and 
every moment the air resounded with the 
shouts of the multitude. The troops were 
drawn up, finely dressed and armed, in King 
street, which from that time was called State 
street. The bells rang, the people shouted, 
the cannon thundered and blazed, and the 
striped banners waved from the steeples, till 
the whole air seemed to be alive. In the 
evening, all the ensigns of royalty, English 
lions, sceptres, or crowns, whether graven 
or painted, were torn in pieces, and burnt in 
State street. 

The Virginian convention voted that the 
king's name should be struck from all the pub- 
lic prayers. They ordered that the great seal 
of that commonwealth should represent Vir- 
tue as the guardian genius of tlie province, 
resting one hand upon her lance, holding | 



with the other a sword, and Trampling upon 
Tyranny, in the shape of a prostrate man, 
with a crown fallen from his head, and a 
broken chain in his hand. 

Such was the manner in which the declara- 
tion of independence was received by the 
Americans. They had now declared them- 
selves to the world as a free people ; but ere 
their freedom could be established, the}' had 
yet to pass through a long, bloody, and deso- 
lating war. 

General Washington now occupied New 
York and the opposite shore of Long Island, 
with seventeen thousand troops. On the 
22d of August, the English landed, in great 
force, on the island, and a very hot battle was 
fought among the hills and woods. A whole 
regiment of fine young men from Maryland 
were killed, some cannon were lost, and the 
Americans retreated to the northern part of 
the island. 

Here the stormy weather kept the enemy 
from attacking the camp again. But, fearing 
an assault every moment, the Americans con- 
cluded to pass over to New York, and join 
the rest of the army. This was done in the 
night of August 29th. The}' kindled up cir- 
cles of bright fires in their camp, to deceive 
the enemy, and started off in their boats at 
eleven o'clock in the evening. 

They were so near the British all the while, 
as to hear the sound of- their pickaxes, and 
now and then i\ie shout of a British soldier, 
as he walked on guard. They were neither 
seen nor heard, however. The fleet of boats 
moved off from the shore, like an army of 
ghosts ; not a word was said, no drums beat, 
no bugles rang, no colors waved in the breeze. 

A fair wind favored the enterprise, and 
bore the boats fleetly across. In the morn- 
ing, at eight, when the fog cleared up which 
had covered them in the passage, and the sun 
shone out bright and warm upon the green 
shores, the wooded hill-tops of the islands, 
and the smooth surface of the bay, the Amer- 
ican army had vanished. The camp was de- 
serted, the fires had gone down, and nothing 
was to be seen but a few distant boats, which 
had come back for the cannon. 

Previous to the retreat of the Americans, 
several skirmishes were fought between the 
two armies. Two posts, one belonging to the 
English, and the other to the Americans, 



REV 



■08 



COTTAGE 



CYCLOPEDIA 



were within half gun-shot of each other, and 
only separated by a small creek. It was at 
last agreed between the British and Amer- 
ican officers, that the sentinels should not 
fire upon each other, as they went their 
rounds. So they became very civil. "Give 
us a quid of your toVjacco, my good friend," 
cried the English guard to the American sen- 
tinel. " Oh! certainly," said the latter. He 
drew his twisted roll from his pocket, and 
tossed it across the creek to the Englishman, 
who gnawed off a quid, and threw it back 
again. 

The British army now pressed the Amer- 
icans with great activity; the latter were 
driven back from point to point. They left 
the city of New York, at last, and the British 
entered it. A few days after, a terrible fire 
raged in the place, and consumed more than 
a thousand houses. Washington retreated 
into the back country. The British scoured 
the province of New York Mqth their troops, 
and covered all the shores with their vessels. 
Several strong forts were taken, together with 
their garrisons. Nothing could be done to 
oppose them. The Americans were never so 
much discouraged. 

General Washington with his army march- 
ed into New Jersey, and attempted to harass 
the British army there, under Cornwallis. 
But they were too strong, and Washington 
was obliged to retreat night and day : over 
mountain and valley, he fled before them. 
The time the militia had enlisted for was 
short, and many of them went home. Whole 
companies deserted, and the army was so 
small in December, that Washington knew 
every man by his name. They were so 
nearly naked and ragged, too, and looked so 
miserable, that their own countrymen would 
not join them. They were driven, week after 
week, up and down the banks of the Dela- 
ware. The infantry left the frozen ground 
bloody behind them, with their bare and sore 
feet. They were so closely pursued that they 
could scarcely cross a stream, and beat down 
the bridges after crossing it, before the enemy 
came galloping up on the other side. 

The British cavalry traversed the country, 
with their large, fine horses, and elegant uni- 
forms. The hundred or two horsemen of the 
American army were mounted upon wretched, 
worn-out horses, so lean and frightful as to 



be the constant theme of ridicule Mith the 
British soldiers. The riders were not much 
better. Ragamuffins had become a common 
name for them. 

These were gloomy times ; and the Amer- 
ican people began to fear that they would be 
crushed in their struggle for freedom. Many 
were entirely disheartened. Some persons 
basely deserted the cause of their country, 
in this hour of trouble, and went over to the 
enemy. But Washington remained firm and 
undismayed. While other minds were sha- 
ken with doubt and fear, he remained stead- 
fast and resolved. Looking deeply into the 
future, and placing his trust in Heaven, he 
seemed to penetrate the clouds that shed their 
gloom upon the land, and to see beyond them 
a brighter and a happier day. 

He alwa3's appeared before his soldiers 
with a smile, and fought or fasted with them, 
as necessity required. . He inspired all around 
him with courage, and wrote many letters to 
Congress, entreating them to make great ex- 
ertions to send him assistance. They endeav- 
ored to rouse the country, by representing to 
the people the necessity of an immediate in- 
crease of the army. This appeal was not 
without its effect. Philadelphia, in a very 
short time, furnished Washington with a 
regiment of fifteen hundred noble fellows who 
were resolved to support him to the last. 
They had been accustomed to the gay com- 
pany and high living of the city ; but they 
shouldered the musket, — slept, with a mere 
blanket around them, on the frozen ground, 
or in sheds and barns, and suffered every- 
thing with the poorest of the army. 

The British withdrew into winter quarters. 
They occupied the villages for many miles, 
up and down, on the eastern side of the Del- 
aware. Washington was below them, on the 
other side. They were tired of pursuing him ; 
and they believed that his army would soon 
dwindle away, and the whole country be con- 
quered. They scarcely took the trouble to 
set guards at night. 

But Washington watched them like a lynx. 
On the night of the 25th of December, 1T76, 
he crossed the Delaware with a large part of 
his army. The night was dark, stormy, and 
cold. The river was crowded with broken 
ice, rushing together, and sweeping down 
upon its swift current. But, notwithstand- 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



709 



ing these difficulties and dangers, the river 
was passed by the American troops, and they 
marched on to Trenton, which place they 
entered at eight in the morning. A large 
body of Hessians were stationed there. They 
were completely surprised ; but they fought 
bravely for a short time. Five hundred cav- 
alry made their escape ; but some fine can- 
non and more than a thousand prisoners 
were taken by the Americans. Cornwall is, 
who lay a few miles off, thought so little of 
the American ' ragamuffins,' at this time, that 
he mistook the noise of the cannon at Trenton 
for thunder. 

The British army were amazed at this un- 
expected event. Washington started off for 
the mountains of New Jersey, the British 
elose upon his rear. They encamped so near 
him one evening that they thought it impos- 
sible for him to escape. They put off attack- 
ing him, however, till the next morning. 
The Americans kindled up their fires, as 
usual, posted sentinels enough to keep up the 
show of a camp, and then marched off at one 
o'clock without noise. They reached Prince- 
ton at daybreak, and fell upon the British 
there so suddenly and so fiercely, that sixty 
were killed, and three hundred taken pris- 
oners. Their commanding officer had some 
fears of an attack, and had written to the 
commander of the British army, a day or two 
before, for a re-enforcement. "Don't be 
alarmed," was the answer; "with a corporal 
and six men, you may scour the whole coun- 
try ; don't be alarmed." They found them- 
selves mistaken, however, as we have seen. 
Washington now formed a camp at Morris- 
town, and militia came to him from all parts. 

The British treated their prisoners with 
cruelty. Hundreds were confined in the 
New York prisons. They were often insulted 
as rebels. A party of them was once brought 
before Gen. Howe, to be tried. An English 
gentleman pleaded their youth in their favor. 
" It won't do," said the general ; " hang up 
the rascals ! hang them up ! " They were 
only carted through the streets, however, 
seated on coffins. Halters were tied about 
their necks, and the British soldiers hooted 
at them. 

While these things were going on, late in 
the year 1776, Sir Peter Parker scoured the 
coasts of Rhode Island with a large squadron. 



and overrran the whole province. Mean- 
while, too, a man by the name of Stuart was 
sent, by the British, among the Indians in 
the high, wild lands back of Virginia and 
the other southern colonies. The Cherokees 
were persuaded by him to make war ; and 
they rushed in upon the settlements of the 
whites, burning the villages, and scalping 
men, women, and children. But a large 
American force soon marched into their own 
country. Their wigwams were burnt to the 
ground, and their cornfields trampled under 
foot. They were frightened at last, and beg- 
ged for peace. 

It once happened, during the expedition 
against the Indians, that the Americans hav- 
ing marched a long way among the hills, 
Major Pickens was sent ahead with twenty- 
five men, as a scouting party, to examine the 
country. One morning, as he and his party 
waded through the tall grass on the bank of 
a stream called Little River, more than two 
hundred Indians carRe rushing out on a ridge 
of land just above them. "Let us scalp 
them," cried the Indian leader to his men ; 
"they are too few to shoot." But Major 
Pickens was prepared for their onset. His 
men were sharp-shooters, and each had his 
rifle. He ordered them not to fire until he 
did ; to take sure aim ; and having fired, to 
bury themselves in the grass, and load their 
rifles. The Indian chief soon came up within 
twenty-five yards of the little band, yelling, 
and shaking his tomahawk. Pickens stretch- 
ed out his rifle, took deliberate aim, and shot 
him dead. The twenty-five brave riflemen 
fired. The Indians fell on all sides. They 
yelled more than ever, with fury and terror, 
dropped their tomahawks, and fell back 
among the trees. Even there the rifles were 
too sure for them. Not an Indian could 
show himself over a log or a rock, but a bullet 
instantly whistled through him. One of 
them was seen running his gun through the 
roots of a fallen tree : a rifleman aimed at him 
as coolly as if he had been a wooden mark, 
hit him precisely in the nose, and laid him 
flat on Tm"s back. Another Indian lifted the 
dead body, and was running off with it, when 
another rifleman fired, and killed him. 
Dozens of them were picked off in this way, 
and the rest fled. 

A few such skirmishes as these made the 



REV 



710 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Indians soon tired of fighting the Americans, 
to which they had been instigated by the 
British. The next year, when an attempt 
was made to set them upon the white inhab- 
itants along the frontiers, they rephed to the 
British emissaries, that "the hatchet was 
bui'ied so deep that they could not find it." 

In the spring of 1777, General Howe 
amused himself by sending out detachments 
from his camp to ravage various parts of the 
country. On the 26th of April, Governor 
Tryon embarked at New York with a detach- 
ment, sailed through the sound, and landed 
at Fairfield, Conn. His forces marched 
through the country in battle array, and 
reached Danbury in twenty hours. As they 
came, the few militia who were there tied at 
full speed. The British began to burn and 
demolish everything except the houses of the 
Tories. Eighteen houses were consumed; 
and eight hundred barrels of pork and beef, 
two thousand barrels of flour, and seventeen 
hundred tents were car^'ied off or destroyed. 
But the militia began to muster from the 
country roundabout. 

At Ridgetield, Gen. Arnold blocked up the 
road in front of the British, who were now 
returning. He had with him about. five 
hundred men. These brave fellows, who had 
marched fifteen or twenty miles in the rain, 
kept up a brisk fire upon -the enemy as they 
came on, and stood their ground till the 
British formed a lodgment upon a hill at 
their left hand. They were then obliged to 
give way. The British rushed on, and a 
whole platoon fired at Gen. Arnold, who was 
not more than thirty yards distant. His 
horse was killed. A soldier advanced to run 
him through with his bayonet ; Arnold shot 
him dead with his pistol, and escaped. The 
British lost more than two hundred men, but 
made good their retreat to the sound. Con- 
gress presented Gen. Arnold with a fine war- 
horse, richly caparisoned, for his gallantry. 

By way of retahation, on the 2-ith of May, 
Col. Meigs, an American, crossed the sound 
with one hundred and seventy men, in whale- 
boats, and fell upon the enemy at Sag Harbor, 
on Long Island. They burned twelve vessels, 
destroyed a large quantity of forage, killed 
six men, and brought off ninety prisoners, 
without losing one of their own men. They 
returned to Guilford, having traversed the 



distance of ninety miles in twenty -five hours 
from the time of their departure. Congress 
ordered an elegant sword to be presented to 
Colonel Meigs. 

Gen. Howe made great efforts, in the spring 
of 1777, to persuade the Americans to enlist 
under him. They were promised large wages 
and bounties ; but very few of them could be 
wheedled in this jvay. They hated the Ger- 
man mercenaries even more than they did 
the English. But great numbers of militia 
crowded to Washington's camp, at Middle 
Brook, New Jersey. His army amounted to 
fifteen thousand men. 

He was so strongly intrenched among the 
hills, that Howe dared not attack him. The 
summer was spent in marching to and fro, in 
New Jersey, without effecting much. But 
in July, the British mustered a force of six- 
teen thousand men, at New York. These 
left there, soon after, with a large fleet. An 
attack was expected everywhere upon the 
coast ; but no one knew whither they were 
bound. Having been off at sea, with high 
winds, for a long time, they entered Chesa- 
peake Bay at last, and landed at Turkey 
Point. They left that place Sept. 3d, and, 
marching toward Philadelphia, came up with 
Washington's army at a place- called Chad's 
Ford, on the river Brandy wine. On the 1 1th, 
they had a warm skirmish, and the Ameri- 
cans were driven back. Congress removed 
to Yorktown, Virginia; and Howe entered 
Philadelphia, in great triumph, Sept. 26th. 

The Americans were defeated again at Gei - 
mantown, on the 4th of October. The battle 
began early in the morning, when nothing 
could be seen farther than thirty yards. 
During the whole action, which lasted nearly 
three hours, the firing on both sides was 
directed by the flash of each other's guns. 
The smoke of the cannon and musketry, 
mingled with the thick fog, rested over the 
armies in clouds. The Americans saved their 
artillery, even to a single cannon, which hi;d 
been dismoimted. This piece belonged i^ 
Gen. Greene's division ; he stopped in the 
midst of the retreat, and coolly ordered it to 
be placed in a wagon. In this manner it was 
carried off. 

Gen. Greene's aide-de-camp. Major Burnet, 
wore a long cue in this battle, as the fashion 
then was in the army. As he tm-ned round 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



711 



to attend to the cannon just mentioned, his 
cue was cut off by a musket-ball from the 
enemy. "Don't hurry, my dear major," 
cried Greene, laughmg; "pray dismount, 
and get that long cue of yours ; don't be in 
haste." The English were driving after them 
at a tremendous rate, cavalry, cannon, and 
all. The major jumped from his horse, how- 
ever, and picked up his cue. Just at that 
moment, a shot took off a large powdered curl 
from the head of Greene. The major, in turn, 
advised him to stop and pick it up ; but he 
rode on quietly, and was the last man on the 
field. 

About this time, a smart action was fought 
at Red Bank, on the Jersey side of the Dela- 
ware, seven miles below Philadelphia, The 
Americans had erected batteries here, and 
upon Mud Island, half a mile distant, in the 
middle of the river. Nothing, therefore, 
belonging to the British, could pass up and 
down between their camp, which was now at 
Philadelphia, and their fleet in the river 
bglow. Two ranges of chevaux-de-frise were 
placed in the channel. They stretched from 
the island nearly to the bank. 

Howe sent down two thousand Germans, 
under Col. Donop, to attack the Red Bank 
redoubt. This was defended by four hun- 
dred men. This number was so small that 
half the redoubt was left vacant, and a line 
was drawn tlirough the middle of it. The 
enemy came on fiercely enough, with a brisk 
cannonade ; entered the emptj' part of the 
redoubt, and shouted for victory. But it was 
now the garrison's turn. They poured out 
such a tremendous fire that the Germans, 
after a brief conflict, fled, with the loss of four 
hundred men. Their brave commander, 
Donop, was killed. Late in the season, these 
fortifications in the river were abandoned. 

Washington retired into winter quarters, 
at Valley Forge, sixteen miles from Philadel- 
phia. His army might have been tracked, 
by the blood of their feet, in marching, with- 
out shoes or stockings, over the hard, frozen 
ground. Thousands of them had no blank- 
ets, and were obliged to spend the night in 
trying to get warm, instead of sleeping. 
1 They erected log-huts for lodgings. For a 
I fortnight, they nearly starved. They were 
n sometimes without bread and without meat. 
A person passing by the huts of these poor 



fellows in the evening, might have seen them, 
through the crevices, stretching their cold 
hands over the fire, and a soldier occasionally 
coming in or going out, with nothing but a 
blanket on his shoulders. "No pay, no 
clothes, no provisions, no rum," said they to 
each other. But they loved Washington and 
their country too well to desert them in these 
trying times. 

While a British force lay on the west side 
of Rhode Island, under haughty and oppress- 
ive Gen. Prescott, during this last season 
(1777), one Barton, a militia major, learned 
their situation from a deserter, and planned 
an adventure. He collected his regiment, 
and asked, which of them would risk their 
lives with him. If any were willing, they 
should advance two paces. Every man came 
forward ; they knew Barton well for a brave 
and trusty leader. He chose thirty-six of 
them, mustered five whale-boats, and started 
off at nine o'clock in the evening. The men 
promised to follow him at all hazards. He 
directed them to sit perfectly still, like statues, 
and obey his orders. Barton's boat went 
ahead, distinguished by a long pole run out 
from the stem, with a handkerchief tied to it. 

As they rowed by Prudence Island, they 
heard the English guard cry "All's well." 
A noise was heard on the main land, like the 
trampling of horses ; but, as the night was 
very dark, nothing could be seen, and no man 
whispered a word. They now landed, and 
set oflT silently for Prescott' s lodgings, which 
were a mile from the shore. Their way led 
by a house occupied by a company of troop- 
ers. " Who comes there ? " cried the sentinel. 
They said nothing ; and a few trees standing 
before them, their number could not be seen. 
They moved on. " Who comes there ? " mut- 
tered the sentinel again. — "Friends," replied 
Barton.— "Friends," said the soldier, "ad- 
vance, and give the countersign." — "Poh! 
poh ! " said Barton ; we have no countersign. 
Have you seen any rascals to-night?" He 
rushed upon the guard, at this moment, like 
a lion, and threatened to blow his brains out, 
if he uttered a syllable. The poor fellow was 
horribly frightened, and they took him along 
with them. They soon reached the house, 
burst in the door, and rushed forward. A 
British soldier, with only a shirt on, rushing 
out at the same time, ran for the cavalry 



REV 



712 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



house, to give the alarm. The men would 
not believe him, but laughed at him for being 
frightened at ghosts. He confessed that the 
creature (Barton) was clothed in white ; and 
so it passed off. 

" Is Gen. Prescott here ? " shouted Barton, 
to the master of the house. — "No, sir! oh 
no, sir ! " said the poor fellow, scared almost 
out of his wits. Nobody in the house seemed 
to know anything about Prescott. — ''Then," 
shouted Barton, at the head of the staircase, 
"I will bin-n the house down about your 
ears." And he seized a flaming brand from 
the fireplace. — "What noise is this ? " cried 
somebody in the next chamber. Barton 
opened the door, and found an elderly gentle- 
man sitting up in bed. "Are you Gen. 
Prescott, sir ? " — "Yes, sir." — " You are my 
prisoner, then," said Barton. Prescott was 
half dressed by the soldiers in a moment, and 
carried off to the shore, with a Major Barring- 
ton, who had leaped from a chamber window. 

The captors had scarcely rowed through 
the English fleet, when a discharge of cannon 
gave the alarm. Fifty boats pursued them in 
the dark. They escaped, however, and, in 
six hours from the time of starting, landed at 
Warwick Point. "You have made a mon- 
strous bold push, major," said Prescott, as 
they stepped ashore. — " Thank you, sir," said 
Barton, with a bow; "we have done as well 
as we could." This capture occasioned great 
joy throughout the country. 

Having seen Washington's army in their 
winter quarters at Valley Forge, we shall now 
follow the northern army, under Gates, and 
the English under Burgoyne, through the 
campaign of 1777. The latter intended to 
break his way from Canada, up the river 
Sorel, through Lakes Champlain and George, 
and the river Hudson, to New York. He 
had under his command one of the finest 
armies ever seen. The Americans were 
driven before him, from Champlain almost 
to Albany. Burgoyne pressed after them ; 
but his route lay through the woods, and the 
Americans cut large trees on both sides of 
the road, so that they fell across it, and 
blocked it up entirely. The country was so 
covered with marshes, and crossed by creeks, 
that the British were obliged to build no less 
than forty bridges ; onfc of them was a log 
bridge, extending two miles across a swamp. 



July 30th, Burgoyne reached Fort Edward, 
on the Hudson. 

He had with his army a large number of 
Indian warriors, who ravaged the country in 
a horrible manner. One of them murdered 
a beautiful American girl, Miss McRea. She 
was the daughter of a Tory, and was to be 
married to a young English ofiicer. The 
latter sent two Indians to guide her across 
the wood from the fort to his own station. 
They quarreled on the way, which should 
have special charge of her, and one of them, 
to terminate the dispute, sunk his tomahawk 
in her head. 

The spirit of the whole country was greatly 
excited by these things; and an army of 
thirteen thousand men was collected under 
Gen. Schuyler, to oppose Burgoyne. The 
command was afterward given to Gen. Gates. 
Meanwhile, a British force, under Gen. St. 
Leger, had crossed Lake Ontario, from the 
St. Lawrence, and laid siege to Fort Schuyler, 
on the southern side. Gen. Herkimer march- 
ed northward with eight hundred militia, t» 
relieve it. He fell into an ambuscade, how- 
ever, in the woods, and was killed. In his last 
moments, though mortally wounded, he was 
seen sitting on a stump, still encouraging his 
men. They stood firm, and several of the 
British Indians fell at their first fire. The rest 
were so enraged, that they turned upon the 
Tories and the British, and murdered several 
of them. The battle was heard at the fort, and 
two hundred and fifty of the Americans came 
out to re-enforce the detachment. The Brit- 
ish were wholly routed. The Indians fled, 
howling like wild beasts, and left their ket- 
tles, blankets, tomahawks, and deer-skins 
behind. 

But St. Leger, with his Indians and Tories, 
still besieged Fort Schuyler. Gen. Arnold 
was sent, with one thousand men, to attack 
them. But this force was too small, and the 
Americans had recourse to a laughable strat- 
agem. Col. Brooks, afterward governor of 
Massachusetts, seized upon one Cuyler, a 
Tory, who owned a large farm-house. He 
was in great terror lest the Americans should 
plunder him ; but Brooks agreed to let him 
go, and spare his property, if he would travel 
to Fort Schuyler, and tell the British force 
there, that Arnold was coming upon them 
with an immense army. Cuyler consented. 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



713 



He bored his coat through in two or three 
places, in the skirts, and made all haste 
across the woods to the British camp. He 
informed the Indians that Arnold was rush- 
ing upon them with a tremendous force ; he 
said he had fled before them for his life, and 
showed the bullet-holes in his old coat, in 
proof of his story. The Indians were fright- 
ened. Nothing could persuade them to stay 
with St. Leger. " You told us," said they, 
" there would be no fighting for us ; that we 
should smoke our pipes ; and when you had 
taken the prisoners in the fort, we were to 
have the pleasure of cutting their throats. 
But this won't do." Accordingly, seven or 
eight hundred immediately left him. He 
was himself so alarmed that he fled with his 
troops, and left his baggage behind him. 
Two Indian chiefs, who, it seems, understood 
the plot, followed them in their march, and 
played jokes upon the officers. One of the 
chiefs had loitered behind ; and just as the 
officers reached a deep, muddy place, he came 
running up to them, out of breath, and cried 
out, "They are coming! they are coming!" 
The soldiers threw down their knapsacks, 
and plunged through the mire as fast as they 
could go. St. Leger himself was plastered 
with mud from head to foot. In this way. 
Fort Schuyler was relieved from the siege 
without bloodshed. 

About the middle of August, Burgoyne 
sent a detachment of five hundred Hessians 
and one hundred Indians, under Col. Baum, 
to take possession of a collection of Ameri- 
can provisions, at Bennington, in Vermont. 
But Gen. Stark was on hand, luckily, with 
eight hundred New Hampshire and Vermont 
militia. Col. Baum, finding this force greater 
than his own, threw up temporary breast- 
works for defense, and sent to Burgoyne for 
re-enforcements. Several skirmishes follow- 
ed, in which the Americans had the advan- 
tage. Animated by success, they at length 
ventured to make a general attack upon the 
breastworks of the enemy, though they were 
without cannon, and destitute even of bayo- 
nets. The Hessians fought very bravely for 
two hours. But they were now opposed by 
still braver men. The Americans rushed into 
the very flash of their cannon and musketry. 
Stark had said, at the outset of the battle, 
"My fellow-soldiers, we conquer to-day, or 



this night Moll Stark is a widow." Such 
deep resolution seemed to be in the breast of 
every man. They could not be resisted. 
Multitudes of the enemy fell before their 
keen and well directed fire. Baum himself 
was killed, and most of his detachment either 
lost their lives, or were taken prisoners. 

The Americans, not expecting another ene- 
my, had dispersed themselves after the battle. 
Suddenly, a re-enforcement of several hun- 
dred British troops, under Col. Breyman, 
arrived at Bennington. The Americans were 
now near losing all they had gained. But it 
happened that a regiment, under Col. .War- 
ner, reached the place soon after. These, 
with the militia, immediately made an attack 
upon the enemy. They fought till sunset, 
when the British retreated, and, under cover 
of the night, the greater part effected their 
escape. In these two engagements, four 
hundred of the enemy were killed and wound- 
ed, six hundred were taken prisoners, and 
two hundred and fifty dragoon swords, eight 
loads of baggage, and twenty horses fell into 
the hands of the Americans. 

A Vermont clergyman, at the commence- 
ment of the first day's battle, mounted a 
stump, and prayed for the Americans. The 
British heard him, and fired at him. The 
stump was bored through with their bullets, 
but the clergyman was unhurt. He stepped 
down. "Now give me a gun," said he ; and 
he fired the first shot on the American side. 

An old farmer in the neighborhood had 
five sons in the battle. He was told the next 
day that one of them had come to a miserable 
end. " What ! " cried the gray-headed pat- 
riot, "did he leave his post ? did he run from 
the enemy?" "Oh no, sir; worse than 
that : he fell among the slain, fighting like a 
hero." — "Then I am satisfied," said the old 
man ; "bring him in ; let me look upon my 
noble boy." The corpse was brought in ; 
he wept over it. He then called for a bowl 
of water and a napkin, washed the blood 
away with his own trembling hands, and 
thanked God that his son had died for his 
country. 

By the middle of September, the Ameri- 
can army under Gates was within three miles 
of the great army of Burgoyne, on the Hud- 
son. The latter was severely pressed for 
provisions, and undertook to march on toward 



REV 



714 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Albany. The Americans met him at Still- 
water, on the 19th ; a fierce battle was 
fought; and the British could advance no 
farther. They pitched their camp on the 
plains of Saratoga, three miles above the 
village, within cannon-shot of the American 
lines. 

General Clinton was at this time attempt- 
ing to force a passage up the Hudson, from 
New York to re-enforce Burgoyne. Spies 
and scouts were constantly passing between 
the two armies. One Palmer was at last 
caught in this business, and brought into the 
camp of Gen. Putnam, at Peekskill. He was 
found to be an American Tory, whom the 
British had made a lieutenant for his pains. 
Gov. Tryon wrote for his release, and threat- 
ened vengeance if he were executed. 

Putnam addressed the following note to 
the governor, in reply : — 

"Sir: Nathan Palmer, a lieutenant in 
your service, was taken in my camp as a spy ; 
he was tried as a spy ; he was condemned as 
a spy ; and you may rest assured, sir, he 
shall be hanged as a spy. 

"I have the honor to be, &c., 

"Israel Putnam. 
" To his excellency. Governor Tryon. 

"P. S. Afternoon. He is hanged." 

Hot skirmishes now took place every day 
between the two armies at Saratoga. Sept. 
23d, a cannonade was kept up, with a tre- 
mendous roar and blaze, for three hours. 
The field was strewn with the killed. An 
English captain, with forty-eight men, had 
the command of four fine cannon. He fought 
till thirty-six of his men were killed. His 
horses being shot down at last, the cannon 
were left to the Americans. 

Some of the American soldiers, during 
these skirmishes, often placed themselves in 
the boughs of high trees, the country being 
wild and woody, and played with their rifles 
upon the rear and flanks of the enemy. The 
British ofiicers were picked ofi* like birds. 
Burgoyne himself once narrowly escaped. 
His aide-de-camp, Gen. Phillips, was deliver- 
ing a message to him, when he received a 
rifle ball in his arm. His saddle was fur- 
nished with very rich lace, and a sharp-shoot- 
er had taken him for Burgoyne. 

Oct. 7th, the whole British line was driven 
back by a tremendous charge. The German 



lines stood firm to the last, and Col. Brooks 
was ordered to attack them. He galloped 
toward them at the head of his regiment, 
waving his sword ; and Gen. Arnold (who 
fought this day as a volunteer) rushed on 
with him. Arnold was wounded, and car- 
ried off". Brooks kept on, and the Germans 
were driven back. Col. Cilley, of New 
Hampshire, captured a cannon with his own 
hands, and was seen astride upon it in the 
heat of the battle, shouting to his soldiers. 

In this battle, Burgoyne had a bullet pass 
through his hat, and another through the 
edge of his vest. The English general Fra- 
zer fought nobly for a long time. Col. Mor- 
gan observed him at last, called up one of his 
best riflemen, and pointed him out. " Do 
you see that tall, fine-looking fellow," said 
he, "fighting like a lion? It is Frazer. I 
honor the man — but he must die." This was 
enough for the rifleman. He aimed, and 
Frazer was shot dead. 

On the 18th of October, 1777, the whole 
British army under Burgojme surrendered to 
General Gates. There were nearly, ten thou- 
sand men, including Indians ; forty cannon, 
seven thousand muskets, and a vast quantity 
of tents and cartridges. The whole country 
was filled with rejoicing. The thanks of 
Congress were voted to Gates and his army. 

But the best effect of the victory was that 
the French now concluded to fight with the 
Americans against England. Treaties be- 
tween the two nations were signed Feb. 6th, 
1778, and a fast-sailing schooner from France 
reached Casco Bay, in Maine, in about a 
month with the news. It occasioned pro- 
digious joy in Congress, in the army at Val- 
ley Forge, and over the whole country. A 
French fleet arrived on the coast early in July. 

General Clinton knew that they were com- 
ing, and therefore thought it necessary to 
remove to New York. He left Philadelphia 
on the 18th of June, and marched through 
New Jersey, toward the latter place. The 
British army had been in possession of Phil- 
adelphia for many months. Their departure 
was a most welcome event to the inhabitants. 
The business of the city was very much 
interrupted while they were there, and the 
intercourse of the inhabitants with the neigh- 
boring towns and villages, was attended with 
much diflBculty and vexation. 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



715 



Captain Plunkett escaped from the British, 
while they were at Philadelphia, in a curious 
manner. He was an American officer, who 
was taken prisoner, carried to that city, and 
kept in confinement. Some years before he 
had formed a very pleasant acquaintance with 
a young Quakeress. She became apprised of 
his situation, and determined to effect his 
release. Accordingly, she privately sent him 
the uniform of a British officer. The captain 
put it on, and ordered the guard to open the 
door. The latter, taking him for a British 
officer, allowed him to pass into the streets. 
He immediately went to the house of the 
young Quakeress, where he remained con- 
cealed for some time. His benefactress then 
procured him an old market-woman's gown, 
bonnet, and shawl. The captain dressed 
himself in these, and, thus disguised, set out 
to leave the city. The British soldiers on 
guard at the gate, taking him for a market- 
woi;ian, allowed him to pass; and thus he 
escaped from the enemy. 

The Americans contrived some machines, 
which were filled with gunpowder, and sent 
down the river Delaware, near to the city. 
They expected that these would explode, and 
annoy the British shipping ; they did, in fact, 
no damage, but the British were very much 
alarmed; accordingly, they fired cannon at 
every thing they saw floating in the river. 
The Americans heard of all this, and thej' 
were very much amused with it. Francis 
Hopkinson, a man of great wit, wrote a ballad 
on the subject, which follows. Sir William, 
spoken of in the poem, was Sir William 
Howe, then the British commander. 

THE BATTLE OF THE KEGS. 

Gallants, attend, and hear a friend 

Trill forth harmonious ditty : 
Strange things I'll tell, which late befell 

In Philadelphia city. 

'Twas early day, as poets say. 

Just when the sun was rising, 
A soldier stood on log of wood. 

And saw a thing surprising. 

As in a maze he stood to gaze, — 

The truth can't be denied, sir, — 
He spied a score of kegs, or more. 

Come floating down the tide, sir. 

A sailor too, in jerkin blue, 

This strange appearance viewing. 

First rubbed his eyes, in great surprise, | 

Then said, "Some mischiefs brewing." 



KEV 



"These kegs do hold the rebels bold. 
Packed up like pickled herring; 

And they're come down to attack the town, 
In this new way of ferrying." 

The soldier flew, the sailor too, 
And, seared almost to death, sir. 

Wore out their shoes, to spread the news, 
And ran tiU out of breath, sir. 

Now up and down, throughout the town. 

Most frantic scenes were acted; 
And some ran here, and others there, 

Like men filmost distracted. 

Some fire cried, which some denied, 
But said the earth had quaked; 

And girls and boys, with hideous noise. 
Ran through the streets half naked. 

Sir William he, snug as a flea. 

Lay all this time a snoring. 
Nor thought of harm, as he lay warm, 

The land of dreams exploring. 

Now in a fright he starts upright, 

Awaked by such a clatter: 
He rubs both eyes, and boldly cries, 

"Alas, ATliat is the matter?" 

At his bedside he then espied 

Sir Erskiue at command, sir; 
Upon one foot he had one boot, 

And the other in his hand, sir. 

"Arise, arise!" Sir Erskine cries; 

"The rebels — more's the pity — 
Without a boat, are aU afloat. 

And ranged before the city. 

"The motley crew, in vessels new, 

With Satan for their guide, sir, 
Packed up in bags, or wooden kegs, 

Come driving down the tide, sir. 

"Therefore prepare for bloody war,^ 

These kegs must all be routed. 
Or surely we despised shall be. 

And British courage doubted." 

The royal band now ready stand, 

All ranged in dread array, sir. 
With stomach stout, to see it out. 

And make a bloody day, sir. 

The cannons roar from shore to shore, 

The smafl arras make a rattle ; 
Since wars began, I'm sure no man 

E'er saw so strange a battle. 

The rebel dales, the rebel vales, 

With rebel trees surrounded, 
The distant woods, the hills and floods. 

With rebel echoes sounded. 
The fish below swam to and fro. 

Attacked from every quarter; 
"Why sure," thought they, "the devil's to pay, 

'Mongst folks above the water." 
The kegs, 'tis said, though strongly made, 

Of rebel staves and hoops, sir. 
Could not oppose their powerful foes, 

The conquering British troops, sir. 



716 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



From morn to night, these men of might 

Displayed amazing courage, 
And when the sun was fairly down, 

Retired to sup their porridge. 

An hundred men, with each a pen, 

Or more, upon my word, sir, 
It is most true, would be too few, 

Their valor to record, sir. 

Such feats did they perform that day, 
Against these wicked kegs, sir. 

That years to come, if they get home, 
They'll make their boasts anfl brags, sir. 



As soon as Washington heard that Clinton 
had left Philadelphia, he broke up his quarters 
at Valley Forge, and followed hard after him. 
A hot battle was fought on the 28th, near 
Monmouth court-house, in New Jersey. It 
did not cease till the evening. Washington 
slept upon his cloak under a tree, expecting 
more fighting in the morning ; but the Brit- 
ish marched off in the night. Sixty of their 
soldiers were found dead on the battle-field, 
without wounds. Fatigue and the excessive 
heat had killed them. 

In the beginning of this battle, one Molly 
Pitcher was occupied in carrying water from 
a spring to a battery, where her husband was 
employed in loading and firing a cannon. 
He was shot dead at last, and she saw him 
fall. An officer rode up, and ordered off" the 
cannon. " It can be of no use, now," said he ; 
but Molly stepped up, oflfered her services, 
and took her husband's place, to the aston- 
ishment of the arm3^ She fought well, and 
half-pay for life was given her by Congress. 
She wore an epaulette, and was called Captain 
Molly, ever after. 

In the midst of the fight, there was a soldier 
whose gun-lock was knocked off by a bullet. 
At the same instant, a soldier at his side was 
killed. He picked up the dead man's musket, 
and was preparing to fire, when a bullet 
entered the muzzle of the gun, and twisted 
the barrel into the shape of a corkscrew. 
Although the bullets were flying around him 
like hail-stones, he deliberately knelt down 
upon the spot, unscrewed the lock from the 
musket in his hand, and fastened it to his 
own gun, which he had thrown away. In a 
few minutes, he was again prepared, and 
then engaged in the deadly conflict. 

No other great battles were fought during 
the campaign of 1T78. The armies only 



molested each other by sending out small 
detachments. Col. McLane, of Lee's famous 
legion of troopers, had a narrow escape. He 
had planned an attack on a small British force 
stationed on a turnpike road, eight miles 
from Philadelphia, and rode ahead with a 
single soldier, to point out the way for his 
men. It was in the gray of the morning. 
His comrade suddenly shouted, " Colonel, the 
British ! " spurred his horse, and was out of 
sight in a moment. There, indeed, were the 
enemy all about him. They had lain in 
ambuscade, and thus suddenly came upon 
him. A dozen shots were fired, but his horse 
only was wounded, in the flank. This spur- 
red the animal on at a furious rate. A num- 
ber of British officers at a farm-house by the ' 
road-side observed the colonel as he passed. 
They thought he w^as on his way to the Eng- 
lish army, which was directly ahead. He 
dashed by; they soon found out their mis- 
take, and pursued him. His horse went with 
such speed, however, over fences and fields, 
and every obstacle, that, at last, only two 
men continued to follow him. These came 
up with him at the ascent of a small hill, the 
three horses so exhausted, that neither could 
be forced out of a walk. One of the soldiers 
cried, "Surrender, you rebellious rascal, or 
we will cut you to pieces." The colonel 
made no reply, but laid his hand on his pis- 
tols. The man came up, and seized him by 
the collar, without drawing his sword. The 
colonel drew a pistol from his holster, aimed 
it at the Englishman's heart, and killed him. 
The other now seized him on the other side ; 
a fierce struggle ensued. The colonel received 
a severe sword-gash in his left arm ; but he 
drew his second pistol that moment with his 
right, placed it between the Englishman's 
eyes, and killed him by a shot in the head. 
He then stopped the flow of his own blood, 
by crawling into a mill-pond, and at last 
reached the American camp. 

In the camp at Morristown, during the 
winter and the spring of 1779, the Americans 
were often without meat or bread ; and they 
ate peas, barley, and almost every kind of 
horse-food but hay. Salt could only be got 
for eight dollars a bushel. The snow was 
four feet deep. They had nothing but a bed 
of straw and a blanket at night. They made 
log huts in February, which were tolerably 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



717 



comfortable. But- many deserted, and the 
rest were almost discouraged. 

Little was done on either, side during this 
year. The British main army, under Clinton, 
was at New York ; and the Americans, under 
Washington, were among the Highlands, 
above that city, on the river Hudson. In the 
spring, a British force was sent to ravage the 
coast of Virginia. They destroyed every- 
thing in their way, villages, shipping, and 
stores. The Virginians senUto the British 
general to ask what sort of warfare this was. 
He replied that "all rebels must be so 
treated." 

A month or two afterward. Governor Tryon 
was sent to commit similar havoc in Connect- 
icut. Col. Whiting had mustered the mili- 
tia at Fairfield. Tryon came to that place, 
and commanded him to surrender. He gave 
him an hour for consideration ; but, before 
that time had elapsed, his soldiers set the 
town on fire, and a great part of it was laid 
in ashes. At New Haven, all possible dam- 
age was done. The harbor was covered over 
with feathers from the beds of the people. 
Desks, trunks, closets, and chests were bro- 
ken open ; the women were robbed of their 
buckles, rings, bonnets, and aprons. East 
Haven was afterward burnt, and Norwalk 
shared a similar fate. At a place near Stam- 
ford, the British came upon General Putnam, 
who had one hundred and fifty militia-men 
with him, and two cannon. With these he 
kept the enemy at bay for some time. He then 
ordered the soldiers into a swamp hard by, 
where the British troopers could not follow ; 
and he himself rode at full gallop down a 
steep rock behind the meeting-house. Nearly 
one hundred steps had been hewn in it, like 
a flight of stairs, for the people to ascend in 
going to meeting. The troopers stopped at 
the brink, and dared not follow him. He 
escaped with a bullet-hole through his hat. 

In July, a fleet of thirty-seven small ves- 
sels was fitted out from Boston, with fifteen 
hundred militia on board, under Gen. Wads- 
worth and Gen. Lovell. The object was to 
drive the British from the Penobscot river, 
in Maine, where they had built a fort at a 
place called Bagaduce then, now Castine. 
They were near succeeding, when a British 
fleet appeared off the mouth of the river. 
They were obliged to leave their vessels, and 



most of the troops, after some fighting, es- 
caped across the wild lands of Mame, to the 
settlements on the river Kennebec. 

On the Hudson, the Americans were more 
successful. On the 15th of July, Washing- 
ton sent Gen. Wayne up the river with twelve 
hundred men, to attack a strong British fort 
called Stony Point. At eleven in the evening, 
Wayne arrived within a mile or two of the 
fort. The troops were formed into two col- 
umns. Col. Fleury marched on in front, with 
one hundred and fifty volunteers, guided by 
twenty picked men. They marched silently, 
with unloaded guns and fixed bayonets. A 
disorderly fellow, who persisted in loading 
his gun, was run through the body by his 
captain. No man was suffered to fire. The 
fort was defended by a deep swamp, covered 
with water. The troops marched through it, 
waist deep. They proceeded with charged 
bayonets, under a tremendous fire of cannon 
and musketry from the British, till the two 
columns met in the centre of the fort. The 
garrison, six hundred in number, were taken 
prisoners, with fifteen cannon, and a large 
quantity of stores. The Americans lost a 
hundred men : seventeen of the twenty picked 
men who marched in front, were among the 
number. 

Gen. Lincoln commanded in the South dur- 
ing 1779, the British still holding possession 
of Savannah. He besieged them there with 
the help of the French fleet, but was driven 
off. Prevost, the British general, met with 
the same bad luck in besieging Charleston, 
South Carolina. The people resisted him 
nobly, with some assistance from Lincoln, 
and the siege was abandoned. But Prevost 
ravaged the country, burning and plunder- 
ing without mercy. The Tories joined him, 
and the negro slaves were hired to serve him 
as spies and scouts. Peter Francisco, an 
American trooper, made himself famous at 
this time. A plundering British dragoon 
entered a hut in the country, where he hap- 
pened to be, and ordered him to " deliver up 
ev-crything, or die." '' I have nothing to de- 
liver," said Peter, who was unarmed ; " do 
as you please." " Off with those great silver 
buckles on your shoes, you scoundrel ! " said 
the dragoon. " Take them, if you like," an- 
swered Peter ; " I will not giTe them." The 
soldier stooped to cut them off with his knife, 



REV 



718 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



placing his sword under his arm, with the 
hilt toward Peter. He seized upon it, and 
struck the dragoon with such force as to 
sever his head from his body at a single blow. 

Sergeant Jasper was another brave fellow, 
who has been mentioned before. He once 
went, secretly, with a young friend of his, by 
the name of Newton, to visit his brother, a 
soldier at a British fort As he stayed there 
a daj'^ or two, his brother took him to see 
some American prisoners, just brought in. 
They were all handcuffed. There was a 
young woman among the rest, with her hus- 
band, and a beautiful little boy, five years 
old, leaning his head on her bosom, and 
weeping. Jasper and Newton were hardly 
able to bear this. They walked to a wood 
near by. " I shall not live long," said Jas- 
per. " "Why so?" said the other. "Why, 
the thought of that poor woman haunts me. 
I shall die, if I do not save them." " That 
is my mind, exactly," said Newton, grasping 
Jasper's hand. Go on, my brave friend; 
I will stand by you to the last." 

After breakfast, the prisoners were sent on 
toward Savannah, under a guard of ten armed 
men. The two friends followed them through 
the woods, but without arms. Thinking the 
party would stop at the Spa, a famous spring 
two miles from Savannah, they went secretly 
round to that place, and concealed themselves 
in the bushes. By and by, the prisoners and 
guard came up, and the former were suffered to 
rest at the spring. Two men kept guard 
with their muskets, while two more came to 
the spring for water. The others piled their 
arms up, and sat down at a distance. The 
two guards now rested their guns against a 
tree, and began drinking from their canteens. 
"Now's the time," cried Jasper. At the 
instant, the two heroes sprang from the bushes, 
snatched the two muskets, and shot down the 
two guards. By this time, two of the soldiers 
had seized upon their guns. But they were 
instantly knocked down. Jasper and New- 
ton stood over the pile of guns, and ordered 
the other six to surrender. They were glad 
to do so. The American prisoners were 
armed ; the handcuffs were taken from them, 
and put upon the British soldiers, and the 
party soon reached the American camp. 

During the year 1780, nothing of great 
consequence was done in the northern prov- 



inces. The two armies lay near each other, 
the British being in New York, and the 
Americans on the Hudson; but no battles 
were fought. The most important event of 
this year was the treason of Arnold. He 
commanded the very strong fort at West 
Point, and he undertook to deliver it into the 
possession of the British. Major Andre, a 
young British officer, went on shore in the 
night from a British ship in the river, to ar- 
range the bu^ess with Arnold. The two 
officers met privately at some distance from 
the fort. Arnold agreed, for a certain sum 
of money, and other considerations, to sur- 
render the fort, with the garrison, cannon, 
and ammunition, into the hands of the Brit- 
ish commander. In settling the details of this 
business, Andre was detained till the next 
day ; and then the boatmen refused to carry 
him back to his vessel. He had to return by 
land, and to pass by the* American camp, on 
his way to New York. He was furnished 
with a horse, and exchanged his uniform for 
a common coat. He thought himself already 
out of danger, when, as he trotted quietly on 
through the woods, he was stopped by three 
Americans, who were scouting between the 
outposts of the two armies. "Who goes 
there ? " cried the first, seizing the bridle. 
Andre was startled, and asked the scout 
where he belonged. "Below," answered he, 
meaning New York. " So do I," said Andre, 
deceived ; " I'm a British oflScer, in great 
haste ; don't stop me." " Are you, indeed '? " 
said the scouts ; " then we'll see about that ! " 
They found his papers in his boots. He offer- 
ed them his gold watch, horse, and purse, if 
they would release him ; but they told him 
they knew their business too well, and he 
was carried to the camp. 

Arnold escaped from West Point in great 
haste. Andre had contrived to send him no- 
tice of his capture. He was dining with 
some of his friends, when the letter came. 
They saw he was very much agitated. He 
started up, and looked wild, made an excuse 
to go out, and they saw nothing more of him. 
He went to New York, joined the British 
army, and was appointed a general. His 
name was covered with everlasting shame and 
disgrace. Even his gallantry and decided 
military talents were overlooked and forgot- 
ten in his infamy. The British themselves 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



719 



despised him. After the war, he went to 
England, where he lived in obscurity and 
contempt. 

The head-quarters of Washington were at 
Tappan, on the Hudson, at the time he heard 
of Arnold's treason. Having taken measures 
to put the fort in a state of security, he ap- 
pointed a court-martial to try Andre. After 
a very deliberate examination, he was found 
guilty, and condemned, according to the 
usages of war, to be hanged as a spy. When 
the gallant young oflBcer heard that he was 
condemned to be hanged, he wrote a very pa- 
thetic letter to Washington, praying that he 
might be shot, and die as a soldier, rather 
than be executed like a felon. No man had 
a kinder heart than General Washington; 
and he would gladly have granted the re- 
quest of the unfortunate young Englishman. 
But duty to his country would not permit 
him to soften the sentence of the law. He 
was very anxious to bring Arnold to justice, 
and imagined that, if he could be taken, An- 
dre might be set free. He resolved to make 
an attempt to effect these desirable objects, 
and, having formed his plan, sent to Major 
Lee to repair to head-quarters, at Tappan. 
"I have sent for you," said Washington, "in 
the expectation ' that you have some one in 
your corps, who is willing to undertake a del- 
icate and hazardous project. Whoever comes 
forward will confer great obligations upon me 
personally, and, in behalf of the United States, 
I will reward him amply. No time is to be 
lost ; he must proceed, if possible, to-night. 
I desire to seize Arnold, and save Andre." 

Major Lee named a sergeant-major of his 
corps, by the name of Champe, a native of 
Virginia, a man full of bone and muscle, with 
a countenance grave, thoughtful, and taci- 
turn, — of tried courage and inflexible perse- 
verance. 

Champe was sent for by Major Lee, and the 
plan proposed. This was for him to desert ; 
to escape to New York ; to appear friendly 
to the enemy ; to watch Arnold, and, upon 
some fit opportunity, with the assistance of 
some one whom he could trust, to seize him, 
and conduct him to an appointed place on the 
river, where boats should be in readiness to 
bear them away. 

Champe listened to the plan attentively ; 
but, with the spirit of a man of honor and 



integrity, replied, that it was not danger nor 
difficulty that deterred him from immediately 
accepting the proposal, but the ignominy of 
desertion, and the hypocrisy of enlisting with 
the enemy. To those objections Lee replied, 
that although he would appear to desert, yet, 
as he obeyed the call of his commander-in- 
chief, his departure could not be considered 
as criminal ; and that, if he suffered in repu- 
tation for a time, the matter would one day 
be explained to his credit. As to the second 
objection, it was urged that to bring such a 
man as Arnold to justice, loaded with guilt as 
he was ; and to save Andre, so young, so 
accomplished, so beloved ; to achieve so much 
good in the cause of hiscountry, — was more 
than sufficient to balance a wrong existing 
only in appearance. 

The objections of Champe were at length 
surmounted, and he accepted the service. 
It was now eleven o'clock at night. With 
his instructions in his pocket, the sergeant 
returned to camp ; and, taking his cloak, va- 
lise, and orderly book, drew his horse from 
the picket, and mounted, putting himself 
upon fortune. Scarcely had half an hour 
elapsed, before Capt. Carnes, the officer of the 
day, waited upon Lee, who was vainly at- 
tempting to rest, and informed him that one 
of the patrol had fallen in with a dragoon, 
who, being challenged, put spurs to his horse 
and escaped. Lee, hoping to conceal the flight 
of Champe, or at least to delay pursuit, com- 
plained of fatigue, and told the captain that 
the patrol had probably mistaken a country- 
man for a dragoon. Carnes, however, was . 
not thus to be quieted ; and he withdrew to 
assemble his corps. On examination, it was 
found that Champe was absent. The captain 
returned, and acquainted Lee with the dis- 
covery, adding, that he had detached a party 
to pursue the deserter, and begged the major's 
written orders. After making as much de- 
lay as practicable without exciting suspicion, 
Lee delivered his orders, in which he direct- 
ed the party to take Champe, if possible. 
"Bring him alive," said he, "that he may 
suffer in the presence of the army ; but kill 
him if he resists, or tries to escape after 
being taken." 

A shower of rain fell soon after Champe's 
departure, which enabled the pursuing dra- 
goons to take the trail of his horse, whose 



KEV 



720 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



shoes, in common with those of all the horses 
of the corps, were made in a peculiar form, 
and each had a private mark which was to be 
seen in the path. Middleton, the leader of 
the pursuing party, left the camp a few min- 
utes past twelve, so that Champe had the 
start of but little more than an hour, — a 
period by far shorter than had been contem- 
plated. During the night, the dragoons were 
often 'delayed in the necessary halts to exam- 
ine the road ; but on the coming of morn- 
ing, the impression of the horse's shoes was 
so apparent, that they pressed on with rapid- 
ity. Some miles above Bergen, a village three 
miles north of New York, on the opposite 
side of the Hudson, on ascending a hill, 
Champe was seen not more than half a mile 
distant. Fortunately, Champe descried his 
pursuers at the same moment, and put spurs 
to his horse. By taking a different road, 
Champe was for a time lost sight of; but on 
approaching the river, he was again perceiv- 
ed. Aware of his danger, he lashed his va- 
lise, containing his clothes and orderly book, 
to his shoulders, and prepared himself to 
plunge into the river, if necessary. Swift 
was his flight, and swift the pursuit. * Mid- 
dleton and his party were within a few hun- 
dred yards, when Champe threw himself 
from his horse and plunged into the river, 
calling aloud upon some British galleys, at no 
great distance, for help. A boat was in- 
stantly dispatched to his assistance, and a 
fire commenced upon the pursuers. He was 
taken on board, and soon after carried to 
New York, with a letter from the captain of 
the galley, stating the scene which he had 
witnessed. 

The pursuers, having recovered the ser- 
geant's horse and cloak, returned to camp, 
where they arrived about three o'clock the 
next day. On their appearance with the 
well known horse, the soldiers made the air 
resound with the acclamation that the scoun- 
drel was killed. The agony of Lee, for a 
moment, was past description, lest the faith- 
ful, honorable, intrepid Champe had fallen. 
But the truth soon relieved his fears, and he 
repaired to Washington to impart to him the 
success, thus far, of his plan. 

Soon after the arrival of Champe in New 
York, he was sent to Sir Henry Clinton, who 
treated him kindly, but detained him more 



than an hour in asking him questions; to 
answer some of which, without exciting sus- 
picion, required all the art the sergeant was 
master of He succeeded, however, and Sir 
Henry gave him a couple of guineas, and 
recommended him to Arnold, who was wish- 
ing to procure American recruits. Arnold 
received hnn kindly, and proposed to him to 
join his legion. Champe, however, expressed 
his wish to retire from war ; but assured the 
general, if he should change his mind, he 
would enlist. 

Champe found means to communicate to 
Lee an account of his adventures ; but, unfor- 
tunately, he could not succeed in taking 
Arnold, as was wished, before the execution 
of Andre. Ten days before Champe brought 
his project to a conclusion, Lee received from 
him his final communication, appointing the 
third subsequent night for a party of dragoons 
to meet him at Hoboken, opposite New York, 
when he hoped to deliver Arnold to the 
ofBcers. 

Champe had enlisted into Arnold's legion, 
from which time he had every opportunity 
he could wish, to attend to the habits of the 
general. He discovered that it was his cus- 
tom to return home about twelve every night, 
and that previously to going to bed, he always 
visited the garden. During this visit, the 
conspirators were to seize him, and gag him 
instantly. Adjoining the house in which 
Arnold resided, and in which it was designed 
to seize and gag him, Champe had taken off 
several fence-palings, and replaced them, so 
that with ease, and without noise, he could 
readily open his way to the adjoining alley. 
Into this alley he intended to convey his 
prisoner, aided by his companion, one of two 
associates who had been introduced by the 
friend to whom Champe had been originally 
made known by letter from the commander- 
in-chief, and with whose aid and counsel he 
had so far conducted the enterprise. His other 
associate was with the boat, prepared at one 
of the wharves on the Hudson River, to receive 
the party. Champe and his friend intended 
to place themselves each under Arnold's 
shoulder, and thus to bear him, through the 
most unfrequented alleys and streets, to the 
boat, representing Arnold, in case of being 
questioned, as a drunken soldier, whom they 
were conveying to the guard-house. When 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



721 



arrived at the boat, the difficulties would be 
all surmounted, there being no danger or 
obstacle in passing to the Jersey shore. 
These particulars, as soon as made known to 
Lee, were communicated to the commander- 
in-chief, who was highly gratified with the 
much desired intelligence. He requested 
Major Lee to meet Champe, and to take care 
that Arnold should not be hurt. 

The day arrived, and Lee lefl the camp 
never doubting the success of the enterprise, 
from the tenor of the last received communi- 
cation. The party reached Hoboken about 
midnight, where they were concealed in the 
adjoining wood; Lee, with three dj-agoons, 
stationing himself near the shore of the river. 
Hour after hour passed, but no boat ap- 
proached. At length the day broke, and the 
major retired to his party, and, with his led 
horses, returned to the camp, where he pro- 
ceeded to head-quarters, to inform the general 
of the much lamented disappointment, as 
mortifying as it was inexplicable. Washing- 
ton, having perused Champe's plan and com- 
munication, had indulged the presumption 
that at length the object of his keen and con- 
stant pursuit was sure of execution, and did 
not dissemble the joy which such a convic- 
tion produced. He was chagrined at the 
issue, and apprehended that his faithful ser- 
geant must have been detected in the last 
scene of his tedious and difficult enterprise. 

In a few days, Lee received an anonymous 
letter from Champe's patron and friend, 
informing him, that on the day preceding the 
night fixed for the execution of the plot, 
Arnold" had removed his quarters to another 
part of the town, to superintend the embai-k- 
ation of troops, preparing, as was rumored, 
for an expedition to be directed by himself; 
and that the American legion, consisting 
chiefly of American deserters, had been trans- 
ferred from their barracks to one of the trans- 
ports, it being apprehended that^ if left on 
shore until the expedition was ready, many 
of them might desert. 

Thus it happened, that John Champe, 
instead of crossing the Hudson that night, 
was safely deposited on board one of the fleet 
of transports, whence he never departed until 
the troops under Arnold landed in Virginia. 
Nor was he able to escape from the British 
army until after the junction of Lords Corn- 



EEy 



wallis at Petersburg, when he deserted. 
Proceeding high up into Virginia, he passed 
into North Carolina, and, keeping in the 
friendly districts of that state, safely joined 
the army soon after it had passed the Con- 
garee in pursuit of Lord Rawdon. His 
appearance excited extreme surprise among 
his former comrades, which was not a little 
increased Avhen they saw the cordial reception 
he met with from Lee. His whole story was 
soon known to the corps, which reproduced 
the love and respect of officers and soldiers, 
heretofore invariably entertained for the ser- 
geant, and heightened by universal admira- 
tion of his late daring and arduous attempt. 
Champe was introduced to Gen. Greene, who 
very cheerfully complied with the promise 
made by the commander-in-chief, so far as in 
his power ; and, having provided the sergeant 
with a good horse, and money for his journey, 
sent him to Gen. Washington, who munifi- 
cently anticipated every desire of the ser- 
geant, and presented him with a discharge 
from further service, lest he might, in the 
vicissitudes of war, fall into the hands of the 
enemy, when, if recognized, he was sure to 
die on a gibbet. When Washington was 
called by President Adams, in 1798, to the 
command of the army prepared to defend the 
country against French hostility, he sent to 
Lee, to inquire for Champe, being determined 
to bring him into the field at the head of a 
company of infantry. Lee sent to Loudon 
county, Virginia, where Champe settled after 
his discharge from the army ; when he learned 
that the gallant soldier had removed to Ken- 
tucky, where he soon after died. 

We must return to our history. Congress 
continued to make great efforts to supply the 
army, though the paper money they had 
issued was worth so little that a soldier 
would give forty dollars for a breakfast, and 
a colonel's pay would hardly find oats for his 
horse. The merchants of Philadelphia raised 
a large sum of better money, however, and 
sent it to the army. The ladies of that city 
furnished a large quantity of clothihg. 

The British all this time were overrunning 
the two Carolinas. They had taken Charles- 
ton on the 11th of May, 1780, after a long 
siege, and a bmve defense by Gen. Lincoln. 
Gen. Gates was soon after sent to take com- 
mand, of the southern army. He was joined 



r22 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



by hundreds of the Carolina militia. Con- 
gress sent him some fine Maryland and Dela- 
ware troops also. They had a very long and 
hard march through the woods, finding noth- 
ing to eat on the way, but peaches and green 
corn, with now and then a flock of wild tur- 
keys or a drove of wild hogs. But they were 
brave men, and did not murmur. They even 
joked each other on account of their thin 
faces and lank legs. 

A battle took place on the 16th of August, 
near Camden, South Carolina, between Gates 
and the British under Lord Cornwallis. The 
former was defeated, and fled eighty miles 
into the back country. The lean northern 
soldiers we have just mentioned, fought nobly 
an hour after all the rest had been routed like 
an army of sheep. The brave Baron De 
Kalb was wounded in eleven places. He fell 
from his horse, and died in the hands of the 
British. He was a native of Alsace. He sent 
his compliments, in his last moments, to "his 
gallant Maryland and Delaware soldiers." 

Generals Marion and Sumter gave the 
British great trouble during this campaign. 
Small parties of the mountain militia joined 
them, and they swept down upon the enemy, 
wherever they could find them in small par- 
ties. The farmers' wives furnished them 
pewter spoons and platters, to make into 
bullets ; and they forged swords of scythes 
and the saws of saw-mills. 

In October, sixteen hundred of these 
mountaineers mustered together to attack a 
British force under Major Ferguson, who had 
encamped not far from the mountains. For 
weeks, they had no salt, bread, or spirits ; they 
slept upon boughs of ti-ees, without blankets, 
drank only from the running streams, and 
lived upon wild game, or ears of corn, and 
pumpkins, roasted by their gi-eat log-fires in 
the woods. 

They were to assault Ferguson in three 
parties, and Col. Cleaveland addressed his 
party in these words: "My brave boys, we 
have beat the red-coats and the tories, and 
we can beat them again. They are all cow- 
ards. You must fight, each man for himself, 
without orders. Fire as quick as you can, 
and stand as long as you can. If you must 
retreat, get behind the trees. Don't run, my 
fine fellows, don't run!" "Hurrah for the 
mountaineers ! " cried they, and rushed down 



upon the enemy. The Americans were driven 
back at the point of the bayonet ; but they 
only lay down among the logs and rocks, and, 
bemg sharp-shooters, killed more than two 
hundred of the enemy. Ferguson was killed 
himself, and eight hundred of his soldiers 
surrendered. Ten of the most savage tories, 
notorious rascals, were hung up on the neigh- 
boring trees. This is called the battle of 
King's Mountain. 

With the year 1781, on which we now 
enter, the war drew rapidly toward a close. 
It was carried on almost entirely in the South. 
Gen. Greene was appointed to command the 
American forces in that quarter. At the time 
of his arrival, they were a miserable, half- 
starved militia, of three thousand men. They 
marked the frozen ground with the blood of 
their bare feet, and lived half the^time upon 
frogs, taken from the swamps, wild game, rice, 
and wretchedly lean cattle. But they were 
soon re-enforced; and small parties, under 
Sumter, Marion, Morgan, and others, often 
annoyed the forces of Cornwallis. Colonel 
Washington laid siege to a strong block- 
house near Camden, defended by a British 
colonel and a hundred tories. He had no 
cannon and few men ; but he carved out a 
few pine logs in the shape of cannon, mounted 
them on wheels, and summoned the tories to 
surrender. They were frightened at the 
appearance of his big cannon, and surren- 
dered. Not a shot was fired upon either 
side. 

On the 17th of January, Col. Morgan, with 
eight hundred militia, was attacked at a place 
called the Cowpens, in South Carolina, by 
Tarleton, a famous British officer, with eleven 
hundred men and two cannon. The enemy 
rushed on with a tremendous shout. The 
front line of militia were driven back. Tarle- 
ton pursued them, at full gallop, with his 
troopers, and fell upon the second line. They 
too were giving way. At this moment, Col. 
Washington charged Tarleton with forty-five 
militia-men, mounted, and armed as troopers. 
The whole line now rallied under Col. How- 
ard, and advanced with fixed bayonets. The 
British fled. Their cannon were left^behind ; 
three hundred British soldiers were killed 
and wounded, and five hundred were taken 
prisoners; eight hundred muskets, seventy 
negroes, and one hundred dragoon horses. 



REV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



723 



also fell into the hands of the Americans. 
Many British officers were killed. Morgan 
always told his sharp-shooters " to aim at the 
epaulettes, and not at the poor rascals who 
fought for sixpence a day." 

General Greene was driven back, by Corn- 
wallis, into North Carolina. The latter pur- 
sued him through the province, over moun- 
tains and swamps, and arrived at the river 
Dan, just as Greene had crossed it. Corn- 
wallis now found it necessarjr to turn about ; 
and so he marched back, and Greene soon 
followed him with new forces. Sumter joined 
him at Orangeburg, having received orders 
to do so during his hasty retreat before the 
enemy. Greene could find no man in his 
army who would carry the message to Sum- 
ter. A country girl, named Emily Geiger, at 
last offered her services, and was sent. She 
was taken by the British, and confined for the 
purpose of being searched. She, however, 
ate up the letter which she carried, piece by 
piece. They released her, to go home, as 
they supposed ; but she took a roundabout 
way, reached Sumter's camp safely, and 
delivered her message, in her own words. 

The Americans were defeated near Guil- 
ford court-house on the 15th of March. But 
Cornwallis retreated soon after. He had 
suffered great loss, and his army was small. 
A militia, colonel cried out in this battle, as 
the British were marching up, "They will 
surround us." He was frightened himself, 
and frightened his -soldiers so much, that they 
gave way, while the enemy were one hundred 
and forty yards distant. Col. "Washington, 
at the head of his troopers, nearly captured 
Cornwallis in this battle. He was just rush- 
ing upon the British general when his cap 
fell from his head. As he leaped to the 
ground for it, the leading American officer 
behind him was shot through the body, and 
rendered unable to manage his horse. The 
animal wheeled round, and galloped off with 
his rider; and the troop, supposing it was 
Washington's order, wheeled about also, and 
rode off at full speed. 

Fort Watson, between Camden and Charles- 
ton, surrendered, in April, with 114 men, to 
Gen. Marion. The fort was built on a mound 
of earth thirty feet high ; but Marion, with 
his mountaineers, had raised a work which 
overlooked it in such a manner, that not a 



man in the fort could show his head over the 
parapets, or scarcely point his musket through 
a hole in the walls, but the riflemen above 
would shoot him. 

Greene was again defeated at Camden, on 
the 25th of April, by nine hundred English 
under Lord Rawdon. But in a month or two 
the British lost six forts, and that of Augusta 
was among them. Here there were three 
liundred men, as a garrison, who almost 
buried themselves under ground, while the 
Americans were building up batteries within 
thirty yards, which swept the fort through 
and through. Greene and all his officers, and 
all his men, fought nobly the whole season. 
"I will recover the province," said the gen- 
eral, " or die in the attempt." It is remarka- 
ble that although his force was much inferior 
to that of Cornwallis, and though he was 
frequently defeated, yet, by his admirable 
mancuvres, the result of the campaign was 
entirely favorable to the Americans, and inju- 
rious to the British. 

He attacked the enemy at Eutaw Springs, 
Sept. 8th, and completely defeated them, 
killing and capturing eleven hundred of their 
best soldiers. In pursuing the enemy, one 
Manning found himself surrounded by them. 
He seized upon a small British officer, and, 
being himself a stout man, placed him on his 
shoulders, and retreated, the English not 
daring to fire at him. The little officer was 
horribly frightened, but Manning took good 
care of him. 

The war was closed by the capture of 
Cornwallis, at Yorktown, Virginia. He had 
left Carolina, and expected to overrun Vir- 
ginia. But in September, the Americans and 
French, under Washington, surrounded him 
from all quarters, on the land ; while the 
French fleet, riding in Chesapeake Bay, 
blocked up the mouths of the rivers, and 
kept the English fleet from coming in. It 
was impossible for CHnton, with all his 
forces at New York, to re-enforce Cornwallis. 
Washington had kept him in fear all sum- 
mer, and made him believe, till the last 
moment, that he was to be besieged in New 
York. It was not till Aug. 24th, that Wash- 
ington left his camp on the Hudson River, 
and marched through New Jersey and Penn- 
sylvania, to the head of the Chesapeake. 
The French admiral, De Grasse, who had just 



REV 



724 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



arrived, carried the American forces down 
the bay to Yorktown. 

The army passed through Philadelphia, on 
this march, in splendid style. The line was 
more than two miles long. The streets were 
crowded with spectators ; and the windows, 
to the highest stories, were filled with ladies, 
waving their handkerchiefs, as the gallant 
troops passed by. There was Washing-ton, 
with all his generals ; the French command- 
er, Count Rochambeau, with all his ; Gen. 
Knox with one hundred fine cannon ; and the 
whole army pressing on with proud step and 
noble confidence. The music was inspirit- 
ing ; everybody thought they would conquer ;• 
and, just at this time, news came that the 
French fleet had arrived in the Chesapeake. 
The city rang with the shouts of the hopeful 
multitude. 

By the Tth of October, Cornwallis was 
completely besieged. He had raised en- 
trenchments ; but the allied army, the Amer- 
icans and the French, had erected breast- 
works all about him, circle after circle, and 
now opened a battery of one hundred can- 
non. They fired day and night. The roar 
was terrible. The ground, for miles, shook 
with it ; and the bombs and shells were seen 
whirling and crossing each other in the dark 
sky, and blazing like comets. If they fell 
upon the ground, it was torn up for a rod 
around, and dozens were killed when they 
burst. The bombs sometimes M^ent over the 
heads of the enemy, and fell among the 
British vessels in the harbor, near the British 
works at Gloucester Point, on the other side 
of the river. The water spouted in columns 
as they fell. 

One night, an attack was made upon two 
redoubts which the British had built out so 
far that they stood in the way of some 
American works just building around them. 
The French were ordered to take one redoubt, 
and the Americans under Lafayette the 
other. The two parties tried to outdo each 
other. Lafayette carried his redoubt first, 
nnd sent his aid-de-camp to the leader of the 
French party, through all the fire of the bat- 
teries, to tell him he was in. " So will I be," 
said the Frenchman, " in five minutes ;" and 
he performed his promise. 

Cornwallis surrendered on the 19th. His 
army, of about seven thousand men, marched 



out at two o'clock, and passed between the 
American line on one side and the French 
on the other, stretched out for more than a 
mile. They were all dressed in their most 
splendid uniforms, with fine music, and colors 
flying. The English marched, carrying their 
colors bound up, with a slow and solemn 
step. The English general rode up to Wash- 
ington, at the head of the line, and excused the 
absence of Cornwallis, who feigned sickness. 
"Washington pointed him politely to Gen. 
Lincoln, and the latter directed him to a large 
field, where the whole British army laid down 
their arms, and were led away prisoners. 
After this capture, the English gave up all 
hopes of success. No more fighting of any 
consequence took place upon the land. 

The British troops were wholly withdrawn 
from the United States in the following sea- 
son. The terms of peace with England were 
settled by the British and American ambas- 
sadors at Paris, in November, 1782. The 3d 
of November, 1783, was fixed upon by Con- 
gress for the fkial disbanding of the Ameri- 
can army. On the day previous, Washington 
issued his farewell orders, and bade an affec- 
tionate adieu to the soldiers who had fought 
with him in the great struggle, which was 
now over. 

Soon after taking leave of the amiy, Gen. 
Washington was called to the still oiore pam- 
ful hour of separation from his officers, 
greatly endeared to him by a long series of 
common sufferings and dangers. The officers 
having assembled in New York for the pur- 
pose, Washington joined them; and, calling 
for a glass of wine, thus addressed them : 
'• With a heart full of love and gratitude, I 
now take my leave of you. I most devoutly 
wish that your latter days may be as pros- 
perous and happy as your fomicr ones have 
been glorious and honorable." Having thus 
affectionately spoken, he took each by the 
hand, and bade him farewell. Followed by 
them to the side of the Hudson, he entered a 
barge, and, while tears flowed down his 
cheeks, he turned toward the companions of 
his glory, and bade them a silent adieu. 

Thus ended the American Revolution. 

REYNOLDS, Sir Joshua, an eminent En- 
glish painter, born at Plympton in Devon- 
shire, in 1723. He was particularly celebra- 
ted for his portraits, in which he rejected the 



KEY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



725 



stiff, formal style of his predecessors. In 
1T08 he was elected the first president of the 
royal academy and received the honor of 
knighthood. He lived in intimacy with 
Johnson, Garrick, Burke, and other eminent 
men of his time, and although afflicted with 
incurable deafness in the latter part of his 
life, still enjoyed conversation by means of 
his ear-trumpet. In 1791 his eyesight failed, 
and the following year he died, at the age of 
seventy. 

Mr. Burke once observed to Sir Joshua 



Reynolds, "What a delight you have in 
your profession." — "No, sir," said Dr. John- 
son, taking up the question, " Reynolds only 
paints to get money." — Miss Hannah More, 
who was present, defending Sir Joshua, 
insisted that . he pleasure experienced by the 
artist was deri.ed from higher and more 
luxuriant sources than mere pecuniary con- 
sideration. — "Only answer me," said the 
moralist in an impressive tone ; " did Lean- 
der swim the Hellespont merely because he 
was fond of swimming ? " 




RHODE ISLAND is the smallest of the 
states of our confederacy. It has an area of 
1,225 square miles, and in 18(50 the popula- 
tion was 174,620. The surface is broken and 
hillj^, and the soil is modcratel}^ productive. 
The islands in Narraganset Bay are very 
fertile. The streams are small, but their 
rapid descent renders them very valuable as 
sources of power for manufactures, which 
are extensively carried on, cotton goods 
taking the lead. It was in Rhode Island 
that Samuel Slater made the beginning of 
the cotton manufactures of our country. 
The once extensive commerce of Rhode 
Island has been largely diverted to the ports 
of Massachusetts and New York, 

The first settlement within the limits of 
Rhode Island was made at Providence in 
1630 by Roger Williams, a Baptist minister 
who had been driven from Massachusetts for 
his religious views. The Indians knew and 
loved him as their friend. Till very lately 
the broad rock still lay on the bank of the 



river, where the exile stepped ashore, and 
was met by a friendly Indian who smattered 
a little English, with the greeting, " What 
cheer ? " The new colony was an asylum for 
all "persons distressed of conscience." The 
fiiir island in the bay, which, after that other 
fair isle in the Mediterranean, received the 
name of the isle of Rhodes, or Rhode Island, 
was settled two yea^s after, through the 
influence of Roger Williams, by other fugi- 
tives from the banishment of the Massachu- 
setts theocracy, and in 1644 he obtained a 
royal charter uniting Rhode Island and Prov- 
idence Plantations under one government. 

Rhode Island, under the wise guidance of 
Roger Williams, enjoyed the honor of setting 
the Avorld the example of perfect liberty and 
toleration in religious matters. The settlers 
of Providence early agreed that the munici- 
pal authority was binding "only in civil 
things ; " and at the first general asseml)ly of 
the united colony, hoiden in May, 1647, the 
code of laws was nobly concluded: "Other- 



RHO 



726 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



wise than thus, what is herein forbidden, all 
men may walk as their consciences persuade 
them, every one in the name of his God. 
And let the lambs of the Most High walk in 
this colony without molestation, in the name 
of Jehovah, their God, for ever and ever." 
Full, free, absolute libert}' of conscience for 
all, of whatever creed or sect, of whatever 
nation or tongue, was here first provided. 

Rhode Island bore her share of the burden 
of the Revolution, and was for a long time in 
the possessir n of the British army. Unlike 
most of the colonies, she continued the ad- 
ministration of government under the royal 
charter. The new instrument granted by 
Charles II. in 1663, had conferred on the col- 
ony the right to elect all their officers, and 
to pass laws for their government, without 
any intervention whatever from king or par- 
liament, and also guai'anteed them the broad 
liberty of conscience they had assumed for 
themselves aforetime. This charter, so lib- 
eral, and the more so that it bore the name 
of a Stuart, remained, with some modifica- 
tions, the polity of the state down to 1842, 
when a constitution was framed. The legis- 
lative power is vested in a senate and house 
of representatives, who are together styled the 
General Assembly of the State of Rhode 
Island and Providence Plantations. The 
governor is chosen annually, and, as well as 
the lieutenant-governor, is a member of the 
senate. The right of suffrage is vested in 
male native citizens of the United States who 
have resided in the state one year, and in the 
town six months ; and in naturalized citizens 
who beside such residence possess real estate 
in the town, worth $134 over all incum- 
brances, or which rents for $7 per annum. 
The general assembly meets at Newport on the 
first Tuesday in each May, and adjourned ses- 
sions during the year are holden at Providence, 
East Greenwich, South Kingston, and Bris- 
tol. The judiciary consists of a supreme 
court, having a chief-justice and three asso- 
ciates ; and of a court of common pleas for 
each of the five counties, held by a justice of 
the supreme court. Rhode Island was once 
a laggard in the matter of common schools : 
but within a few years great advance has 
been made, and she now stands abreast of 
her sister states of New England. 

Providence, at the head of Narraganset 



Bay, is among the wealthiest and finest cities 
of New England. In 18G0 it had 50,066 in- 
habitants. The land for the settlement of 
Providence Plantations was conveyed to 
Roger Williams by the chief sachems of the 
Narragansets. He justly regarded the In- 
dian title as pre-eminent to all others. In one 
of the early deeds, he says, " Having a sense 
of God's merciful providence unto me in my 
distress, I called the place Providence." The 
place suffered severely during King Philii^'s 
war. Only twentj^-eight of the male inhab- 
itants " staid and went not away." At the 
southern end of the beautiful isle of Rhode 
Island lies the city of Newport. Its haibor 
is one of the finest in the world, and befoie 
the Revolution Newport was the home of pros- 
perous commerce and enterprising merchants. 
It was then the rival of Boston and far the 
superior of New^ York. The struggle for in- 
dependence entailed its ruin and decline. In 
modern days^ the charm of its situation, the 
cool and salubrious breezes which enliven 
its air, and the facilities for sea-bathing, 
make it a favorite resort in summer. Its 
population is 10,000. 

RHODES, an island in the Grecian archi- 
pelago, ten miles from the southern coast of 
Asia Minor, now in the hands of the Turks. 
It was former^ celebrated for the fertility of 
its soil, its commercial importance, its conse- 
cration to the gods, and its wonderful works 
of art, including the celebrated Colossus. 
[See Wonders.] It was made a Roman 
province in the reign of Vespasian. In 1309 
the knights of St. John too'c possession of it. 
They sustained several attacks fi'om the 
Turks. The last and most memorable siege 
of the city of Rhodes was in June, 1522, by 
Solyman II. The princes of Christendom, 
hopeless of the defense of so remote an out- 
post, abandoned Rhodes to its fate. The 
gallant garrison held out till they were nearly 
buried in the ruins of their fortifications. In 
December, 1522, they capitulated, evacuated 
the island on honorable terms, and retired to 
Malta. 

Oct. 12th, 1856, Rhodes was convulsed by a 
severe earthquake, the whole island seeming 
to rock to and fro, as though a bauble in the 
hand of an angry Titan. The damage done 
was estimated at $1,000,000, and hundreds of 
the inhabitants were killed or wounded. The 



RHO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



727 




THE COLOSSUS OF RHODES. 



6th of November following, a thtinderbolt 
fell upon the magazine in the city, where 
were stored 300,000 pounds of powder, de- 
stroying full or.( third of the town, and kill- 
ing a thousand of the people. The ancient 
church of St. John was laid in ruins. 

RICHARD 1., II., III., of England. [See 
Plantagenets.] 

RICHARDSON, S-oiuel, an eminent Eng- 
lish author, born in 1689, died in 1761. 
Richardson was a printer, and master of an ex- 
tensive business. Vanity was his only mark- 
ed foible. He was very early a fluent letter- 
writer : at thirteen he was the confidant of 
three damsels, conducting tender correspond- 
ence for each unknown to the others : but he 
did not begin his novels till he was fifty 
years in life, and then in his back shop, in 
intervals of business. Our great-grand- 
mothers v\^cpt copiously over "Pamela" and 
"Sir Charles Grandison" and " Clarissa Har- 



lowe ; " but with all their pathos, it requires a 
good degree of wakefulness to get through 
these prolix fictions nowadays. 

RICHELIEU (Armand Jean Duplessis), a 
cardinal and statesman, was born of a noble 
family at Paris, in 1585. He studied in the 
Sorbonne, and in 1607 obtained the bishopric 
of Lucon. He was also appointed grand-al- 
moner, and in 1616 made secretary of state. 
When Mary de Medicis fell into disgrace, 
Richelieu was banished to Avignon, where he 
wrote his " Method of Controvei-sy." Being 
soon after recalled to court, he brought about 
a reconciliation between Louis XIH. and the 
queen-mother, for which he was rewarded 
with a cardinal's hat, and appointed prime 
minister, in which situation he displayed 
extraordinary talents. He subdued the Pro- 
testants, reduced Savoy, humbled Spain, 
struck terror into Germany, and commanded 
the admiration of all Europe. In the midst 



RIC 



728 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



of this splendor he died, Dec. 4th, 1642, and 
was buried at the Sorbonne. 

RICIITER, Jean Paul Friedkicii, was 
born in 1763, in Baireuth, a town of Fran- 
conia. He was one of the most emiment 
German authors of his daj', deaUng in ro- 
mances, the most eccentric and grotesque, 
yet full of pathos and power. He died at 
Baireuth in 1825. 

RIDLEY, Nicholas, an English martyr, 
was born in Northumberland. To qualify 
himself for divinity, he went to Paris, and 
studied some time in the Sorbonne. On his 
return he was chosen proctor of the univer- 
sity at Oxford, in which capacity he signed 
the declaration against the papal supremacy. 
He was also elected public orator, and Arch- 
bishop Cranmer made him his chaplain. Soon 
after this he became master of Pembroke 
Hall, with which he held some considerable 
church preferment at Canterbury, .and West- 
minster. On the accession of Edward VI. 
he was consecrated Bishop of Rochester ; and, 
in 1550 he was translated to the see of Lon- 
don, where he discharged the duties of his 
oflBce with unwearied diligence. He was also 
employed in all the ecclesiastical measures of 
that reign, particularly in the compiling of 
the liturgy and the framing of the articles of 
religion. But one of the most distinguished 
occurrences in the life of this great prelate 
was that of inciting King Edward to endow 
the three great foundations of Christ's, Bar- 
tholomew's, and St. Thomas's hospitals. It 
was the bishop's misfortune, however, to be- 
come the dupe of the Duke of Northumber- 
land, who prevailed upon him to concur in 
the proclamation of Lady Jane Grey. For 
this he was committed to the Tower, and 
after a confinement of eight months, sent to 
Oxford, there to hold a disputation with the 
triumphant party. This mocker}'- was fol- 
lowed by a degradation from the episcopal 
dignity, and sentence of condemnation to the 
flames for heresy, which he endured with the 
venerable Latimer before Baliol College, Oct. 
16th, 1555. 

RIENZI, Cola, was born in 1810. Dur- 
ing the absence of the popes at Avignon, 
Rome was torn by contending factions. The 
eloquence of Rienzi stirred the people to rise, 
and he was given the dictatorship as the trib- 
une of the people. This was in 1347. His 



power lasted only till the close of the year, 
and then he was driven from the city. In- 
nocent VI. afterward reinstated him in the 
dictatorship, and he was slain during a pop- 
ular tumult, Oct. 8th, 1354. 

RITTENHOUSE, David, of Pennsylvania, 
an eminent and self-taught philosopher, died 
in 1796, aged sixty -five. 

RIZZIO, David, a Piedmontese musician, 
who ingratiated himself into the favor of 
Mary, Queen of Scotland. Through his skill 
as a linguist he became her foreign secretary. 
He was barbarously assassinated by Darnley, 
the husband of Mary, on a pretended suspi- 
cion of criminal intercourse with her. 

ROBERTSON, William, born in Scotland, 
1721, died in 1793. Dr. Robertson was an 
eminent clergyman in the church of Scotland, 
but attained greater fame as a historian. 
His great works are the " History of the 
Reign of Charles V.," the " History of 
America," and the "History of Scotland 
during the Reigns of Queen Mary and of King 
James VI., till his Accession to the Crown of 
England." 

ROBESPIERRE, Maximilian, a leading 
actor in the terrible drama of the French 
revolution, was born at xVrras in 1759. His 
father was of English origin, and an advocate, 
to which profession the son was bred. x\t 
the age of thirty he was chosen a deputy to 
the states-general, and soon became promi- 
nent in Hhe scenes of blood with which 
France was deluged. At last, when the reign 
of terror was at its height, a coalition was 
formed against him, and it issued success- 
fully. He was arrested, tried in the same 
summary style that had condemned so many 
braver and better men before, and guillotined, 
July 28th, 1794. 

ROCHEFOUCAULD, Francis, Duke of, an 
eminent French writer, born in 1G13, and 
died in 1080. 

ROCHESTER, John Wilmot, Earl of, a 
witty and licentious nobleman of the court of 
Charles II., was born in 1647. It is said 
that he once remained five years in a state 
of inebriety. He blazed out his j'outh and 
health in lavish voluptuousness, and died of 
physical exhaustion and decay, at the age of 
thirty -three. He wrote sweet and musical 
songs, and several satirical poems, many of 
them very licentious. " Nothing in his life be- 



ROC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



729 



came him like the leaving it." He professed 
to Dr. Burnet sincere and unreserved peni- 
tence. His tender and thoughtful letters to 
his wife and children throw another bright 
gleam upon his character. In one of his 
poems he hits the character of his royal 
boon companion in one line : — 

"A merry monarch, scandalous and poor." 

ROCKINGHAM, Chakles Watson Went- 
woRTii, Marquis o,f, became premier on the 
dissolution of the Grenville administration, 
in 1765. He was a nobleman possessing but 
a mediocrity of understanding, and no ways 
calculated to warrant the expectation of his 
long continuance in office ; he was, however, 
a man of disinterested principles and unaffec- 
ted patriotism. The chief business of his 
administration was to undo all that his prede- 
cessors had done, particularly repealing the 
American stamp-act. ' In 1766 he was suc- 
ceeded in office by the Duke of Grafton. He 
came again into power at the close of the 
ministry of Lord North in March, 1782, but 
died in July, aged fifty -two. 

RODNEY, Cesar, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, was born at Dover, 
Delaware, in 1730. He successively filled the 
offices of high sheriff", justice of the peace, 
and judge of the lower courts, and repre- 
sented his county in the provincial legisla- 
ture. He was a member of the stamp-act 
congress at New York in 1765, and was 
speaker of the assembly of his state in 1768. 
His chaste and fluent pen was actively em- 
ployed in the service of his country. He 
was a member of the first congress in 1774, 
and continued a delegate till the close of 
177G, when he took the field as brigadier-gen- 
eral. In 1777 he remained for tw^o months 
in the camp near Princeton, laboriously 
occupied. For four years he was president 
of his state, but retired from office in 
1782, and died the following year from a 
cancer. 

RODNEY, George Brydges, was the son 
of Capt. Henry Rodney, a naval officer. He 
was born in 1717, entered early into the 
British navy, and in 1742 obtained the com- 
mand of a ship. In 1749 he was appointed 
governor of Newfoundland ; and on his re- 
turn, in 1753, he married the sister of the 
Earl of Northampton. In 1759 he was made 



admiral of the blue, and the same year 
destroyed the stores prepared at Havre de 
Grace for an invasion of Efigland. In 1761 
he served on the West India station with 
such activity that at the conclusion of the 
war he was made a baronet. In 1768 he was 
elected into parliament for Northampton ; 
but the contest ruined his estate. In 1771 
he went to Jamaica as commander-in-chief ; 
and at the expiration of the term of service, 
was forced by his embarrassed estate to 
retire to France, where overtures were made 
to him on the part of that government, which 
would have recruited his fortune, but were 
refused with indignation. In 1779 he was 
again called into employment ; and the year 
following, by defeating the Spanish fleet, off 
Cape St. Vincent, he saved Gibraltar. After 
this he went to the West Indies, where, on 
the 12th of April, 1782, he gained a great 
victory over the French fleet under Count de 
Grasse ; for which he was made a peei*. He 
died in 1792. 

ROE, Sir Thomas, was born about 1560, at 
Low Layton in Essex, and educated at Mag- 
dalen College, Oxford, after which he became 
a student in one of the inns of court. In 
1604 he was knighted, and soon after went to 
make discoveries in America. In 1614 he 
was sent on an embassy to the Great IMogul, 
at whose court he remained three years. In 
1621 he w^ent in the same capacity to Con- 
stantinople, and during his residence there, 
collected a number of manuscripts, which he 
presented to the Bodleian library. In 1629 
Sir Thomas negotiated a peace between Po- 
land and Sweden, and it was by his advice, 
that Gustavus Adolphus entered Germany, 
where he gained the battle of Leipsic. In 
1640 he was chosen to represent the univer- 
sity of Oxford in parliament. The next year 
he was sent ambassador to the diet of Ratis- 
bon, and on his return was made chancellor 
of the garter. He died in 1644. 

ROGERS, Samuel, a pleasing and tasteful 
poet, was the son of a wealthy London bank- 
er, and born in 1762. He was the friend of 
Byron and Moore, and his bounty soothed 
the dying hours of Sheridan. He outlived 
his contemporaries, and died in December, 
1856. His house in St. James's Place, was 
enriched with the choicest pictures, sculp- 
ture, books, and gems. For half a century 



ROG 



oO 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



it was the centre of literary society in Lon- 
don. The host was not exclusive in forming 
his circle, and he not only gathered round 
his table men who had achieved literary 
eminence, but also extended his hand to 
young and friendless merit. 

ROLAND DE LA PLATIERE, Jean Ma- 
KiE, was born at Yillefranche in the neighbor- 
hood of Lyons, 1732 ; was inspector general 
of manufactures and commerce in that city 
when the revolution commenced ; and, having 
embraced popular principles, became member 
of the Lyons municipality in 1790. In 
February, 1791, he was sent to Paris as dep- 
uty extraordinary^, to defend the commercial 
interests of Lyons in the committees of the 
constituent assembly, and remained there 
seven months, accompanied by his noble- 
hearted wife. This period dates from the 
contemplated flight of the king, just before 
the death of Mirabeau, to the dispersion of 
the assembly after the acceptance of the 
new constitution. When the patriot minis- 
try was formed in March, 1792, Roland was 
made minister of the interior ; which position 
he retained till June 13th, when the royal 
veto upon the proposal to form a patriot 
camp around Paris, and upon the decree 
against the priests, provoked his celebrated 
letter to the king (written, however, by his 
wife), and, as a consequence, his almost in- 
stant dismissal. Then came the arrival of 
the Marseillaise in Paris, and the conflict at 
the Tuilerics, August 10th; when Roland 
was recalled, and Danton became minister ol 
justice. The struggle between the Giron- 
dists and the municipality under the guid- 
ance of Robespierre filled up the period till 
May 31st. The former party were vanquish- 
ed, and Roland was among the number who 
saved their lives by flight. He found an 
asylum with his friends at Rouen, but delib- 
erately killed himself with his cane-sword on 
hearing of the execution of his wife, Nov. 
15th, 1793. His body was found by the 
roadside, and a paper in his pocket contained 
his last words, among which were these : 
"Whoever thou art that findest these re- 
mains, respect them, as those of a man who 
consecrated his life to usefulness, and who 
died as he has lived, virtuous and honest. . 

. . . On hearing of my wife's death, I 
would not remain another day upon this earth 



so stained with crimes." Roland was mark- 
ed by his practical philosophy, commercial 
knowledge, and strict simplicity. 

ROLAND, Manon Jeanne Philippon, 
Madame, the wife of the preceding, and her- 
self the spirit of the Girondist part}^, was 
the daughter of a Parisian engraver, and was 
born at Paris in 1754. Of nine she was the 
only child left to her father, who provided 
her with masters regardless of expense, and 
gave her a brilliant education ; the best 
grounds for which existed in her native tal- 
ents, her firm spirit, her personal beauty, and 
her undoubted virtues. Antiquities, herald- 
rj% philosophy, and, among other books, the 
Bible, made up her earliest studies; her 
favorite authors, however, were Plutarch, 
Tacitus, Montaigne, and Rousseau. In 1779 
she became the wife of Roland ; and as her 
love for him was founded on his ajntique vir- 
tues and philosophic spirit, she has been 
called ' the Heloise of the eighteenth centu- 
ry ; ' he was also twenty years her senior. 
She shared in all his studies, assisted him in 
editing his works, and during his two minis- 
tries acted as his secretarj^, entering into all 
the intrigues of his party without debasing 
herself by their meanness. She was the 
angel of the cause she espoused, the soul of 
honor and the conscience of all who embraced 
it ; while her boldness, her political sagacity, 
and her sarcastic eloquence were equallj^ 
di-eaded bj^ their adversaries. 

After the flight of her husband, Madame 
Roland was arrested by order of the Paris 
commune, under dictation of Marat and 
Robespierre, and consigned to the Abbaye 
prison ; from which, on the 31st of October, 
1793 (the day her Gii'ondist friends were led 
to execution), she was removed to a more 
wretched abode in the damp vaults of the 
Conciergie. The dismal dungeon into which 
she was cast adjoined the cell in which the 
hapless Marie Antoinette had languished in 
misery till dragged to the guillotine. The 
next day she mms subjected to an abusive 
examination, and having thus learned the 
nature of the charges which would be brought 
against her, she sit down in her cell that 
very night, and swiftly sketched her eloquent 
defense. She bore the subsequent examina- 
tions with serenity and courage, though cer- 
tain of the untimely death that awaited her. 



ROL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



731 



The upper part of the door of her cell was 
an iron grating. The neighboring dungeons 
were filled with illustrious Frenchmen and 
Frenchwomen. To some it was permitted 
to walk in the corridors. These, and those 
more closely immured, often called for her to 
give them encouraging and consoling words. 
Standing upon a stool at the door of her own 
cell, she grasped the iron grating which sep- 
arated her from her companions in confine- 
ment. The melodious accents of her voice 
floated among those dismal dungeons, pene- 
trating cell after cell, and arousing energy in 
hearts which had been abandoned to despair. 
The calmness with which she viewed the 
certain approach of death, gave to her voice 
that depth of tone and slightly tremulous 
utterance which sent her words with thrilling 
power to every heart. A survivor of those 
dreadful scenes, who was then an inmate of 
the prison, has glowingly described the al- 
most miraculous effects of her eloquence at 
such times. Occasionally, in the solitude of 
her cell, the recollection of her husband and 
her child would overcome her with tears. 
The passion was only momentary. The 
heroine rose above the woman. With the 
highest degree of heroism she combined the 
most resistless charms of feminine loveliness. 
With an energy of will, an inflexibility of 
purpose, and a firmness of stoical endurance 
that few mortals have ever surpassed, Mad- 
ame Roland combined that purity and gentle- 
ness and tenderness and affection, — that in- 
stinctive sense of the proprieties of her sex,^ — 
which gathered about her a love as pure and 
enthusiastic as woman ever excited. 

Upon the trial, she met her judges calmly 
and invincibly. She was accused of the 
crimes of being the wife of M. Roland and 
the friend of his friends. She proudly 
owned the truth of both those charges. 
Whenever she attempted to utter a word in 
her defense, she was browbeaten by the 
judges, and* silenced by the clamors of the 
mob. Her serenity was untroubled, save by 
the exaltation of enthusiasm, and she com- 
posedly watched the progress of, the trial 
whose rapid and resistless course was bearing 
her to the scaffold. Yet ■ it was diflScult to 
bring any accusation against her by which 
she could be condemned under the pretense 
and form of law. France, even in her dark- 



est hour, was rather ashamed to behead a 
woman, simply for being the wife of her hus- 
band and the friend of his friends. At last 
it was demanded of her that she should re- 
veal her husband's asylum. Her refusal was 
enough, and she was immediately condemned. 
She calmly listened to her sentence ; then 
rising, she bowed with dignity to her unjust 
judges, and said with a smile, "I thank you, 
gentlemen, for thinking me worthy to share 
the fate of the great men whom you have as- 
sassinated. I shall endeavor to imitate their 
firmness on the scaffold." 

The morning of the 10th of November, a 
long procession of carts loaded with victims 
left the Conciergie for the guillotine. In the 
last of the mournful vehicles was Madame 
Roland. She was clad in a white robe, and 
her black glossy hair, which for some reason 
the executioners had neglected to cut, fell in 
rich profusion to her waist. She had contin- 
ued writing her memoirs until the hour in 
which she left the cell for the scaffold. When 
the cart had almost reached the foot of the guil- 
lotine, her spirit was so deeply moved by the 
tragic scene, such epiotions came rushing in 
upon her soul from departing time and open- 
ing eternity, that she could not repress the 
desire to write, once more. She unavailinglj'' 
begged an officer to furnish her with pen and 
paper for one moment. Her courage did not 
falter on the scaffold. Bowing before the 
statue to the goddess of Liberty, she said, 
"0 Liberty! Liberty! how many crimes are 
committed in thy name." Her neck was put 
beneath the fatal axe of the guillotine ; the 
steel descended ; and her severed head rolled 
into the gory basket. 

ROLLIN, CtiAKLES, an eminent historian, 
born at Paris in 1661, died in 1741. 

ROMANOFF, House of. Unlicensed pow- 
er does not foster the growth of virtue ; and 
there are no sections of history more lamen- 
taljle than those which recount the deeds of 
families wielding fOr centuries regal authority, 
whether it be the Ptolemies of ancient time, 
or the Stuarts or Bourbons of modern days. 
The biography of the imperial house of Rus- 
sia does not yield an exception. 

The Rurick dynasty, which for seven cen- 
turies, had held power in Russia, ended with 
the childless Feodor in 1598. His legitimate 
heir, Dmitri, was assassinated, and the land 



ROM 



732 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



became the prey of anarchy, which, with the 
ambition of rapacious neighbors, menaced the 
burial of its independence. The throne was 
offered to the Pohsh monarch, and all but 
given, when a successful effort to save the 
nationalit}^ threw off the yoke and drove the 
Poles from Moscow. A convocation of dep- 
uties from the nobles, priests, and burgesses, 
of each province, was held in 1618, to choose 
a czar, and Michael Romanoff was selected. 
The Romanoffs were one of the leading fam- 
ilies of Muscovy, having their origin in an 
adventurer from western Europe who settled 
in the land in the fourteenth century. Mich- 
ael was then a youth of seventeen. His kin 
had suffered sorely in the previous years of 
lawlessness; he himself had spent many 
years in exile and in prison ; his illustrious 
father, who had been the ambassador to Po- 
land, was languishing in prison at Warsaw. 
Alive to the dangers and cares which hedged 
about the regal dignity in that troublous land 
and time, the young czar elect declined the 
honor. His scruples were overcome ; he was 
crowned at Moscow, and he reigned for two 
and thirty years. The wars he waged with 
the Poles and with the Swedes cost him broad 
provinces, but his reign was very popular, 
and well calculated to establish his family 
upon the throne. We are told that he forbade 
the use of tobacco as injurious to health and 
strength, and that he issued a sort of Maine- 
law ukase against ardent beverages. He ob- 
tained his father's release from the Polish 
dungeon, and wisely admitted him to a share 
in the government, where his prudence and 
moderation were of great profit. 

Michael's son and successor, Alexis, was 
of another stamp. He chose for his prime 
counselor and minister, Boris Morosoff, an 
able nobleman, but ferocious, unprincipled, 
rapacious, and ambitious. Open traffic was 
made of justice ; offices and employments were 
publicly sold. These exactions and oppres- 
sions excited the just resentment of the in- 
habitants of Moscow, and finding their peti- 
tions disregarded, no grievances redressed, 
and starvation threatening them from the 
monopolies in trade which the royal favorite 
possessed, they rose in tumult, and cried for 
the head of Morosoff. With difficulty Alexis 
saved the life of his minister bj-- banishing 
him. The czar did little better when left to 



himself. His evil administration caused more 
insurrections of a famishing people, which 
were put down with awful carnage by his 
strelitz, or mercenary body-guard. A ray 
of light strays upon his despotism through 
efforts which he began to make for the ad- 
vancement of the wealth and industry of his 
realm. He had the gold mines opened and 
worked, superintended the construction of tlie 
two first ships built in Russia, and advanced 
the intercourse with the more civilized coun- 
tries in the west. He died at the age of 
forty-seven, having reigned thirty-one j^ears. 
By his first wife, Alexis left two sons, Feodor 
and Ivan, and six daughters, among them 
Sophia ; and by the second, Peter and the 
princess Natalia. 

At once there arose a dispute for the suc- 
cession. Feodor was sickly, and not likely 
to live. Ivan was almost blind, very deaf, 
and wholly imbecile. The Narishkins, the 
powerful kinsmen of the second wife, claimed 
the throne for Peter, then only three years 
of age. The vigor of Sophia, aided by her 
beauty and eloquence, turned the scale in 
favor of Feodor. He lived only six years, 
insignificant and invalid. Then the fierce 
contest for the succession was renewed. 
Peter and his mother narrowly escaped mur- 
der from the emissaries of Sophia. At last 
the idiot Ivan and his half-brother were asso- 
ciated in the nominal dignity of czar, with 
Sophia for regent. She placed Peter in a 
country village and surrounded him with 
profligate and drunken boors. From her idiot 
brother she had no intrusion to fear. Aided 
by her able and wary counselor, Prince Galit- 
zin, she appliedherself to confirm her author- 
ity^, and avoid the perils common to usurpers. 
Yet she was beset by troubles, dangers, and 
unruly subjects. With all she had done to 
quench the manhood of Peter, he was still 
the thorn in her flesh. In his rustication he 
had learned readily enough the vices set 
around him; but drunkenness could not 
drown his energy and sti-ength of character; 
and as he grew to manly years, his ambition 
was not concealed. Sophia must be rid of 
him. The attempt resulted in her downfall. 
He was victorious, and she with a shaven 
head was immured in a nunnery. From this 
time, 1689, Peter is to be considered as sole 
sovereign of Russia ; since from the period of 



ROM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



l-cto 



this revolution to the year IfiOG, in which 
Ivan died, the idiot led a private and retired 
life. 

Peter the Great vras born May 80th, 1672. 
His vast projects of improvement raised Rus- 
sia to the rank of an empire. At the time of 
his accession he could neither read nor write, 
thanks to Sophia. Lefort, a Swiss, one of 
his companions, taught him not only Russian, 
but several other European languages. His 
army was undisciplined : he sent abroad for 
well-tried soldiers, — thousands of Frenchmen, 
Scots, Germans, and Swiss, — and leavened, the 
different corps. Very soon all he needed was 
a general, a want which would not have ex- 
isted, had merit been the ground of promo- 
tion. To correct this abuse, he entered the 
ranks and performed the duties of a common 
soldier, till, by rising gradually and regularl)^ 
through all the grades to the command of a 
body of troops, he exhibited the duty of obe- 
dience and the necessity of discipline, in his 
own example. Russia had no navy. Peter 
was born with such a dread of water that 
whenever he saw a river he shuddered. Of 
this he cured himself by a rigorous morning 
regimen of icy shower-baths. He became a 
practical mariner, and then a ship-carpenter. 
He visited Holland, under a disguised name, 
in 1G98. Here he worked as a common la- 
borer among the shipwrights in the dock- 
yard, and then he went to England. There 
in the royal dock -yard at Deptford, spurning 
all ceremony and attention, he hewed and 
hammered like any other frugal, industrious 
carpenter. When he was thoroughly a mas- 
ter-workman, he went home, and by and by 
Russia had a navy. Insurrections of the sol- 
diery were a frequent thing. Peter put them 
down by his resistless daring and force, mak- 
ing fearful ex9,mples, till sedition disturbed 
him no more. His rule was a despotism, but 
it had for its grand object the aggrandizement 
of the nation, and not simply selfish ambition. 
Whatever stood in the way of his gigantic 
schemes, he crushed without remorse. The 
council of the boyards and nobles was a re- 
straint upon his will : he brushed it away. 
Priestcraft he hated as an antagonistic des- 
potism :* he crumbled the power of the church, 
and declared himself its patriarch and head. 
When he founded St Petersburg, the clergy 
swelled the popular dislike to its unhealthy 



marshes, by proclaiming that an image of 
the Virgin, which had been removed to the 
church on the Neva, shed visible tears there- 
at. Peter strode into the church, seized the 
sniveling doll, gouged its eyes, and chuckled 
to find a small reservoir of oil, so contrived 
that a little stream could trickle down the 
cheeks. 

He decreed that the dress of his people 
should assimilate to that of western Europe. 
He disliked beards, and by taxing them pro- 
moted shaven chins. One of the wisest of 
his social enactments was that which sent 
young Russians on foreign tours ; it helped 
to raise the Russian noble from a drunken, 
sensual, brutal boor toward a polished gen- 
tleman. Peter was drunken and sensual, in 
a degree that would have .swamped an ordi- 
nary man ; but he was not an ordinary man, 
and he knew the worth of virtues and attain- 
ments that he did not practice. His trusted 
friends were foreigners, or Russians who had 
traveled abi'oad. Lefort, the Swiss, was his 
chief adviser ; MenschikotF, who began life as 
a pastry-cook, and ended by founding a 
princely house still foremost in the empire, 
was another ; and wherever Peter found use- 
ful talent, whether in a Muscovite boyard or 
in a Dutch skipper, he encouraged and em- 
ployed it. 

His domestic life was as strange as his 
public career. When very young, he married 
Eudocia, the daughter of Col. Lapuchin, and 
when quite as young he began to brutally 
maltreat her, and neglect her for low amours, 
for he was not at all nice in his mistresses. 
Alexis, the son which she bore him in 1670, 
Peter ever hated. A charge of treason was 
trumped up ; Alexis was condemned to death, 
and the sentence was fulfilled by a horrible 
poison. The last of Peter's mistresses became 
his second wife. Her life shows a curious 
scale. First a Swedish peasant girl, then the 
wife of a dragoon, then captured by the Rus- 
sians, successively the mistress of Gen. Bauer 
and Prince MenschikotF, she was sold by the 
latter to his master, and became czarina. 
Martha, her original name, was changed for 
Catharine. Her impei'turbable good-nature 
proved a resistless charm for impetuous 
Peter, — one that could calm his wildest fits 
of passion. She accompanied him to the 
camp, wielding a strong influence. It is said, 



ROM 



734 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



that the truce which saved hia army when 
surrounded by the Turks on the banks of tlie 
Pruth, was entered into by her without even 
his knowledge. She was as influential in the 
court, and the sad fate of Alexis hints her 
instigation. 

The great czar went on ; rearing an impe- 
rial city of splendid proportions and design, 
on the watery desert of the Neva; waging 
battle with Turk and Swede and Pole ; build- 
ing up fleets of war and navies of commerce ; 
founding that army which has since been 
brought almost to the perfection of a machine ; 
careering, like the car of the Hindoo idol, over 
life and happiness and liberty, toward the 
mark of his lofty aims and indomitable energy. 
In 1716 he journeyed with Catharine to Den- 
mark, and thence to Holland, the scene of the 
hardy toil of plain Peter Timmermann. Much 
had been done since then : that toil was not 
for naught. At last there came to Peter the 
Great that fate which comes to all. He died 
of strangury, aggravated by exposure to wet 
and cold on a boating excursion, Jan. 28th, 
1725. A colossal statue was erected to his 
memory at St. Petersburg, by the second 
Catharine. The huge block of granite which 
forms its pedestal, and which weighs upward 
of fifteen tons, was conveyed from a marsh at 
a distance of four English miles from St. 
Petersburg, and two from the sea. On ap- 
proaching near to the rock, the simple inscrip- 
tion fixed on it in bronze letters, ^'- Petro 
Primo^ Catherina Seeunda, mdcclxxxii.," 
meets the eye. The same inscription in the 
Russian language appears on the opposite 
side. The area is enclosed within a hand- 
some i-ailing placed between granite piUars. 
The idea of Falconet, the French architect 
commissioned to erect an equestrian statue 
of this extraordinary man, at whose command 
a few scattered huts of fishermen were con- 
verted into palaces, was to represent him as 
conquering, by enterprise and personal cour- 
age, difficulties almost insurmountable. This, 
the artist imagined, might be properly repre- 
sented by placmg Peter on a fiery steed, 
which he is supposed to have taught by skill, 
management, and perseverance, to rush up a 
steep and precipitous rock, to the very brink 
of a precipice, over which the animal and the 
imperial rider pause without fear, and in an 
attitude of triumph. The horse rears with his 



fore feet in the air, and seems impatient of 
restraint, while the sovereign, turned toward 
the island, surveys with calm and serene 
countenance his capital rising out of the 
waters, over which he extends the hand of 
protection. 

This monument of bronze is said to hav 
been cast at a single jet. The height of the 
figure of the emperor is eleven feet ; that of the 
horse seventeen feet ; the general weight of 
the metal in the group is equal to 36,03f) 
English pounds. It is said that when the 
artist had formed his conception of the design, 
he communicated it to the empress, together 
with the impossibility of representing to 
nature so striking a position of man and 
animal, without having before his eyes a 
horse and rider in the attitude he had devised. 
General Melessino, an officer having the repu- 
tation of being the most expert as well as the 
boldest rider of the day, to whom the difficul- 
ties of the artist were made known, offered to 
ride daily one of Count Alexis Orloff^s best 
Arabians, to the summit of a steep artificial 
mound formed for the purpose ; accustoming 
the horse to gallop up to it, and to halt sud- 
denly, with his fore legs raised, pawing the 
air over the brink of a precipice. This dan- 
gerous experiment was carried into effect by 
the general for some days, in the presence 
of several spectators and of Falconet, who 
sketched the various movements and parts 
of the group from day to day. In an eques- 
trian statue the horse is the great point ; the 
rider is of little account. The merit of this 
group consists in the boldness with which it 
rests on the hind legs of the steed, assisted by 
an allegorical serpent of envy that the horse 
very judiciously spurns rather than topple 
over. 

Peter had appointed his widow his suc- 
cessor; she had Menschikoff' and the army 
on her side, moreover, and she mounted the 
throne. Freed from the restraint of a hus- 
band, and such an imperious one withal, 
Catharine left business to Menschikoff", and 
immersed herself in the profligacy which she 
considered pleasure. Cancer, dropsy, and 
other maladies cut her off" at the age of thirty- 
nine. Peter, the son of the Alexis of mhuman 
doom, came to the throne. He was 7i lad of 
promise, but only a lad. The government 
continued in the control of Menschikoff", ^^ 1." 



ROM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



endeavored to carry on the vast plans of Peter 
the Great, and so became more and more 
brutal and despotic. In the height of power 
he was banished to Siberia, and Ivan Dalgo- 
ruky, whose sister Catharine the boy czar 
loved and wedded, took his place. But Ivan's 
span was short, for Peter died in 1630, at the 
age of fifteen. He was the last of the male 
line of Romanoff. The nearest heir was 
Peter, the infant son of Anne, Duchess of 
Holstein-Gottorp, a daughter of Peter the 
Great. His aunt Elizabeth, another daughter 
of Peter, as well as the three daughters of the 
imbecile Ivan, put forth their claims. A 
caucus of generals and a few nobles decided 
in favor of Anne, Duchess of Courland, the 
second daughter of Ivan. After she had 
strengthened herself by conciliating the sol- 
diery who had made her empress, she began 
to repudiate the pledges that had been im- 
posed upon her. One promise was that she 
would not bring her chamberlain Biren into 
Russia: he was soon sent for, and intrusted 
with the whole conduct of affairs, foreign and 
domestic. Exile and the knout were the 
devices of his rule ; the latter he considered 
the best answer to any petition or complaint 
from the people, while the other was his 
remedy for those who were tainted with 
opposition to his will. It is said that his 
banishments to Siberia averaged more than 
six exiles a day. For Anne, his affection and 
a few pleasures were sutBcient. She was not 
marked by the coarse vices of her. race : she 
was not a drunkard, and it is not known that 
she set a premium on profligacy. Fond of 
cheerful music and ga)^ dancing, she preferred 
a tranquil life to the boisterous revels of her 
successors. Now and then she did a deed 
that evinced the blood she bore. Prince 
Galitzin, one of the highest nobles in Russia, 
forsook the Greek for the Romish faith: 
Anne made him the court-fool, and had him 
beaten by her pages when his jests failed to 
amuse. Just at the close of her reign, she 
took offense at one of her ministers, Volynski : 
she had his tongue torn from the roots, his 
right hand cut off, and his mutilated body 
beheaded. She died childless in 1740. The 
ambition and arrogance of Biren had worked 
his ruin, and he took his turn in Siberia. 
Ivan, grand-nephew of the deceased empress, 
had been declared the heir. He was only 



three months old, and his mother, Anne of 
Mecklenburg, Duchess of Brunswick, was 
made regent. She was but a girl of sixteen, 
and her waiting-maid controlled all. Under 
such giddiness, revolution came of course, 
and soon. 

The Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Peter 
the Great, was made empress. Ivan, the inno- 
cent and unconscious babe, was dethroned, 
and immured in a dungeon ; and the duchess 
and her husband were imprisoned in a fortress, 
where they died. Ivan's fate was hapless 
enough. He spent his days in prison ; every 
trick to debase his intellect was tried ; brandy 
was given him in quantities ; his temper was 
irritated to suUenness and ferocity, and when 
one day a word showed a dim consciousness 
of his birth and claims, in the time of Catha- 
rine the Great, the next morning his body 
lay in a puddle of gore, thrust with five and 
twenty wounds. 

Elizabeth inherited a share of her father's 
energy, and a fuller portion of his cruelty. 
She bent her thoughts to the government 
of the empire, and her twenty years' reign 
showed no lack of vigor. She abolished 
capital punishment, except for political 
offenses, but the knout and torture were 
substituted, so that such clemency was of 
slight worth. Like her English namesake 
she never married, yet she can not be named 
as a maiden queen, and her meditations were 
far less 'fancy free.' In her last years she 
resigned the cares of state to her favorite and 
able statesman, Panin, and abandoned herself 
to vile debauches, and died at last in 1762, of 
delirium tremens, with a half-emptied brandy 
bottle in her hand and obscene ravings on her 
tongue. 

She left her throne to her nephew Peter, 
of Holstein-Gottorp, once before a claimant. 
Brought up under her care, it is not strange 
that he was ignorant and dissolute. He was 
grandson to Peter the Great and Catharine I., 
whose eldest daughter, the Princess Anne, 
had married his father, Charles Frederick, 
Duke of Holstein. His reign commenced 
with a time of political jubilee ; the credit of 
which is due to his ministers, for he was 
steeped in habitual excesses. He for a long 
time slighted his consort, Catharine, and 
openly lived with the Countess of AVoront- 
zofF, niece to the chancellor of that name. 



ROM 



'36 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Catharine indulged in the greatest licentious- 
ness ; and, after the dismissal of Poniatowski, 
the Polish ambassador, with whom she had 
been too intimate, she carried on a criminal 
intercourse with Gregory OrlofF, who became 
an active and zealous member of a conspiracy 
against the czar. To the conspiracy of Bes- 
tuchefF, supported by his nephew, the Prince 
of Wolskonsky, and by Count Panin, was 
added another, of which the Princess Dash- 
koff, a girl only eighteen years of age, was 
the most active and spirited member. Of all 
these factions, which acted without the cog- 
nizance of each other, Catharine was the 
animating spirit. 

At length a report was propagated that the 
emperor entertained the design of declaring 
Prince Ivan his successor, of disowning the 
young gi-and-duke, Paul, his son, and of 
immuring Catharine for life in a prison, and 
substituting in her place his mistress, the 
Countess of WorontzofF. 

At seven in the morning of the 9 th of 
Julj^, 17G2, Catharine entered the city of 
Petersburg in the absence of the czar ; and 
having induced the soldiers to believe that 
her death, together with that of her son, had 
been decreed by the emperor that night, the 
troops took the oath of allegiance to her. 
She then repaired to the church of Casan, 
where the Archbishop of Novogorod placed 
on her head the imperial crown, and in a loud 
voice proclaimed her sovereign of all the 
Russias, under the name of Catharine II. 
The revolution was bloodless. Her husband 
was solacing himself with his mistress at one 
of his country-houses of pleasure, when he 
was informed of the event which had taken 
place. Consternation immediately pervaded 
his whole company. The emperor, perplexed 
and confounded, ordered, countermanded, 
asked advice, adopted, and again rejected it, 
and at length set out with his mistress and 
aid-de-camp to meet Catharine, vainly hoping 
to move by submission the heart of a woman 
who was utterly devoid of pity or compas- 
sion. After being induced to write and sign 
a renunciation of the throne of Russia, he 
was cast into prison, where seven days after, 
a minion of the empress gave him poison, 
and made the dose sure by strangling him, 
after a struggle in which the poor wretch 



fought with the desperation and agony of 
despair. 

. The woman thus made mistress of Russia, 
was born at Stettin in Prussia, of the house of 
Anhalt Zerbst, May 2d, 1720. Her name was 
originally Sophia, but upon her marriage, she 
obeyed the law and custom of Russia by 
leaving the Lutheran faith, and was baptized 
into the Greek church by the name of Catha» 
rine Alexiena. History calls her Catharine 
the Great, an epithet that seems to belong to 
all robbers, murderers, and villains that have 
the opportunity of moulding their crimes in 
colossal dimensions. "With all that accuses 
Napoleon, it is much to his credit that the 
Avord does not cling to his name, and it is 
surely out of place, in its historic accepta- 
tion, upon that of wise Alfred of England. 
Catharine was a woman of unbounded ambi- 
tion. In her reign of a third of a century, 
it was aided by such ministers as Panin and 
Potcmkin, and to wage her wars she had 
warriors like RomantzofF and the merciless 
and indomitable Suwarrow. Many magnifi- 
cent schemes for the advancement of Russia 
were' promulgated in her ukases, sounding 
her glory far and wide : a few of these were 
put into operation ; but most of them, like 
many a fine metropolis in our "West, existed 
only on paper. Indeed, she published a 
list of two hundred and forty -five cities 
which she had founded ; we may look in vain 
for most of them. Once Joseph II. of Aus- 
tria accompanied her to lay the foundation of 
a new city on the Dnieper, to be called, after 
her name, Ekaterinoslaf In her imagination 
it already rivaled St. Petersburg. With 
imposing ceremony the empress laid the first 
stone, and her imperial companion another. 
On his return Joseph drily remarked, "The 
empress and I have this day achieved a great 
work : she has laid the first stone of a great 
eity, and I have laid the last." Such was 
the fate of many of the towns she laid : they 
were never hatched. She made vast begin- 
nings and mean endings. Her plans were 
sure to be pei-vcrted before they reached the 
extremities of her dominions. Diderot com- 
pared her empire to a fi"uit rotten before it 
was ripe. Joseph of Austria called it a 
" colossus of brass on a pedestal of clay." 
One great feature of her fame is as a lawgiver. 



ROM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



(37 



J.0 her credit be it said that she first lessened 
and finally abolished the practice of torture. 
But her famous code of laws, which has been 
so much praised, never went beyond the set 
of instructions for its formation which she 
drew up, and all that was good in these she 
stole from Montesquieu and other sources. 

The luxury and waste of her life and the 
consequent profusion of expense, sustained 
by doubKng and trebling the taxes, have few 
parallels. The nation's resources increased 
under her administration, but it mattered 
not how much : she was equal to their 
exhaustion. Upon her favorites she lavished 
diamonds by handfuls, and coin like peb- 
bles, a harvest of wealth that sprung from 
the starvation and beggary of thousands. 
Plague and famine raged in the provinces ; 
rife rebellions were quelled only at terrible 
cost of life ; and in one case an entire Tartar 
nation took flight from the cruelty and 
rapacity of her myrmidons, through an awful 
path of desert and wnlderness, to the distant 
asylum of China. Such a ruler was natur- 
ally an accomplice in that stupendous Crime, 
the partition of Poland ; she had smoothed 
the way by forcing upon the Poles as a king, 
one of her cast-otf paramours, Stanislaus 
Poniatowski. We must not forget that she 
did much to encourage Russian literature, 
and that her decree allowing any one to set 
up a printing-office without a license from 
government, had an important effect in ad- 
vancing the civilization of the empire. 

Her private character befitted a daughter 
rather than merely the wife of a Romanoff. 
Her profligacy was open, defiant, and it 
increased with her years. We can not sully 
our pages with even a hint of its details : the 
record is already black enough. Yet this 
woman, whose political crimes were so colos- 
sal, and whose private vices so detestable, 
in her personal deportment and in the circle 
of her court, was kind, easy, and good-hu- 
mored. Her serenity of temper and compo- 
sure of manner were remarkable. She was 
a liberal mistress to her friends, and in the 
midst of her despotism she sometimes dis- 
played almost unaccountable indulgence and 
magnanimity. She never hesitated at any 
atrocity, cruelty, or injustice which could 
promote her designs or secure her power ; 
yet she could forgive a personal affront, and 



seldom punished, even when most provoked. 
While she was meditating the destruction of 
Sweden, and preparing all the resources of 
her realm for one more stupendous war, 
apoplexy smote her from life, Nov. lOth, 
1796. 

Her son Paul was crowned emperor. She 
had hated him, given him the worst of breed- 
ing and education, surrounded him with spies 
and depraved fellows, thwarted him in every 
wish or enjoyment, and bj^ thirty-four years 
of contempt and vexation made him a nar- 
row-minded, irritable, wretched maniac. He 
began his reign, however, with a show of 
good sense and humanity, undoing some of 
the worst measures of his mother. This was 
soon over, and his frantic caprices ran riot, 
till a terrible end came. He was murdered 
in his bed-chamber by a small band of con- 
spirators. His awful dying cry was, "And 
you too, my Constantine ! " 

Bright auspices encircled the ascent of 
Alexander. His nature was amiable and 
generous. He was crowned the 2Tth of Sep- 
tember, 1801, at the age of twenty -four. , His 
mother, Maria, was the daughter of Duke 
Eugene of Wurtemburg, and throughout his 
life she exerted a great influence over Alex- 
ander, by whom she was tenderly beloved. 
His tutor. Colonel Laharpe, a Swiss republi- 
can, had taught him enlightened principles and 
liberal views. In 1793 he had married Eliza- 
beth, the excellent daughter of the hereditary 
prince of Baden. He took part in the con- 
spiracy against his father Paul, although it 
is impossible to believe that he entertained 
any design against his life, but saw safety to 
himself and others only in the removal of the 
emperor from a throne which he disgraced 
by the reckless spirit of persecution. Alex-, 
ander sought to promote the welfare of Rus- 
sia: he removed the shackles from her 
commerce and internal industry; he regu- 
lated the interior administration of his king- 
dom; he established schools and univer- 
sities ; he bettered the condition of the peas- 
antry ; he raised the military character of his 
subjects ; he modified laws with a liberal 
spirit; he provided for the construction of 
roads and canals; he encouraged merit 
wherever he found it, and finally sought to 
inspire all classes with a spirit of union, 
patriotism, enterprise, and courage. 



47 



ROM 



738 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



He was an admirer of the brilliant quali- 
ties of Napoleon, and this sincere admiration 
of the French emperor led to their celebrated 
meeting at Erfurt, in September, 1808. Al- 
exander then thought that, in connection 
with Napoleon, he might iix the destinies of 
Europe. But Napoleon could brook no equal, 
and Alexander no superior, and the alliance 
was soon ruptured. In 1814 the chivalrous 
conduct of Alexander to the Parisians, when 
the allies entered their capital, — the defer- 
ence he paid to their wishes and opinions, 
and his elevated and noble sentiments,— 
gained him their enthusiastic admiration. 
But in attending to the affairs of all Europe 
he had neglected those of Russia: his 
schemes of reform had fallen through ; war 
and invasion had increased the taxes; and 
the people began to groan under the old bur- 
den of corruption. Alexander loved to be 
the arbiter of the continent, and for that he 
still neglected his empire. He had tired of 
his liberal theories, for his position naturally 
inclined him to despotism. In all the affairs 
of Europe, to the time of his death, he par- 
took, exerting an immense influence in the 
different European courts. He was the prin- 
cipal contriver of the "hcly alliance," but 
probably from principle as much as from 
interest. He was the main stay of this unhal- 
lowed confederacy. His death took place at 
Taganrock, in the south of Russia, of a 
bilious fever, Dec. 1st, 1825. In his last 
illness, the emperor refused medicine, calling 
continually for "iced water," the only thing 
which he would drink. His illness lasted 
eleven days. Three days after his death, the 
body was exposed to permit the people to kiss 
the hands of their dead monarch. It was 
then placed in a coffin, and borne in proces- 
sion to the church, where it remained forty 
days,. and was thence carried to St. Peters- 
burg. The empress, who was tenderly at- 
tached to her husband, although for a while 
they had separated, soothed his last moments, 
and received his last sigh. 

Alexander left no legitimate offspring. 
Constantine was the eldest brother, but the 
dreadful stigma of parricide that stained his 
name, and the resemblance he bore in char- 
acter to the wild and vicious Paul, made his 
accession much to be dreaded. Russia heard 
with joy that, for the sake of union with 



young Polish lady, he had, before the death 
of Alexander, signed a renunciation in favor 
of Nicholas, a younger brother. A revolt, 
aiming at the establishment of a constitutional 
monarchy, ominously began tlfe new reign. 
It was soon quelled, and the conspirators 
mounted the scaffold, or turned their dejected 
fiices toward Siberia. Nicholas had devoted 
himself to military studies. He was not a 
great general or a great statesman, but he 
had energy and determination. The early 
years of his reign promised well, but ambi- 
tion and the desire of conquest ruined all. 
Catharine the Great had meditated the con- 
quest of Turkey, and the establishment of 
another empire. Thus she had named her 
second grandson Constantine. Nicholas was 
soon involved in war with Turkey. Poland, 
groaning under the rule of Constantine, rose 
in that revolution whose sad fate is well 
known. Nicholas ruled more and more as 
an autocrat. His great power he used in a 
degree wisely, in developing the esoteric 
resources of his land, building gigantic lines 
of railway, fostering industry, and so forth. 
At last his ambition involved him in the great 
war with Turkey and the western powers. 
In the midst of this great contest, the czar 
died, at the age of fifty -nine. His domestic 
life had been free from the vices of his ances- 
tors. In 1817 he had married Louise Char- 
lotte, daughter of Frederick William III. of 
Prussia, by whom he had four sons and three 
daughters. The eldest son, Alexander, born 
in 1818, succeeded to the crown, and thus 
far has bade fair to do much toward redeem- 
ing the name of the imperial race of Romanoff. 

ROME, a city of Italy, now the capital of 
the States of the Church, and once of the 
Roman empire, stands on the banks of the 
river Tiber, about fifteen miles from the sea. 
The name of its founder, and the manner of 
its foundation, are not precisely known. 
Romulus, however, is said to have laid the 
foundations on the 20th of April, according 
to Varro, in the year 3961 of the Julian period, 
3251 years after the creation of the world, 
758 before the birth of Christ, 431 years after 
the Trojan war, and in the fourth year of the 
sixth Olympiad. 

In its original state, Rome was but a small 
walled town on the summit of the Palatine 
Hill ; and the founder, to give his followers 



ROM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



739 





THE COLISEUM. 



the appearance of a nation or a barbarian 
horde, was obliged to erect a standard as a 
common asykim for every criminal, debtor, 
or murderer, who fled from their native coun- 
try to avoid the punishment which attended 
them. From such an assemblage a numerous 
body was soon collected, stocked with wives 
by the rape of the Sabines, and before the 
death of the founder, the Romans had covered 
with their habitations, the Palatine, Capito- 
line, Aventine, Esquiline hills, with Mount 
Caelius, and Quirinalis. 

Under the successors of Romulus, the 
power of Rome was increased, and the boun- 
daries of her dominions extended. While 
one ruler employed himself in regulating 
the forms of worship, and inculcating in the 
niinds of his subjects a reverence for the 
Deity, another engaged in enforcing disci- 
pline among the army, and raising the conse- 
(juence of the soldiers in the government of 



the state ; and a third made the object of his 
administration consist in adorning his capital, 
in beautifying its edifices, and in fortifying it 
with towers and walls. 

During two hundred and forty-four years 
the Romans were governed by kings, but the 
tyranny, the oppression, and the violence of 
the last of these monarchs, and of his family, 
became so atrocious, that a revolution was 
effected in the state, and a republic was estab- 
lished. The monarchical government existed 
under seven princes, who began to reign in 
the following order: Romulus, B.C. 75-3; and 
after one year's interregnum, Numa, 715 ; 
Tullus Hostilius, 672 ; Ancus Martins, 640 ; 
Tarquin Priscus, 616; Servius Tullius, 578; 
and Tarquin the Proud, 534, expelled twenty- 
five years after, B.C. 510. The history of this 
natal peried rests chiefly upon popular tradi- 
tions. 

After the expulsion of the Tarquins from 



ROM 



740 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



the throne, the Romans became so jealous of 
their independence, that Cohatinus, the first 
of their consuls, he who had been most zeal- 
ous and animated in the assertion of their 
freedom, was banished from the city because 
he bore the name and was of the family of 
the tyrants ; and Valerius, who was chosen in 
his stead, to stop their suspicions, was obliged 
to pull down his house, whose stateliness and 
magnificence above the rest, seemed incom- 
patible with the duties and the rank of a 
private citizen. 

"When Rome had flourished under the con- 
sular government for about a hundred and 
twenty years, and had beheld with pleasure 
the conquests of her citizens over the neigh- 
boring states and cities, which, according to 
a Roman historian, she was ashamed to recol- 
lect in the summit of her power, an irruption 
of the barbarians qf Gaul rendered her very 
existence precarious, and her name was nearly 
extinguished. The valor of the injured Camil- 
lus saved her from annihilation, yet not before 
her buildings and temples were reduced to 
ashes. 

This event, which gave the appellation of 
another founder of Rome to Camillus, has 
been looked upon as a glorious era to the 
Romans. But no sooner were they freed 
from the fears of their barbarian invaders, 
than they turned their arms against those 
states which refused to acknowledge their 
superiority, or yield their independence. 
Their wars with Pyrrhus and the Tarentines, 
displaj^ed their character in a different view ; 
if they before had fought for freedom and 
independence, they now drew their swords 
for glory ; and here we may see them con- 
quered in the field, and yet refusing to grant 
that peace for which their conqueror himself 
had sued. The advantages they gained from 
their battles with Pyrrhus were many. The 
Roman name became known in Greece, Sicily, 
and Africa, and in losing or gaining a victory, 
the Romans were enabled to examine the 
maneuvres, observe the discipline, and con- 
template the order and the encampments of 
those soldiers whose friends and ancestors 
had accompanied Ale zander the Great in the 
conquest of Asia. 

Italy became subjected to the Romans at 
the end of the war with the Tarentines, and 
that period of time has been called the second 



age, or the adolescence of the Roman empire. 
After this, they tried their strength not only 
with distant nations, but also upon a new 
element; and in the long wars which they 
waged against Carthage, they were success- 
ful, and obtained the sovereignty of the sea. 
Though Hannibal for sixteen years kept them 
in continual alarms, hovered round their gates, 
and destroyed their armies almost before their 
walls, yet they were fated to conquer, and 
soon to add the kingdom of Macedonia and 
the provinces of Asia to their empire. 

Yet while their conquests were so extensive 
abroad, we find them torn by fiialtions at home ; 
and so far was oppression of the poorer citi- 
zens at one time carried, that we see the Vol- 
scians at the gates of the city, while they are 
unwilling to take up arms and to unite in the 
defense of the common liberty. The senators 
and patricians were ambitious of power, and 
endeavored to retain in their hands that influ- 
ence which had been exercised with so much 
success and such cruelty by their monarchs. 
This was the continual occasion of tumults 
and sedition. The plebeians were jealous of 
their liberty. The oppression of the patri- 
cians irritated them, and the stripes to which 
they were too often exposed without mercj", 
were often productive of revolutions. 

The plebeians, though originally the poor- 
est and most contemptible citizens of an indi- 
gent nation, whose food in the first ages of 
the empire was only bread and salt, and 
whose drink was water, soon gained rights 
and privileges by their opposition. They 
became powerful in the state ; one concession 
from the patricians produced another; and 
when their independence was boldly asserted 
by their tribunes, they were admitted to 
share in the highest offices of the state, the 
laws which forbade the intermarriage of ple- 
beian and patrician families were repealed, 
and the meanest peasant could by valor and 
fortitude be raised to the dignity of dictator 
and consul. It was not till these privileges 
were obtained by the people from the senate, 
that Rome began to enjoy internal peace and 
tranquillity: her battles were then fought 
with more vigor, her soldiers were more ani- 
mated, and her sovereignty was more univer- 
sally established. 

But sujifeme power, lodged in the hands of 
a factious and ambitious citizen, becomes too 



ROM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



741 



often dangerous. The greatest oppression 
and tyranny took the place of subordination 
and obedience ; and from those causes pi-o- 
ceeded the unparalleled slaughter and effusion 
of blood under a Sylla and a Marius. It has 
been justly observed, that the first Romans 
conquered their enemies by valor, temper- 
ance, and fortitude ; their moderation also and 
their justice were well known among all their 
neighl:)ors, and not only private possessions, 
but even mighty kingdoms and empires, were 
left in their power, to be distributed among a 
family, or to be insured in the hands of a 
successor. They were also chosen umpires 
to decide quarrels, but in this honorable 
office they consulted their own interest ; they 
artfully supported the weaker side, that the 
more powerful might be reduced, and gradu- 
ally become their prey. 

Under Julius CiBsar and Pompey, the rage 
of civil war was carried to unprecedented ex- 
cess : it was not merely to avenge a private 
injury, but it was a contest for the sovereign- 
ty ; and though each of the adversaries wore 
the mask of pretended sincerity, and profess- 
ed himself to be the supporter of the repub- 
lic, no less than the abolition of freedom and 
the public liberty was the aim. What Ju- 
lius began, his adopted son achieved ; the 
ancient spirit of national independence was 
extinguished at Rome ; and after the battle 
of Actium, the Romans seemed unable to 
govern themselves without the assistance of 
a chief, who, under the title of imperator, an 
appellation given to every commander by his 
army after some signal victory, reigned with 
as much power and as much sovereignty as 
another Tarquin. 

Under their emperors, the Romans lived a 
luxurious and indolent life ; they had lono- for- 
gotten to appear in the field, and their wars 
were left to be waged by mercenary troops, 
who fought without spirit or animosity, and 
who were ever ready to yield to him who 
bought their allegiance and fidelity with the 
greatest sums of money. Their leaders 
themselves were not the most prudent or the 
most humane ; the power which they had 
acquired by bribery was indeed precarious, 
and among the people, where not only the 
highest offices of the state, but even the im- 
perial purple itself, was exposed to sale, there 



could not be expected much happiness or 
tranquillity in the palace of the emperor. 

The reigns of the successors of Augustus 
were distinguished by variety ; one was the 
znost abandoned and profligate of men, whom 
his own vices and extravagance hurried out 
of the world, while his successor, perhaps the 
most clement, just, and popular of princes, 
was sacrificed in the midst of his guards and 
attendants, by the dagger of some offended 
favorite or disappointed eunuch. Few indeed 
were the emperors of Rome whose days were 
not shortened by poison, or the sword of an 
assassin. If one for some time had the im- 
prudence to trust himself in the midst of a 
multitude, at last to perish by his own cre- 
dulity, the other consulted his safety, but 
with no better success, in the innumerable 
chambers of his palace, and changed every 
day, to elude discovery, the place of his re- 
tirement. 

At last the necessity of dividing the un- 
wieldy empire, and from the time of Diocle- 
tian a division was made for the purpose of 
facilitating the administration. Constantine 
made Constantinople the capital of the east- 
ern part of the empire, and the chief seat of 
government. After the death of the elder 
Theodosius (a.d. 395), the division into the 
Eastern and Western empires became perma- 
nent. The power of Rome now rapidly de- 
cayed : its empire was exposed to fatal incur- 
sions from the Huns, the Goths, and other 
barbarians, and the last emperor was de- 
throned in 476. The bishops of Rome after- 
ward assumed the title of pope, and gradu- 
ally acquired an influence in temporal matters. 
In the year 800 the sovereignty of Rome and 
adjacent territory was confirmed by Charle- 
magne, then emperor of the west, to the pope. 
The original poverty of the Romans has 
often been disguised by their poets and his- 
torians, who wished it to appear that a na- 
tion who were masters of the world, had had 
a better beginning than a race of shepherds 
and robbers. Yet to this simplicity they 
were indebted for their successes. Their 
houses were originally destitute of every 
ornament; they were made with unequal 
boards, and covered with mud; and these 
served them rather as a shelter against the 
inclemency of the seasons than for relaxation 



ROM 



742 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and ease. Till the battles with Pyrrhus, they 
despised riches, and many salutary laws 
were enacted to restrain luxury and to pun- 
ish indolence. They observed great temper- 
ance in their meals ; young men wei'e not 
permitted to drink wine till they had attained 
their thirtieth year, and it was totally forbid- 
den to women. 

Their national spirit was supported by pol- 
icy ; the triumphal procession of a conqueror 
along the streets amidst the applause of thou- 
sands, was well calculated to promote emula- 
tion ; and the number of gladiators who were 
regularly introduced, not only in public 
games and spectacles, but also at private 
meetings, served to cherish their fondness for 
war, whilst it steeled their hearts against the 
calls of compassion ; and when they could 
gaze with pleasure upon wretches whom they 
forcibly obliged to murder one another, they 
were not inactive in the destruction of those 
whom they considered as inveterate foes or 
formidable rivals in the field. In their pun- 
ishments, civil as well as military, the Ro- 
mans were strict and rigorous ; a deserter 
was severely whipped and sold as a slave, 
and the degradation from the rank of a sol- 
dier and dignity of a citizen was the most 
ignominious stigma which could be affixed 
upon a seditious mutineer. 

The transmarine victories of the Romans 
proved at last the ruin of their innocence and 
bravery. They grew fond of the luxury of 
the Asiatics ; and, conquered by the vices and 
indolence of those nations whom they had 
subdued, they became as effeminate and as 
dissolute as their captives. Marcellus was 
the first who introduced a taste for the fine 
arts among his countrymen. The spoils and 
treasures that were obtained in the plunder 
of Syracuse and Corinth, rendered the Ro- 
mans partial to elegant refinement and orna- 
mental equipage. Though Cato had despised 
philosophy, and declared that war was the 
only profession of his countrymen, the Ro- 
mans, by their intercourse with the Greeks, 
soon became fond of literature ; and though 
they had once banished the sophists of Ath- 
ens from their city, yet they beheld with 
rapture their settlement among them in the 
principal towns of Italy, after the conquest 
of Achaia. They soon after began to imitate 
their polished captives, and to cultivate poet- 



ry with success. From the valor of their 
heroes and conquerors, indeed, .the sublimest 
subjects were offered to the genius of their 
poets ; but of the little that remains to cele- 
brate the early victories of Rome, nothing 
can be compared to the nobler effusions of 
the Augustan age. 



EMPERORS. 



BEFORE CHRIST. 



193. 



Caius Julius Caesar ; perpetual dictator : as- 
sassinated, March 15th, 44 B.C. 

Octavianus Cfesar: in the year 21 b.c. Au- 
gustus hnperator. 

AFTER CHRIST. 

Tiberius (Claudius Nero). 

Caius Caligula : murdered by a tribune. 

Claudius (Tiber. Drusus) : poisoned by his 
wife Agrippina, to make way for 

Claudius Nero : deposed ; put himself to 
death to escape a yet more terrible end. 

Servius Sulpicius Galba : slain by the prse- 
toriau band. 

M. Salvius Otho: stabbed himself, after a 
reign of three months. 

AulusVitellius: deposed by Vespasian, and 
put to death. 

Titus Flavius Vespasian. 

Titus (Vespasian), his son. 

Titus Flavius Domitian, brother of Titus; 
last of the twelve Ceesars : assassinated. 

Cocceius Nerva. 

Trajan (M. Ulpius Crinitus). 

Adrian or Hadrian (Publius ^lius). 

Antoninus Titus, surname d Pius. 

Marcus Aurelius, and Lucius Verus, his son- 
in-law : the latter died in 161). 

Commodus (L. Aurelius Antoninus), son of 
Marcus Aurelius : poisoned by his favor- 
ite mistress, Martia. 

Publius Helvius Pertinax : put to death by 
the prEEtorian band. 

[Four emperors now start up : Didus Juli- 
anus, at Rome ; Pescennius Niger, in 
Syria : Lucius Septimius Severus, in Pan- 
nonia ; and Clodius Albinus, in Britain.] 

Lucius Septimius Severus ; died at York, in 
Britain, in 211; succeeded by his sons, 

M. Aurelius Caracalla, and Septimius Gets. 
Geta murdered the same year by his 
brother, who reigned alone until 217, 
when he was slain by his successor. 

M. Opilius Macrinus, prefect of the guards : 
belieaded in a mutiny. 

Heliogabalus (M. Aurelius Antoninus), a 
youth : put to death for his follies and 
enormities by his incensed subjects. 

Alexander Severus: assassinated by some 
soldiers corrupted by Maximinus. 

Caius Julius Verus Maximinus : assassinated 
in his tent before the walls of Aquileia. 

M. Antonius Gordianus, and his son: the 
latter having been killed in a battle with 
the partisans of Maximinus, the father 



ROM 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHT. 



743 



strangled himself in a fit of despair, at 
Carthage, in his eightietli year. 

23*7. Balbinus and Pupienus : put to death. 

238. Gordian, junior, grandson of the elder Gor- 
dian, in his sixteenth year : assassinated 
by the guards, at the instigation of his 
successor, 

244. Philip the Arabian : assassinated by his own 
soldiers : his son Philip was murdered, 
at the same time, in his mother's arms. 

249. Melius Decius: he perished, with his two 
sons, and their army, in an engagement 
with the Goths. 

251. Gallus Hostilius, and his son Volusianus: 
both slain by the soldiery. 

253. ^milianus : put to death after a reign of 
only four months. 

253. Valeriamis, and his son, Gallienus: the first 
was taken prisoner' by Sapor, King of 
Persia, and flayed alive. 

260. Gallienus reigned alone. 

[About this time thirty pretenders to im- 
perial power start up in different parts of 
the empire : of these, Cyriades is the first, 
but he is slain.] 

268. Claudius II. (Gallienus having been assas- 
sinated by the officers of the guard) suc- 
ceeds : dies of the plague. 

2Y0. Quintillus, his brother, elected at Rome by 
the senate and troops ; Aurelian by the 
army in' Illyricum. Quintillus, despair- 
ing of success against his rival, who was 
marching against him, opened his veins, 
and bled himself to death. 

270. Aurelian : assassinated by his soldiers in his 
march against Persia, in January, 2'75. 

2*75. [Interregnum of about nine months.] 

2*75. Tacitus, elected Oct. 25th ; died at Tarsus 
in Cilicia, April 13th, 276. 

2*76. Florian, his brother : his title not recog- 
nized by the senate. 

276. M. Aurelius Probus: assassinated by his 
troops at Sirmium. 

282. M. Aurelius Carus : killed at Ctesiphon by 

lightning ; succeeded by his sons, 

283. Carinas and Numerianus : both assassinated, 

after transient reigns. 

284. Diocletian : who associated as his colleague 

in the government, 
286. Maximianus Hercules: the two emperors 
resign in favor of 

305. Constantius Chlorus and Galerius Maximia- 

nus: the first died at York, in Britain, 
in 306, and the troops saluted as empe- 
ror, his sou, 

306. Constantine, afterward styled the Great: 

whilst at Rome the praetorian band pro- 
claimed 

806. Maxentius, son of Maximianus Hercules. 
Besides these were, 

306. Maximianus Hercules, who endeavored to 
recover his abdicated power, 

306. Flavins Valerius, murdered by the last- 
named pretender, and 

901. Flavins Valerianus Licinius, the brother-in- 
law of Constantine. 
[Of these, Maximianus Hercules was stran- 



337. 



i Constantine 11. 
Constans, 
Constantius II. 



gled in Gaul in 310; Galerius Maximi- 
anus died wretchedly in 311 ; Maxentius 
was drowned in the Tiber in 312; and 
Licinius was put to death by order of 
Constantine in 324.] 
324. Constantine the Great now reigned alone : 
died on Whitsunday, May 22d, SSl. 

' Sons of Constantine ; 
divided the empire 
between tliem: the 
first was slain in 340, 
and the second mur- 
dered in 350, when 
the third became 
sole emperor. 
361. Julian, the Apostate, so called for abjuring 
Christianity, having been educated for 
the priesthood: mortally wounded in a 
battle with the Persians. 
363. Jovian; reigned 8 months: found dead in 
his bed, supposed to have died from the 
fumes of charcoal. 

The Roman empire maybe said to have 
terminated here as a single dominion. [See 
Eastern Empire, Western Empire.] 

The modern city of Rome is celebrated for its 
own magnificence and splendor as well as the 
ruins of former grandeur. The treasures of 
antiquity and art garnered in its temples, 
palaces, churches, and monuments, make it 
the resort of the artist and the schohxr from 
all quarters of the globe. It had a popula- 
tion in 1862, of 197,078. 

ROMILLY, Sir Samuel, an eminent English 
lawj'er, was born at London, March Ist, 
1757. In 1783 he was called to the bar. 
He rose to distinction in the court of chan- 
cery, and in the last administration of Mr. 
Fox, was made solicitor-general. When the 
party to whom he was attached went out of 
office, he also retired. He exerted himself 
in endeavoring to effect a revision of the 
criminal code, with a view to the limitation 
of capital punishments to a few heinous 
offenses. The death of this eminent man 
was most melancholy. Shocked at the loss 
of his wife, who died in the Isle of Wight, 
he became delirious, and destroyed himself 
Nov. 2d, 1818. 

ROMULUS, the reputed founder of Rome, 
was born at the same birth with Remus ; but 
of what parents it is impossible to say, as 
the account is involved in fable and mystery. 
They undertook to build a city, hoping that 
it would become a warlike and powerful 
nation. Romulus marked with a furrow the 
place where he wished to erect the walls ; 



ROM 



744 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



-^=W' ^T 5 



but their slendcrness was ridiculed by Re- 
mus, who leaped over them with contempt. 
This irritated Romulus, and Remus was 
immediately put to death, cither by the hand 
of his brother or one of the workmen. 

When the walls were built, the city was 
without inhabitants ; but Romulus, by ma- 
king an asylum of a sacred grove, soon 
collected a number of fugitives, foreigners, 
and criminals, whom he received as his lawful 
subjects. Yet however numerous these 
might be, they were despised by the neigh- 
boring inhabitants, and none were willing to 
form matrimonial connections with them. 

But Romulus obtained by force what was 
denied to his petitions. The Romans cele- 
brated games in honor of the god Consus, 
and forcibly carried away all the females who 
had assembled there to be spectators of these 
unusual exhibitions. These violent measures 
offended the neighboring nations ; they made 
war against the ravishers with vaT'ious success, 
till at last they entered Rome, which had been 
betrayed to them by Tarpeia, one of the 
stolen virgins. A violent engagement was 
begun in the middle of the Roman forum : 
but the Sabines were conquered, or, accord 



ROM 



ing to Ovid, the two enemies laid down their 
arms when the women rushed between the 
two armies, and by their tears and entreaties 
raised compassion in the bosoms of their 
parents and husbands. 

The Sabines left their original possessions 
and came to live in Rome, where Tatius, 
their king, shared the sovereign power with 
Romulus. The introduction of the Sabines 
into the city of Rome was attended with 
most salutary consequences ; and the Ro- 
mans, by pursuing this plan, and admitting 
the conquered nations among their citizens, 
rendered themselves more powerful and more 
formidable. Afterward Romulus divided the 
lands which he had obtained by conquest; 
one part was reserved for religious uses, to 
maintain the priests, to erect temples, and to 
consecrate altars ; another was appropriated 
for the expenses of the state ; and the third 
part was equally distributed among his 
subjects, who were divided into three classes 
or tribes. 

The most aged and experienced, to the num- 
ber of one hundred, were also chosen, whom 
the monarch might consult in matters of the 
highest importance, and from their age they 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



^45 



were called senators^ and from their authority 
patres. The whole body of the people were 
also distinguished by the name of patricians 
and plebeians, patron and client, who by 
mutual interest were induced to preserve the 
peace of the state, and to promote the public 
good. 

Some time after, Romulus disappeared, as 
he was giving instructions to the senators ; 
and the eclipse of the sun, which happened 
at that time, was favorable to the rumor 
which asserted that the king had been taken 
by Mars to the abode of the gods, 716 b.c, 
after a reign of thirty-seven years. Such 
is the legend of Romulus, which is purely 

RONCESVALLES, a valley in the Na- 
varre, where the army of Charlemagne, on 
their return from an expedition to that coun- 
try, A.D. Y78, were attacked by the hardy 
mountaineers in the narrow passes of the 
Pyrenees, and all that were separated from 
the main body were killed ; among whom 
were the illustrious paladin Roland and other 
chiefs of note. 

ROOKE, Sir George, a gallant English 
admiral, was born in Kent in 1050. He 
entered early into the naval service, and had 
the command of several expeditions in the 
reigns of King William and Queen Anne ; 
all of which he conducted with equal skill 
and courage. In 1702 he attacked the French 
fleet and Spanish galleons in the harbor of 
Vigo, and took several galleons and men-of- 
war, besides destroying a number of others. 
In 1704 he made himself master of Gibral- 
tar ; notwithstanding which, such was the vio- 
lence of party. Sir George was soon afterward 
.superseded by the Whigs, who endeavored 
to lessen his services by representing them as 
the effects of mere chance and good fortune. 
He died Jan. 24th, 1709. When he made 
his will, some of his friends wondered at the 
slenderness of his circumstances, considering 
what employments he had been engaged in ; 
to whom the dying hero said, "I do not 
leave much, 'tis true ; but what I do leave 
was honestly gotten : it never cost a seaman 
a tear nor the nation a farthing." 

ROSA, Salvator, was born near Naples, 
July 21st, 1615. Like many other great 
painters, he took up the art against the incli- 
nation of his father, who was an architect. 



He soon rose to favor, and settled early in 
Rome, where he died March 15th, 1673. He 
abounded in wild and gloomy landscapes. 
The character of his genius and works has 
been vigorously sketched byFuseli: "He 
delights in ideas of desolation, solitude, and 
danger ; impenetrable forests, rocky or storm- 
lashed shores ; in lonely dells leading to dens 
and caverns of banditti ; alpine ridges, trees 
blasted by lightning, or sapped by time, or 
stretching their extravagant arms athwart a 
murky sky, lowering or thundering clouds, 
and suns shorn of their beams. His figures 
are wandering shepherds, forlorn travelers, 
wrecked mariners, banditti lurking for their 
prey or dividing their spoils." Salvator 
Rosa was also talented as a poet and musi- 
cian. 

ROSCOE, William, was born in 175.3, of 
humble parents, and, having received a com- 
mon education, was articled, at an early age, 
to an attorney at Liverpool. He soon mas- 
tered, by dint of hard study, the Latin, 
French, and Italian languages, while he 
neither neglected his business nor the study 
of the English classics. His most important 
and celebrated works are the "Life of Lorenzo 
de Medici," and the "Life of Leo X." He died 
in 1831 ; and his memory is affectionately 
cherished by the inhabitants of Liverpool, 
whose taste he endeavored to improve, and 
whose public works he ably and strenuously 
supported. The banking house in which he 
was a partner becoming bankrupt, his latter 
j^ears were clouded by pecuniary embarrass- 
ment, through which he was forced to sacri- 
fice his valuable library. 

ROSE, George, was the son of an Episcopal 
clergyman at Brechin, in the shire of iingus, 
and was born there in 1 744. He was brought 
up under an uncle, who kept a school near 
London, after which he went into the navy, 
and became a purser ; but, by the interest of 
the Earl of Marchmont, he was taken from 
thence, and made keeper of the records in 
the exchequer. Here his talents for business 
were soon discovered, and he was appointed 
to superintend the publication of the Domes- 
day Book. His advancement was rapid, and 
his services were duly appreciated and en- 
gaged by almost every administration. Mr. 
Pitt, in particular, placed unbounded confi- 
dence in his judgment on subjects of trade 



ROS 



746 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and finance; and, when Pitt returned to 
power, after the short peace, Mr. Rose was 
made president of the board of trade, and 
treasurer of the navy. On the death of Mr. 
Pitt, another change occurred ; but, when 
the administration formed by Lord Grenville 
retired, Mr. Rose resumed his former station, 
and continued in it till his death, which hap- 
pened at Cuffnels, his seat in Hampshire, 
Jan. 13th, 1818. 

ROSS, George, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, born in 1730, at Newcastle, 
Delaware, was the son of a clergyman. At 
the age of eighteen, having been admitted to 
practice law, he settled at Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
vania. He was for some years a member of 
Congress, ajnd discharged the duties of his 
office to the entire satisfaction of his numer- 
ous constituents. In July, 1779, an attack 
of the gout put an end to his life in his fiftieth 
year. 

ROTHSCHILD, Meyer Anselm, the found- 
er of the great Jewish banking-house which 
holds so important a station in the finances 
of Europe, was a native of Frankfort, and 
died in 1812, leaving immense wealth and 
credit to his five sons, — Nathan Meyer of 
London, Anselm of Frankfort, Solomon of 
Berlin and Vienna, Charles of Naples, and 
James of Paris. 

ROUSSEAU, Jean Jacques, a celebrated 
name in French literature, was born at Gene- 
va, June 28th, 1712. His power as an 
author lay dormant till he was thirty -seven. 
He wrote brilliantly, eloquently, lived strange- 
ly, immorally, and died at the chateau of 
Ermenonville, near Chantilly, July 8d, 1778. 

RUBENS, Peter Paul, was born at Sie- 
gen in Westphalia, on the day of St. Peter 
and St. Paul, June 29th, 1577. His parents 
had fled from Antwerp to escape the religious 
persecutions that raged in the Netherlands, 
and in 1587, the father dying, the mother 
returned with the orphans to her native city. 
Her desire that Peter Paul should follow his 
father in the legal profession was overcome 
by his passion for art. After studying with 
the best masters of Antwerp he repaired to 
Italy, returning in 1G08, after an absence of 
more than eight years, to the death-bed of his 
parent, who expired before his arrival. 
Thereafter he dwelt at Antwerp, painting 
hundreds of pictures, gaining bounteous store 



of fortune, acquiring honor even beyond his 
art, intrusted with embassies to Spain, and 
to England, where he was knighted by 
Charles L in 1630, and dying May 30th, 
1640. " Rubens," says Sir Joshua Reynolds, 
"was, perhaps, the greatest master in the 
mechanical part of the art, the best M'orkman 
with his tools, that ever exercised a pencil." 

RUMFORD. Benjamin Thompson, best 
known as Count Rumford, was born at Wo- 
burn, Mass., in 1753. He taught school at 
Rumford (now Concord), N. H., and there 
married a wealthy young widow. His adher- 
ence to the royal cause drove him to England, 
where he rose to the rank of colonel and was 
knighted. He afterward entered the Bava- 
rian service, rose to high military rank, and 
was created Count Rumford. Under his 
administration the industry and resources of 
Bavaria were beneficently developed. In 
1802 he married the widow of Lavoisier, and 
spent the remainder of his days, in scientific 
research, at Auteuil, near Paris, where he 
died Aug. 20th, 1814, bequeathing $50,000 
to Harvard College. His name is eminent in 
the annals of natural philosophj^ With Sir 
Joseph Banks he projected the Royal Insti- 
tution of Great Britain. 

RUPERT. Prince Rupert, the third son of 
Frederick of Bohemia, by Elizabeth, daugh- 
ter of James I. of England, was born in 1619, 
and received an education adapted to the 
military service. In the civil wars of Eng- 
land, while his elder brother became a pen- 
sioner to the parliament. Prince Rupert 
adhered steadfastly to his royal uncle, fight- 
ing with more impetuous gallantry than 
prudence. He was more successful as a 
naval commander than on land, particularly 
after the restoration, in the great Dutch war, 
on the conclusion of which he led a retired 
life, occupied wholly in scientific pursuits. 
He died in London in 1682, and was buried 
in Westminster Abbey. 

RUSH, Benjamin, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence and an eminent Ameri- 
can physician, was born at Byberry, Penn., 
near Philadelphia, Dec. 24th, 1745. He was 
educated at Princeton College, studied medi- 
cine, taking his degree at Edinburgh in 1768, 
and became a successful practitioner in Phil- 
adelphia. He was chosen to Congress in 
1776, and from that time until his death 



RUS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



■i7 



took an active part in public life. He stands more than half of Europe, stretches across 



in the front rank of American physicians 
and philosophers. He was professor of med- 
icine and clinical practice at the university 
of Pennsylvania. During the ravages of the 
yellow fever in 1793, Dr. Rush highly distin- 
guished himself, and his history of that epi- 
demic is a work of great value. He died 
April 19th, 1813. 

RUSSELL, William, the first Duke of Bed- 
ford, was the eldest son of Francis, the fourth 
Earl of Bedford, and was born in 1614. He 
received his education at Magdalen College, 
Oxford, and at the coronation of Charles L 
was created knight of the bath. In the 
beginning of the civil war he acted against 
the king, and commanded the reserve of horse 
in the battle of Edgehill ; but in 1645 he 
joined the royal standard and fought with 
great bravery at the battle of Newbury. 
His estate, in consequence, was put under 
sequestration, but on his submission to the 
parliament it was restored. He then led a 
private life until the return of Charles IL, 
when he assisted at the coronation, and was 
made a knight of the garter. He also 
attended the coronation of William and Mary, 
and in 1694 was created Duke of Bedford. 
He died in lYOO. 

RUSSELL, William, Lord, third son of 
the preceding, was born about 1641. He 
received a private education under puritan- 
ical teachers. His early life, however, 
appears to have been rather dissipated, till 
he married, in 1667, the excellent daughter 
of Lord Southampton, whose amiable virtues 
reclaimed him from his follies. On becom- 
ing a member of the House of Commons, he 
distinguished himself by his zeal for the 
exclusion of the Duke of York ; and at 
length became so far involved in a conspir- 
acy for effecting a revolution, that, when the 
Rye-house plot was discovered, an indict- 
ment was preferred against him, and he was 
condemned at the Old Bailey. Great exer- 
tions were made to save his life, but all with- 
out effect, and he was beheaded in Lincoln's 
Inn Fields, July 21st, 1683. After the rev- 
olution an act was passed to annul and make 
void the attainder against Lord Russell. His 
estimable widow, Lady Racliel, died Sept. 
29th, 1723, at the age of eighty-seven. 

RUSSIA. This great empire contains 



the north of Asia, and includes possessions 
in North America, thus almost girding the 
entire globe. It has an area of about 7,200,- 
000 square miles, with about 70,000,000 
inhabitants. Russia in Europe contains 
2,120,000 square miles, and ten-sevenths of 
the population of the entire empire. In this 
vast tract, which intrudes into arctic regions 
on the north, and is washed by the Euxine 
and the Caspian on the south, we find every 
variety of soil, from wastes to fertile fields. 
There are broad steppes, sterile and woodless, 
great forests of pine and fir and birch, and 
wide regions are almost unpeopled. With 
such a diversity of races as dwell within the 
limits of Russia, we find almost every degree 
in the human scale from nomadic barbarians 
up to the civilized Tartars of Casan, on the 
Ural, and the enlightenment that has been 
fostered at St. Petersburg. The peoples that 
make up the population have their distinct 
speeches, customs, and characteristics. There 
are Russians, Poles, and other branches of 
the Sclavonic family ; there are Fins, Tartars, 
Mongols, all subdivided into divers tribes; 
and in many parts there is a large sprinkling 
of descendants of Germans and other Teu- 
tons. Religions are as various, from the 
ceremonial of the Greek or the Romish hier- 
archies to the faith of Islam and the rites of 
heathendom. The established religion of 
Russia is the Greek Church, with a free tol- 
eration, hoM'ever, of other sects, even the 
Mahometans. The emperor is the head of 
the Greek church in the empire. By an 
imperial ukase, in 1802, were established six 
universities ; one each at St. Petersburg, 
Moscow, Wilna, Dorpat (in Livonia), Charcov, 
and Kasan ; but literature has made little 
progress, the native publications being very 
few, and the best books being all translations. 
The Russian language, though not devoid of 
elegance, is, to a foreigner, of very difficult 
pronunciation : the number of letters and 
dipthongs is forty-two. The government is 
an absolute monarchy, all immunities and 
privileges being held at the pleasure of the 
emperor. There are four great classes among 
the people, the nobility, clergy, merchants 
and burghers, and peasants. The condition 
of the latter has been sad enough : the prop- 
erty of the crown or of individuals, they 



RUS 



7^8 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



were transfeiTed with estates, being consid- 
ered in the light of irrational live stock. Of 
late it has been the i^olicy of the government 
to ameliorate their position. An important 
step toward enfranchising the whole class 
has been made in the emancipation of the 
serfs of the crown by Alexander II. 

St. Petersburg is the capital of the empire. 
On the marshes of the Neva, just con<iucrcd 
from Sweden, Peter the Great, determined to 
bring his empire into communication with 
civilized Europe, laid the foundation of the 
new capital, amid desolation and famine. 
Workmen were gathered from all parts of 
the empire. They fell before cold, flood, 
fatigue, and want ; a hundred thousand per- 
ished ; yet the determination of the pitiless 
czar faltered not: his hordes of peasants 
might all be sacrificed, but St. Petersburg 
must be ; and thus was born this city of lofty 
edifices, elegant palaces, grand streets, and 
granite quays, impressive in its grandeur, and 
inhabited by half a million people. [Sec 
Moscow.] 

The history of Russia can not properly be 
said to commence before the middle of the 
ninth century. We obtain glimpses of vari- 
ous Scythian and Sclavonian tribes that 
roamed over its vast territory, but little more 
is known than that it was divided into nu- 
merous small independent states, the princi- 
pal of which were Kiew and Novgorod. xVbout 
850, a Scandinavian band crossed the Baltic 
and settled. They were called Varagians ; 
their leaders were three brothers, Rurick, 
Sineus, and Truror. The Sclaves of Nov- 
gorod sought their protection against the 
neighboring tribes, and Rurik founded a 
djmasty which continued to rule uninterrup- 
tedly till 1598. The reign of St. Vladimir 
the Great (980-1015) was the era of the con- 
version of Russia. Vladimir himself, who 
had married Anna, sister of the Emperor 
Basil II., became a Christian according to the 
Greek church in 988, and his example was 
speedily followed by his boyars, or nobles, 
and svibjects. At the death of Vladimir, his 
dominions were divided and disputed among 
his numerous sons ; and though Yaroslaf, 
whose reign was signalized by an unsuccess- 
ful attack upon Constantinople in 1043, reu- 
nited them for a short time, a second parti- 
tion took place at his death (1055); and 



Russia was devastated for half a century by 
constant civil wars and Polish invasions. The 
authority of the Grand-Prince of Kiew had 
been curtailed by the erection of petty sov- 
ereignties under different branches of the 
house of Rurik, till Andrew I., Prince of 
White Russia (1057-Y5), arrogated to him- 
self the title of Grand-Prince of Russia, while 
the elder line at Kiew sank into a subordinate 
rank. Novgorod, tliough retaining the forms 
of princely government, had become in effect 
a republic, and the centre of an extensive 
traffic with both Europe and Asia. The 
annals of this period present only an unceas- . 
ing succession of intestine struggles and wars 
with Poland. The Tartar invasion of 1223 , 
produced a transient unanimity from a sense 
of common danger. A host of 500,000 men 
under Toushi, the son of Genghis Khan, 
overthrew the combined forces of the Rus- 
sian princes on the river Kalka, near the 
Sea of Azof. The death of Toushi turned 
the victors' back, but they came once more 
in 1236 under his son Batu, laid the country 
waste with fire and sword, and took com- 
plete possession of its government. 

For more than two centuries and a half, 
Russia was held in alyect subjection by the 
Tartars of Kapchak, whose hordes overspread 
the southern and eastern provinces, and the 
plains between the Caspian and the Volga, 
on the banks of which river the Golden 
Horde, or imperial residence of the khans of 
the race of Batu, was fixed ; but the interior 
of the country was left under the rule of the 
native princes. The Grand-Prince of Vlad- 
imir, or White Russia, continued to be con- 
sidered the head of the Russian nation, 
though this dignity was disputed both by 
arms and by intrigues at the court of the 
khans, who fomented these dissensions as 
favorable to the stability of their own suprem- 
acy. In 1320 the seat of government was 
removed from Vladimir to Moscow. The 
principality of Kiew was finally extinguished 
(1321) by the Duke of Lithuania, who con- 
quered and annexed it to his own dominions. 
In the mean time, Novgorod (which in 1276 
had joined the Hanseatic league) had acquired 
very great commercial importance. But the 
remainder of Russia continued in bondage, 
till the termination of the direct line of Batu 
(13G1) by the death of Berdi-Bek Khan, gave 



RUS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



749 



rise to disputes for he throne of Kapchak, 
and the discord of their oppressors encour- 
ao-ed the Russians to endeavor to throw off 
the yoke. The struggle continued for about 
a century, till at last Ivan or John III. oblit- 
erated the last vestiges of dependence. 

With the reign of this prince, who married 
Sophia, the niece of the last Greek emperor, 
a new epoch commences in the history of 
Russia. He was honored with the surname 
of Great, and assumed the title of Czar, which 
signifies emperor, but which was more used 
by his successors. He defeated the Poles 
and Lithuanians, reduced the Tartars of Casan 
to tribute, and reunited under his authoritj^ 
most of the minor Russian principalities ; but 
his capture of Novgorod in 1475, and the 
exactions which he levied on the mei'chants 
and citizens, gave a death-blow to the com- 
merce of that famous emporium. The embas- 
sies of Germany, Poland, Venice, the Holy 
See, &c., were now first seen at Moscow ; and 
though the character of Ivan is sullied by the 
cruel despotism of his internal administration, 
he is justly entitled to rank as the founder of 
the Russian empire. 

On the death of Ivan in 1505, the crown 
ought to have devolved to his eldest son Deme- 
trius, whom he had by a former wife ; but his 
widow Sophia, by various artful insinuations, 
obtained it for her own son Gabriel, who, 
disliking his own name, assumed that of 
Basil. He engaged in a war with the Poles, 
and in another with the Grim-Tartars, who, 
by fearful ravages made the czar tremble on 
his throne, and obliged him to submit to their 
conditions. The Tartars entered Russia a 
second time in 1520, ravaged the country, 
and, making themselves masters of Moscow, 
compelled Basil to acknowledge himself their 
vassal, and to promise to pay them an annual 
tribute. Ivan IV., the Terrible, succeeded in 
1533. He was constantly engaged in war 
with the Tartars, the Poles, the Swedes, the 
Danes, or the Turks, and was almost always 
successful. His energy and policy raised his 
empire to a high pitch of prosperity, but he 
was remorseless and sanguinary. In 1553 
the English trade through Archangel was 
opened. Siberia was acquired in 1581. About 
this period the art of printing, and also several 
branches of manufacture, were introduced 
into Russia. Ivan died in 1584. With his | 



son Feodor, or Theodore, in 1598, the male 
line of the house of Rurik, which had ruled 
under fifty-six sovereigns for 736 years, be- 
came extinct. 

Boris Godoonoff, the brother-in-law and 
minister of Feodor, was placed on the throne, 
and commenced his reign by the emancipa- 
tion of the serfs and other salutary measures ; 
but he soon degenerated into an arbitrary and 
cruel tyrant, and at length lost his throne 
and life in a contest with an adventurer who 
declared himself to be the lost Demetrius, 
brother of Feodor, whose pretensions were 
supported by Poland. The real history of 
this person has never been satisfactorily 
ascertained, and many writers consider his 
claims to have been well founded. After 
ruling scarcely a year, he perished (1606) in 
a revolt headed by a boyar naiued Basil 
Schuiski, who thereupon became czar. A 
second pretended Demetrius speedily started 
up. The Poles and Swedes, who each aspii'ed 
to seat a prince of their own nation on the 
throne, invaded the country, and were sup- 
ported by various factions among the nobles, 
and for seven years (1606-1613) Russia was 
torn by anarchy and civil war. The pros- 
pect of the dismemberment of their country 
aroused the national spirit of the Russians; 
the Poles were driven from Moscow, after a 
sanguinary battle, in 1613 ; and in the follow- 
ing year Michael Romanoflf, a descendant in 
the female line from the house of Rurik, was 
chosen to the throne. 

Of the history and succession of the family 
of Romanoff, we have already given an ample 
sketch. With their accession Russia began 
to lose her character as a barbarous and 
semi-Asiatic power, and to be considered of 
some weight in the affairs of Europe. Under 
the vigorous administration of Peter the Great 
great advance was made. He warred suc- 
cessfully with the wild Swede, Charles XII., 
but was less fortunate in contention with 
Turkey. His daughter Elizabeth, stung by a 
sarcasm on her good looks from Frederick the 
Great, allied with Maria Theresa, and retorted 
with a heavy army, and thus Ru^ia began 
her direct participation in the politics of 
Europe. It was much increased by the 
unscrupulous aggression that marked the 
rule of Catharine II. 

On the death of Augustus HI, of Poland, 



RUS 



750 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



in 1T64, Catharine, who had signed a treaty 
of alliance witli Prussia, raised to the throne 
of that kingdom Stanislaus Poniatowski, her 
former paramour, notwithstanding the mur- 
murs and resistance of the Polish nation. 
The purposes for which Poniatowski had 
been raised to the throne of Poland, began 
gradually to develope themselves ; and having 
traced on a map a line of demarcation, by 
which a great part of the Polish territory had 
been assigned to Russia, Catharine insisted 
on the recognition of these limits, and the 
propriety of her claim. The Poles having 
induced the Ottoman Porte to take up arms 
in their behalf, hostilities commenced between 
Turkey and Russia, and the empress resolved 
to rend Greece and the Archi[)olago from the 
Ottomans. A Russian fleet first appeared 
in the Mediterranean in 1T70. At length 
the dismemberment of Poland was effected 
by Russia, Austria, and Prussia ; and Turkey 
was obliged to conclude a peace on very dis- 
advantageous terms. The Crimea was soon 
seized, and such fresh evidence of the ambi- 
tion of Catharine again excited the jealousy 
and the fears of the Turkish emperor for the 
designs which she entertained respecting her 
grandson Constantino, whose name sufficient- 
ly denoted her ambition to raise a second 
Eastern empire upon the ruins of the Ottoman 
power. War was, therefore, again declared 
by the Porte against Russia, whose minister 
was shut up in the castle of the Seven Tow- 
ers. Joseph II., Emperor of Germany, sent 
80,000 Austrians to the assistance of Catha- 
rine; and everything seemed to announce 
the ruin of the Ottoman power. Surround- 
ing nations, however, beheld with jealousy 
the designs of the empress, who threatened 
to destroy the equilibrivnii of Europe. Not- 
withstanding her victories and her conquests, 
she at length perceived that a cessation of 
hostilities was very desirable. Accordingly, 
in 1702, the peace of Jassy was concluded 
between Russia and the Porte, and a bloody 
and expensive war terminated. The arms 
of Russia and Prussia were now united in 
partitioning the remainder of Poland, and 
Frederick William, at the head of his forces, 
fought against Kosciusko, whose talents, 
courage, and despair were unavailing against 
multiplied and increasing numbers. After a 
few bloody victories, the courts of Petersburg 



and Berlin succeeded in dividing the remains 
of that unhappy country ; and the courtiers 
of Catharine shared among them the possess- 
ions of the proscribed. 

Catharine died after a long and prosperous 
reign, and at a time when she hoped to drive 
the Turks out of Europe, and to seize on the 
throne of Constantinople. 

On the death of Catharine II. in 179G, Paul, 
her son, who was at that time forty-three 
years of age, was proclaimed emperor. The 
first acts of the new czar were extremely 
popular ; and his actions seemed to contradict 
the report of his stern and capricious dispo- 
sition. However, Paul's conduct in the first 
days of his reign, was soon afterward re- 
versed. 

Paul concluded with the king of Great 
Britain a treaty, by which they agreed to 
oppose, in the most eflBcacious manner, the 
successes of the French arms, to promote 
solid and lasting peace, and to endeavor to 
re-establish the balance of power in Europe. 
For some time the Russians and their allies 
were fortunate ; but their successes being 
afterward converted into defeats, the emperor 
broke off the alliance. Indignant that the 
British government would not acquiesce in 
his having appointed himself grand-master 
of Malta, Paul entered into an alliance with 
France, and excited a formidable confederacy 
of the maritime powers of the north against 
the naval interests of Great Britain, which 
was broken by the battle of Copenhagen. 
His capricious and extravagant actions, some 
of which bordered on frenzy, gave great 
offense, and he was murdered in the night of 
the 23d of March, 1801, though his death 
was ascribed to an apoplectic fit. 

The day after his decease, his eldest son, 
Alexander, who was in the twenty-fourth 
year of his age, was proclaimed Emperor of 
all the Russias, and issued several popular 
ukases, in one of which he revived and con- 
firmed all the regulations of the Empress 
Catharine for the encouragement of industry 
and commerce. 

Bonaparte not fulfilling the secret conven- 
tion which had been entered into between 
France and Russia, with respect to the evac- 
uation of the kingdom of Naples by the 
French troops, the adjusting of the affairs of 
Italy, and the indemnity promised to be 



RUS 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



751 



granted to the king of Sardinia, Alexander 
ordered an additional levy of land forces 
throughout his dominions. He afterward 
attempted to negotiate a general peace among 
the powers of Europe ; but finding this im- 
practicable, he joined Austria and England 
in the coalition against France. The Russian 
troops however, could not join the Austrians 
till the latter had suffered several severe 
defeats. The battle of Austerlitz terminated 
unfavorably to the allies; and the emperor 
of Germany concluding a separate peace with 
France immediately after that event, the Rus- 
sian troops returned into their own country. 
When war broke out between France and 
Prussia, Alexander ordered his forces to the 
assistance of the latter power. Before they 
could arrive to aid their allies, the French 
had overrun Prussia, and penetrated into 
Poland, where they were defeated by the 
Russians ; but Bonaparte, having compelled 
his vassal princes to furnish their stipulated 
contingents of troops, again advanced, and 
gained the battle of Friedland, which obliged 
AlexaiKler to sign the treaty of Tilsit. 

That treaty was soon after followed by a 
declaration of war, on the part of Russia, 
against Great Britain ; and one immense 
power now occupied Europe, arranging and 
controlling everything in conformity to its 
views. Russia, which had become the willing 
instrument of French policy, not only with- 
drew from her alliance with Sweden, but 
attacked that country. In 1808, an army of 
40,000 men was sent into Finland, from which 
the Swedes were finally expelled. 

Alexander agreed to accede to the conti- 
nental system, and to exclude from Russian 
ports all British manufactures and colonial 
produce. Not aware of the consequences of 
his engagements, he had placed himself in a 
situation of great difficulty. If he attempted 
to fulfill the treaty by interdicting the trade 
between Great Britain and the Russian em- 
pire, he deprived his subjects of the best 
market for their produce, and roused his 
nobility against him. On the other hand, 
his apprehensions of the power of Bonaparte 
were strong and well founded. He, therefore, 
determined on a species of compromise, and 
forbade the introduction of all British produce 
and manufactures into his dominions, except 
by special license and in neutral ships. 



Soon after the differences commenced be- 
tween Napoleon and Alexander, the former 
took such measures as he thought would 
either awe the latter into submission, or 
secure victory and success in case of hostili- 
ties ; he assembled large bodies in the north 
of Germany ; he kept possession of a great 
part of Prussia, especially of the places most 
conveniently situated for an attack on Russian 
Poland ; and he forcibly occupied Swedish 
Pomerania. Preparations were made by Rus- 
sia to meet the approaching crisis ; and before 
the commencement of hostilities, the force 
that could be brought against the French 
amounted to nearly 300,000 men, exclusively 
of the militia. On the other hand, the Em- 
peror Francis engaged to furnish 30,000 men 
to France in her war with Russia ; the troops 
of the confederation of the Rhine had been 
raised to their stipulated quota; and the 
kings of Saxony and Naples had been induced 
to embark with Napoleon in this great enter- 
prise. The armies of Bonaparte on the fron- 
tiers of Russian Poland amounted to at least 
300,000 infantry, and 60,000 cavalrj^, in a 
state of the highest discipline and equipment, 
and commanded by the first military talent 
of the age. 

The preparations on each side corresponded 
with the magnitude of the interests embarked 
in the contest. In numbers the combatants 
were not, at first, on an equality ; and in 
discipline, in science, and in organization, 
the French possessed a great superiority. On 
the 9th of May, 1812, Napoleon left Paris ; 
and arriving on the banks of the Niemcn on the 
22d of June, he issued to his soldiers a proc- 
lamation in his usual confident and laconic 
style. This was his only declaration of war. 
The French and their allies passed the Nie- 
men without opposition, and obtained pos- 
session of Wilna, the capital of Lithuania, 
The re-establishment of the kingdom of Po- 
land was now proclaimed, and a diet assem- 
bled under the guarantee of the French 
emperor ; and, by these means, the national 
enthusiasm was raised in his favor, and the 
ranks of his army were swelled by Polish 
levies. 

The Emperor of Austria recalled his am- 
bassador from Petersburg, and furnished his 
contingent of troops to the French. Russia, 
however, acquired a new and zealous, though 



RUS 



752 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



remote, ally in England, who fonncd a treaty 
of friendship and reciprocal defense with her 
and a similar one with Sweden. In propor- 
tion as the 1 nch advanced into the territo- 
ries of Russia, the more resistance they expe- 
rienced; and several bloody engagements 
took place, without producing any decisive 
effect. The first great stand was made at 
the city of Smolensk, which is in the direct 
road to Moscow, and for the defense of which 
the Russians were posted. However, in the 
middle of the night, after a severe engage- 
ment, a dreadful conflagration was observed 
in the city ; and the Russians abandoned 
Smolensk, and retired across the Dnieper. 
Moscow was now the great object to be con- 
tended for ; and the Russian main army took 
a strong position to cover it from the attack 
of Napoleon. 

A dreadful engagement ensued ; and the 
result of this battle, which was named by 
the Russians the battle of Borodino, was a 
victory claimed by each party. The French 
entered Moscow seven days after this engage- 
ment ; but in order to deprive the French of 
a place for their winter quarters, the governor, 
Rostopchin, had ordered the city to be set on 
fire ; and the French troops had scarcely 
entered the Kremlin, when Moscow appeared 
in flames in different parts. The conflagra- 
tion raged with fury for several days. The 
French began their retreat from Moscow, 
but were closely pursued by an exasperated 
foe. To add to their calamities a Russian 
winter set in with deep snow. The suffer- 
ings of the French were extreme, and their 
losses prodigious. Horses died in such num- 
bers, that the greatest part of the artillery 
was left behind, and the cavalry was nearly 
dismounted; whole bodies of men, disabled 
by cold and hunger, surrendered without 
resistance to the pursuers; and nothing 
appeared but disaster and dismay. It is 
probable, that of nearly 500,000 troops en- 
gaged in this fi-antic expedition, not 50,000, 
including the Prussian and Austrian contin- 
gents, escaped out of Russia. 

The Russian armies pursued the remnant 
of the French armies into Germany, where 
the former were joined by Prussia, by the 
princes of Germany, and finally by Austria. 
Sweden also joined the league against France. 
The battle of Leipsic, which was gained by 



the allies over Bonaparte, determined the fate 
of Germany, and shook to its foundation the 
mighty empire raised by Napoleon. Russian 
ai-mies continued to act against Napoleon, 
till his downfall, and Alexander entered Paris 
in triumph. By the treaty of Vienna, in 
1815, the duchy of Warsaw, with the excep- 
tion of certain provinces and districts, was 
ceded to the Emperor of Russia, who ad- 
dressed a letter to the Polish diet, announc- 
ing the fate of their country, and that he 
had assumed the title of King of Poland. 

After the death of Alexander, Dec. 1st, 
1825, his brother Nicholas ascended the 
throne. The revolt of the Poles, in 1830, 
was not crushed without a violent struggle, 
which cost the Russians a terrible effusion of 
blood. The kingdom -was amalgamated with 
Russia, and the last feeble vestiges of its 
nationality were soon swept away. A war 
was carried on against Turkey in 1828 and 
1829, through which Russia gained numerous 
frontier fortresses on the Black Sea, and a 
protectorate over Moldavia and Wallachia. 
The resources of the empire were carefully 
fostered, its power vigorously consolidated 
and increased. The ambition of Catharine 
had not died with her. Russia became the 
great palladium of despotism : she warned 
Switzerland against any increase of repub- 
licanism ; she aided Austria to trample upon 
Hungary ; she proposed to the western pow- 
ers a partition of Turkey. The possession 
of the holy places at Jerusalem had long 
been a bone of contention between the Greek 
and Latin monks. The dispute came up 
afresh. Russia sided with the former ; France 
with the latter. 0. i;ourse the decision of 
the Porte was unsatisfactory to Russia: 
Prince Menschikoflf, her special convoy, bore 
himself with an arrogance almost equal to 
that of his great ancestor, the pastry-cook. 
All the compliances of Turkey were ineffect- 
ual : war was inevitable, and the soldiers of 
the czar crossed the Pruth, July 2d, 1853. 
In the hostilities which ensued, the Turks 
displayed a steady courage. The massacre 
of Sinope startled England and France, and 
their fleets were sent into the Black Sea. It 
were better had they been in those waters 
before, to save the unnamed heroes who per- 
ished at Sinope. The Russian fleet retreated 
to the haven of Sebastopol, never to come 



RUS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



753 



forth. The war on the Danube was bravely 
maintained by the Turks. France and Eng- 
land entered into a formal alliance with Tur- 
key in the spring of 1854, and a large force 
was sent to the seat of war. After lying 
long inactive at Varna, an expedition to the 
Crimea was decided upon. The allied army 
landed at Eupatoria on the 14th of Septem- 
ber. On the 20th the heights of the Alma 
were won. St. Arnaud, the French mar- 
shal, died, and Canrobert succeeded him. 
The wear}^ deadly siege of Sebastopol began 
on the 17th of October, 1854. While the 
English and French beleaguered the south 
side of this rival of Gibraltar, powerful arma- 
ments were sent into the Baltic. They gained 
only slight successes, the Russian navy lying 
safe under shelter of the strong fortresses 
of Cronstadt. The siege of Sebastopol is 
more fully mentioned beyond [see Sebasto- 
pol], and indeed all the important events of 
this war are described in their respective 
places. It was varied by the bloody fields of 
Balaklava, Inkerman, and the Tchernaya, 
and bj' the siege of Kars, in Armenia. Hos- 
tilities ceased Feb. 29th, 1856, and peace was 
proclaimed in the following April. 

In the midst of the war, Nicholas was 
called from life. His son and successor, 
Alexander II., continued his policy so far as 
the war was concerned. 

In the following list of the rulers of Rus- 
sia, those, marked with a star are doubtful, 
owing to the difficulty that occurs at every 
step in early Russian annals. 

DUKES, CZAKS, AND KMPERORS. 
DUKES OF KIEW. 

862. Rurik. 

878. Igor. 

gg. i Olega, regent. 

1 Swiatoslaw or Spendoblos. 

972. Javopalk I. 

980. Vladimir, Wladimir, or Waldimir I., 
styled the Great. 
1015. Jaraslaw, or Jaroslaf I. 
lost. Isjialaw I. 
lO'ZS. Wsewolod I. 
1093. Swiatopalk. 
1114. Vladimir II. 
1125. Mtislaw or Michael I. 
1132. Jaropalk II. 

1138. j Wiatschelaw. 

1139. ] Wsewolod 11. 
1146. ] Isjiahiw II. 
1154. l Rostislaw. 

48 



1155. 



1157. 



1213, 

1238. 
1245. 
1263. 
1270. 
1277. 
1284. 
1294, 
1302, 
1 305, 
1320. 
1325. 



1328. 
1340. 
1353. 
1359, 
1362. 
1389, 
1425, 
1462, 
1505, 



1583. 
1584. 



1598. 
1606. 



1610. 
1613. 

1645. 

1676. 
10-82, 



1727. 
1730. 



1741, 



Jurie or George I. : the city of Moscow 
was built by this duke. 

GRAND-BUKES OP WLADIMIR. 

j Andrew I. until 1175; fir.st grand-duke. 
} Michael II, 
Wsewolod III. 

j Jurie or George II. 

/ Constantine, until 1218. 
Jaraslaw II. ; succeeded by his son. 
Alcxander-Nevski or Newski, the Saint. 
Jaraslaw III. 
Vasali or Basil I. 
*Dimitri or Demetrius I. 
*Andrew II. 
*Daniel-Alexandrovitz. 
*Jurie or George III. : deposed. 
*Michael III. 
*Vasali or Basil II. 
*Jurie or George III : restored. 

GRAND-DUKES OF MOSCOW. 

Ivan or John I. 
Simon, surnamcd the Proud. 
Ivan or John II. 
Demetrius II., prince of Susdal. 
Demetrius III. Donskoi. 
*Vasali or Basil III. Temnoi. 
Vasali or Basil IV. 
Ivan (Basilovitz) or John III. 
Vasali or Basil V. : obtained the title of 
emperor from Maximilian I. 

CZARS OP MUSCOVY. 

Ivan (Basilovitz) IV. ; first tzar or czar 
('great king') in 1547. 

Feodor or Theodore I. : supposed to have 
been poisoned, and his son, Demetrius, 
murdered by his successor. 

Boris Godoonoff, who usurped the throne. 

Demetrius, the Impostor, a young Polo- 
nese monk : pretended to be the mur- 
dered prince Demetrius: put to death. 

Vasali-Ciiouiski, or Zouinski. 

[Interregnum.] 

Michael-Fedorovitz, of the house of Ro- 
manoff. 

Alexis, son of the preceding, styled the 
father of his country. 

Feodor or Theodore II. 

j Ivan V. and 

I Peter I. brothers of the preceding. 



Peter I., the Great, alone ; took the title 
of emperor in 1728. 

Catharine I., his consort: at first the wife 
of a Swedish dragoon, who is said to 
have been killed on the day of marriage. 

Peter II., son of Alexis-Petrovitz, and 
grandson of Peter the Great : deposed. 

Anne, Duchess of Courland, daughter of 
the Czar Ivan. 

Ivan VI., an infant, grand-nephew to Pe- 
ter the Great : immured in a dungeon 
for eighteen years ; murdered in 1762. 

Elizabeth, daughter of Peter the Great, 
reigned during Ivan's captivity. 



RUS 



754 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



1762. Peter III., son of Anne and of Charles- 
Frederick, Duke of Holstein-Gottorp : 
deposed, and died soon after, supposed 
to have been murdered. 
Catharine II., his consort: died in 1*796. 
Paul, her son : found dead in his chamber : 

supposed to have been murdered. 
Alexander, his son. 
1825. Nicholas, brother to Alexander; suc- 
ceeded, Dec. 1st, 1825. 
1855. Alexander II., son of Nicholas, succeeded 
at his father's death, March 2d, 1855. 



1T62 
1796 



1801. 



RUTLEDGE, Edward, a signer of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, was born in Charles- 
ton, S. C, November, 1749. He chose the 
profession of the law, and finished his legal 
education in England. He was a member of 
the continental congress from 1774 till 1777. 
In 1779 Mr. Eutledge was re-appointed to 
congress, but relinquished his seat from ill 
health. However, he soon took the field at 
the head of a company, but was taken pris- 
oner at the surrender of Charleston, and re- 
mained in the hands of the British nearly a 
year. In 1798, having retired from the prac- 
tice of law, he was elected governor of South 
Carohna, but died Jan. 23d, 1800. 

PvUTLEDGE, John, a native of South Car- 
olina, and elder brother of Edward, distin- 
guished himself by his manly eloquence in the 
first congress, and was appointed president 
and commander-in-chief of South Carolina, in 
1776. In 1779 he was chosen governor. He 
died in July, 1800. 

RUYTER, Michael Adrian de, a great 
Dutch admiral, was born at Flushing in 1607. 
In the war with England which broke out in 
1652, he convoyed a rich fleet through the 
channel, and brought the whole into port, 
after an engagement which lasted two days. 
He was next joined in command with Van 
Tromp, and distinguished himself as well in 
the great battle of three days, fought in Feb- 
ruary, 1653, as in that off the Texel, where 

RYS 



Van Tromp fell, in the July following. In 
1658 he defeated the Swedes, for which the 
King of Denmark gave him a patent of no- 
bility. At the renewal of hostilities with 
England, in the reign of Charles II., De Ruy- 
ter gained an advantage over Prince Rupert 
and Monk; but, two months afterward, 
another battle was fought, and the Dutch 
were defeated. The following year, however, 
he avenged himself, by riding triumphantly 
in the Thames, and destroying several English 
men-of-war at Sheerness and Chatham ; the 
roar of his guns spread consternation in 
London. In 1672 he attacked the combined 
English and French fleets ; and though the 
battle was undecided, De Ruyter kept the 
sea, and convoyed home a fleet of merchant- 
men. The gallant commander was mortally 
wounded in an engagement with the French, 
off" Messina, and died at Syracuse, April 11th, 
1676. His remains were interred at Amster- 
dam, and a monument erected to his memory. 
RYE-HOUSE PLOT. A real, or more 
probably a pretended, conspiracy to assassin- 
ate Charles II. and his brother the Duke of 
York (afterward James II.), at a place called 
Rye-house, on the way to London from New- 
market. This design was said to have been 
frustrated by the king's house at Newmarket 
accidentally taking fire, which hastened the 
royal party away eight days before the plot 
was to take place, March 22d, 1683. The 
plot was discovered June 12th following. 
Algernon Sidney and Lord William Russell 
suffered death on a false charge of being con- 
cerned in this conspiracy. 

RY^SWICK, Peace of, concluded between 
England, France, Spain, and Holland, to 
establish the peace of Europe ; signed Sept. 
20th, and by the Emperor of Germany, Oct. 
30th, 1697. 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



755 



s. 



SABTNES, an ancient people of Italy, 
reckoned among the aborogines, or those in- 
habitants whose origin was not known. 
Some suppose that they were originally a 
Lacetlaemonian colony, who settled in that 
part of the country. The possessions of the 
Sabines were situated in the neighborhood of 
Rome, between the river Nar and the Anio, 
and bounded on the north by the Apennines 
and Umbria, south by Latium, east by the 
^qui, and by Etruria on the west. The 
greatest part of the contiguous nations were 
descended from them, such as the Umbrians, 
the Campanians, the Sabelli, the Osci, Sam- 
nites, Hernici, ^"Equi, Marsi, Brutii, &c. The 
Sabines are celebrated in ancient history as 
being the first who took up arms against the 
Romans, to avenge the rape of tlreir females 
at a spectacle where they had been invited. 
After some engagements, a peace was struck, 
and the greatest part of the Sabines left their 
ancient possessionsj§and migrated to Rome, 
where they settled with their new allies. 
They were at last totally subdued about the 
year of Rome 373, and ranked as Roman 
citizens. Their chief cities were Cures, Fide- 
nge, Reate, Crustumerium, Corniculum, No- 
mentum, Collatia, &c. 

SACHEVEREL, Henry, was the son of 
a clergyman at Marlborough, where he had 
his education and afterward became demy 
of Magdalen College, Oxford. Sacheverel 
obtained a fellowship, and in 1708 took his 
doctors degree. The following year he 
preached two harangues, one at the assi- 
zes at Derby, and the other at St. Paul's, in 
both of which he asserted that the church 
was in imminent danger. For these dis- 
courses, which were considered as inflamma- 
tory, he was impeached by the House of Com- 
mons, and tried before the Lords, in 1710; 
when being found guilty of a misdemeanor, 
he was suspended from preaching for three 
years. This only increased his popularity, 
and brought the Godolphin ministry into such 
contempt, that they were obliged to resio-n 
their places. At the expiration of the sen- 
tence the doctor was presented to the rich 

ST 



rectory of St. Andrew, Holborn. He died in 
1724. 

SACKVILLE, Lord George, the third son 
of the first Duke of Dorset, was born in 1716. 
He obtained a commission in the army, and 
distinguished himself in the battles of Dettin- 
gen and Fontenoy. In 1758 he was made a 
lieutenant-general ; but in the year following 
fell into disgrace for his conduct at the battle 
of Minden. He was tried by a court-martial, 
and dismissed the service ; but wag restored 
in the next reign. In 1775 he was appointed 
secretary of state for the American colonies ; 
but in 1783 he went out of office, and was 
created a viscount. He died in 1785. 

SADLER, Sir Ralph, an English states- 
man, was born m 1507, at Hackney, in Mid- 
dlesex. In early life he was taken into the 
family of Cromwell, Earl of Essex, who intro- 
duced him to Henrj' VIII., m consequence of 
which he had a share in the dissolution of 
the monasteries, and partook of the spoil. 
He was also sent on an embassy to Scotland, 
to negotiate a marriage between Prince Ed- 
ward and Queen Mary, but without effect. 
In the war which followed, Sir Ralph di.stin- 
guished himself greatly, and was made a 
knight banneret on the field after the battle 
of Pinkie. At the accession of Elizabeth he 
was again sent to Scotland ; and when the 
unfortunate Mary went to England, she was 
committed to his care. He died in 1587. 

ST. ARNAUD, Jacques Leroy de, born 
at Paris in 1801, entered the army in youth. 
He saw service and won laurels in Algiers, 
rising to the rank of marshal by the rapid 
promotion his energy and bravery obtained. 
Returning to France, Louis Napoleon made 
him minister of war for the republic, and St. 
Arnaud was the usurper's chief confederate 
in the coup d'etat for absolute power. He 
was dispatched to Turkey to command the 
French troops in the war with Russia. Dis- 
ease was then lurking about his heart, and 
he died shortly after the victory of the Alma, 
Sept. 29th, 1854. 

ST. CLAIR, Arthur, a native of Edin- 
burgh, came to America with Admiral Bos- 
,C 



756 



C T T A (; E CYCLOPEDIA OF 



cawen in 1755, and served as a lieutenant iin- 1 to throw into it a garrison capable of making 

a very obstinate defense. An attempt on the 



der AVolfe in Canada. He adopted the popular 
cause in the revolution, was early made a 
brigadier, in 1777 major-general, and served 
with honor through the struggle. In 1787 
he was president of Congress, and from 1788 
to 1802 he was governor of the North-west- 
ern territorJ^ His army was disastrously 
defeated in an engagement with the Indians 
near Miami village, Nov. 3d, 1791. He re- 
tired from office with a sliattered fortune, and 
died almost penniless near Philadelphia, Aug. 
31st, 1818, at the age of eighty-four. 

SAINT HELENA, an island in the South 
Atlantic, 1,200 miles west of the continent of 
Africa, and 1,800 east of South America. 
The island is a rock about twenty-one miles 
in circumference, very high and verj^ steep, 
and only accessible at the landing-place, in a 
small valley at the^^ast side of it. St. He- 
lena is said to have been first discovered by 
the Portuguese in 1502, on the festival of the 
Empress Helena, mother of the Emperor Con- 
stantino the Great, whose name it still bears. 
The English East India Company took pos- 
session of it in 1600, and held it without 
interruption till the year 1673, when the 
Dutch took it by surprise. The English, 
under the command of Captain Munden, re- 
covered it again within the space of a J'ear, 
and at the same time took three Dutch East 
India ships that lay in the road. This island 
is celebrated in modern history, as the place 
to which Napoleon was exiled by the confed- 
erate powers in August, 1815, and where he 
died in 1821. 

ST. PIERRE, Bernaudin, the author of 
that exquisite tale, "Paul and Virginia," 
born at Havre, was for a time an officer in the 
Russian service, then in the French corps of 
engineers ; and finally retiring from military 
life, he devoted his days to literature. He 
died in 1814, aged seventy-seven. 

ST. SEBASTIAN, a town on the northern 
coast of Spain, containing 13,000 inhabitants. 
It has been repeatedly taken by the French ; 
it fell into their hands in the short war of 
1719, in the revolutionary contest of 1794, 
and in Bonaparte's invasion in 1808. On the 
last occasion it remained five years in their 
possession, and when the victory of Vittoria, 
by the British, June 21st, 1818, opened a 
prospect of its recapture, the French had time 



part of the British to take it by assault, on 
the 25th of July, was repulsed with heavy 
loss. It became necessary to make approaches 
with great caution, and even to incur a severe 
sacrifice of lives in the final attack, on the 
31st of August, when it was stormed and 
carried. 

ST. VINCENT, Cape, the south-west point 
of Portugal, noted for the navtil victory gained 
off it on the 14th of Februaiy, 1797, by a 
British fleet over a far heavier Spanish force. 
Sir John Jervis, the British admiral, was re- 
warded by elevation to the peerage with the 
title of Earl St. Vincent. Admirals Rooke 
and Rodney also gained victories in the same 
waters, in 1093 and 1780, respectively. 

SALADIN, or Salah-ed-deen Yusef Ben 
AvuB, was at first general of the army of 
Noureddin, sultan of Damascus. In 1164, 
he conquered Egj'pt, and married the widow 
of tlie prince of Gi'and Cairo. After the death 
of Noureddin, he was called to the govern- 
ment during the minority of the prince his 
son. Being advanced to this power, he re- 
solved to attack the Chrintians in Palestine, 
to punish their arrogance and injustice; and 
accordinglj^ in 1177, having raised an army, 
he endeavored to surprise Jerusalem, but was 
defeated with great slaughter, on the 25th of 
November. This loss inspiring him with 
revenge, in 1180 he passed the Euphrates, 
took several cities, as far as Nisibis, and made 
himself formidable to all his neighbors. He 
took Aleppo in 1184. But not long after, the 
Christians put a stop to his conquests, by a 
cessation of arms. The Count of Tripoli 
being jealous of Guy, King of Jerusalem, per- 
suaded Saladin to break the truce ; who, fol- 
lowing his counsel, defeated the Christians, 
the 1st of May, 1187, and having obtained 
a second victory over them, took Guy in the 
flight, made himself master of Acre, Beirut, 
Giblct, Saide, and divers other places, and at 
last of Jerusalem. Though he put the Tem- 
plars and knights of St. John to the sword, 
in revenge for past grievances, he treated the 
other captives with forbearance. Pope Urban 
II., upon hearing of this loss, died of grief. 
Saladin several times stormed the city of 
Tyre, but was often repulsed ; and after some 
other losses sustained from the Christians, 



SAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



757 



he died in 1193, in the fifty-seventh year of 
his age, having reigned over Egypt twenty- 
two years, and nineteen as absolute master 
of Syria. No Asiatic monarch has filled so 
large a space in the eyes of Europe, as this 
chivalrous antagonist of Coeur de Lion. As 
the Moslem hero of the third holy war, he 
proved himself a skillful general and a valiant 
soldier. He hated the crusaders, for he was 
a zealous Mussulman, and they were invaders. 
Though ambitious he was not tyrannical ; he 
was mild in his government ; the friend and 
dispenser of justice. Three of his numerous 
progeny became sovereigns of Aleppo, Da- 
mascus, and Egypt : others had similar pos- 
sessions ; and the emirs and atabaks of Syria 
again struggled for independence. [See 
Cbusadi;s.] 

SALAMANCA, the capital of a Spanish 
province of the same name in the southern 
part of the ancient kingdom of Leon, contains 
13,000. inhabitants. Its once celebrated uni- 
versity was founded in the thirteenth centurj^ 
by Alphonso IX. of Leon. A memorable bat- 
tle was fought here on the 22d of July, 1812, 
between the British and allies, under Wel- 
lington, and the French, under Marmont. 
The French were overthrown, and driven m 
confusion from the field. The pursuit was 
continued till night, when the French guard 
was overtaken, attacked, and put to flight, 
the cavalry leaving the infantry to their fate. 
Three whole battalions surrendered, and large 
quantities of .stores, baggage, and ammuni- 
tion fell into the conquerors' hands. Eleven 
pieces of cannon, two eagles, and six colors, 
were also taken ; five generals, three colonels, 
three lieutenant-colonels, 150 ofiicers, and 
7,000 soldiers, were made prisoners. The 
loss of the victors, in killed, wounded, and 
missing, amounted to nearly 6,000 men. 
This bloody victory opened the way for the 
capture of Madrid. Marmont was the seventh 
French marshal whom Wellington had de- 
feated within four years. 

SALAMIS, now Koluri, an island in the 
Saronic gulf, on the southern coast of Attica 
opposite Eleusis, at the distance of about a 
league, with a town and harbor of the same 
name. It was originally peopled by a colony 
of lonians, and afterward by Greeks from 
adjacent islands and countries. It is cele- 
brated for a battle between the fleet of the 



Greeks and that of the Persians, when Xerxes 
invaded Greece. The Persian ships amounted 
to above 2,000, and those of the Greeks to 
about 880. In this engagement, which was 
fought on the 20th of October, b.c. 480, the 
Greeks lost forty ships, and the Persians 
about two hundretl, besides an immense num- 
ber which were taken with all the ammunition 
they contained. Themistoclevs commanded 
the Greeks. Xerxes retired into Asia, leav- 
ing Mardonius to carry on the disastrous war. 

SALLUST. Caius Sallustius Crispus wa.s 
born at Amiternum, b.c. 86. He received 
his education at Rome, and made himself 
known as a public magistrate in the office of 
qutestor and consul. His licentiousness, and 
the depravity of his manners, however, did 
not escape censure, and he was degraded 
from the dignity of a senator, B.C. 50. A 
continuation of extravagance could not long- 
be supported by the income of Sallust, but 
he extricated himself from difficulties by 
embracing the cause of Caesar. He was 
restored to the rank of senator, and made 
governor of Numidia. in the administration 
of his province, Sallust behaved with unusual 
tyranny; he enriched himself by plundering 
tne Africans, and at his return lo Rome he 
built himself a magnificent house, and formed 
splendid gardens, which, from their delightful 
and pleasant situation, still preserve the name 
of the gardens of Sallust. In this luxurious 
retirement, he wrote the history of Catiline's 
conspiracy, and that of the Jugurthine war, 
which give him a classic name in Latin let- 
ters. He died in the fifty -first year of his 
age, B.C. 85. 

SALSETTE, an island on the western 
coast of Hindostan, just north of Bombay. 
The first account we have of this island, is 
dated 1330; it was then governed by a Ma- 
hometan judge. It was taken possession of 
by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century, 
and by the Mahrattas m 1750. In 1773, 
during a rupture with the Mahrattas, it was 
occupied bj^ the British, and has ever since 
remained in their possession. Its temple 
caves, hewn in the rock on a mountain side, 
are objects of great curiosity. . 

SAMOS, an island in the ^gean Sea, on 
the coast of Asia Minor (from which it is 
divided by a narrow strait), with a city of 
the same name, built B.C. 986. It was first 



SAM 



758 



COTTA(JE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



in the possession of the Leleges, and afterward 
of the lonians. The people of Samos were 
at first governed by kings, and afterward the 
form of their government became democrat- 
ical and ohgarchical. Samos was in its most 
flourishing situation under Polycrates, who 
had made himself absolute there. The Sami- 
ans assisted the Greeks against the Persians, 
when Xerxes invaded Europe, and were re- 
duced under the power of Athens, after a 
revolt, by Pericles, B.C. 441. They were 
afterward subdued by Eumenes, King of Per- 
gamos, and were restored to their ancient 
liberty by Augustus. Under Vespasian, 
Samos became a Roman province. It now 
belongs to Turkey, and has some 30,000 
inhabitants, chiefly Greeks. 

SANCTUARIES. Cities of refuge had their 
origin in early ages. They were instituted by 
the Jews immediately after their establish- 
ment in Palestine. Such use, or rather 
abuse, was made of the heathen temples* 
particularly those of Hercules. Christian 
churches long screened criminals from seiz- 
ure. Abolished in England, 1534, and gen- 
erally at the time of the Reformation. Several 
districts in London continued to be privileged 
against arrest for debt till 1696. The pre- 
cincts of Holja-ood xVbbey at Edinburgh, 
including Arthur's Seat and Salisbury Crags, 
are still a sanctuary for insolvent debtors. 

SANDWICH ISLANDS, a group in the 
North Pacific Ocean, covering about 6,000 
square miles, and containing 71,000 inhabit- 
ants, were discovered by Captains Cook and 
King in 17T8, and were named by them after 
Lord Sandwich. Captain Cook was mur- 
dered by the natives of Owhyhee in 1779. 
The principal islands are Hawaii (Owhyhee), 
Maui (Mowee), Oahu (Woahoo), Taui (Atooi), 
and Nihau (Oneehow). The climate is warm, 
but healthy : many of the islands are volcanic. 
The natives, were formerly sunk in idol- 
atry, sacrificing human victims upon their 
altars. The missions established by the 
American Board of Foreign Missions, have 
been very successful. The situation of the 
Sandwich Islands causes them to be visited 
by many vessels for repairs and provisions, 
while, in a commercial point of view, they 
are by no means to be overlooked. Inter- 
course with Christendom has introduced its 
vices as well as its enlightenment. The 



number of the natives was once very much 
larger. Idolatry was abolished in 1819. 
Formerly each island had its separate chief- 
tains, and desolating wars were common. 
In the early years of this century Tameham- 
eha united them all under one rule, and a 
constitutional monarchy resembling that of 
England is the form of government. Hono- 
lulu, on Oahu, is the seat of government and 
commerce. 

SAN MARINO. Within the papal prov- 
ince of Urbino in Italy, this little republic 
lies, about ten miles from the Adriatic coast. 
It consists chiefly of a steep mountain, with 
its offshoots and valleys, covering an area of 
about twenty-one square miles, and contain- 
ing 7,600 inhabitants. On the upper part of 
the mountain stands the ill-built town of San 
Marino, its steep and rough streets practica- 
ble for only men and mules. The summit 
above is crowned by the towers of an ancient 
castle, on which the standard of the republic 
waves. There are two or three other towns, 
or rather villages. Every slip of ground that 
can be made productive is tilled. Good wine 
is trodden out ; there are olives enough to 
yield some oil ; and silk-worms are reared. 
For grain the people rely on their neighbors. 
This little district has curiously kept its inde- 
pendence from the tenth century. 

SAPPHO, a lyric poet of Greece, born at 
Mytilene in Lesbos, about b.c. 610. Only 
fragments of her verse are extant, and little 
is known of her life. The tradition is that 
she was a woman of beauty and amorous 
morals, who, after the death of her husband, 
became enamored of Phaon, and, in conse- 
quence of the youth's neglect, threw herself 
into the sea. She is the reputed inventor of 
the Sapphic verse. The Lesbians paid reli- 
gious honors to her memory, and called her 
the tenth muse. 

SARAGOSSA (in Spanish, Zaragoza), 
capital of the ancient kingdom of Aragon, 
stands on the south bank of the Ebro, 180 u 

miles north-east of Madrid. The name is a 
corruption of Caesarea Augusta, a Roman 
colony on the site of which the modern city 
is built. The population is 40,000. It is 
famous in history for its dreadful sieges in 
1808 and 1809; contests in which was dis- 
played the unyielding fortitude of the inhab- 
itants, of both sexes. The French, having 



SAR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



759 



obtained possession of Navarre in June, 1808, 
advanced to Saragossa, and attempting to 
take the city by assault, were repulsed with 
loss. Returning with augmented numbers, 
they occupied the best positions, and mvested 
nearly half the town, keeping up a fire from 
mortars and battering cannon. On the 4th 
of August they entered the central street, but 
the}' were met with furious opposition, and, 
discouraged by intelligence from the south 
of Spain, retired at last, on the 14th. The 
second siege was no less obstinate and san 
guinary. The French, with great re-enforce- 
ments, marched, m the end of November, 
1808, once more against Saragossa. Their 
first great attack gave them possession ot 
some important posts, but with heavy loss. 
On the 10th of January began the bombard 
ment, which, violent as it was, caused less 
injury than a contagious fever and a famine 
among the garrison. The Spaniards, how- 
ever, continued to make, under the brave 
Palafox, a most determined resistance, and it 
was not till after a bombardment of six weeks, 
and a very unequal contest in mining, that 
Saragossa surrendered, Feb. 13th, 1809. The 
defenders struggled to the last, jnelding only 
house by house. 

SARATOGA, a town in New York, whose 
mineral springs have made it a celebrated 
watering place. Here the British army under 
Gen. Burgoyne surrendered to the Ameri- 
cans under Gen. Gates, Oct. 17th, 1777. 
Burgoyne invaded New York from Canada 
with a force of more than 7,000. The design 
was to establish a line of communication with 
the British troops in the middle states, and 
thus cut off New England. Burgoyne's ill 
success and surrender was the severest blow 
that the British received during the war. 
The news of it had great effect in deciding 
France to espouse the cause of the colonies. 

SARDANAPALUS, the last king of As- 
syria, celebrated for his luxury and voluptu- 
ousness. His effeminacy irritated his officers ; 
Belesis and Arbaces conspired against him, 
and collected a numerous force to dethrone 
him. Sardanapalus quitted his wine and 
women for a while, and appeared at the head 
of his armies. The rebels were defeated in 
three successive battles, but at last Sardana- 
palus was beaten and besieged in the city of 
Ninus for two years and more. When he 



despaired of success, he burned himself in 
his' palace, with his eunuchs, concubines, and 
all his treasures, and the empire of Assyria 
was divided among the conspirators. This 
famous event happened b.c. 820, accord- 
ing to Eusebius. The riches destroyed in 
the conflagration have been estimated at 
$700,000,000! 

SARDINIA (Sardegna), an island in the 
Mediterranean, has an area of 9,100 square 
miles, and 547,000 inhabitants. The capital 
is Cagliari, and the most important town 
Sassari. Its productions consist of grain, oil, 
citrons, oranges, and other fruits; while wine 
and cattle are abundant. There are mines 
of lead and silver. The Catholic is the pre- 
vailing religion of the island. 

The Sardinian monarchy is composed in 
part of the island of Sardinia, but m much 
greater proportion of Piedmont, Savoy, and 
the territory of Genoa. Turin (Torino), in 
Piedmont, is the capital of the kingdom ; pop- 
ulation 140,000. The monarchy has an area 
of 29,075 square miles ; population, 5,000,000. 
In 1720, Victor Amadeus II. exchanged the 
island of Sicily for Sardinia, and assumed the 
present royal title. After a peace of twenty 
years, this state became involved in the war 
between France and Austria, which was closed 
by the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle, in 1748. 
The contest occasioned by the part which 
Sardinia took in the French revolution, be- 
gan in 1792, and was maintained until 1796, 
when the assumption of the command by 
Bonaparte, led to the overthrow of the allied 
forces in the course of a few weeks, and to the 
conclusion of an unfovorable treaty of peace. 

This treaty was followed in two years by 
the removal of the royal family to Sardinia, 
and the incorporation of their continental 
states with the French territory. The pros- 
pect of reinstatement opened by the progress 
of the allies in 1799, was completely over- 
cast by the battle of Marengo. The conti- 
nental territories were not restored to the 
legitimate sovereign until the overthrow of 
Bonaparte in 1814. [See Savoy.] 

The island of Sardinia is unknown in his- 
tory until the time of its occupancy by the 
Carthaginians, who doubtless confined them- 
selves to a few marine stations, from which 
they were expelled by the Romans in the 
Punic wars. The Romans continued in pos- 



SAR 



760 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



session of the island until the decline of the 
empire. It was invaded by the Saracens. 
The sovereignty of the island was acquired 
in the fourteenth century by the King of 
Arragon, and retained by the crown of Spain 
until the eighteenth century. In 1720 it was 
given to the Duke of Savoy. In 1794 the 
inhabitants of Cagliari, encouraged by the 
progress of the French revolution, rose in 
insurrection, and caused tlie Piedmontese 
viceroj^ with all the individuals of his coun- 
try, to be sent out of the island. The other 
towns followed the example ; and the result 
was, that after two years of contention, the 
king granted a general pardon, declared that 
the cortes, or representative body, should 
assemble at least once in ten years, and con- 
firmed all the ancient laws, customs, and 
privileges of the inhabitants. [See Savoy.] 

SARDIS, an ancient city of Lydia, formerly 
its capital. Cyrus took this city in the 59th 
Olympiad, and subdued the whole kingdom 
of Lydia, taking Croesus the king, prisoner. 
In the C9th Olympiad, Aristagoras having 
got twenty ships from the Athenians, per- 
suaded the people to rebel against the Per- 
sians, and some time after took the city and 
burnt it, which occasioned the wars between 
the Persians and the Greeks. Antiochus 
Magnus took this city from Achseus by treason, 
after a year's siege. Tamerlane likewise be- 
sieged this city six years, and ruined it about 
1398. The city stood on the edge of a spa- 
cious and fruitful plain, and has still many 
marks of its antiquity to be found amongst 
its ruins. It was anciently one of the strong- 
est inland cities of Asia, especially when 
besieged by Antiochus Magnus. In this city 
Antigonus caused Cleopatra, the sister of 
Alexander the Great, to be put to death. 

SARMATIA was the name given by the 
Romans to the regions between the Vistula 
and the Caspian. The Sarmatians were a 
savage, uncivilized nation, often confounded 
with the Scythians, naturally warlike, and 
famous for painting their bodies to appear 
more terrible in the field of battle. They 
were well kno\vn for their lewdness, and they 
passed among the Greeks and Latins by the 
name of barbarians. In the time of the em- 
perors thjy became very powerful ; they 
disturbed the peace of Rome by their fre- 
quent incursions ; till at last, increased by the 



savage hordes of Scythians, under the barba- 
rous names of Huns, Vandals, Goths, Alans, 
&c., they successfully invaded and ruined the 
empire in the third and fourth centuries of 
the Christian era. 

SATURN, the Kronos of the Grecian my- 
thology, father of the gods. As destiny had 
foretold that he would be dethroned by one 
of his sons, he devoured all that were born, 
with the exception of Jupiter, Neptune, and 
Pluto, whom their mother Rhea saved. He 
was dethroned by Jupiter, and sought refuge 
with Janus in Ital}^, where he occupied him- 
self with agriculture. He is represented as 
an old man, with a scythe in one hand, and 
an hour-glass in the other, to show that time 
destroys everything, and rolls onward with- 
out interruption. 

SAVAGE, Richard, an unfortunate Eng- 
lish poet, died in jail in 1748. Pie was the 
son of the inhuman Countess of Macclesfield, 
by the Earl of Rivers. 

SAVARY, Rene, a French general under 
Napoleon, was intrusted with the execution 
of the doom decreed against the Due d' Eng- 
hien. He was made Duke of Rovigo, and 
succeeded Fouche as minister of police. He 
died in 18.3.3, aged fift3^-nine. 

SAVOY, an Italian duchy belonging to the 
Sardinian monarchy, bordering on France, 
Switzerland, and Piedmont, contains 584,000 
inhabitants. It consists of valleys formed by 
offsets of the Alps, and much of the land is 
rocky and barren. The origin of the ducal 
house of Savoy is obscure. From the year 
1000 till 1580, a long list of princes governed. 
In 1580 Charles Emmanuel invaded the mar- 
quisate of Saluzzo, which he wrested from 
France, and thereby gained a frontier for his 
capital of Turin. He was succeeded by Vic- 
tor Amadeus I., who waged war against the 
Spaniards with equal success in 16.35. To 
Charles Emmanuel II., Turin owes some of 
her magnificent structures; and he also 
caused the amazing passage through the 
I'ock Mount Visco to be cut. He was suc- 
ceeded by his son Victor Amadeus II., in 
1675, who persecuted his Protestant subjects, 
the Waldenses, with all the fury and malice 
of a bigot, and who was besieged in his cap- 
ital, Turin, by the French, till the latter had 
lost fourteen thousand men before the place, 
and the ammunition of the besieged was 



SAV 



ISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



761 



almost exhausted. The Duke of Savoy was 
soon after joined by Prince Eugene, whom 
he assisted in defeating the French, and driv- 
ing them out of Lombardy. At the peace of 
Utrecht he obtained Sicily, which he after- 
ward bartered for Sardinia; and thus the 
Sardinian monarchy began. He formally 
resigned his crown in 1730, to Charles Em- 
manuel, his son, reserving for himself a yearly 
income of one hundred thousand poimds. 
Accordingly, Charles Emmanuel III. succeed- 
ed in the government ; but being persuaded 
by an interested minister, that his father was 
endeavoring to gain over the troops and re- 
mount the throne, he caused him to be drag- 
ged from his bed, and carried to a house with 
latticed windows, which in everything resem- 
bled a prison, in 1732. The old man died 
soon after. Some years after the commence- 
ment of the French revolution, Savoy was 
ceded by Charles Emmanuel IV. to France, 
and constituted . the department of Mont 
Blanc. In this state it continued till the 
general peace, in 1814, when Savoy was re- 
stored to the family of its former possessors, 
in the person of Victor Emmanuel, King of 
Sardinia. 

Charles Albert oscillated curiously between 
grasps at absolute power and spasms of polit- 
ical freedom for his subjects. A fit of the 
latter sort threw him into collision with Aus- 
tria in 1848. The army of the latter, led by 
Marshal Radetzky, was victorious, and Charles 
abdicated in favor of his son, Victor Emman- 
uel II., who, under the lead of Cavour, 
joined the alliance agamst Russia m 1855, 
and became king of Italy in 18G0. 

DUKES OF SAVOY. 

1391. Am adeus VIII., the Pacific ; abdicated. 
1440. LiKlo\-ic, his son. 
14G5. Amadeus IX., the Saint, his son. 
1472. Philibert I., the Hunter, his son. 
1482. Charles I., the Warlike, his brother. 
1489. Charles II., his son ; died while j'oung. 

1496. Phihp Lackland, a son of Ludovic. 

1497. Philibert II., the Fair, his son. 

1504. Charles III., the Good, half-brother of Phil- 
ibert. 

1553. Emmanuel Philibert, Iron Hand, his son. 

1580. Charles Emmanuel I., the Great, his son. 

1630. Victor Amadeus I., his son. 

1637. Francis Hyacinthus, an infant son of Vic- 
tor. 

] 638. Charles Emmanuel II., his infant brother. 

1675. Victor Amadeus II., his son. In 1713, the 
house of Savoy became regal, by the 



accession of Victor Amadeus to the 
crown of Sicily, which, in 1718, he ex- 
changed with the emperor for Sardinia. 

KINGS OF SARDINIA AND DUKES OF SAVOY. 

1718. Victor Amadeus II. ; abdicated in favor of 
1730. Charles Emmanuel III., his son. 
1773. Victor Amadeus III., his son. 
1796. Charles Emmanuel IV., abdicated in favor 
of 

KINGS OF SARDINIA. 

1802. Victor Emmanuel I., his brother, who ab- 
dicated in favor of 

1821. Charles FeHx, a third brother. 

1831. Charles Albert, a descendant of Prince 
Thomas, brother of Victor Amadeus I. 
He abdicated in favor of his son. 

1849. Victor Emmanuel II. 

SAXE, Maurice, Count de, a celebrated 
general, was born in 1G!)6, at Dresden, being 
the natural son of Fi'cderick Augustus, Elect- 
or of Saxony and King of Poland, by the 
Countess of Konigsmark. At the age of 
twelve years he was at the siege of Lisle, 
where he displayed signal courage ; as he did 
the following year at that of Tournay. He 
bore a part in the battle of Malplaquet, and in 
1711 accompanied the King of Poland to Stral- 
sund, where he swam over the river, with a 
pistol in his hand, in sight of the enem}^ He 
continued to distinguish himself in the war 
with Sweden ; and in 1717 served against the 
Turks. In 1720 he obtained the rank of 
marechal de camp in the French army. In 
172(5 he was chosen Duke of Courland ; but 
the election being set aside, he returned to 
France, where he was Uiade lieutenant-gen- 
eral in 1734. In 1741 he took Prague by 
assault; in 1744 he was appointed a marshal 
of France ; and the next year he gained the 
battle of Fontenoy. This was followed by 
the capture of Brussels, and the battle of 
Raucoux, for which the King of France made 
him marechal-general of his camps and ar- 
mies. In 1747 he achieved the victory of 
Lahfeldt; and in 1748 took Maestricht. He 
died Nov. 30th, 1750. 

SAXONY, the kingdom of, is bounded 
north and east by Prussia, sout'h by Bohe- 
mia, west by the Saxon principalities and 
Bavaria. It contains 5,752 square miles, and 
a population of 2,000,000. Dresden is the 
capital. [See Dkesden.] Leipsic is the cen- 
tre of trade. The country is hilly and in 
some sections mountainous. Foi'ests mantle 



*i 



SAX 



762 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the hills, and the valleys are carefully tilled. 
The sheep of Saxony are noted for fineness 
of fleece, and the woolen manufactures, as 
well as those of linen and porcelain, are very 
important. Tiie kingdom occupies only a 
small portion of that tract in the north of 
Germany ibrmerly designated as Saxony, 
which extended from the Weser to the fron- 
tiers of Poland. 

The Saxons are supposed by most authors 
to be the ancient Catti described by Tacitus. 
The government of the whole Saxon nation 
was vested ni twelve chieftains, who were cho- 
sen annually, and who elected from among 
themselves a chief judge. In time of war they 
chose a king, whose power ceased on the 
return of peace. Charlemagne, on succeed- 
ing his father Pepin, in 1772, resolved to 
compel the Saxons to change their i-eligion, 
and embrace Christianity. Accordinglj^ he 
attacked and defeated them, and obliged 
their king, Wittekind, to fly into Denmark. 
Finding himself totally unable to resist the 
forces of the victorious Charlemagne, Witte- 
kind accepted the conditions offered him, and 
was baptized with his whole famil}', by Lullo, 
Bishop of Mentz. In 804, after a calamitous 
war of thirty j-ears, the Saxons were entirely 
subdued, when Charles had defeated them in 
numerous battles, and transported many 
thousands to Flanders, Brabant, and other 
countries. 

The subsequent sovereigns of Saxony have 
uniformly asserted themselves to be descend- 
ed from the illustrious Wittekind; and the 
reigning fomily still pride themselves on the 
same origin. They reckon among their pro- 
genitors several great men who were honored 
with the surnames of the Grave, the Pacific, 
the Constant, the Pious, the Magnanimous, 
and some of whom wore crowns, whilst others 
declined them. 

The Saxons remained neutral in the war of 
1740, between Russia and Austria. In 1756 
they were tempted to take a part by the flat- 
tering promises of Austria, but they soon had 
cause to repent. In the war of 1793, the con- 
tingent furnished by Saxony against France 
was not large, and no decided part was taken 
in the war until 1806, when the elector sent 
all his troops to the field in support of Prus- 



by the most substantial advantages. For 
although the elector was under the necessity 
of making his peace with the conqueror, upon 
any terms which the latter might choose to 
dictate to the vanquished party, yet in order 
to separate him from the interests of the 
Prussian monarch, the emperor treated him 
with great lenity, induced him to accede to 
the confederation of the Rhine, and gave him 
the title of king, with considerable acces- 
sions of territory. Further additions were 
made to the kingdom of Saxony in 1809 ; 
but these acquisitions were only temporary. 
On the irruption of the allied armies into 
Saxony, in 1813, the king quitted Dresden, 
and identified his interests with the interests 
of France. After the battle of Leipsic, that 
city was taken by assault ; and the king was 
made prisoner with his whole court. This 
country was afterward placed under the pro- 
visional occupation of Prussia ; and Frederic 
William made known his intention of uniting 
Saxony to Prussia. However, the energetic 
conduct of the king of Saxony preserved him 
from total ruin. By the treaty of Vienna, in 
1815, that sovereign ceded to Prussia certain 
districts and territories belonging to the king- 
dom of Saxon}^ ; and half the Saxon people, 
to whom the paternal sway of their king had 
endeared him, passed under the government 
of Prussia with extreme reluctance. 



KINGS OP SAXONY. 

1 80G. Frederick Augustus, formerly elector. 

18-27. Anthony, his brother. 

1836. Frederick Augustus II.; nephew of An- 
thony ; killed by a kick from a horse, 
Aug." 9th, 1854. • 

1854. John,"his brother; born Dec. 12th, 1801. 

SAY, Thomas. This distinguished natu- 
ralist died at New Harmonj^, Indiana, on the 
10th October, 1834, aged forty -seven. Few 
individuals in this country have contributed 
so extensively to enlarge the boundaries of 
natural science. He was one of the founders 
of the Philadelphia academy of natural sci- 
ences. His original communications to the 
society, in the most abstruse departments of 
zoology, Crustacea, insects, &.c., of the United 
States, occupy more than eight hundred 
printed pages of their journal. His contribu- 
tions to the " Encyclopedia Americana" were 
sia. The overthrow of that power enabled highly valuable. His work on American 
Bonaparte to attach the Saxons to his cause j Entomology, and another on Conchology, met 

SAY 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY. 



'63 



with deserved approbation. He was the 
naturalist to the two western expeditions 
sent out by the United States government 
under Major Long. Some years previously 
he made a scientific excursion to the Floridas. 
SCANDERBEa, the name given by the 
Turks to Geokge Castriotto, Prince of Alba- 
nia. His fjither, John, being reduced to 
extremity by Amurath II., was forced to put 
five of his sons into his hands, of whom Scan- 
derbeg was the youngest. He pleased the 
tyj-ant, who poisoned his brothers, but spared 
him, and finding him endowed with very ex- 
traordinary qualities, had him educated in 
the Mohammedan faith. Having given sev- 
eral instances of his courage in Amurath's 
service, who was the usurper of his estates, 
Scanderbeg thought it was high time to think 
of making use of his valor for himself against 
the tyrant. In this design he so dexterously 
deceived the governor of Oroya, the chief city 
of Albania, that he made himself master of 
that and several other places ; in 1433 he 
took possession of his hereditary dominion, 
and upon his being admitted to the crown 
declared himself a Christian. He compelled 
the Turks to raise the siege of Oroya, and cut 
to pieces the forces that were sent against 
him. Amurath himself having laid a second 
siege to this place, died before the walls, 
without being able to take it, though he was 
extremely desirous of being revenged on 
Scanderbeg. Under Mahomet II., he had 
seven or eight armies to contest with, but the 
victory was still on his side. It is said, that 
though he had killed above two thousand 
Turks with his own hand, yet was he never' 
wounded. Mahomet, compelled by his valor 
and success, made peace with him, while 
Scanderbeg took a journey to the kingdom 
of Naples. The Turks, seeing the truce 
expired, laid siege again to Oroya, but to no 
purpose ; for Scanderbeg was soon with them, 
and forced them to raise the siege twice. He 
died at Lissa, a city belonging to the Vene- 
tians, Jan. 27th, 1407, in the sixty-third year 
of his age. 

SCAURUS, M. ^MiLius, a Roman consul, 



Scaurus conquered the Ligurians, and during 
his censorship built the Milvian bridge at 
Rome, and began to pave the road which 
from him was called the ^Emilian. He was 
originally verj^ poor. He wrote some books, 
and among these a history of his own life, all 
now lost. 

His son, of the same name, made himself 
known by the large theatre which he built 
during his edileship. This theatre, which 
could contain 30,000 spectators, was sup- 
ported by 360 columns of marble, thirty-eight 
feet in height, and adorned with three thou- 
sand brazen statues. This celebrated edifice, 
according to Pliny, proved more fatal to the 
manners and the simplicity of the Romans, 
than the proscriptions and wars of Sylla had 
done. 

SCHELLING, Frederick Yv^illiam Jo- 
seph, a distinguished name in German phi- 
losophy, was born at Leonburg in Wirtem- 
berg, Jan. 27th, 1775. He died in 1854. 

SCHILLER, Fkiedkicii, a German poet of 
great reputation, was born at Manheim, a 
small town of Wirtemberg, Nov. 10th, 1759, 
and was the son of a gentleman who, having 
served in the army as a surgeon and ofiicer, 
had retired to private life, and, at the date of 
the birth of the poet, was holding an incon- 
siderable post under the Duke of AVirtemberg. 
Both the parents of the poet appear to have 
been persons possessed of estimable moral 
qualities, and no inconsiderable share of 
literary taste and talent. Schiller was not 
destitute of filial gratitude, and may be sup- 
posed to have expressed his own feelings in 
the following passage from one of his histor- 
ical dramas. Don Carlos is addressing his 
father Philip: — 

" How sweet and rapturous it is to feel 
Ourself exalted in a lovely soul, — 
To know our joys make glow auother's cheek, 
Our fears to tremble in another's heart, 
Our sufferings bedew another's eye ! 
How beautiful and grand 'tis, liand in liand 
With a dear son, to tread youth's rosy path. 
Again to dream once more the dream of life! 
How sweet and great, imperishable, is 
The virtue of a child, to live for ages, 
Ti-ansmittins; good unceasingly ! How sweet 



who distinguished himself by his eloquence j To plant what a dear son will cue day reap ; 
at the bar, and by his martial successes in i To gather what will make him rich ; to feel 
Spain. He was sent against Jugurtha, and | ^^"^^ ^"'^ ^""^ '^'^ '''^^ ^"^ '"' S'"^^^'"'^" ' " 
some time after was accused of suffering him- 1 Schiller was placed in the school of Stufct- 
self to be bribed by the Numidian prince. I gard, where he may be said to have educated 

sen 



764 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



himself, for literature and the fine arts were 
under the ban of the Duke of AVirtemberg, 
whose pedantic pedagogues vainly endeavored 
to turn the gigantic mind of Schiller from its 
natural inclination. Knowing nothing of the 
world but from books; forbidden to mingle 
in female society ; and seeing in his fellow- 
students but multiplied copies of a certain 
severe and soulless model, which their pre- 
ceptors continually held up for admiration 
and imitation, — the poet turned to his own 
fancy for relief, and to beguile the tedium of 
his unnatural life, wrote the tragedy of "The 
Robbers," an extraordinary performance, full 
of imagination and energy, brilliant with the 
light of genius and youth, but, to use the 
deliberate criticism of its author, "a monster, 
for which by good fortune the world has no 
original, and which I would not wish to be 
Immortal, except to perpetuate an example 
of the offspring which Genius, in its unnatu- 
ral union with Thralldom, may give to the 
world." 

The tragedy, although written before the 
completion of Schiller's college course, did 
not appear until he had attained the age of 
twenty-one, and was beginning to discharge 
the duties of surgeon in the army. The 
spirit and popularity of the poet's perform- 
ance were highly displeasing to the despotic 
Duke of Wirtemberg, who issued an order 
for Schiller to confine himself to the studies 
peculiar to his profession. The youthful poet 
was compelled to suffer a week's confinement 
for the crime of having gone to Manhcim to 
attend the representation of his drama, and 
fearing a severer punishment for the repeti- 
tion of the offense, he fled to ^Manheim, and 
thence to the hospitable dwelling of Madam 
von Wollzogen, near Meiningen. Protected 
by this lady, he sent forth two new plays, 
" Fiesco," and "Court Intrigue and Love." 
He was next appointed poet to the theatre at 
Manheim, a post of honor and profit. At the 
expiration of eighteen months, Schiller grow- 
ing dissatisfied with his situation, went from 
Manheim to Leipsic, and thence to Dresden. 
At the latter place he concluded his famous 
tragedy of "Don Carlos," the first of his 
plays that bears the stamp of anything like 
full maturity. The opportunities he had 
enjoyed for extending his knowledge of men 
and things, the sedulous practice of the art 



of composition, the study of purer morals, had 
not been without their full effect. Increase 
of years had done something for him ; diU- 
gence had d. re mach more. The ebullience 
of youth is now chastened into the steadfast 
energy of manhood; the wild enthusiast, that 
spurned at the errors of the world, has now 
become the enlightened moralist, that laments 
their necessity, or endeavors to find out their 
remedy. A corresponding alteration is visi- 
ble in the external form of the work, in its 
plot and diction. The plot is contrived with 
great ingenuity, embodying the result of much 
stud}^, both di-amatic and historical. The 
language is blank verse, — not prose, as in the 
former works ; it is more careful and regular, 
less ambitious in its object, but more certain 
of attaining it. Schiller's mind had now 
reached its full stature : he felt and thought 
more justly ; he could better express what he 
felt and thought. 

"Don Carlos" was received with immediate 
and universal approbation, in the closet and 
on the stage. Schiller's expectations had not 
been so high ; he knew both the excellences 
and the faults of his work : but he had not 
anticipated that the former would he recog- 
nized so instantaneously. The pleasure of 
this new celebrity came upon him, therefore, 
heightened by surprise. Had dramatic emi- 
nence been his sole object, he might now 
have slackened his exertions ; the public had 
already ranked him as the first of their wri- 
ters in that favorite department. But this 
limited ambition was not his moving princi- 
ple ; nor was his mind of that sort for which 
•rest is provided in this world. The primary 
disposition of his nature urged him to perpet- 
ual toil : the great aim of his life, the unfold- 
ing of his mental powers, was one of those 
which admit but a relative not an absolute 
progress. New ideas of perfection arise as 
the former have been reached ; the student is 
always attaining, — never has attained. 

Schiller's worldly circumstances, too, were 
of a kind well calculated to prevent excess of 
quietism. He was still drifting at large on 
the tide of life: he was crowned with laurels, 
but without a home. His heart, warm and 
affectionate, fitted to enjoy the domestic bless- 
ings whic'n it longed for, was allowed to form 
no permanent attachment ; he felt that he was 
unconnected, solitary in the world, cut off 



I 



SCH 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



765 



from the exercise of his kindher sympathies ; 
or if tasting such pleasures, it was ' snatching 
them rather than partaking of them calmly.' 
The vulgar desire of wealth and station never 
entered his mind for an instant ; but as years 
were added to his age, the delights of peace 
and continuous comfort were fast becoming 
more acceptable than any other; and he 
looked with anxiety to have a resting-place 
amid his wanderings, — to be a man among his 
fellow-men. 

For all these wishes vSchiller saw that the 
only chance of fulfillment depended on un- 
wearied perseverance in his literary occupa- 
tions. Yet though his activity was unabated, 
and the calls on it were increasing rather 
than diminished, its direction was gradually 
changing. The drama had long been station- 
ary, and of late had been falling in his estima- 
tion ; the difficulties of the art, as he viewed 
it at present, had been overcome, and new 
conquests invited him in other quarters. 
The latter part of " Carlos" he had written as 
a task rather than a pleasure; he contem- 
plated no farther undertaking connected with 
the stage. For a time, indeed, he seems to 
have wavered among a multiplicity of enter- 
prises ; now solicited to this, and now to that, 
without being able to fix decidedly on any. 
The restless ardor of his mind is evinced by 
the number and variety of his attempts ; its 
fluctuation by the circumstance that all of 
them are short in extent, or left in the state 
of fragments. Of the former kind are his 
lyrical productions, many of which were 
composed about this period, during intervals 
from more serious labors. The character of 
these performances is such as his former wri- 
tings give us reason to expect. With a deep 
insight into life, and a keen and comprehen- 
sive sympathy with its sorrows and enjoy- 
ments, there is combined that impetuosity of 
feeling, that pomp of thought and imagery, 
which belong peculiarly to Schiller. If he 
had left the drama, his mind was still over- 
flowing with the elements of poetry ; dwelling 
among the grandest conceptions, and the 
boldest or finest emotions ; thinking intensely 
and profoundly, but decorating its thoughts 
with those graces, which other focultics than 
the understanding are required to afford. 
With these smaller pieces, Schiller occupied 
himself at intervals of leisure throughout the 

SC 



remainder of his life. Some of them are to 
be classed among the finest efforts of his 
genius. The "Walk to the Forge," the 
" Song of the Bell," contain exquisite delin- 
eations of the fortunes and the history of 
man; his "Ritter von Toggenburg," his 
" Cranes of Ibycus," his " Plero and Leander," 
are among the most poetical and moving 
ballads to be found in any language. 

Schiller now turned his attention to history, 
his first performance in this department being 
"The Revolt of the Netherlands," unfortu- 
nately a fragment, but written in an exceed- 
ingly pure style, and displaying throughout 
a most penetrating and philosophical spirit. 

He wrote and thought with an impetuosity 
beyond what nature always could endure. 
His intolerance of interruptions first put him 
on the plan of studying by night ; an alluring 
but pernicious practice, which began at Dres- 
den, and was never afterward forsaken. His 
recreations breathed a similar spirit : he loved 
to be much alone, and strongly moved. The 
banks of the Elbe were the favorite resort of 
his mornings: here, wandering in solitude 
amid groves and lawns, and green and beauti- 
ful places, he abandoned his mind to delicious 
musings; watched the fitful current of his 
thoughts, as they came sweeping through his 
soul in their vague, fontastic, gorgeous forms ; 
pleased himself with the transient images of 
memory and hope ; or meditated on the cares 
and studies which had lately been employing, 
and were again soon to employ him. He 
might be seen floating on the river in a gon- 
dola, feasting himself with the loveliness of 
earth and sky. He delighted most to be 
there, when a tempest was abrofyi: his un- 
quiet spirit found a solace in the expression 
of his own unrest on the face of Nature ; dan- 
ger lent a charm to his situation ; he felt in 
harmony with the scene, when the rack was 
sweeping stormfully across the heavens, and 
the forests were sounding in the breeze, and 
the river rolled its chafed waters into wild, 
eddying heaps. 

Yet before the darkness summoned him 
exclusively to his tasks, Schiller commonly 
devoted a portion of the day to the pleasures 
of society. Could he have found enjoyment 
in the flatteries of admiring hospitality, his 
fame would have procured them for him in 
abundance. But these things were not to 

!H 



766 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



his taste. The idea of being a lion is offen- 
sive enough to any man, of not more than 
common vanity, and less than common under- 
standing: it vt-as doubly offensive to him. 
His pride and his modesty alike forbade it. 
The delicacy of his nature, aggravated into 
shyness by his education and his habits, ren- 
dered situations of display more than usually 
painful to him. In the circles of fashion, he ap- 
peared unwillingly, and seldom to advantage: 
their glitter and parade were foreign to his 
disposition : their strict ceremonial cramped 
the play of his mind. Hemmed in, as by in- 
visible fences, among the intricate barriers of 
etiquette, so feeble, yet so inviolable, he felt 
constrained and helpless, — alternately cha- 
grined and indignant. It was the giant 
among pigmies; Gulliver, in Lilliput, tied 
down by a thousand packthreads. But there 
were more congenial minds, with whom he 
could associate; more familiar scenes, in 
which he found the pleasures he was seeking. 
Here Schiller was himself; frank, unembar-' 
rassed, pliant to the humor of the hour. His 
conversation was delightful, abounding at 
once in rare and simple charms. Besides the 
intellectual riches which it carried with it, 
there was a flow of kindliness and unaffected 
good humor, which can render dullness itself 
agreeable. Schiller had many friends in 
Dresden, who loved him as a man while they 
admired him as a writer. Their intercourse 
v/as of the kind he liked, — sober, as well as 
free and mirthful. It was the careless, calm, 
honest effusion of his feelings that he wanted ; 
not the noisy tumults and coarse delirium of 
dissipation. For this, under any of its forms, 
he at no tinje showed the smallest relish. 

A visit to Weimar gained him the acquaint- 
ance of Herder and Wieland, and afterward 
of Goethe. With the latter, he did not get 
on very well at first. Gradually they be- 
came cordial friends, and in 1789, Schiller, 
chiefly through the interest of Goethe, was 
appointed professor of history at the univer- 
sity of Jena, a few miles from the town of 
Weimar. He was then thirty years old, and 
married WXc. von Lengefeldt of Rudolstadt, to 
whom he had been engaged some time before. 
In 1791 he published his " History of the 
Thirty Years' War." This great work sug- 
gested another and his greatest drama, — or 
rather a scries of dramas, since it is in three 



parts, — "Wallenstein," which cost him the 
labor of two years. It was followed speedily 
by " Mary Stuart," a work of great power, 
but not equaling that which preceded it. 
"Mary Stuart" was followed by the "Maid 
of Orleans," the "Bride of Messina," and 
"William Tell." Schiller died in the spring 
of 1 805, at the age of forty-five, in the full 
vigor of his intellectual powers. 

SCHOMBERG, Charles, who was so much 
esteemed by Louis XIII. for his many import- 
ant services rendered in war to the crown of 
France, died in 1G5G, in the fifty-sixth year 
of his age. 

SCHOMBERG, Henry, Count of Nanteuil 
and Duretal, was the son of Caspar Schom- 
berg, a German, and succeeded his father as 
general field-marshal of the German troops 
in the French king's service. He was sent 
ambassador extraordinary to England, in 
1615 ; at his return he had a command in the 
army of Piedmont, and contributed to the 
taking of several places in 1620. He served 
against the Huguenots in the civil wars. In 
1G27 he w^as present at the action of the Isle 
of Re, where the English were defeated. In 
1G30 he took Pignerol, and relieved Cazal, and 
gained the battle of Castelnaudary against 
the rebels of Languedoc. He died at Bour- 
deaux in 1G33, in the forty-ninth year of his 
age. 

SCHOMBERG, Frederic, Duke of an emi- 
nent general, was the son of Coimt Schom- 
berg, by the daughter of Lord Dudley of 
England, and was born in 1C19. He began 
his military career in the army of Gustavus 
Adolphus. He served in the army of the 
United Provinces ; but in 1G50 retired to 
France, where he was esteemed next to Conde 
and Turenne. In IGGO he visited England, 
whence he proceeded to Portugal, where he 
W'as created a grandee, and obtained a pen- 
sion. On his return to France he commanded 
in Flanders, and obliged the Prince of Orange 
to raise the siege of Maestricht, for which he 
was made a marshal. On the revocation of 
the edict of Nantes, he went again to Portu- 
gal ; but being obliged to quit the kingdom 
by the inquisition, he removed to Hoiland, 
and afterward entered into the service of the 
Elector of Brandenburg. In 1G88 he accom- 
panied William' of Orange to England; and 
after the Revolution was created a duke, with 



SCH 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



ICu 



which title he received a grant of one hundred 
thousand pounds. In 1689 he commanded 
in Ireland, where he was killed at the battle 
of the Boyne, July 1st, 1090. 

SCHUYLER, Philip, a general in the 
American Revolution, was born at Albany, 
N. Y., in 1731, and being appointed major-gen- 
eral in 1775, evinced great coui-age and ability. 
He was a member of the old congress, and 
with Rufus King represented New York in 
the first federal senate. He died Nov. 18th, 
1804. 

SCIO, or Chios, a fertile island in the Gre- 
cian Archipelago, containing 392 square 
miles. In 1822, the revolt of the Sciots was 
punished by the Turks, by the massacre of 
40,000 pei'sons without distinction of age or 
sex, while many women and children were 
borne away to slavery. Such was the fero- 
cious spirit exercised toward them, that in 
1823, the population had been reduced from 
120,000 to 16,000! 

SCIPIO. There were many illustrious 
Romans of this name, belonging to the Cor- 
nelii. Cneius, surnamed Asina, was consul, 
A.u.c. 494 and 500. He was conquered in 
his first consulship in a naval battle, and lost 
seventeen ships. The following year he 
took Aleria, in Corsica, and defeated Hanno, 
the Carthaginian general, in Sardinia. He 
also took two hundred of the enemy's ships, 
and the city of Panormum in Sicily. He was 
father to Publius and Cneius Scipio. Pub- 
Lius, in the beginning of the second Punic 
war, was sent with an army to Spain to op- 
pose Hannibal ; but when he heard that his 
enemy had passed over into Italy, he attempt- 
ed by his quick marches and secret evolu- 
tions to stop his progress. He was vanquished 
by Hannibal near the Ticinus, where he would 
have lost his life, had not his son, who was 
afterward surnamed Africanus, courageously 
defended him. He again passed into Spain, 
where he obtained some memorable victories 
over the Carthaginians, and the inhabitants 
of the country. 

His brother Cneius shared the supreme 
command with him, but their great confi- 
dence proved their ruin. They separated 
their armies, and soon after Publius was 
furiously attacked by the two Hasdrubals 
and Mago, who commanded the Carthaginian 
armies 



The forces of Publius were too few I coast of Africa. 
SCI 



to resist with success tiie three Carthaginian 
generals. The Romans were cut to pieces, 
and their commander was left on the field ol 
battle. No sooner had the enemy obtained 
this victory, than they immediately marched 
to meet Cneius Scipio, whom the revolt of 
30,000 Celtiberians had weakened and alarm- 
ed. That general, who was already apprised 
of his brother's death, secured an eminence, 
where he was soon surrounded on all sides. 
After desperate acts of valor, he was left 
among the slain ; or, according to some, he 
fled into a tower, where he was burnt with 
some of his friends by the victorious enemy. 
Publius Cornelius Scipio, whose successes 
won him the surname of Africanus, was the 
son of the Publius Scipio who was killed in 
Spain. He first distinguished himself at the 
battle of Ticinus, where he saved his father's 
life by deeds of unexampled valor and bold- 
ness. The battle of Cannae, which proved so 
fatal to the Roman arms, instead of disheart- 
ening Scipio, raised his expectations, and he 
no sooner heard that some of his desperate 
countrymen wished to abandon Italy, and to 
fly from the insolence of the conqueror, than 
with his sword in his hand, and bj^ his firm- 
ness and example, he obliged them to swear 
eternal fidelity to Rome, and to put to imme- 
diate death the first man who attempted to 
retire from his country. It was soon known 
how able he was to be at the head of an army • 
the various nations of Spain were conquered, 
and in four years the Carthaginians were ban- 
ished from that part of the continent; the 
whole province became tributary to Rome ; 
New Carthage submitted m one day, and in 
a battle 54,000 of the enemy were left dead 
on the field. After these signal victories, 
Scipio was recalled to Rome, which still 
trembled at the continual alarms of Hanni- 
bal, who was at her gates. The conqueror 
of the Carthaginians in Spain was looked upon 
as a proper general to encounter Hannibal in 
Italy ; but Scipio opposed the measures which 
his countrymen wished to pursue, and he 
declared in the senate that if Hannibal was to 
be conquered he must be conquered in Africa. 
These bold measures were immediately adopt- 
ed, though opposed by the eloquence, age, 
and experience of the great Fabius, and Scipio 
was empowered to conduct the war on the 
With the dignity of consul 



768 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



he embarked for Carthage. Hannibal, who 
was victorious at the gates of Rome, was 
instantly recalled to defend the walls of his 
country, and the two greatest generals of the 
age met each other in the field. Terms of 
accommodation were proposed; but in the 
parley which the two commanders had to- 
gether, nothing satisfactory was offered, and 
while the one enlarged on the vicissitudes of 
human affairs, the other wished to dictate like 
a conqueror, and recommended the decision 
of the controversy to the sword. 

The eventful battle was fought near Zama, 
B.C. 202. Both generals displayed their mil- 
itary knowledge in drawing up their armies 
and in choosing their ground. Their courage 
and intrepidity Avere not less conspicuous in 
charging the enemy ; a thousand acts of valor 
were performed on both sides; and though 
the Carthaginians fought in their own de- 
fense, and the Romans for fame and glory, 
yet the conqueror of Italy was vanquished. 
About 20,000 Carthaginians were slain, and 
the same number made prisoners of war. 
Only 2,000 of the Romans were killed. This 
battle was decisive ; the Carthaginians sued 
for peace, which Scipio at last granted on the 
most severe and humiliating terms. 

The conqueror returned to Rome, where 
he was received with the most unbounded 
applause, honored with a triumph, and dig- 
nified with the appellation of Africamis. 
Here lie enjoyed for some time the tranquillity 
and the honors which his exploits merited, 
but to him also as in other great men. For- 
tune showed herself inconstant. Scipio of- 
fended the populace in wishing to distinguish 
the senators from the rest of the people at the 
public exhibitions ; and when he canvassed 
for the consulship for two of his friends, he 
had the mortification to see his application 
slighted, and the honors which he claimed, 
bestowed on a man of no character, recom- 
mended by neither abilities nor meritorious 
actions. 

He retired from Rome, no longer to be a 
spectator of the ingratitude of his country- 
men, and in the capacity of lieutenant, ac- 
companied his brother Lucius against Anti- 
ochus. King of Syria. In this expedition his 
arms were attended with usual success, and 
the Asiatic monarch submitted to the condi- 
tions which the conquerors dictated. At his 



return to Rome, Africanus found the malevo- 
lence of his enemies still unabated. Cato, bin 
inveterate rival, raised seditions against him, 
and the Petills, two tribunes of the people, 
accused the conqueror of Hannibal of extor- 
tion in the provinces of Asia, and of living in 
an indolent and luxurious manner. 

Scipio condescended to answer to the accu- 
sation of his calumniators ; the first day was 
spent in hearing the different charges, but 
when he again appeared on the second day 
of his trial, the accused interrupted his judges, 
and exclaimed, "Tribunes and fellow-citizens, 
on this day, this very day, did I conquer Han- 
nibal and the Carthaginians : come, therefore, 
with me, Romans ; let us go to the capitol, 
and there return our thanks to the immortal 
gods for the victories which have attended our 
arms." The tribes and all the assembly fol- 
lowed Scipio ; the court was deserted, and the 
tribunes were left alone in the seat of judg- 
ment. 

Yet when this memorable day was past and 
forgotten, Africanus was a third time sum- 
moned to appear ; but he had fled before the 
impending storm, and retired to his country- 
house at Liternum. The accusation was 
therefore stopped, and the accusers silenced, 
when one of the tribunes, Ti. Sempronius 
Gracchus, formerly distinguished for his 
malevolence against Scipio, rose to defend 
him, and declared in the assembly, that it 
reflected the highest disgrace on the Roman 
people, that the conqueror of Hannibal should 
become the sport of the populace, and be 
exposed to the malice and envy of disap- 
pointed ambition. 

Some time after, Scipio died in the place 
of his retreat, about B.C. 184, in the forty- 
eighth year of his age ; and so great an aver- 
sion did he express, as he expired, for the 
depravity of the Romans, and the ingratitude 
of their senators, that he ordered his bones 
not to be conveyed to Rome. They were 
accordingly inhumated at Liternum, where 
his wife ^Emilia, the daughter of Paulus 
iEmilius, who fell at the battle of Cannae, 
raised a mausoleum on his tomb, and placed 
upon it his statue, with that of the poet En- 
nius, who had been the companion of his 
peace and of his retirement. In the same 
year died his great opponent, Hannibal, in 
exile likewise. 



SCI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



769 



Lucius Cornelius Scipio, surnamed Asiat- subjects. This, however, did not totally 



icus, accompanied his brother Africanus in 
his expeditions in Spain and Africa. He 
was rewarded with the consulship, b.c. 189, 
and was empowered to attack Antiochus, 
King of Syria, who had declared war against 
the Romans. Lucius was accompanied in 
this campaign by his brother Africanus ; and 
by his own valor, and by the advice of the 
conqueror of Hannibal, he soon routed the 
enemy, and in a battle near the city of Sar- 
dis his soldiers, with scant loss, slew 50,000 
foot and 4,000 horse. 

Peace was soon after settled by the sub- 
mission of Antiochus, and the conqueror, at 
his return home, obtained a triumph, and the 
surname of Asiatkus. He did not, however, 
long enjoy his prosperity ; Cato, after the 
death of Africanus, turned his fury against 
Asiaticus, and the two Petillii, his devoted 
favorites, presented a petition to the people, 
in which they prayed that an inquiry might 
be made to know what money had been 
received from Antiochus and his allies. The 
petition was instantly received, and Asiati- 
cus, charged to have suffered himself to be 
corrupted by Antiochus, was summoned to 
appear before the tribunal of Terentius Culeo, 
who was on this occasion created praetor. 

The judge, who was an inveterate enemy 
to the family of the Scipios, soon found Asi- 
aticus, with his two lieutenants and his 
quaestor, guilty of having received, the first 
6,000 pounds weight of gold and 480 pounds 
weight of silver, and the others nearly an 
equal sum, from the monarch against whom, 
in the name of the Roman people, they were 
enjoined to make war. Immediately they 
were condemned to pay large fines ; but 
while the others gave security, Scipio de- 
clared that he had accounted to the public 
for all the money which he had brought from 
Asia, and therefore that he was innocent. 

For this obstinacy Scipio was dragged to 
prison, but his cousin Nasica pleaded his 
cause before the people, and the pra3tor 
instantly ordered the goods of the prisoner 
to be seized and confiscated. The sentence 
was executed, but the effects of Scipio were 
insufficient to pay the fine ; and it was the 
greatest justification of his innocence, that 
whatever was found in his house had never 
been in the possession of Antiochus or his 



liberate him ; he was reduced to poverty and 
refused to accept the aid of his friends and 
of his clients. Some time after, he was ap- 
pointed to settle the disputes between Eu- 
menes and Seleucus ; and at his return, the 
Romans, ashamed of their severity toward 
him, rewarded his merit with such uncom- 
mon liberality, that Asiaticus was enabled to 
celebrate games in honor of his victory over 
Antiochus, for ten successive days, at his 
own expense. 

PuBLius Cornelius Scipio, surnamed Nas- 
ica, was the son of Cneius Scipio, and cousin 
to Africanus and Asiaticus. He was refused 
the consulship, though supported by the 
interest and fame of the conijueror of Hanni- 
bal ; but he afterward obtained it, and in that 
honorable office conquered the Boii, and 
gained a triumph. He was also successful 
in an expedition which he undertook in Spain. 
When the statue of Cybele was brought to 
Rome from Phrygia, the Roman senate dele- 
gated that one of their body who should be 
declared the most remarkable for the purity 
of his manners and the innocence of his life, 
to go and meet the goddess in the harbor of 
Ostia. Nasica was the object of their choice, 
and as such he was enjoined to bring the 
statue of the goddess to Rome with the great- 
est pomp and solemnity. Nasica also distin- 
guished himself by the active part which he 
took in confuting the accusations laid against 
the two Scipios, Africanus and Asiaticus. 
His son of the same name distinguished him- 
self by his enmity against the Gracchi, to 
whom he was nearly retated. 

PuBLius Cornelius Scipio J]]milianus, son 
of L. .35milius Paulus, the conqueror of Per- 
seus, was adopted by the elder son of Scipio 
Africanus. He first appeared in the Roman 
armies under his father, and afterward dis- 
tinguished himself as a legionary tribune in 
the Spanish provinces, where he killed a 
Spaniard of gigantic stature, and obtained a 
mural crown at the siege of Intcrcatia. He 
passed into Africa to demand a reinforcement 
from Masinissa, the ally of Rome, and he was 
the spectator of a long and bloody battle 
which was fought between that monarch and 
the Carthaginians, and which soon produced 
the third Punic war. Some time after ^mil- 
ianus was made edile, and next appointed 



49 



SCI 



770 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



consul, though under the age required for 
that important ofHce. 

He was empowered to finish the war with 
Carthage, and as he was permitted by the 
senate to choose his colleague, he took with 
him his friend Laslius, whose father, of the 
same name, had formerly enjoj^ed the confi- 
dence and shared the victories of the first 
Africanus. The siege of Carthage was 
alread}^ begun, but the operations of the 
Romans were not continued with vigor. 
Scipio had no sooner appeared before the 
walls of the enemy, than every commu- 
nication with the land was cut off, and 
that they might not have the command of the 
sea, a stupendous mole was thrown across 
the harbor, with immense labor and expense. 
This, which might have disheartened the 
most active enemy, rendered the Carthagini- 
ans more eager in the cause of freedom and 
independence. All the inhabitants, without 
distinction of rank, age, or sex, employed 
themselves without cessation to dig another 
harbor, and to build and equip another fleet. 
In a short time, in spite of the vigilance and 
activity of ^milianus, the Romans were 
astonished to see another harbor formed, and 
fifty galleys suddenly issuing under sail, ready 
for the engagement. 

This unexpected fleet, by immediately 
attacking the Roman ships, might have gained 
the victory ; t)ut the delaj'' of the Cartha- 
ginians proved fatal to their cause, and the 
enemy had suflicient time to prepare them- 
selves. Scipio soon got possession of a small 
eminence in the harbor ; and, by the success 
of his subsequent operations, he broke open 
one of the gates of the c\ij, and entered the 
streets, where he made his way by fire and 
sword. The surrender of above 50,000 men 
was followed by the reduction of the citadel, 
and the total submission of Carthage, B.C. 147. 

The captive city was set on fire ; and 
though Scipio was obliged to demolish its 
very walls, to obey the orders of the Ro- 
mans, yet he wept bitterly over the melan- 
choly and tragical scene ; and in bewailing 
the miseries of Carthage, he expressed his 
fears lest Rome, in her turn, in some future 
age, should exhibit such a dreadful confla- 
gration. The return of ^milianus to Rome 
was that of another conqueror of Hannibal, 



and like his grandfather by adoption, he was 
honored with a magnificent triumph, and 
received the surname of Ajricanus. He was 
chosen consul a second time and appointed to 
finish the war which the Romans had hith- 
erto carried on without success or vigorous 
exertions, against Numantia, in Spain. The 
fall of Numantia was more noble than that 
of the capital of Africa, and the conqueror 
of Carthage obtained the victory only when 
the Numantines had been consumed by fam- 
ine or by self-destruction, B.C. 133. 

For his conquests in Spain, ^milianus 
was honored with a second triumph, and 
with the surname of Numantinus. Yet his 
popularity was short; and by telling the 
people that the murder of their favorite, his 
brother-in-law, Tiberius Gracchus, was law- 
ful, since he was turbulent, and inimical to 
the peace of the republic, Scipio incurred the 
displeasure of the assembly, and was received 
with hisses. His authority for a moment 
quelled their sedition, when he reproached 
them for their cowardice, and exclaimed, 
"Factious wretches, do you think that 
your clamors can intimidate me, — me, 
whom the fury of your enemies never 
daunted ? Is this the gratitude that you 
owe to my father, Paulus, who conquered 
Macedonia, and to me ? Without my fam- 
ily, you were slaves. Is this the respect 
you owe to your deliverers ? Is this your 
afiection ? " This firmness silenced the mur- 
murs of the assembly, and some time after, 
Scipio retired from the clamors of Rome to 
Caieta, where, with his friend Lajlius, he 
passed the rest of his time in innocent plea- 
sure and amusement, in diversions which had 
pleased them when children. He afterward 
returned to Rome, and again engaged in pub- 
lic affairs, strongly opposing the agrarian 
laws. One evening the senate, and a large 
throng of the citizens, the Latins, and other 
allies, conducted their illustrious friend and 
patron to his house. It seemed the wish 
that the troubles might be quieted by the 
election of Scipio to the dictatorship; and 
many presumed that that honor would be 
conferred upon him. In this, however, the 
expectations of Rome were frustrated : Scipio 
was found dead in his bed the next morning, 
and those who inquired for the cause of this 



SCI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



771 



judden death, perceived violent marks on his 
neck, and concluded that he had been stran- 
gled, B.C. 128. 

SCOTLAND, a country of Europe form- 
ing the northern division of Great Britain, 
containing 31,324 square miles, and 2,888,742 
inhabitants. It is divided by the Grampian 
Hills into the Highlands and Lowlands. The 
Highland counties are, Orkney and Shetland, 
Caithness, Sutherland, Nairn, Elgin or Moray, 
Banff, Ross, Cromarty, Inverness, Argyle, 
Bute, Aberdeen, Kincardine, Angus or For- 
far, Perth, and Fife. The Lowland counties 
are, Kinross, Clackmannan, Stirling, Dum- 
barton, Linlithgow or West Lothian, Edin- 
burgh or Mid Lothian, Haddington or East 
Lothian, Berwick, Renfrew, Ayr, Wigton, 
Lanark, Peebles, Selkirk, Roxburgh, Dum- 
fries, and Kirkcudbright. The surface of the 
country is distinguished for variety, and often 
rugged and mountainous. With the excep- 
tion of a few tracts of rich alluvial land along 
the courses of the larger rivers, Scotland has 
no extensive tracts of level ground, the coun- 
try being a succession of hill and dale. Ben 
Nevis, the highest of the mountains, attains 
an elevation of 4,406 feet, and there are many 
peaks which nearly rival its eminence. The 
fine scenery of the Highlands is enhanced by 
the many lakes, in whose clear depths 
inverted summits cast their bold outlines 
against a reflected sky. The largest is Loch 
Lomond. The minerals are numerous and 
valuable ; a great coal-field stretches across 
the Lowlands ; iron and lead are mined. The 
agriculture of Scotland does not equal that 
of England ; the climate is more variable, 
and the soil is mferior, so that notwithstand- 
ing the advanced state of tillage in many 
districts, the crops are not reaped with the 
same certainty as in England, nor do the 
ordinary kinds of grain arrive at the same 
perfection. The manufactures, especially 
those of linen and cotton, are extensive and 
flourishing. The making of steam-engines, 
and every description of machinery, as also 
the building of steamers, both of wood and 
iron, is largely carried on along the Clyde. 
Foreign commerce also has increased very 
largely of late years. The general religion 
is Presbyterianism ; and besides the estab- 
lished church, there is the large body known 
as the free church, which separated from the 



former in 1843. If in earth-culture Scotland 
is inferior to England, in mind-culture she as 
much surpasses. There are excellent univer- 
sities at Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Aberdeen, 
but the superiority of which we speak is in 
education for the mass of the people. Each 
parish has at least one school, in which the 
ordinary branches of education are taught ; 
and private schools are frequent. There is a 
wide difterence between the stupid clowns of 
England, and the shrewd, intelligent peas- 
antry of Scotland. 

Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, is sit- 
uated about two miles from the Frith of 
Forth. In panoramic splendor its site is un- 
surpassed by any city in Europe. A deep 
ravine divides the Old Town from the New. 
The latter, which has been built within the 
last hundred years, displays great elegance 
of architecture and symmetry of plan. The 
Old Town has changed but little since the 
days of John Knox and Queen Mary. Its 
houses often rise to the lofty height of a 
dozen stories, and the abodes of nobles in 
ruder times still stand, though now the dwell- 
ings of poverty. From the high chimneys 
curl the thin vapors of smoke which have 
stood sponsors to the name "Auld Reekie." 
There is much similarity betw'een the position 
of Edinburgh and Athens : Calton Hill serves 
for an Acropolis, the Frith of Forth for the 
iEgean Sea ; and this resemblance, with lit- 
erary eminence, has given the city the title 
of the 'Modern Athens.' Like a couchant 
lion, Salisbury Crags watch the town, and 
above them rises the solitary grandeur of 
Arthur's Seat. Edinburgh has no very exten- 
sive manufactures : printing and publishing 
are largely carried on ; but its prosperity 
depends upon its universities and schools, the 
presence of the courts of judicature for Scot- 
land, and its lingering importance as the 
ancient capital of the land. Leith, which 
may be called the port of Edinburgh, two 
miles distant, has a fine harbor and docks, 
and a busy trade, principally with the north 
of Europe and the Baltic. The population 
of Edinburgh and its suburbs is 161,000. 
Edinburgh became the royal residence in 
1437. 

The commercial metropolis of Scotland is 
Glasgow, at the head of navigation on the 
Clyde, and in wealth, population, manufac- 



SCO 



772 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



tures, and commerce, it is the third city in 
the united kingdom ; population 400,000. It 
is among the most ancient towns of Scotland, 
its origin being attributed to St. Mungo, 
somewhere about 560. In the last century 
Glasgow was the seat of a great tobacco 
trade, that absorbed almost all its capital and 
enterprise, and laid in return foundations of 
many and great fortunes. With this the 
American Revolution interfered, and atten- 
tion was turned to cotton manufactures, to 
which Glasgow chiefly owes her pre-eminence 
as a commercial and manufacturing city. Of 
late years the iron trade has advanced to- 
ward colossal proportions, and the 'iron 
lords' threaten to eclipse the 'cotton lords,' 
as the latter, years ago, eclipsed the ' tobacco 
lords.' It was here that Watt commenced 
his labors upon the steam-engine, and here 
was the dawn of steam navigation in Great 
Britain. Glasgow, among many striking 
public buildings, has a fine cathedral, erected 
early in the twelfth century. Its ancient 
university is still high in repute. 

We can only mention other prominent 
towns in Scotland, as Paisley, Aberdeen, 
Dundee, Greenock, Inverness, Perth, and 
Dumfries. 

This part of Great Britain was originally 
called Caledonia. The ancient inhabitants 
appear to have been the Caledonians and 
Picts, Celtic tribes who passed over from the 
opposite coast of Gaul. We first hear of the 
Scots in Ireland, which island they in the fifth 
century divided with the Hiberni, the previous 
inhabitants; over whom, however, they got 
so decided a superiority, that the country was 
called Scotia till the tenth century. In the 
beginning of the sixth century, a colony of 
these Scots settled in Argyleshire, which they 
called Daldriada. The rest of the land north 
of the Friths of Forth and Clyde formed the 
kingdom of the Picts. In 843 the whole of 
North Britain was united under the rule of 
Kenneth MacAlpine, originally king of the 
Scots of Daldriada, but thenceforth styled 
king of the Picts. Throughout the tenth 
century, North Britain, ruled as one king- 
dom by his successors, was known by the 
name of Albania, undoubtedly the same with 
Albion, or Albin, which is the most ancient 
name attributed to the island, and that by 
which the Gael of Scotland distinguish it to 



this day. About the middle of this century, 
the name Scotland began to be used, and soon 
the people were known simply as Scots. 

Donald, brother to Kenneth, was succeeded 
by Constantine, his nephew, son of Kenneth, 
who being made prisoner by a party of Danes, 
was beheaded by the enemy in a cave, after- 
ward called the Devil's Cave. He was suc- 
ceeded by his brother Eth, who after a sensual 
reign of one year, was followed by Gregory, 
surnamed the Great. The king of Ireland 
being a minor, his authority was usurped by 
two factious noblemen. Gregory therefore 
passed over into that country as guardian of 
the young king, and after appointing a re- 
gency, he returned into Scotland, where he 
finished a life of action and of glory at Dun- 
o-deer, in the Garioch, in 892, and was buried 
with his ancestors at Icolmkill. . 

Donald VI., the worthy successor of Greg- 
ory, rendered considerable service to Alfred, 
king of England, in his wars with the Danes. 
He was succeeded by Constantine III., son 
of Eth, who, departing from the policy of 
his predecessors, entered into an alliance with 
the Danes, in the hope of being able to extend 
his dominions by their help. But he was 
disappointed. After failing in an expedition 
against England, he resigned his crown to 
Malcolm, son of Donald VI., and spent the 
remainder of his life in the solitude of the 
cloister. The connection of the English and 
Scots against the Danes, was continued under 
Indulf, Avho defeated these freebooters in 
many bloody engagements, and was at last 
slain by them in an ambuscade. His suc- 
cessor Duff, son of Malcolm, resigned his 
principality of Cumberland to Colin, the son 
of Indulf ; but the latter, not contented with 
his domain, excited various insurrections in 
the kingdom, and at last Duff was either slain 
or driven into exile. 

Colin indulged in the greatest licentious- 
ness, and was assassinated by a thane whose 
daughter he had dishonored, and was suc- 
ceeded by Kenneth III., the son of Malcolm, 
who vigorously prosecuted the war against 
the Britons of Strathcluyd, till at last their 
principality was finally subjected to the do- 
minion of the Scots. However, Kenneth was 
assassinated, and the throne was usurped by 
Constantine the Bold, who fell in an engage- 
ment with Grime, the son of Duff, in 993. 



SCO 



HISTORT AND BIOGRAPHY. 



773 



Grime, regardless of the claims of Malcolm, 
son of Kenneth, and prince of Cumberland, 
caused himself to be crowned at Scone, but 
was defeated and slain after a reign of eight 
years. 

In 1004 Malcolm, having convened the 
nobility, was acknowledged sovereign, and 
invested with the royal dignity. He defeated 
in three different engagements the Danes, who 
had effected a settlement in Cambria ; and 
these successes gained him the title of the 
most victorious king. He was murdered after 
a reign of thirty years, and left no issue to 
succeed him except Duncan, a grandson by 
his daughter Bethoc. Duncan was cut off 
by the hand of domestic treachery in the 
seventh year of his reign, and the throne 
was usurped by his murderer, Macbeth. Mal- 
colm, son of Duncan, had escaped to the 
English court. Obtaining assistance thence, 
he made war on the usurper, and finally con- 
quered and slew him. The victor mounted 
the throne, and wedded Margaret of England, 
who had fled to Scotland for her life. He was 
surnamed Canmore, or 'great head.' His 
reign ended in 1093, by his death at the 
siege of Alnwick Castle. 

The people of the Lowlands, now to a great 
extent Saxon, supported the claim of Can- 
more's son Duncan as his successor ; the Cel- 
tic tribes of the north asserted the right of 
Donald Bane, a brother of Canmore, in con- 
" formity with the old custom of tanistry. 
Donald Bane was assisted by Magnus Bare- 
foot, King of Norway, to whom at this time 
belonged the Western Islands, and was thus 
able to carry all before him. He drove out the 
Saxons who had settled in the Lowlands dur- 
ing the late reign. After a few months Duncan 
came with a numerous army from England, 
which he had raised by consent of William 
Rufus, and Donald was forced to give way. 
Duncan was not able to protect the Saxon 
settlers who had returned with him : he 
found it necessary to drive them forth ; and 
when he had thus deprived himself of for- 
eign protection, his subjects put him to death 
and restored his uncle. Two years after- 
ward another English army, conducted by 
Edgar Atheling, overpowered Donald, and 
set the crown on the head of Edgar, a brother 
of Duncan. That result decided the contest 
between the two principles of succession, and 



also the struggle for supremacy between 
Celtic and Saxon Scotland. Edgar was suc- 
ceeded by his brother Alexander, and he by 
David,, another brother. On the accession of 
Malcolm IV., grandson of David, a child only 
in his eleventh year, unsuccessful attempts t 
were made by the Highlanders to maintain 
the claim of William, a grandson of Malcolm 
Canmore's eldest son Duncan. 

It was not, however, till full two centuries 
later that the rule of the Scottish king was 
established over the whole of Scotland. Na- 
tive chiefs appear to have retained possession 
of the districts in the extreme north. The 
Saxon inhabitants perfected their Saxon in- 
stitutions : the country was divided into earl- 
doms, and sheriffs and county courts were 
established. From the reign of David I. 
(1124-1153), we date the introduction of Nor- 
man institutions. Of the great Highland 
chiefs, the Eai'ls of Moray continued the most 
formidable till 1161, when that ancient line 
was stripped of its power and its possessions 
by Malcolm IV., and the title it had enjoyed 
was transferred to the Earls of Mar. After 
the cession of the Hebrides by the Norwe- 
gians in 1266, the most potent family of the 
north came to be that of the Macdonalds, the 
Celtic chiefs of these islands, who styled 
themselves Lords of the Isles. Their strength 
was broken by the defeat of Donald, Lord of 
the Isles, at the battle of Harlaw in 1411, and 
destroyed by the effective measures taken by 
James L to curb the Highland chiefs. From 
this epoch may be dated the complete reduc- 
tion of Celtic Scotland under the sceptre of 
the Saxon king of the Lowlands. The lord- 
ship -of the isles was finally extinguished by 
the forfeiture of the last lord in 1493. 

Malcolm IV., the successor of David I., 
ceded the counties of Northumberland and 
Cumberland to Henry II. of England, did hom- 
age for the earldom of Huntingdon, and meet- 
ing that monarch at Carlisle, followed him in 
his expedition against Toulouse in France. 
On his return he was continually disturbed 
with insurrections, and was saved only by the 
intervention of the clergy. He died unmar- 
ried at the age of twenty -five years. 

William was crowned immediately after 
his brother's death, in 1165, and entering 
into a confederacy against Henry of England, 
was defeated and taken prisoner. He accept- 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ed his liberation on the most humiliating 
terms ; five castles being delivered up to the 
English as sureties, and the king's brother 
and twenty nobles ks hostages. The acces- 
sion of Richard to the English throne was, 
however, fortunate for Scotland. He released 
William and his kingdom from that feudal 
dependency on England which had been 
unjustly extorted during his captivity, and 
engaged to restore his fortresses. William 
reigned forty-nine years, and died in the 
seventy -second year of his age. 

His son and successor, Alexander H., mar- 
ried Joan, daughter of John of England, set- 
tled by treaty the claims which had been the 
subjects of contest between the two crowns, 
and procured for himself a reign as peaceable 
as could be expected in a nation full of tur- 
bulent nobles. Alexander III. was only nine 
years of age when he was crowned. Ambas- 
sadors were sent to London to demand Mar- 
garet, daughter of Henry III., in marriage ; 
and this being easily granted, both courts 
met at York, and the ceremony was performed 
with great pomp. Alexander did homage to 
Henry for his English possessions, which the 
latter confirmed by a charter. 

The king saw himself bereft of all his chil- 
dren, except Margaret, who was married to 
Eric of Norway ; and in the third year after 
her marriage she also died, leaving only an 
infant daughter, on whom the crown of Scot- 
land was settled. Alexander was thrown 
from his horse over a precipice, and perished 
in the fall. Edward I., who was one of the 
most valiant and politic monarchs that ever 
sat on the English throne, being ambitious 
of adding Scotland to the dominions of his 
crown, applied to the court of Rome to au- 
thorize a marriage between his son and his 
grand-niece, and having gained the consent 
of Eric, he intrigued with the Scottish nobles 
to obtain their concurrence. Everything 
seemed to favor his views, when the child 
was taken ill on the passage from Norway, 
and died at Orkney. 

The Scots saw before them the unhappy 
prospect of a disputed succession, war with 
England, and intestine discord. In order to 
avoid the miseries of a civil war, both parties 
made choice of Edward as umpire, and agreed 
to acquiesce in his decree. The chief com- 
petitors for the crown were Edward Bruce and 



John Baliol, both descendants of David, Earl 
of Huntingdon, who was brother to the two 
kings, Malcolm and William. Edward ad- 
vanced with a great army to the frontiers of 
Scotland, whither he invited the nobility and 
all the competitors to attend him. In the 
character of umpire, he arrogated to himself 
the feudal sovereignty of the kingdom, com- 
pelled all the barons to swear allegiance to 
him, and took possession of all the fortresses 
with his troops. One hundred and four com- 
missioners being appointed to examine the 
several claims, gave their verdict in favor of 
Baliol, who was crowned accordingly in 
1292. 

But Baliol renouncing his allegiance soon 
after, the indignant Edward invaded Scotland 
with an immense army, and compelled this 
weak prince to submit and make a solemn 
and irrevocable resignation of his crown into 
the hands of the king of England. National 
animosities, and the insolence of victory, con- 
spired to render the English government 
intolerable to the Scots, who bore with the 
utmost impatience a yoke, to which, from the 
earliest period of their monarchy, they had 
always been unaccustomed. 

In 1296, Sir William Wallace, whose mag- 
nanimous soul could no longer brook to see 
his country torn by factions, deserted by its 
chiefs, and oppressed by foreigners, bravely 
stepped forth to reunite the friends of liberty 
under his banner. His enterprises added to- 
the glory of his name, and to the number of 
his followers, till at length he obtained a 
numerous army. The Scots were forced to 
the cruel expedient of putting to the sword 
every Englishman they found in arms. King 
Edward, who was then in France, ordered the 
Earl of Surrey to suppress this daring insur- 
rection ; and Lord Henry Percy marched at 
the head of an army of forty thousand men 
against Wallace. The latter retreated north- 
ward, where he was joined by new adherents ; 
and when Warrene advanced to Stirling, he 
found Wallace encamped in excellent order 
on the opposite bank of the Forth. A des- 
perate engagement ensued, in which the Eng- 
lish were utterly defeated and obliged to 
evacuate the kingdom. This success pro- 
cured Wallace the title of guardian ; but he 
still acknowledged the captive king, Baliol. 
The cause was ruined, however, by the jeal- 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



775 



ousy of the nobles. The EngHsh monarch 
returned from France, and marched into Scot- 
land at the head of seventy thousand men. 
Wallace now voluntarily resigned his author- 
ity, and retained only one corps that refused 
to fight under any other leader. The Eng- 
lish army came up with the enemy near Fal- 
kirk, and defeated and dispersed the Scots 
with great slaughter. With much difficulty 
Edward completed the conquest of Scotland, 
without being able to seize or subdue the 
patriotic Wallace. Disappointed in all his 
schemes for that purpose, he did not disdain 
to stoop to treachery ; and Sir William was 
basely betrayed by a traitor, and sent to Lon- 
don, where he was tried and barbarously put 
to death as a rebel in 1305. 

Robert Bruce, the restorer of the Scottish 
throne, and father of a new race of kings, was 
the grandson of the competitor of Baliol for 
the crown. Having resolved to quit the court 
of Edward, to whom his Hither and grand- 
father had meanly sworn allegiance, he con- 
trived to escape, and to join the Scotch pat- 
riots. After collecting what forces he could, 
in loOG he attacked the English, who were 
unprepared, and having gained possession of 
several castles, he -was solemnly crowned at 
Scone. King Edward immediately dispatched 
Aymer de Valence into Scotland, who, falling 
in with Bruce at Methven, attacked him; and 
notwithstanding a most vigorous resistance, 
totally defeated the Scottish army. 

Bruce fled almost unattended to the West- 
ern Isles, where he wandered about for some 
time in distress ; but Edward dying on 
his way to Scotland, Bruce was delivered 
from a powerful enemy, and his party daily 
increased. In 1314 he defeated Edward II. 
on the memorable field of Bannockburn, and 
the liberty of Scotland triumphed. It was 
not, however, till the deposition of Edward 
that Robert Bruce wrested from England a 
solemn renunciation of all claims on Scotland 
and secured a peace by marrying his son 
David to Joan, sister of Edward III. 

During the minority of David, Edward, 
son of John Baliol, being supported by the 
English, invaded Scotland in 1332, was pro- 
claimed king, and, like his father, did hom- 
age as vassal of England. David, with his 
queen, found refuge in France ; but Edward 
Baliol dismembering his kingdom in favor of 



the English, lost the affections of his subjects. 
David returning from France, repulsed Baliol, 
and was himself taken prisoner near Dur- 
ham. Baliol resigned his claims to Edward 
III., who, soon after, acknowledged David as 
king, and restored him to liberty on condi- 
tion of his paying a great ransom. 

David, leaving no progeny, was succeeded 
in 1371 by his nephew Robert II., the first 
king from the Stuart family. War with 
England was renewed, notwithstanding Rob- 
ert's inclination for peace. The most mem- 
orable battle of this reign is that of Otter- 
burn. The Scots had levied 30,000 men for 
the invasion of England. They divided their 
army into two parts ; the greatest, com- 
manded by the king's two sons, marched 
toward Carlisle ; Douglas, with 300 horse 
and 2,000 foot, entered Northumberland. The 
great army carried all before them without 
opposition ; and Douglas, having wasted the 
country as far as Durham, came before New- 
castle, and threatened it with a siege. He 
staid before the town two days, which were 
spent in skirmishes ; and at last the generals, 
Douglas and Percy, agreed upon a personal 
rencounter. Percy was dismounted and dis- 
armed ; but his men coming to his rescue, he 
was saved. Douglas now marched off with 
his men, and attacked Otterburn Castle. 
Percy, marching against him with 10,000 
men, nearly surprised him at supper. The 
alarm being given, and the Scots advanta- 
geously posted, the battle began with great 
vigor. Douglas broke into the thick of the 
enemy, and made a terrible slaughter, but 
before his men came up, he had received 
three mortal wounds. The English at length 
were totally routed, 1,840 slain, 1,000 
wounded, and 1,040 taken prisoners. The 
Scots carried off the Percies, with four hun- 
dred prisoners of note ; dismissed the rest ; 
took Douglas's corpse, with those of other 
great men, along with them, and buried 
them at Melrose. This victory was obtained 
July 31st, 1388, but Douglas was so deeply 
lamented, that both the Scots armies returned 
home as melancholy as if they had been con- 
quered. On this battle the well known bal- 
lad of "Chevy Chase" is founded. 

Robert tl. died April 19th, 1390, in the 
nineteenth year of his reign. Robert III. 
refused to do homage for the crown to Henry 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



IV. He was the first who created dukes in 
Scotland ; and his brother, the viceroy, was 
made Duke of Albany ; but Douglas refused 
the new title. A war happened afterward 
with England, in which the Earl of March 
took part with the English, who invaded the 
kingdom and besieged Edinburgh castle ; the 
English returning without having effected 
their purpose, the Scots invaded Northum- 
berland, and were surprised and defeated on 
returning with their spoil ; when Archibald 
Douglas gathered 10,000 men, but was de- 
feated, taken prisoner, and many of the 
nobles slain, by Henry Percy of Northum- 
berland, and George, Earl of March above- 
mentioned. May 7th, 1401. 

In the mean time all things went to ruin 
in Scotland, by the tyranny of the Duke of 
Albany, who starved his nephew, Prince 
David, to death ; so that the king was obliged 
to secure his youngest son, James, by send- 
ing him to France ; but landing at Flambor- 
ough in Yorkshire, he was detained prisoner 
by the English, contrary to the truce, which 
so afflicted his father that he died Apr. 1st, 
1406, and the government was settled upon 
his brother ; during whose administration 
the English invaded Scotland, and overran 
the southern counties. 

In 1419 auxiliaries were sent to France 
under the Earl of Buchan, who defeated the 
Duke of Clarence ; for which the Earl of 
Buchan was made lord high constable of 
France. The Duke of Albany died in 1420, 
and his son Murdo succeeded him in the 
government; during whose regency more 
auxiliaries were sent to France, and Douglas 
was created Duke of Touraine in that king- 
dom ; but they were twice defeated by the 
English, under John, Duke of Bedford, who 
carried James I. of Scotland with him, being 
still prisoner. James being prevailed upon 
to forbid his subjects to fight against that 
army where he was in person, they answered 
that they did not acknowledge him for their 
king while he was in the power of his enemy. 
But not long after, Murdo, the governor, 
being displeased with the insolence of his 
own sons, James I. was ransomed and brought 
home in 1423. After reigning thirteen years, 
he was barbarously assassinated. New broils 
attended the minority of James II., who was 
only seven years old at the time of his acces- 



sion in 1437. At the age of fourteen the 
young king assumed the reins of government, 
but he was soon after killed by the bursting 
of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh, 1460. 

James III., after marrying Margaret of 
Denmark, gave himself up to astrology, and 
through jealousy made away with his own 
brother, the Earl of Mar, M'hile the Duke of 
Albany, the other brother, escaped to France. 
Being invited to England, now again at war 
with her northern neighbor, the Duke of 
Albany took the title of Alexander, King of 
Scotland, by the gift of Edward, and marched 
to the borders. But a treaty being concluded, 
Albany returned to his allegiance and to his 
brother's favor. A fresh conspiracy being 
formed against James, the rebels prevailed 
on the king's son, the j'oung Duke of Roth- 
say, to head their army. An engagement 
took place near Bannockburn, in which the 
rebels were successful, and the king, in his 
flight, was thrown from his horse, and carried 
to the first hovel, where he was stabbed to 
the heart by one of the insurgents. 

James IV. succeeded his father in 1488. 
At the instigation of the French court, he 
rashly entered into a war against Henry VIII., 
brother of his queen, and, notwithstanding 
the advice of his best counselors, led an 
army into England, where, at the memorable 
battle of Flodden Field, he lost the flower of 
his nobility and his own life, 1513. 

James V. being only two years old at the 
death of his father, his mother Margaret, 
sister to the King of England, was appointed 
regent and guardian by the will of her hus- 
band. The young king assumed the govern- 
ment at the age of thirteen, in 1513, with a 
council of eight; but he soon shook off the 
yoke of his council. Henry VIII. having 
proclaimed war against Scotland, an inroad 
was planned on the western borders; but 
James despising and distrusting his nobles, 
gave the command of the army to a man of 
less note. This insult provoked the troops, 
who refused to fight at the raid of Solway 
Moss, and ten thousand men laid down their 
arms before five hundred English, without 
striking a blow. These sad tidings broke 
the proud heart of James, who refused from 
that moment to take any sustenance, and, 
after languishing some day.s, he expired in 
the thirty-first year of his age. 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



777 



Mary, Queen of Scots, was born a few days 
before the death of her father. The disasters 
of her reign began and ended only with her 
life. At an early age Mary was sent to 
France, where she was brought up at the 
court of Henry II., whose eldest son, Fran- 
cis, was destined to be her husband. The 
minority of Mary Stuart was agitated by 
great disturbances ; and the regency was 
claimed by different competitors as a privilege 
of blood or family appanage. The tempests 
excited by ambition and jealousy, were in- 
creased by the gusts of religious ftmaticism. 
Popery struggled against the Reformation 
with an already evident disadvantage ; and 
the vessel of state, buffeted by those storms, 
was every moment in imminent danger of sink- 
ing. At this critical situation of affairs, Mary 
returned to assume the sovereignty of her king- 
dom, the death of Francis II. having left her a 
widow at the age of eighteen jrears. By 
assuming the title of Queen of England, she 
excited the jealousy of Elizabeth, who never 
pardoned her cousin this assertion of her 
rights. The religious dissensions by which 
Scotland was divided, were effectually sub- 
servient to the views of Elizabeth, who gained 
the affections of the reformed party, and 
excited their suspicions against their sov- 
ereign, Mary being sprung from the blood of 
the Guises, and niece to the Cardinal de 
Lorraine, who was the scourge of the Prot- 
estants. To their religious and political 
opinions the young queen could not reconcile 
herself, and hence arose a decided aversion 
between the sovereign and her subjects. 
Her council induced her to remarry, and she 
gave her hand to her cousin Henry, Lord 
Darnlej^ This marriage displeased Elizabeth. 
Soon after Mary's marriage with Darnley, 
she became disgusted with his neglect and 
vices. Darnley, thinking this change of dis- 
position was occasioned by a passion for 
some other man, suspected David Rizzio, her 
secretary, an Italian. He soon found a set 
of willing accomplices in the execution of 
vengeance against his wife ; and, accordingly, 
Oiic evening, while the queen was at supper 
with the Countess of Argyle, Rizzio, and 
others, the confederates entered by a private 
staircase into the queen's apartment, where 
they seized Rizzio, and after dragging him 



into an adjoining room, dispatched him with 
fifty-six wounds. 

Nothing could exceed the grief and indig- 
nation of Mary on this occasion. On the 
19th of June, 1560, at Edinburgh Castle, she 
bore her only son, afterward James VI. of 
Scotland, and I. of England. At length, after 
a series of tragical disasters, Mary placed 
herself in the hands of Elizabeth, by whose 
order she was executed at Fotheringay Cas- 
tle in 1587. [See Stuart.] 

When in 1567 Mary was deposed by the 
nobles, her infant son was crowned, and the 
Earl of Murray appointed regent. Upon the 
death of Elizabeth of England in 1603, the 
crown of that kingdom devolved upon James. 
Before he left Scotland to take possession of 
his new kingdom, he had with great zeal 
labored to civilize the northern and western 
Highlands. He was himself a scholar ; and 
to his love of learning, the Scots are indebted 
for the parochial schools, which afford the 
common people so much advantage in point 
of education. He encouraged trade and the 
fisheries, and greatly promoted the industry 
of his subjects. By means of the king's 
accession to the English throne, the regal pow- 
er in Scotland acquired additional strength ; 
and James attempted to avail himself of this 
circumstance for the union of both the na- 
tional churches and the kingdoms into one. 
After a reign and life of nearly fifty-nine 
years, James was seized with his last illness, 
which some affirm to have been caused by 
poison. 

Charles I. entered Edinburgh with great 
magnificence, and was crowned at Holyrood 
Palace. By advice of Laud, Archbishop of 
Canterbury, and Spottiswood the historian. 
Archbishop of St. Andrews, Charles attempt- 
ed to introduce a book of liturgy into the 
public worship of the Scottish churches. 
These measures excited the most general dis- 
content, and produced the most violent com- 
motion. A civil war at length became una- 
voidable ; and the Covenanters prepared for 
it with vigor and i-esolution. They received 
arms, ammunition, and money, from France, 
and other countries ; and no regularly estab- 
lished commonwealth could take wiser meas- 
ures. Lesley, a soldier of experience and 
ability the Earl of Montrose, a youth of 



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778 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



heroic genius, with other leaders of the party, 
all of them men of sense and resolution, 
conducted the military affairs. After seizing 
and fortifying the most important places of 
strength m the kingdom, they invaded Eng- 
land, and compelled the royal forces to reti-eat 
to York. 

At this period, the English rebels courted 
a closer union with their Scottish friends, and 
agreed to receive the solemn league and cove- 
nant, to preserve the reformed religion estab- 
lished in the church of Scotland, and to reform 
England and Ireland, according to the word 
of God, and the example of the purest 
churches. Accordingly a subsidiary army 
of 20,000 Scots hastened to join Lord Fairfax, 
and effectually assisted him in reducing the 
city of York. While the king's affairs de- 
clined in England, the brave Montrose had 
left the Scottish army, and raised the royal 
standard in the north. This active noble- 
man, having raised a supply of 1,200 troops 
from Ireland, hastened to take the command of 
this auxiliary force, and several more flocked 
to his standard. He attacked and defeated 
a party of the Covenanters, 6,000 in number, 
under TuUibardine ; Perth opened its gates 
to the victor, and was laid under contribu- 
tion. At Aberdeen, Montrose gained a sec- 
ond victory over the troops under Lord 
Burleigh, and laid waste the country of Ar- 
gyle. Montrose gained in succession the 
victories of Auldearn, Alford, and Kilsyth, 
but his vi'hole army was destroyed, at Philip- 
haugh, by the troops under Sir David Lesley, 
and he was never able afterward to bring a 
formidable force into the field, notwithstand- 
ing all the efforts he could make. 

The fortunes of Charles being now ruined 
in England, he was reduced to the desperate 
expedient of seeking refuge in the heart of 
the Scotch army, though in open rebellion 
against him. The immediate consequences 
of this fatal step were orders to his adherents 
to lay down their arms. Montrose obeyed, 
and retired to France. The English parlia- 
ment demanded of the Scottish army the 
person of the king ; they preferred delivering 
him up rather than go to war in his defense. 
The kingdom was, however, divided into two 
parties, and the Duke of Hamilton and the 
majority m parliament, in opposition to the 
church, succeeded in raising a numerous 



army to support the king against Cromwell 
and his adherents, who appeared to entertain 
designs totally hostile both to the king's 
person and government ; with this army they 
set forward to invade England, and to restore 
the king to his ancient rights. But the vio- 
lent party considered it the height of impiety 
to fight for an uncovenanted king. 

The Scotch troops, not daring to unite 
themselves with the English royalists who 
had refused the covenant, both armies were 
easily destroyed by Cromwell, who, after 
exercising the severest vengeance against the 
friends of Charles in Scotland, returned in 
triumph to England, and brought Charles to 
public trial and execution. The Covenanters 
now declared for the young king, Charles II., 
then in Holland, on condition of his becoming 
the pupil of Presbyterianism, and taking the 
covenant. Montrose was dispatched to the 
Orkneys, to make an attempt for the king's 
restoration on better terms ; but being at- 
tacked by a much superior force, he was 
defeated, and put to death in 1650. 

Charles II. now sailed from Holland for the 
Scottish coast, and threw himself entirely 
into the hands of the Covenanters, who 
required him to sign the covenant, and 
exhorted him to be faithful to that holy 
confederacy. Cromwell marched into Scot- 
land against the now royal Covenanters, 
whom he attacked, and defeated at Dunbar. 
Notwithstanding this defeat, the roj'alists in 
Scotland increased. Charles was crowned at 
Scone on the 1st of January, 1651 ; but he 
was obliged to take the covenant, and to 
undergo other mortifications. Cromwell, 
however, succeeded in an attempt to cut off 
the royalists from all their communications 
with the north and the Highlands ; and when 
they invaded England, defeated them at 
Worcester. Charles escaped, and at last took 
shipping from the coast of Sussex, and arrived 
safe at Feschamp in Normandy. Cromwell 
conquered the land and added it to the Eng- 
lish commonwealth. 

After the restoration of Charles II. in 1060, 
the parliament was opened with unusual 
splendor at Edinburgh ; and in the proceed- 
ings of this assembly, the royal prerogative 
was exalted to a pitch of despotism. De- 
prived at last of public worship, the perse- 
cuted Presbyterians rose in open rebellion. 



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HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



779 



On the Pentland Hills they were met by the 
king's forces, under Dalziel, and were routed 
with considerable slaughter, at the first 
on^et. Commotions and insurrections multi- 
plied during the whole reign of Charles II., 
who attempted, sometimes by gentle means, 
and sometimes by acts of severity, to crush 
Presbyterianism, and to induce the people to 
substitute another form of church government. 

James VII. was not ignorant of the intrigues 
and ambition of his son-in-law, the Prince of 
Orange, with whom Monmouth, Argyle, Dal- 
rymple, afterward Earl of Stair, Burnet, soon 
to be Bishop of Sarum, and other English 
and Scotch exiles, found refuge. The insur- 
rections occasioned by Argyle and Monmouth 
widened the breach between the unfortunate 
monarch and his disaffected subjects. James 
proposed to his Scottish parliament a relaxa- 
tion of the penal laws against the Roman 
Catholics ; but the proposal was received 
with such coldness, that the chancellor 
thought it prudent to drop the bill entirely. 
However, the court issued declarations in 
favor of Presbyterians, of Quakers, of Roman 
Catholics, and at -last "suspended all penal 
and sanguinary laws for nonconformity to 
the religion established by law." The Pres- 
byterians of Edinburgh, and the ministers all 
over Scotland, gladly accepted of this tolera- 
tion, and thanked the king for his protection. 

In 1688 James fled; and his constrained 
flight was pronounced an abdication of the 
throne of Scotland. Indifferent as to the 
modes of religion, William of Orange treated 
with Presbyterians as well as Episcopalians. 
The throne was declared vacant by the con- 
vention ; William accepted of the crown 
tendered to him by a deputation from the 
states, and, with his spouse, took a corona- 
tion oath. By a majority of the votes in 
parliament, William was reluctantly prevailed 
on to repeal the constitution of the lords of 
articles, to abandon the patronage and the 
supremacy over the church, and to re-estab- 
lish Presbytery. William, after a fruitless 
attempt to gain the chieftains by pecuniary 
oilers, issued a proclamation denouncing mil- 
itary execution against all who should not 
before the expiration of the year take an 
oath of fealty to him. 

In 1702, the accession of Queen Anne 
gave new hopes to the Pretender, son of the 



SCO 



late king James, and his adherents. William 
had never dissolved the convention parlia- 
ment. The members of this parliament 
assembled, and empowered the queen to 
nominate commissioners for treating of an 
union. The commissioners repaired to Lon- 
don, to treat with those appointed in England. 
At length, the whole of the articles of the 
union were completed and signed by all the 
Scottish commissioners excepting one, who 
was Lockhart of Carnwarth. Notwithstand- 
ing the strong opposition which this measure 
experienced, on Thursday the IGth of Janu- 
ary, 1707, the whole articles of the union 
were, without any material alteration, ap- 
proved by a legal majority in parliament; 
and the lord high commissioner, touching the 
act with the sceptre, sanctioned it with that 
consent of the crown which was requisite to 
give it in Scotland the force of a law. The 
treaty of union, thus finally ratified by the 
Scottish parliament, was immediately trans- 
mitted to London, where it was equally hon- 
ored by the sanction of the parliament and 
the royal consent. On the 28th of April, 
the Scottish parliament was dissolved, never 
more to be assembled ; and the Scots and 
English were henceforth to be one people. 

The accession of the house of Hanover was 
resisted in Scotland in 1715 by the adherents 
of the exiled Stuarts, but unsuccessfully. 
Thirty years after, another insurrection was 
stirred up by the Jacobites, headed by Charles 
Edward, the young Pretender. For a brief 
time his arms were successful : then he 
sought safety in flight, and the attempt to 
regain the throne was never renewed. In 
consequence of these outbreaks, measures 
were taken by government to root out the 
system of clanship that liad so long prevailed 
in the Highlands. 

The annalists of Scotland, with a faith like 
that of the Welsh genealogists, trace a line 
of kings to remote ages before the Christian 
era. We commence our list where the 
accounts cease to be conflicting. 

KINGS OF SCOTLAND. 

1033. Duncan I : assassinated by his kinsman 

l^acbeth. 
1039. Macbeth, usurps the throne: slain by 

Macduff, Thane of Fife, and the rightful 

heir succeeds. 
1057. Malcohn III. (Cean-Mohr or Canmore), 

son of Duncan : killed while besieging 

Alnwick Castle. 



780 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



109-i. 
1094. 
1U98. 

U01. 
1124. 
1153. 



1093. Donald VII., or Donald Bane, brother of 
Malcolm. 
Duncan II., natural son of Malcolm. 
Donald Bane again. 
Edgar, son of Malcolm. Henry I. of 

England married his sister Maud. 
Alexander, the Fierce, brother of Edgar. 
David, brother of Edgar and Alexander. 
Malcolm IV., the Maiden, David's grandson. 
11(55. William, the Lion, brother of Malcolm. 
1214. Alexander II., sou of William. 
1249. Alexander IIL 

1285. Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, grand- 
daughter of Alexander III.; "recog- 
nized by the states of Scotland, though 
a female, an infant, and a foreigner : " 
died on her passage to Scotland. A 
competition for the throne arose, which 
Edward I. of England decided in favor 
of 
1292. John Baliol: he surrendered the crown 

and died in exile. 
1806. Robert I. (the brave Robert Bruce.) 
1829. David IL, son of Robert. 
1382. Edward Baliol, son of John: resigned. 
i'^"> David IL again: eleven years a prisoner 
in England. 
Robert (Stuart) IL, nephew of David IL 
Robert IIL, son of Robert IL : his proper 
name was John; he assumed that 
of Robert upon his accession. 
James I., second son of Robert IIL: 

eighteen years a captive in England. 
James II. , his son. 
James IIL, his son. 

James IV., married Margaret Tudor, 
daughter of Henry VII. of England. 
1513. James V., their sou. 
1542. Mary, his daughter. 

16G7. James VI., her son. In 1603 he succeeded 
to the English crown as James I. 
SCOTT, TnoKAS, a celebrated English 
commentator on the Bible, died 1821. 

SCOTT, Sn' Walter, baronet, the eldest 
son of W^alter Scott, a writei' to the signet, 
was born in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, 
Aug. 15th, 1771. His mother was a lady of 
talent, the friend of Burns and Ramsay, and 
the author of meritorious verses. Sir Walter 
was educated at the high school of Edinburgh, 
and at the university. At an early age, he 
was celebrated as a story-teller, " when the 
applause of his companions was his recom- 
pense for the disgrace and punishments which 
the future romance-writer incurred by being 
'idle himself, and keeping others idle, during 
hours that should have been employed on 
their tasks." 

Sir Walter Scott's account of his birth and 
circumstances is characterized by his usual 
modesty. 



1342. 



1371. 
1390. 



1406. 

1437. 
1460. 
1488. 



"My birth, without giving the least pre- 
tension to distinction, was that of a gentle- 
man, and connected me with several respect- 
able families and accomplished persons. 
My education had been a good one, altluxigh 
I was deprived of its full benefit by indiflfer- 
ent health, just at the period when I ought 
to have been most sedulous in improving it 
The young men with whom I was brought 
up, and lived most familiarly, were those 
who, from opportunities, birth, and talents, 
might be expected to make the greatest ad- 
vances in the pi'ofession to which we were 
all destined ; and I have the pleasure still to 
preserve my youthful intimacy with no incon- 
siderable number of them, whom their merit 
has carried forward to the highest honors of 
their profession. Neither was I in a situa- 
tion to be embarrassed by the res angusta 
domi, which might have otherwise interrupt- 
ed my progress in a profession in which pro- 
gress is proverbially slow. I enjoyed a mod- 
erate degree of business for my standing, and 
the friendship of more than one person of 
consideration efficiently disposed to aid my 
views in life. The private fortune, also, which 
I might expect, and finally inherited, from 
my famil)% did not, indeed, amount to afflu- 
ence, but placed me considerably beyond all 
apprehension of want. I mention these par- 
ticulars merely because they are true. Many 
better men than mj'self have owed their rise 
from indigence and obscuritj", to their own 
talents, which were, doubtless, much more 
adequate to the task of raising them than any 
which I possess. Although it would be ab- 
surd and ungracious in me to deny that I 
owe to literature many marks of distinction 
to which I could not otherwise have aspired, 
and particularly that of securing the acquain- 
tance, and even the friendship, of many re- 
markable persons of the age, to whom I might 
not otherwise have made my way ; it would, 
on the other hand, be ridiculous to affect 
gratitude to the public favor, either for my 
position in society, or the means of support- 
ing it with decency — matters which had been 
otherwise secured under the usual chances 
of human affairs. Thus much I have thought 
it necessary to say, upon a subject which is, 
after all, of very little consequence to any 
one but myself." 
SCO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



781 



In 1792 he was called to the bar. Of his 
success in liis profession, and the nature of 
his studies and pursuits, we will give his own 
accoant. 

" It may be readily supposed that the at- 
tempts which I made in literature had been 
unfavorable to my success at the bar. The 
goddess Themis is, at Edinburgh, and I sup- 
pose every where else, of a peculiarly jealous 
disposition. She will not readily consent to 
share her authority, and sternly demands from 
her votaries not only that real duty be care- 
fully attended to and discharged, but that a 
certain air of business shall be observed even 
in the midst of total idleness. It is prudent, 
if not absolutely necessary, in a young bar- 
rister, to appear completely engrossed by his 
profession; however destitute of employ- 
ment he may be, he ought to preserve, if 
possible, the appearance of full occupation. 
He should at least seem perpetually engaged 
among his law papers, dusting them, as it 
were ; and, as Ovid advises the fair, — 

Si nuUus erit pulvis, tamen excute nullum. 
Perhaps such extremity of attention is more 
especially required, considering the great 
number of counselors who are called to the 
bar, and how very small a proportion of them 
are finally disposed, or find encouragement, 
to follow the law as a profession. Hence 
the number of deserters is so great, that the 
least lingering look behind occasions a young 
novice to be set down as one of the intending 
fugitives. Certain it is, that the Scottish 
Themis was at this time peculiarly jealous 
of any flirtation with the Muses, on the part 
of those who had ranged themselves under 
her banners. This was probably owing to 
her consciousness of the superior attractions 
of her rivals. Of late, however, she has 
relaxed in some instances in this particular; 
an eminent example of which has been shown 
in the case of my friend, Mr. Jeffrey, who, 
after long conducting one of the most influ- 
ential literary periodicals of the age, with 
unquestionable ability, has been, by the gen- 
eral consent of his brethren, recently elected 
to be their dean of faculty, or president, 
being the highest acknowledgment of his 
professional talents which they had it in 
their power to ofifer. But this is an incident 
much beyond the ideas of a period of thirty 
years' distance, when a barrister who really 



possessed any turn for lighter literature, was 
at as much pains to conceal it, as if it had in 
reality been something to be ashamed of; and 
I could mention one instance in which litera- 
ture and society have suffered loss, that juris- 
prudence might be enriched. Such, however, 
was not my case ; for the reader will not 
wonder that my open interference with mat- 
ters of light literature diminished my employ- 
ment in the weightier matters of the law. 
Nor did the solicitors, upon whose choice the 
counsel takes rank in his profession, do me 
less than justice by regarding others among 
my contemporaries as fitter to discharge the 
duty due to their clients, than a young man 
who was taken up with running after ballads, 
whether Teutonic or national. My profession 
and I, therefore, came to stand nearly upon 
the footing on which honest Slender consoled 
himself with having established with Mistress 
Anne Page : ' The;-e was no great love in the 
beginning, and it pleased Heaven to decrease 
it on farther acquaintance.' I became sensible 
that the time was come when I must either 
buckle myself resolutely to the ' toil by day, 
the lamp by night,' renouncing all the Delilahs 
of iry- imagination, or bid adieu to the pro- 
fession of the law, and hold another course. 
I confess my own inclination revolted from 
the more severe choice which might have 
been deemed by many the wiser alternative. 
As my transgressions had been numerous, 
my repentance must have been signalized by 
unusual sacrifices. I ought to have men- 
tioned, that, since my fourteenth or fifteenth 
year, my health, originally delicate, had be- 
come extremely robust. From infancy I had 
labored under the infirmity of a severe lame- 
ness, but, as I believe is usually the case with 
men of spirit who suffer under personal in- 
conveniences of this nature, I had, since the 
improvement of my health, in defiance of this 
incapacitating circumstance, distinguished 
myself by the endurance of toil on foot or 
horseback, having often walked thirty miles 
a day, and rode upward of a hundred, with- 
out stopping. In this manner I made many 
pleasant journeys through parts of the coun- 
try then not very accessible, gaining more 
amusement and instruction than I have been 
able to acquire since I have traveled in a more 
commodious manner. I practiced most syl- 
van sports, also, with some success, and with 



SCO 



782 



COTTAGE CYCLOTEDIA OF 



great delight. But these pleasures must have 
been all resigned, or used with great modera- 
tion, had I determined to regain my station 
at the bar. It was even doubtful whether I 
could, with perfect character as a jurisconsult, 
retain a situation in a volunteer corps of cav- 
alry, which I then held. The threats of in- 
vasion were at this time instant and menacing ; 
the call by Britain on her children was uni- 
versal, and was answered by many, who, 
like myself, consulted rather their will than 
their ability to bear arms. My services, how- 
ever, were found useful in assisting to main- 
tain the discipline of the corps, being the 
point on which their constitution rendered 
them most amenable to military criticism. 
In other respects the squadron was a fine one, 
consisting of handsome men, well mounted 
and armed at their own expense. My atten- 
tion to the corps took up a great deal of time ; 
and while it occupied many of the happiest 
hours of my life, it furnished an additional 
reason for my reluctance again to encounter 
the severe course of study indispensable to 
success in the judicial profession. 

" On the other hand, my father, whose 
feelings might have been hurt by my quitting 
the bar, had been for two or three years 
dead ; so that I had no control to thwart my 
own inclination ; and my income being equal 
to all the comforts, and some of the elegan- 
ces, of life, I was not pressed to an irksome 
labor by necessity, that most powerful of mo- 
tives; consequentlj^ I was the more easily 
seduced to choose the employment which was 
the most agreeable. This was yet the easier, 
as in 1800 I had obtained the preferment of 
sheriff of Selkirkshire, about £300 a year in 
value, and which was the more agreeable to 
me, as in that county I had several friends 
and relations. But I did not abandon the 
profession to which I had been educated, 
without certain prudential resolutions, which 
at the risk of some egotism, I will here men- 
tion ; not without the hope that they may be 
useful to young persons who may stand in 
circumstances similar to those in which I 
then stood. In the first place, upon consid- 
ering the lives and fortunes of persons who 
had given themselves up to literature, or to 
the task of pleasing the public, it seemed to 
me that the circumstances which chiefly af- 
fected their happiness and character were 



those from which Horace has bestowed upon 
authors the epithet of the irritable race. It 
requires no depth of philosophic reflection to 
perceive that the petty warfare of Pope with 
the dunces of his period, could not have been 
carried on without his suffering the most 
acute torture, such as a man must endure 
from mosquitoes, by whose stings he suffers 
agony, although he can crush them in his 
grasp by myriads. Nor is it necessary to 
call to memory the many humiliating instan- 
ces in which men of the greatest genius have, 
to avenge some pitiful quarrel, made them- 
selves ridiculous during their lives, to become 
the still more degraded objects of pity to fu- 
ture times. Upon the whole, as I had no 
pretension to the genius of the distinguished 
persons who had fiillen into such errors, I 
concluded there could be no occasion for imi- 
tating them in these mistakes, or what I con- 
sidered as such ; and, in adopting literary 
pursuits as the principal occupation of my 
future life, I resolved, if possible, to avoid 
those weaknesses of temper which seemed to 
have most easily beset my more celebrated 
predecessors. With this view, it was ray 
first resolution to keep, as far as was in my 
power, abreast of society ; continuing to 
maintain my place in general company, with- 
out yielding to the very natural temptation 
of narrowing myself to what is called litera- 
ry society. By doing so, I imagined I should 
escape the besetting sin of listening to lan- 
guage which, from one motive or other, as- 
cribes a very undue degree of consequence 
to literary pursuits ; as if they were, indeed, 
the business, rather than the amusement, of 
life. The opposite course can only be com- 
pared to the injudicious conduct of one who 
pampers himself with cordial and luscious 
draughts, until he is unable to endure whole- 
some bitters. Like Gil Bias, therefore, I re- 
solved to stick by the society of my ctymmis, 
instead of seeking that of a more lit<?rary 
cast ; and to maintain my general interest in 
what was going on around me, reserving the 
man of letters for the desk and the library. 
My second resolution was a corollary from 
the first. I determined that, without shut- 
ting my ears to the voice of true criticism, I 
would pay no regard to that which assumes 
the form of satire. I therefore resolved to 
arm myself with the triple brass of Horace, 



SCO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



against all the roving warfare of satire, paro- 
dy, and sarcasm ; to laugh if the jest was a 
good one ; or, if otherwise, to let it hum and 
buzz itself to sleep. It is to the observance 
of these rules (according to my best belief), 
that, after a life of thirty years engaged in 
literary labors of various kinds, I attribute 
my never having been entangled in any lite- 
rary quarrel or controversy ; and, which is a 
more pleasing result, that I have been distin- 
guished by the personal friendship of my 
most approved contemporaries of all parties. 
I adopted, at the same time, another resolu- 
tion, on which it may doubtless be remarked 
that it was well for me that I had it in my 
power to do so, and that, therefore, it is a 
line of conduct which can be less generally 
applicable in other cases. Yet I fail not to 
record this part of my plan, convinced that, 
though it may not be in every one's power to 
adopt exactly the same resolution, he may 
nevertheless, by his own exertions, in some 
shape or other, attain the object on which it 
was founded ; namely, to secure the means 
of subsistence, without relying exclusively 
on literary talents. In this respect, I deter- 
mined that literature should be my staff, but 
not my crutch ; and that the profits of my 
labor, however convenient otherwise, should 
not become necessary to my ordinary expen- 
ses. With this purpose I resolved, if the 
interest of my friends could so far favor me, 
to retire upon any of the respectable offices 
of the law, in which persons of that profes- 
sion are glad to take refuge when they feel 
thems*elves, or are judged by others, incom- 
petent to aspire to its higher offices and hon- 
ors. Upon such an office an author might 
iiope to retreat, without any perceptible al- 
teration of circumstances, whenever the time 
should arrive that the public grew weary of 
his endeavors to please, or he himself should 
tire of the occupation of authorship. At 
this period of my life, I possessed so many 
friends capable of assisting me in this object 
of ambition, that I could hardly overrate my 
own prospects of obtaining the moderate pre- 
ferment to which I limited my wishes ; and, 
in fact, I obtained, in no long period, the re- 
version of a situation which completely met 
them." 

The situation was soon open, and in 1806 
he was appointed a clerk of the session in 



Scotland. His first original productions 
were several ballads of great merit. Sir 
Walter thus notices the circumstances which 
engaged him in literary pursuits. 

"During the last ten years of the eight- 
eenth century, the art of poetry was at a re- 
markably low ebb in Britain. Hayley, to 
whom fashion had some years before ascribed 
a higher degree of reputation than posterity 
has confirmed, had now lost his reputation 
for talent, though he still lived admired and 
respected as an amiable and accomplished 
man. The Bard of Memory slumbered on 
his laurels, and he of Hope had scarce begun 
to attract his share of public attention. Cow- 
per, a poet of deep feeling and bright genius, 
was dead; and even while alive, the hypo- 
chondria which was his mental malady im- 
peded his popularity. Burns, whose genius 
our southern neighbors could hardly yet 
comprehend, had long confined himself to 
song-writing. Names which are now known 
and distinguished wherever the English lan- 
guage is spoken, were then only beginning to 
be mentioned ; and, unless among the small 
number of persons who habitually devote a 
part of their leisure to literature, those of 
Southey, Wordsworth, and Coleridge were 
but little known. The realms of Parnassus, 
like many a kingdom at the period, seemed to 
lie open to the first bold invader, whether he 
should be a daring usurper, or could show a 
legitimate title of sovereignty. 

" I had, indeed, tried the metrical transla- 
tions which were occasionally recommended 
to us at the high school. I got credit for at- 
tempting to do what was enjoined, but very 
little for the mode in which the task was per- 
formed ; and I used to feel not a little morti- 
fied when my versions were placed in con- 
trast with others of admitted merit. At one 
period of my schoolboy days I was so far left 
to my own desires as to become guilty of ver- 
ses on a thunder-storm, which were much ap- 
proved of, until a malevolent critic sprung 
up, in the shape of an apothecary's blue- 
buskined wife, who affirmed that my most 
sweet poetry was stolen from an old maga- 
zine. I never forgave the imputation, and 
even now I acknowledge some resentment 
against the poor woman's memory. She in- 
deed accused me unjustly, when she said I 
had stolen my brooms ready made ; but as I 



SCO 



784 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



had, like most premature poets, copied all 
the words and ideas of which my verses con- 
sisted, she was so far right, that there was 
not an original word or thought in the whole 
six Unes. I made one or two faint attempts 
at verse, after I had undergone this sort of 
daw-plucking at the hands of the apothecary's 
wife ; but some friend or other always advised 
me to put my verses in the fire, and like Do- 
rax in the play, I submitted, though ' with a 
swelling heart.' In short, excepting the usu- 
al tribute to a mistress's eyebrow, which is 
the language of passion rather than poetry, 
I had not for ten years indulged the wish to 
couple so much as lore and dove^ when, find- 
ing Lewis in possession of so much reputa- 
tion, and conceiving that, if I fell behind him 
in poetical powers, I considerably exceeded 
him in general information, I suddenly took 
it into my head to attempt the style by which 
he had raised himself to fame." 

Scott had married Miss Carpentier, on the 
Christmas eve of 1796, and now resided at 
Ashestiel, a delightful retirement, in an uncom- 
monly beautiful situation by the side of the 
Tweed, whose waters were favorable for an- 
gling, and surrounded by hills abounding in 
game. His " Lay of the Last Minstrel," and 
" Marmion," poems of great originali+^^y and 
beauty, were produced in 1805 and 1808, 
and received at once into favor. The " Lady 
of the Lake" was published in 1810. Speak- 
ing of this poem, the author remarks: "I 
remember that about the same time a friend 
started in to 'heeze up my hope,' like the 
minstrel in the old song. He was bred a far- 
mer, but a man of powerful understanding, 
natural good taste, and warm poetical feeling, 
perfectly competent to supply the wants of 
an imperfect or irregular education. He was 
a passionate admirer of field sports, which 
we often pursued together. As this friend 
happened to dine with me at Ashestiel one day, 
I took the opportunity of reading to him the 
first canto of the " Lady of the Lake," in or- 
der to ascertain the effect the poem was like- 
ly to produce upon a person who was but too 
favorable a representative of readers at large. 
It is, of course, to be supposed that I deter- 
mined rather to guide my opinion by what 
my friend might appear to feel, than by what 
he might think fit to say. His reception of 
my recitation, or prelection, was rather sin- 



gular. He placed his hand across his brow, 
and listened with great attention through the 
whole account of the stag hunt, till the dogs 
threw themselves into the lake to follow their 
master, who embarks with Ellen Douglas. 
He then started up with a sudden excla- 
mation, struck his hand on the table, and 
declared in a voice of censure calculated for 
the occasion, that the dogs must have been 
totally ruined by being permitted to take the 
water after such a severe chase. I own I was 
much encouraged by the species of reverie 
which had possessed so zealous a follower of 
the sports as this ancient Nimrod, who had 
been completely surprised out of all doubts 
of the reality of the tale." 

The " Lady of the Lake" was followed by 
" The Vision of Don Roderick," "Rokeby," 
" The Lord of the Isles," " Harold the 
Dauntless," and " The Bridal of Triermain." 

"The 'Lady of the Lake,' says Scott, 
"brought out on the usual terms of division 
of profits between the author and publishers, 
was not long after purchased by them for 
£'500, to which Messrs. Longman & Co. after- 
ward added £100 in their own unsolicited 
kindness, in consequence of the uncommon 
success of the work. It was handsomely 
given to supply the loss of a fine horse, which 
broke down suddenly while the author was 
riding with one of the worthy publishers. 

"The publishers of the 'Lay of the Last 
Minstrel,' emboldened by the success of that 
poem, willingly offered a thousand pounds 
for 'Marmion.' The transaction being no 
secret, afforded Lord Byron, who was then at 
general war with all who blacked paper, an 
opportvmity to include me in his satire enti- 
tled ' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers.'* 
I never could conceive how an arrangement 
between an author and his publishers, if sat- 
isfactory to the persons concerned, could 
afibrd matter of censure to any third party. 
I had taken no unusual or ungenerous means 
of enhancing the value of my merchandise. 
I had never higgled a moment about the bar- 
gain, but accepted at once what I considered 
the handsome offer of my publishers. These 
gentlemen, at least, were not of opinion that 
they had been taken advantage of in the trans- 
action, which indeed was one of their own 
framing ; on the contrary, the sale of the 
poem was so far beyond their expectation, as 



SCO 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY, 



785 



to induce them to supply the author's cellar 
with what is always an acceptable present to 
a young Scottish housekeeper, namely, a 
hogshead of excellent claret." Scott and 
Byron afterward wei'e made acquainted with 
each other, and became good friends. 

We must extract the account of his own 
change from poetry to prose. He is speaking 
of "Rokeby." 

''The cause of my failure, had, however, a 
far deeper root. The manner, or style, which, 
by its novelty, attracted the public in an un- 
usual degree, had now, after having been 
three times before them, exhausted the pa- 
tience of the reader, and began in the fourth 
to lose its charms. The reviewers may be 
said to have apostrophized the author in the 
language of Parnell's Edwin : — 

' And here reverse the charm, he cried. 
And let it fairly now suffice ; 
The gambol has been shown.' 

The licentious combination of rhymes, in a 
manner not perhaps very congenial to our 
language, had not been confined to the author. 
Indeed, in most similar cases, the inventors 
of such novelties have their reputation de- 
stroyed by their own imitators, as Actseon fell 
under his own dogs. The present author, 
like Bobadil, had taught his trick of fence to 
a hundred gentlemen (and ladies), who could 
fence very nearly, or quite, as well as him- 
s^f. For this there M'as no remedy ; the 
harmony became tiresome and ordinary, and 
both the original inventor and his invention 
must have fallen into contempt, if he had not 
found out another road to public favor. AVhat 
has been said of the metre only, must be 
considered to apply equally to the structure of 
the poem and of the style. The very best 
passages of any popular style are not, perhaps, 
susceptible of any imitation, but they may be 
approached by men of talent: and those who 
are less able to copy them, at least lay hold 
of their peculiar features, so as to produce a 
burlesque instead of a serious copy. In 
either way, the effect of it is rendered cheap 
and common, and in the latter case ridicu- 
lous, to boot. The evil consequences to an 
autlKor's reputation are at least as fatal as 
those which befall a composer, when his mel- 
ody falls into the hands of the street ballad- 
singer. Of the unfavorable specimens of 
imitation, the author's style gave room to a 



very large number, owing to an appearance 
of facility on which some of those who used 
the measure unquestionably leaned too far." 

"The effect of the more favorable imita- 
tions, composed by persons of talent, was 
almost equally unfortunate to the original 
minstrel, by showing that tliey could over- 
shoot him with his own bow. In short the 
popularity which once attended the scJiool, 
as it was called, was now fast decaying. Be- 
sides all this, to have kept his ground at the 
crisis when ' Rokeby ' appeared, its author 
ought to have put forth his utmost strength, 
and to have possessed at least all his original 
advantages, tor a mighty and unexpected 
rival was advancing on the stage, — a rival not 
in poetical powers only, but in that of attract- 
ing popularity, in which the present writer 
had preceded better men than himself. The 
reader will easily see that Byron is here meant, 
who after a little velitation of no great prom- 
ise, now appeared as a serious candidate in 
the first canto of ' Childe Harold.' I was as- 
tonished at the power evinced by that work, 
which neither the ' Hours of Idleness,' nor the 
' English Bards and Scotch Reviewers,' had 
prepared me to expect from its author. There 
was a depth in his thought, an eager abund- 
ance in his diction, which argued full confi- 
dence in the inexhaustible resources of which 
he felt himself possessed; and there was some 
appearance of that labor of the file, which 
indicates that the author is conscious of the 
necessity of doing every justice to his work, 
that it may pass warrant. Lord Byron was 
also a traveler, a man whose ideas were fired 
by having seen, in distant scenes of difficulty 
and danger, the places whose very names are 
recorded in our bosoms as the shrines of an- 
cient poetry. For his own misfortune, per- 
haps, but certainly to the high increase of 
his poetical character, nature had mixed in 
Lord Byron's system those passions which 
agitate the human heart with most violence, 
and which may be said to have hurried his 
bright career to an early close. There would 
have been but little wisdom in measuring my 
force with so formidable an antagonist ; and 
I was as likely to tire of playing the second 
fiddle in the concert, as my audience of hear- 
ing me. Age also was advancing. I was 
growing ijisensible to those subjects of exci- 
tation of which youth is agitated. I had 



50 



SCO 



786 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



around me the most pleasant but least excit- 
ing of all society, that of kind friends and 
an affectionate family. My circle of employ- 
ments was a narrow one ; it occupied me 
constantly, and it became daily more difficult 
for me to interest myself in poetical compo- 
sition : — 

' How happily the days of Thalaba went by ! ' 
Yet, though conscious that I must be, in the 
opinion of good judges, inferior to the place 
I had for four or five years held in letters, 
and feeling alike that the latter was one to 
which I had only a temporary right, I could 
not brook the idea of relinquishing literary 
occupation, which had been so long my chief 
employment. Neither was I disposed to 
choose the alternative of sinking into a mere 
editor and commentator, though that was a 
species of labor which I had practiced, and 
to which I was attached. But I could not 
endure to think that I might not, whether 
known or concealed, do something of more 
importance. My inmost thoughts were those 
of the Trojan captain in the galley race : — 

"Non jam prima peto Mnestheus, neque vincere 

certo : 
Quanquam 0, — Sed superent, quibus hoc, Nep- 
tune, dedisti : 
Extremos pudeat rediisse : hoc vincite, cives, 
Et prohibete nefas." 

" Waverley, or 'Tis Sixty Years Since," a 
novel published in 1814, established the rep- 
utation of the author, and was followed in 
rapid succession by many others. The au- 
thorship was first acknowledged by Sir Wal- 
ter Scott, at a public dinner in 1827. These 
Waverley novels exhibit a profound knowl- 
edge of human nature, an intimate acquaint- 
ance with history, national traditions, and 
manners, and a most surprising versatility. 
Ivanhoe, which appeared in 1820, is the most 
brilliant of the pure romances. Never were 
the long-gathered stores of most extensive 
erudition applied to the purposes of imagina- 
tive genius with so much easy, lavish, and 
luxurious power ; never was the illusion of 
fancy so complete, — made up of so many mi- 
nute elements, and yet producing such en- 
tireness of effect. It is as if the veil of ages 
had been, in truth, swept back, and we our- 
selves had been, for a time, living, breathing, 
and moving in the days of Cceur de Lion, — 
days how different from our own ! the hot, 
tempestuous, chivalrous, passionate, fierce 



youth of Christendom. Every line in the pic- 
ture is true to the life ; everything in the 
words, in the gesture — everything in the very 
faces of the personages called up before us, 
speaks of times of energetic volition, — un- 
controlled action, — disturbance, — tumult, — 
the storms and whirlwinds of restless souls 
and ungovemed passions. It seems as if the 
atmosphere around them was all alive with 
the breath of trumpets, and the neighing of 
chargers, and the echo of war-cries. And yet, 
with a true and beautiful skillfulness, the au- 
thor has rested the main interest of his story, 
not upon these fiery externals, in themselves 
so full of attraction, and every way so char- 
acteristic of the age to which the story refers, 
but on the workings of that most poetical of 
passions, which is ever deepest where it is 
most calm, quiet, and delicate, and which, 
less than any other, is changed, even in its 
modes of manifestation, in conformity with 
the changes of time, manners, and circum- 
stances. For the true interest of this ro- 
mance of the days of Richard is placed nei- 
ther in Richard himself ; nor in the knight 
of Ivanhoe, the nominal hero ; nor in any of 
the haughty Templars or barons who occupy 
along with them, the front of the scene ; 
but in the still, devoted, sad, and unrequited 
tenderness of a Jewish damsel, by far the 
most fine, and at the same time most roman- 
tic, creation of female character the autiv>r 
has ever formed, and second, we suspect, to 
none that is to be found in the whole annals 
of poetry and romance. 

Rebecca was Scott's favorite among all the 
heroines whose charms and virtues he por- 
trayed. 

Besides writing his novels, Sir Walter 
Scott edited various works, and produced 
some volumes of history, and a life of Napo- 
leon Bonaparte, to which, however, his party 
prejudices and hurried composition prevented 
him from doing justice. 

He also contributed largely to the Qtiar- 
terly and other reviews. The quantity of in- 
tellectual labor which he found time for, with 
all the demands upon his leisure that arose 
from his popularity and hospitality, is a won- 
der of wonders. 

On the banks of the Tweed, near Melrose, 
he purchased farm after farm, and formed the 
estate of Abbotsford. Here he erected a 



SCO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



787 



baronial mansion, that ' romance of stone and 
mortar,' and his territorial ambition, so long 
cherished, was now gratified. George IV. 
gave him a baronetcy, also. A few j'ears of 
happiness, and then the splendid hospitali- 
ties of Abbotsford were darkened by a heavy 
cloud. By the failures of Constable, and 
James Ballantyne & Co., in which house their 
master was a secret partner, he found him- 
self in 1826, involved to the amount of 
£117,000. Refusing all offers of composi- 
tion, and asking only for time, he bent him- 
self at once to the task of redemption. It is 
one of the noblest passages in the history of 
our English literature. In four years he had 
paid his creditors £70,000. His health and 
strength sank under the weight he bore, and 
severe attacks of paralysis warned him that 
he must needs desist. In vain he sailed to 
the Mediterranean : he returned to Abbots- 
ford a hopeless and unconscious wreck. The 
end was near. "About half past one p. m., 
on the 21st of September, 1832, Sir Walter 
breathed his last in the presence of all his 
children. It was a beautiful day, so warm 
that every window was wide open,— and so 
perfectly still that the sound of all others 
most delicigus to his ear, the gentle ripple of 
the Tweed over its pebbles, was distinctly 
audible as we knelt around the bed, and his 
eldest son kissed and closed his eyes."' — 
Loclchart. 

Sir Walter Scott was beloved by all who 
knew him, for, in private life, he had none 
of that affectation of ea;entricity and haugh 
tiness, which disfigures so many men of 
genius. He was ever a welcome visitor in 
the dwellings of the poor and old, and in 
many of his lonely wanderings acquired that 
traditional information which he reproduced 
in his immortal works. 

Hogg, the poet, the friend of Scott, says 
of him, illustrative of his benevolence. "Al- 
though so shy of his name and literary assist- 
ance, M'hich, indeed, he would not grant to 
any one, on any account, save to Lockheart, 
yet to poor men of literary merit his purse- 
strings were always open, and as far as it was 
in his power to assist them. I actually knew 
several unsuccessful authors who depended 
on his bounty for their daily bread. As a 
friend, he was sometimes stern, but always 
candid and sincere, and I always found his 



counsels of the highest value, if I could have 
followed them." 

SCOTT, WiNFiELD, was born at Peters- 
burg, Va., June 13th, 1786, and left an 
orphan in early boyhood. Graduating at • 
William and Mary College, he studied law, 
and though admitted to the bar, soon after 
(1808) entered the army as Captain of Artil- 
lery. In the war of 1812 he held the rank 
of Colonel, and in 1814 was made Brigadier 
General. He wrought wonders in training 
and instructing his troops, so that they won 
the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane 
within one month. For his services he was 
promoted to the Major Generalship, and was 
offered a seat in the Cabinet as Secretary of 
War, which he declined. He displayed ex- 
traordinary executive and military ability, 
at the time of the nullification movement in 
South Carolina, the troubles with the Semi- 
nole and Cherokee Indians, and along the 
Canada boVder in the Canadian rebellion of 
1837. In 1841 he was advanced to the high- 
est rank in the army. In the war with Mex- 
ico he won new laurels. The battles of Vera 
Cruz, Cerro Gordo, Cherubusco, Chepultepec, 
and the capture of the City of Mexico, which 
he entered at the head of his army, were the 
brilliant and decisive victories of that cam- 
paign. In 1852 he was the Whig candidate 
for the Presidency, but was defeated by Gen. 
Pierce. He however received a more appro- 
priate honor for his distinguished services, in 
being elevated to the brevet rank of Lieu- 
tenant General, which was revived in his be- 
half. In November, 1861, at the age of 74, 
he retired from active service. He resisted 
the strongest temptations of his native South 
to lead the forces of treason, and closed up a 
most honorable record of private virtue, 
stedfast patriotism and military renown, 
May 29, 1866, at the age of seventy-nine. 
General Scott will live in the memory 
of the American people as one of the great 
men of her history, and who more than 
any other has contributed to her military 
glory for the last half century. 

SCYLLA AND CHARYBDIS. The poet- 
ical genins of Homer has given a degree of 
importance to the rocks of Scylla, and the 
whirlpool of Charybdis, which they do not 
in reality merit; yet no doubt they were, 
in the infancy of navigation, when the barks 



SCY 



788 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



were small and frail, and the mariners unskill- 
ful, formidable and dangerous obstacles to 
the passage of the strait of Messina. Scylla, 
said in the heathen mythology to have been 
a beautiful nymph, transformed into a sea- 
monster by the jealousy of Circe, is, in 
reality, merely a common rock, on the coast 
of Italy, and opposite that of Sicily. On its 
summit is a castle, and on each side a sandy 
bay. In 1793 an earthquake is said to have 
destroyed some of the surrounding rocks, 
and thus lessened the danger, and prevented 
that extraordinary roaring of the sea in 
stormy weather, which is said to have resem- 
bled the barking of dogs, but is not now 
observed. Charybdis is a vortex or whirl- 
pool, on the coast of Sicily, opposite to 
Scylla, and now denominated Galofaro. It is 
by no means so formidable as represented by 
the ancients. It is probably caused by the 
meeting of several currents, and i*sometimes 
so powerful as to place the undecked boats 
of the country in considerable peril. 

SCYTHIA was a name anciently given to 
that portion of Europe lying between the 
Carpathian mountains and the river Don. 
The Scythians were of Asiatic origin. Hero- 
dotus mentions only two important facts in 
the history of Scythia : the invasion of Media 
by the Scythians in the reign of Cyaxares, 
(B.C. 635-595), and their conquest of Asia to 
the confines of Egypt, which they held for 
twenty-eight years ; and the invasion of 
Scythia by Darius, the son of Hystaspfes, in 
which the Persians were unsuccessful. In 
subsequent times the Scythians lost all their 
power, and their countrj' came to be known 
as Sarmatia. In the time of Pliny they had 
become extinct as a people ; their place was 
occupied by the Germans and Sarmatians; 
and the Scythian name was confined to the 
most remote and unknown tribes in the 
north. The name of Scythia was also ap- 
plied to the northern parts of Asia. 

SEABURY, Samuel, the first Episcopal 
bishop in the United States, was born in 
Connecticut, 1728. He was consecrated 
Bishop of Connecticut, in Scotland, in 1784, 
and died Feb. 25th, 1796. 

SEBASTIAN, Dom, King of Portugal, was 
born in 1554. He succeeded his grandfather, 
John III., and was a man of great zeal for 
religion, and of an extraordinary courage. 



Against the remonstrances of his sagest 
counselors, he formed, soon after his acces- 
sion, the design of making an expedition into 
Africa against the Moors. Taking with him 
the principal nobility and gentry of Portugal, 
he landed at Tangier on the 9th of July, 
1578, and gave battle to Abdemelech at Al- 
cazar, the 4th of August the same year, 
where his army was defeated. Abdemelech, 
who was sick, died in a litter, Mahomet per- 
ished in a bog, and the report was that Se- 
bastian himself was killed. Notwithstanding 
this, in 1598, a man in Venice declared him- 
self to be King Sebastian ; he resembled him 
so exactly in face, stature, and voice, that the 
Portuguese that were in that city, and 
amongst them one of his servants, owned 
him for their king. Some days after he was 
seized, and conveyed before judges, before 
whom he always maintained himself to be 
Sebastian ; he t(?ld them that the Moors who 
took him prisoner did not know him to be 
the king ; that the sorrow and repentance 
which seized him for having so rashly under- 
taken that expedition, had nearly caused his 
death ; and that now after having suffered in 
a strange country, he came to redemand the 
crown. He showed upon his bdcly the same 
marks which several had seen formerly on 
the body of the King of Portugal, and dis- 
covered to the Venetians some secrets they 
had formerly proposed to him by their am- 
bassadors, to prove he was Sebastian. The 
Spaniards, who had upon the report of his 
death invaded the crown of Portugal, treated 
him as a madman and impostor, and obliged 
the Venetians to expel him from their domin- 
ions ; he was seized again in Tuscany, and 
brought to Naples, where they set him upon 
an ass, and led him through all the streets of 
the city, exposing him to the abuses of the 
rabble. Some time after they shaved his 
head, aad placed him to row like a slave in a 
galley ; and afterward being brought to Spain, 
he died in a prison. 

SEBASTIANI, Francis Horace de, a 
French marshal, distinguished during the 
republic, the empire, and the monarchy, 
born in 1772, died in 1851 

SEBASTOPOL, or Sevastopol, a town and 
naval arsenal, at the south-west point of the 
Crimea, formerly the little village of Aktiar. 
The buildings were commenced in 1784, by 



SEB 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



789 



Catherine II., after the conquest of the coun- 
try. The aUied Enghsh and French armj^ 
took up its position on the plateau between 
this place and Balaklava, and the grand attack 
and bombardment commenced Oct. 17th, 
1854, without success. The defense was vig- 
orous and skillful, and as the allies only 
attacked the south side, the Kussians were 
often re-enforced. The attacking armies, 
especially the English, suffered dreadfully 
from disease and privation during the winter. 
There were many sanguinary encounters, by 
day and by night, and repeated bombard- 
ments. The battles of Balaklava, Inkermann, 
and the Tchernaya [icMch see\ were bloody 
episodes in the siege. The MalakhofF was 
attacked on the 17th and 18th of June, 1855, 
and after a conflict of eight and forty hours 
the French and English were repulsed with 
severe loss ; that of the English being 175 
killed and 1,1 2G wounded ; that of the French, 
3,338 killed and wounded. A grand assault 
was made Sept. 8th, 1855, upon the Mala- 
khofF and the Redans. The French succeeded 
in capturing and retaining the Malakhoflf. 
The attacks of the English on the great Re- 
dan and of the French upon the little Redan 
were at first successful, but the assailants 
were compelled to retire, after a desperate 
struggle, with great loss of life. The French 
lost 1,646 killed, of whom five were generals, 
4,500 wounded, and 1,400 missing. The En- 
glish lost 385 killed, 1,886 wounded, and 176 
missing. In the night the Russians abandoned 
the southern and principal part of the town 
and fortifications, after destroying as much 
as possible, and crossed to the northern forts. 
They also sunk or burnt the remainder of 
their fleet. The allies found a very great 
amount of stores when they entered the place. 

SECK-ER, Thomas, Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, born in 1693, died in 17G8. 

SEJANUS, the favorite of Tiberius, a 
native of Vulsinum in Tuscany, who distin- 
guished himself in the court of Tiberius. 
His father's name was Servius Strabo, a Ro- 
man knight, commander of the praetorian 
guards. His mother was descended from the 
Junian f\imily. Sejanus first gained the 
favor of Caius Caesar, the grandson of Au- 
gustus, but afterward he attached himself to 
the interest and views of Tiberius, who then 
sat on the imperial throne. The emperor. 



who was naturally of a suspicious temper, was 
free and open with Sejanus, and while he dis- 
trusted others, he communicated his greatest 
secrets to this fawning favorite. 

As commander of the pra3torian guards, 
he was the second man in Rome, and in that 
important office he made use of insinuation 
and every mean artifice to make himself 
beloved and revered. His affability and con- 
descension gained him the hearts of the com- 
mon soldiers, and by appointing his own favor- 
ites and adherents to places of trust and 
honor, all the officers and centurions of the 
army became devoted to his interest. The 
views of Sejanus in this were well known ; 
yet to advance them with more success, he 
attempted to gain the affections of the sena- 
tors. In this he met wath no opposition. 

A man who has the disposal of places of 
honor and dignity, and who has the command 
of the public money, can not but be the favor- 
ite of those who are in need of his assist- 
ance. It is even said that Sejanus gained to 
his view\s all the wives of the senators, by a pri- 
vate and most secret promise of marriage to 
each of them, whenever he had made himself 
independent and sovereign of Rome. Yet, 
however successful with the best and noblest 
families in the empire, Sejanus had to combat 
numbers in the house of the emperor ; but 
these seeming obstacles were soon removed. 

All the children and grandchildren of Tibe- 
rius were sacrificed to the ambition of the 
favorite under various pretenses ; and Dru- 
sus, the son of the emperor, by striking Seja- 
nus, made his destruction sure and inevita- 
ble. Livia, the wife of Drusus, was gained 
by Sejanus, and though mother of many 
children, she was prevailed upon to assist her 
adulterer in the murder of her husband, and 
she consented to marry him when Drusus 
was dead. No sooner was Drusus poisoned 
than Sejanus openly declared his wish to mar- 
ry Livia. This was strongly opposed by 
Tiberius ; and the emperor, by recommend- 
ing Germanicus to the senators for his suc- 
cessor, rendered Sejanus bold and determined. 

He was more urgent in his demands ; and 
when he could not gain the consent of the 
emperor, he persuaded him to retire to soli- 
tude from the noise of Rome and the ti'oubles 
of the government. Tiberius, naturally fond 
of ease and luxury, yielded to his represen- 



SEJ 



790 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



tations, and retired to Campania, leaving daughter of the former, and had lived in the 



Sejanus at the head of the empire. This was 
highly gratifying to the favorite, and he was 
now without a master. Prudence and mod- 
eration might have made him what he wished 
to be ; but Sejanus offended the whole em- 
pire when he declared that he was emperor 
of Rome, and Tiberius only the dependent 
prince of the island of Capreae, where he had 
retired. 

Tiberius was, upon this, fully convinced 
of the designs of Sejanus ; and when he had 
been informed that his favorite had had the 
meanness and audacity to ridicule him, by 
introducing him on the stage, the emperor 
ordered him to be accused before the senate. 
Sejanus was deserted by all his pretended 
friends, as soon as by fortune ; and the man 
who aspired to the empire, and who called 
himself the favorite of the people, the dar- 
ling of the praetorian guards, and the com- 
panion of Tiberius, was seized without resist- 
ance, and the same day strangled in prison, 
A.D. 31. 

SELEUCUS I., one of the captains of Alex- 
ander the Great, surnamed Nicator, or ' vic- 
torious,' was son of Antiochus. After the 
king's death he received Babylon as his pro- 
vince ; but his ambitious views, and his at- 
tempt to destroy Eumencs as he passed 
through his territories, rendered him so un- 
popular, that he fled for safety to the court 
of his friend Ptolemy, King of Egypt. He 
was soon after enabled to recover Babylon, 
which Antigonus had seized in his absence, 
and he increased his dominions by the imme- 
diate conquest of Media, and some of the 
neighboring provinces. When he had 
strengthened himself in his empire, Seleucus 
imitated the example of the rest of the gen- 
erals of Alexander, and assumed the title of 
independent monarch. He afterward made 
war against Antigonus, with the united for- 
ces of Ptolemy, Cassander, and Lysimachus ; 
and after that monarch had been conquered 
and slain, his territories were divided among 
his victorious enemies. 

When Seleucus became master of Syria, 
he built a city there, which he called Anti- 
och, in honor of his father, and made it the 
capital of his dominions. He also made war 
against Demetrius and Lysimachus, though 
he had originally married Stratonice, the 



closest friendship with the latter. Seleucus 
was at last foully murdered by one of his 
servants called Ptolemy Ceraunus, a man on 
whom he had bestowed the greatest favors, 
and whom he had distinguished by acts of 
the most unbounded confidence. 

According to Arrian, Seleucus was the 
greatest and most powerful of the princes 
who inherited the Macedonian empire after 
the death of Alexander. His benevolence 
has been commended; and he founded no 
less than thirty-four cities in different parts 
of his empire, which he peopled with Greek 
colonies, whose national in(tustry, learning, 
religion, and spirit were communicated to the 
indolent and luxurious inhabitants of Asia. 

Seleucus was a gi-eat benefactor to the 
Greeks ; he restored to the Athenians the 
library and statues which Xerxes had carried 
away from their city when he invaded Greece, 
and among the latter were those of Harmo- 
dius and Aristogiton. Seleucus v^s mur- 
dered B.C. 280, in the thirty -second year of 
his reign, and the seventy-eighth, or accord- 
ing to others the seventy-third, year of his age, 
as he was going to conquer Macedonia, and 
intended to finish his days in peace and tran- 
quillity in that province, where he was born. 

SELEUCUS n., surnamed Callinicus, 
succeeded his father Antiochus Theus on the 
throne of Syria. He attempted to make war 
against Ptolemy, King of Egypt, but his 
fleet was shipwrecked in a violent storm, and 
his armies soon after conquered 'by his ene- 
my. He was at last taken prisoner by Arsa- 
ces, an officer who made himself powerful by 
the dissensions which reigned in the house 
of the Seleucidaj, between the two brothers 
Seleucus and Antiochus ; and after he had 
been a prisoner for some time in Parthia, he 
died of a fall from his horse, b.c. 226, after ' | 
a reign of twenty years. Seleucus received 
the surname of Pogon, from his long beard, 
and that of Callinicus, ironically to express 
his very unfortunate reign. He married 
Laodice, the sister of one of his generals, by 
whom he had two sons, Seleucus and Anti- 
ochus, and a daughter whom he gave in mar- 
riage to Mithridates, King of Pontus. 

SELEUCUS HL succeeded his fathei 
Seleucus H. on the throne of Syria, and 
received the surname of Ceraunus, by anti- 



SEL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



79i 



phrasis, as he was a very weak, timid, and 
irresolute monarch. He was murdered by 
two of his officers after a reign of three years, 
B.C. 223, and his brother Antiochus, though 
only fifteen years old, ascended the throne, 
and rendered himself so celebrated that he 
acquired the name of the Great. 

SELEUCUS IV. succeeded his father 
Antiochus the Great, on the throne of Syria. 
He was surnamed Phllopater, or, according 
to Josephus, Soter. His empire had been 
weakened by the Romans when he became 
monarch, and the yearly tribute of a thousand 
talents to those victorious enemies, concurred 
in lessening his power and consequence 
among nations. Seleucus was poisoned after 
a reign of twelve years, B.C. 175. His son 
Demetrius had been sent to Rome, there to 
receive his education, and he became a prince 
of great abilities. 

SELEUCUS V. succeeded his father Deme- 
trius Nicator on the throne of Syria, in the 
twentieth year of his age. He was put to 
death in the first year of his reign, b.c. 124, 
by Cleopatra his mother, who had also sacri- 
ficed her husband to her ambition. He is not 
reckoned, by many historians, in the number 
of the Syrian monarchs. 

His brother Antiochus Grypus took the 
crown, and when Cleopatra would have poi- 
soned him, he forced the deadly draught to 
her own lips. 

SELEUCUS VL, son of Antiochus Gry- 
pus, killed his uncle Antiochus Cyzicenus, 
who wished to obtain the crown of Syria. 
He was some time after banished from his 
kingdom by Antiochus Pius, son of Cj^zice- 
nus, and fled to Cilicia, where he was burnt 
in a palace by the inhabitants, b.c. 93. 

SELEUCUS, a prince of Syria, to whom 
the Egyptians offered the crown of which 
they had robbed Auletes. Seleucus accepted 
it, but he soon disgusted his subjects, and 
received the surname of Cybiosactes, or 
' scullion,' for his meanness and avarice. He 
was at last murdered by Berenice, whom he 
had married. 

SELEUCIA, a city in Mesopotamia, upon 
the river Tigris, built by Seleucus Nicator, a 
few miles south of the modern Bagdad, in 
the form of an eagle with extended wings. 
It contained in the time of Pliny, 600,000 
inhabitants,^ and was once the most impor- 



tant city in the east. It was twice burnt by 
the Romans, in the eastern expedition of 
Trajan, and again by Lucius Verus, the col- 
league of Aurelius, when it had 500,000 
inhabitants. It was also taken by Severus, 
from which time it seems to have been almost 
abandoned by its inhabitants. 

SEMIRAMIS, a celebrated queen of Assy- 
ria. Semiramis, when grown up, married 
Menones, the govei-nor of Nineveh, and accom- 
panied him to the siege of Bactria, where, by 
her advice and prudent directions, she hast- 
ened the king's operations and took the city. 
These eminent services, but chiefly her un- 
common beauty, endeared her to Ninus. The 
monarch asked her of her husband, and 
offered him instead his daughter Sosana ; 
but Menones, who tenderly loved Semiramis, 
refused, and when Ninus had added threats 
to entreaties, he hung himself No sooner 
was Menones dead, than Semiramis, who was 
of an aspiring soul, married Ninus, by whom 
she had a son called Ninias. 

Ninus was so fond of Semiramis, that at 
her request he resigned the crown to her, 
and commanded her to be proclaimed queen 
and sole empress of Assyria. Of this, how- 
ever, he had cause to repent ; Semiramis put 
him to death, the better to establish herself on 
the throne. When she had no enemies to 
fear at home, she began to repair the capital of 
her empire, and by her means Babylon became 
the most superb and magnificent city in the 
world. She visited every part of her domin- 
ions, and left everywhere monuments of her 
greatness. 

To render the roads passable and commu- 
nication easy, she hollowed mountains and 
filled up valleys ; and water was conveyed 
at a great expense, by large and convenient 
aqueducts, to barren deserts and unfruitful 
plains. She was not less distinguished as a 
warrior ; many of the neighboring nations 
were conquered ; and when Semiramis was 
once told, as she was dressing her hair, that 
Babylon had revolted, she left her toilet with 
precipitation, and though only half dressed, 
refused to have the rest of her head adorned 
before the sedition was quelled, and tranquil- 
lity re-established. 

Semiramis has been accused of licentious- 
ness, and modern authors have drawn a par- 
allel between her and Catharine of Russia, 



SEM 



792 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



there being a great resemblance between 
them in the i^rincipal events of their hves, 
their mascuhne talents, and their private im- 
morality of conduct. The reign of Semira- 
mis was at last terminated by a conspiracy 
of her own son Ninias, who is said to have 
put her to death with his own hand. Her 
fame was very great throughout the east. 
After her death she received immortal honors 
in Assyria. It is supposed that she lived 
about 19G5 years before the Christian era, 
and that she died in the sixty-second year 
of her age, and the forty-second of her 
reign. 

SENECA, M. Ann.eus, a native of Cordu- 
ba in Spain, who married Helvia, a woman 
of Spain, by whom he had three sons, Sen- 
eca the philosopher, Annajus Novatus, and 
Annseus Mela, the father of the poet Lucan. 
Seneca made himself known by some decla- 
mations, of which he made a collection from 
the most celebrated orators of the age ; and 
from that circumstance, and for distinction, 
he obtained the appellation of declamutor. 
He left Corduba, and went to Rome, where 
he became a Roman knight. 

His son, L. Ann^eus Sexeca, who was born 
about A.D. 2, was early distinguished by his 
extraordinary talents. He was taught elo- 
quence by his father, and received lessons in 
philosophy from the best and most celebra- 
ted Stoics of the age. As one of the follow- 
ers of the Pythagorean doctrines, Seneca 
observed the utmost abstinence, and in his 
meals never ate the flesh of animals ; but 
this he abandoned at the representation of 
his father, when Tiberius threatened to piui- 
ish some Jews and Egyptians who abstained 
from certain meats. 

In the character of a pleader, Seneca ap- 
peared with great advantage; but the fear 
of Caligula, who aspired to the name of an 
eloquent speaker, and who consequently was 
jealous of his fame, deterred him from pursu- 
ing his favorite study, and he sought a safer 
employment in canvassing for the honors and 
offices of the state. He was made quaestor, 
but the aspersions which were thrown upon 
him on account of a shameful amour with 
Julia Livilla, removed him from Rome, and 
the emperor banished him for some time into 
Corsica. During his banishment, the philos- 
opher wrote some spirited epistles to his 



mother, remarkable for eloquence of langui-.^c 
and for sublimity ; but he soon forgot his 
philosophy, and disgraced himself by his flat- 
teries to the emperor, and in wishing to be 
recalled, even at the expense of his innocence 
and character. 

The disgrace of Messalina at Rome, and 
the marriage of Agrippina with Claudius, 
proved favorable to Seneca ; and after he had 
remained five years in Corsica, he was re- 
called by the empress to take cai-e of the ed- 
ucation of her son Nero, who was destined 
to succeed to the empire. In the honorable 
duty of preceptoi", Seneca gained applause ; 
and as long as Nero followed his advice, Rome 
enjoyed tranquillity, and believed herself safe 
and happy under the administration of the 
son of Agrippina. 

In the corrupt age of Nero, the preceptor 
had to withstand the clamors of man}'' wicked 
and profligate ministers ; and if he had been 
the favorite of the emperor, and shared his 
pleasures, his debauchery and extravagance, 
Nero perhaps would not have been so anxious 
to destroy a man whose example, from vicious 
inclinations, he could not follow, and whose 
salutar}' precepts his licentious associates for- 
bade him to obey. Seneca was too well 
acquainted with the natural disposition of 
Nero to think himself secure ; he had been 
accused of having amassed the most ample 
riches, and of having built sumptuous houses, 
and adorned beautiful gardens, during the 
four years in which he had attended Nero as 
a preceptor ; and therefore ho desired his 
imperial pupil to accept of the riches and 
the possessions which attendance on his per- 
son had procured, and to permit him to retire 
to solitude and study. 

Nero refused, with artful duplicity, and Sen- 
eca, to avoid further suspicions, kept himself 
at home for some time, as if laboring under a 
disease. In the conspiracy of Piso, which 
happened some time after, and in which some 
of the most noble of the Roman senators 
were concerned, Seneca's name was men- 
tioned by Natalis ; and Nero, who was glad 
of an opportunity of sacrificing him to his 
secret jealousy, ordered him to destroy him- 
self Seneca, very probably, was not acces- 
sory to the conspiracy ; and the only thing 
which could be produced against him as a 
crimination, was trivial and unsatisfactory. 



SEN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



793 



Piso, as Natalis declared, had complained that 
he never saw Seneca, and the philosopher had 
observed in answer, that it was not proper or 
conducive to their common interest, to see 
one another often. He further pleaded in- 
disposition, and said that his own life depend- 
ed upon the safety of Piso's person. 

Seneca was at table with his wife Paulina 
and two of his friends, when the messenger 
from Nero arrived. He heard the words 
which commanded him to destroy himself, 
with philosophical firmness, and even with 
joy ; and observed that such a mandate 
might have long been expected from a man 
who had murdered his own mother, and 
assassinated all his friends. He wished to 
dispose of his possessions as he pleased, but 
this was refused ; and when he heai'd this, 
he turned to his friends, who were weeping 
at his melancholy fate, and told them, that 
since he could not leave them what he be- 
lieved his own, he would leave them at least 
his own life for an example, — an innocent 
conduct which they might imitate, and by 
which they might acquire immortal fiime. 
Against their tears and wailings he exclaimed 
with firmness, and asked them whether they 
had not learnt better to withstand the attacks 
ot fortune and the violence of tyranny ? 

As for his wife, he attempted to calm her 
emotions ; and when she seemed resolved to 
die with him, he said he was glad to find his 
example followed by so much constancy. 
Their veins were opened at the same moment, 
but the life of Paulina M^as preserved, and 
Nero, who was partial to her, ordered 
the blood to be stopped ; and from that mo- 
ment, according to some authors, the philos- 
opher's wife seemed to rejoice that she could 
still enjoy the comforts of life. 

Seneca's veins bled but slowly ; the sensi- 
ble and animated conversation of his dying 
moments was collected by his friends, and 
has been preserved among his works. To 
hasten his death, he drank a dose of poison, 
but it had no effect ; and therefore he ordered 
himself to be carried into a hot bath, to 
accelerate the operation of the draught, and 
to make the blood flow mwe freely. This 
was attended with no better success ; and as 
the soldiers were clamorous, he was carried 
into a stove, and sufibcated by the steam, 
A.D. 65. 



SER 



SERINGAPATAM, a celebrated city of 
the south of India. In the month of Febru- 
ary, 1792, it was invested by the British and 
allied armies under Lord Cornwallis, amount- 
ing to 400,000 men. Terrified by such a 
host, Tippoo Sultan relinquished half his 
dominions, and paid three and a half millions 
sterling to the conquerors. Seringapatam 
was again invested in 1790, by the British 
and Nizam's forces, and was stormed on the 
4th of May. Bj'^ the conquest which was 
thus made, it became the property of the 
British. 

SERTORIUS, QuiNTUs, a Roman general, 
born at Nursia. His first campaign was 
under the great Marius, against the Teutones 
and Cirabri. He visited the enemy's camp as 
a spy, and had the misfortune to lose one eye 
in the first battle he fought. When Marius 
and Cinna entered Rome and slaughtered all 
their enemies, Sertorius accompanied them, 
but he expressed his sorrow and concern at 
the melancholy death of so many of his 
countrymen. He afterward fled for safety 
into Spain, when Sylla had proscribed him, 
and in this distant province he behaved him- 
self with so much address and valor that he 
was looked upon as the prince of the country- 

The Lusitanians universallj'- revered and 
loved him, and the Roman general did not 
show himself less attentive to their interest, 
by establishing public schools, and educating 
the children of the country in the polite arts, 
and the literature of Greece and Rome. He 
had established a senate, over which he pre- 
sided with consular authority, and the Ro- 
mans who followed his standard, paid equal 
reverence to his person They were experi. 
mentally convinced of his valor and magna- 
nimity as a general, and the artftd manner in 
which he imposed upon the credulity of his 
adherents in the garb of religion, did not 
diminish his reputation. The success of 
Sertorius in Spain, and his popularity among 
the natives, alarmed the Romans. 

They sent some troops to oppose him, but 
with little success. Four armies were found 
insufllcient to crush or even hurt Sertorius ; 
and Pompey and Metellus, who had never 
yet engaged an enemy without obtaining the 
victory, wei-e driven with dishonor from the 
field. But the favorite of the Lusitanians 
was exposed to the dangers which usually 



794 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



attend greatness. Perpenna, one of his offi- 
cers, who was jealous of his fame and tired 
of a superior, conspired against him. At a 
banquet the conspirators began to open their 
intentions by speaking with freedom and 
licentiousness in the pi'esence of Sertorius, 
whose age and character had hitherto claimed 
deference from others. Perpenna overturned 
a glass of wine, as a signal for the rest of 
the conspirators, and immediately Antonius, 
one of his officers, stabbed Sertorius, and the 
example was followed by all the rest, b.c. 72. 

Sertorius has been commended for his love 
of justice and moderation. The flattering 
description which he heard of the Fortunate 
Islands when he passed into the west of 
Africa, almost tempted him to bid adieu to 
the world, and perhaps he would have retired 
from the noise of war, and the clamors of 
envy, to end his days in the bosom of a 
peaceful and solitary island, had not the 
stronger calls of ambition and the love of 
fame prevailed over the intruding reflections 
of a moment. In his latter days Sertorius 
became indolent, and fond of luxury and wan- 
ton cruelty ; yet in affability, clemency, com- 
plaisance, generosity, and military valor, he 
surpassed his contemporaries. 

SERVIUS TULLTUS, the sixth king of 
Rome, belongs to the mythical period of 
Roman history. The legend runs, that he 
was son of Ocrisia, a slave of Cornicu- 
lum, by Tullius, a man slain in the defense 
of his country against the Romans. Ocrisia 
was given by Tarquin to Tanaquil his wife, 
who brought him up as her son in the king's 
family, and added the name of Servius to that 
which he had inherited from his father, to 
denote his slavery. Young Servius was edu- 
cated in the palace of the monarch with great 
care, and though originally a slave, he raised 
himself to so much consequence, that Tarquin 
gave him his daughter in marriage. Ilis 
own private merit and virtues recommended 
him to notice not less than the royal favors, 
and Servius became the favorite of the peo- 
ple and the darling of the soldiers, by his 
liberality and complaisance, and was easily 
raised to the throne on the death of his father- 
in-law, B.C. 578. Rome had no reason to 
repent of her choice. 

Servius endeared himself still more as a 
warrior and as a legislator. He defeated the 



SES 



Yeientes and the Tuscans, and by a proper 
act of policy he established the census, which 
told him that Rome contained about eighty- 
four thousand inhabitants. He increased 
the number of tribes, he beautified and 
adorned the city, and enlarged its boundaries 
by taking within its walls the hills Quirina- 
lis, Viminalis, and Esquilinus. He also divi- 
ded the Roman people into tribes, and that 
he might not seem to neglect the worship of 
the gods, he built several temples to the god- 
dess of Fortune, to whom he deemed himself 
particularly indebted for obtaining the king- 
dom. He also built a temple to Diana on 
Mount Aventine, and raised himself a palace 
on the hill Esquilinus. 

Servius married his two daughters to the 
grandsons of his predecessor ; the elder to 
Tarquin, and the younger to Aruns. This 
union, it might be supposed, tended to insure 
the peace of his family ; but if such were 
his expectations, he was unhappily deceived. 
The wife of Aruns, naturally fierce and im- 
petuous, murdered her own husband to unite 
herself to Tarquin, who had likewise assassi- 
nated his wife. These bloody measures 
were no sooner pursued, than Servius was 
murdered by his own son-in-law, and his 
daughter Tullia showed herself so destitute 
of filial gratitude and piety, that she ordered 
her chariot to be driven over the mangled 
body of her father, b.c. 534. 

SESOSTRIS, or Rameses, the Great, was a 
Pharaoh of the Diospolitan family, under 
whom ancient Egypt rose to its greatest 
height of political power and internal splen- 
dor. This greatest of the Egyptian kings 
extended his conquests, and retained domin- 
ion, from the Indus to the Niger, from the 
Persian Gulf to the Straits of Gibraltar. He 
enriched Egypt with the spoils of these many 
powerful kingdoms and the commerce of 
India, and employed his treasures in building 
cities, raising banks about others, or eleva- 
ting with immense cost the whole surface of 
their soil, to defend them from the inunda- 
tions of the Nile. He built palaces more 
magnificent than have ever before or since 
been erected by the hand of man. Champol- 
lion remarks that these constructions seem 
to be the conceptions of men one hundred 
feet high ! Lost in admiration, he dared not 
attempt to describe his feelings before struc- 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



7k 



tures of such unequaled majesty and beauty. 
But the highest glory of Rameses the Great 
remains to be told. He voluntarily resigned 
the power his ancestors had wrested from a 
savage race of tyrants, from whom the foun- 
der of their dynasty had delivered their 
native country ; and gave to the people the 
invaluable right of possessing property in 
the soil. He published a written code of 
laws more than 1500 years B.C., and the 
wisdom of his institutions was so great, that 
his vast empire long enjoyed the benefits of a 
wisely administered government. Many por- 
traits of this monarch exist. One of these 
was taken by Champollion with the greatest 
care from a colossal statue erected by him at 
Memphis, thirty -four and a half feet high ; 
it had fallen with its face to the earth, and 
thus each lineament had been admirably pre- 
served. 

Some place the reign of Sesostris about 
1618 B.C., others more than a century later; 
and some suppose the achievements attrib- 
uted to him were the work of several kings. 

SEVERUS, Lucius Septimius, a Roman 
emperor, born at Leptis in Africa, of a noble 
family, a.d. 146. He gradually exercised 
all the offices of the state, and recommended 
himself to the notice of the world by an am- 
bitious mind and a restless activity, that 
could, for the gratification of avarice, endure 
the most complicated hardships. After the 
murder of Pertinax, Severus resolved to 
remove Didius Julianus, who had bought 
the imperial purple when exposed for sale 
by the licentiousness of the praetorians, and 
therefore he proclaimed himself emperor 
on the borders of Illyricum, where he was 
stationed against the barbarians. To sup- 
port himself in this bold measure, he took, 
as his partner in the empire, Albinus, who 
was at the head of the Roman forces in Bri- 
tain, and immediately marched toward Rome 
to crush Didius and all his partisans. 

He was received, as he advanced through 
the country, with universal acclamations, and 
Julianus himself was soon deserted by his 
favorites, and assassinated by his own sol- 
diers. The reception of Severus at Rome 
was sufBcient to gratify his pride ; the streets 
were strewed with flowers, and the submis- 
sive senate were ready to grant whatever 
honors or titles the conqueror claimed. In 



professing that he had assumed the purple 
only to revenge the death of the virtuous 
Pertinax, Severus gained many adherents, 
and was enabled not only to disarm but to 
banish the praetorians, whose insolence and 
avarice had become alarming, not only to 
the citizens but to the emperor. 

But while he was victorious at Rome, Seve- 
rus did not forget that there was another 
competitor for the imperial purple. Pescen- 
nius Niger was in the east at the head of a 
powerful armj^, and with the name and 
ensigns of Augustus. Many obstinate bat- 
tles were fought between the troops and offi- 
cers of the imperial rivals, till on the plains 
of Issus, which above five centuries before 
had been covered with the blood of the Per- 
sian soldiers of Darius, Niger was totally 
ruined by the loss of 20,000 men. The head 
of Niger was cut off and sent to the con- 
queror, who punished in a most cruel manner 
all the partisans of his unfortunate rival. 
Severus afterward pillaged Byzantium, which 
had shut her gates against him ; and after he 
had conquered several nations in the east, 
he returned to Rome, resolved to destroy 
Albinus, with whom he had hitherto reluc- 
tantly shared the imperial power. He 
attempted to assassinate him by his emis- 
saries ; but when this had failed of success, 
Severus had recourse to arms, and the fate 
of the empire was again decided on the plains 
of Gaul. 

Albinus was defeated, and the conqueror 
was so elated with the recollection that he 
had now no longer a competitor for the pur- 
ple, that he insulted the dead body of his 
rival, and ordered it to be thrown into the 
Rhone, after he had suffered it to putrefy 
before the door of his tent, and to be torn by 
his dogs. The family and the adherents of 
Albinus shared his fate ; and tlie return of 
Severus to the capital was followed by days 
as bloody as those of Marius and Sylla. The 
richest citizens were sacrificed, and their 
money became the property of the emperor. 
The wicked Commodus received divine hon- 
ors, and his murderers were punished in the 
most wanton manner. 

Tired of the inactive life which he led in 
Rome, Severus marched into the east, with 
his two sons Caracalla and Geta, and with 
uncommon success made himself master of 



SEV 



796 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Seleucia, Babylon, and Ctesiphon ; and ad- i need of severity in an empire whose morals 
vanced without opposition far into tlie Par- 
thian territories. From Parthia the emperor 
marched toward the more southern provinces 
of Asia ; he entered Alexandria, and after he 
had granted a senate to that celebrated city, 
viewed with criticising and inquisitive curi- 
osity the monuments and ruins of Egypt. 
The revolt of Britain recalled him from the 
east. After he had reduced it under his 
power, he built a wall across the northern 
part of the island, to defend it against the 
Ircquent invasions of the Caledonians. Hith- 
erto successful against his enemies, Severus 
now found the peace of his family disturbed. 
Caracalla attempted to murder his father as 
he Vv'as concluding a treaty of peace with the 
Britons ; and the emperor was so shocked at 
the undutifulness of his son, that on his return 
home he called him into his presence, and 
after he had upbraided him for his ingrati- 
tude and perfidy, he ofi'ered him a drawn 
sword, adding, " If you ^are so ambitious of 
reigning alone, now imbrue your hands in 
the blood of your ^^ther, and let not the eyes 
of the world be witnesses of jour want of 
filial tenderness." If these words checked 
Caracalla, yet he did not show himself con- 
cerned, and Severus, worn out with infirmi- 
ties, which the gout and the uneasiness of 
his mind increased, soon after died, exclaim- 
ing he had been everything man could wish, 
but that he was then nothing. 

Some say that he wished to poison himself, 
but that when this was denied, he ate to great 
excess, and soon after expired at York, a.d. 
211, in the sixty -sixth year of his age, after 
a reign of seventeen years, eight months, and 
three days. Severus has been so much ad- 
mired for his military talents, that some have 
called him the most Avarlike of the Roman 
emperors. As a monarch, he was cruel, and 
and it has been observed that he never did 
an act of humanity or forgave a fault. In 
his diet he was temperate, and he always 
showed himself aa enemy to pomp and splen- 
dor. He loved the appellation of a man of 
letters, and he even composed a history of 
his own reign, which some have praised for 
its correctness and veracity. However cruel 
Severus may appear in his punishments and 
in his reveno;e, many have endeavored to 
exculpate him, and observed that there was 



were so corrupt. Of him, as of Augustus, 
some were found to say, that it would have 
been better for the world if he had never 
been born, or had never died. 

SEVERUS, Marcus Aukelius Alexander, 
a native of Phoenicia, adopted by Heliogaba- 
lus. His father's name was Genisius Marci- 
anus, and his mother's J«lia Mammaea, and 
he received the surname of Alexander, be- 
cause he was born in a temple sacred to 
Alexander the Great. He was carefully edu- 
cated, and his mother, by paying particular 
attention to his morals and the character of 
his preceptors, preserved him from the vices 
and licentiousness of youth. At the death 
of Heliogabalus, who had been jealous of 
his virtues, Alexander, though only in the 
fourteenth year of his age, was proclaimed 
emperor, and his nomination was approved 
by the universal shouts of the army and the 
congratulations of the senate. He had not 
long been on the throne before the peace of 
the empire was disturbed by the incursions 
of the Persians. He marched into the east 
without delay, and soon obtained a decisive 
victory over the barbarians. 

At his return to Rome, he was honored 
with a triumph, but the revolt of the Ger- 
mans soon after called him away from the 
indolence of the capital. His expedition in 
Germany was attended with some success, 
but his virtues and amiable qualities 
were forgotten in the stern strictness of the 
disciplinarian. His soldiers, fond of repose, 
murmured against his severity ; their clamors 
were fomented by the artifice of Maximinus, 
and Alexander was murdered in his tent, in 
the midst of his camp, after a reign of thir- 
teen years and nine days, on the 18th of 
March, a.d. 235. His mother shared his 
fate, with all his friends ; but this was no 
sooner known than the soldiers punished with 
immediate death, all such as had been 
concerned in the murder, except Maximi- 
nus. 

SEVILLE, on the Guadalquivir, in Anda- 
lusia, is one of the most ancient cities of 
Spain ;■ population 85,000. 

This is the Hespolis of the Phoenicians, 
and the Julia of the Romans. It is built in 
the Moorish style, and contains many edifices 
noteworthy for their age or their architect- 



SEV 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



797 



ure. Aftei' the decline of the Roman colony, 
Seville was held by the Goths. 

It opened its gates to the Moors in 711, 
and continued in their possession more than 
five centuries. It was taken by the Chris- 
tians in 1247, after one of the most obstinate 
sieges mentioned in Spanish history. It was 
the capital of Spain, until Philip II. finally 
fixed his court at Madrid, 1563. In 1729 a 
treaty was concluded here between Spain, 
England, France, and Holland. On the inva- 
sion of Spain by Bonaparte, in 1808, Seville 
asserted the national independence, and 
received the junta when driven from Madrid. 
It surrendered, however, to the French, on 
the 1st of February, 1810, and remained in 
their hands till the 27th of August, 1812, 
when they were compelled to leave it in con- 
sequence, not of insurrection on the part of 
the inhabitants, but of the general evacua- 
tion of the south of Spain consequent on 
their defeat at Salamanca. 

SEYMOUR, Edward, Duke of Somerset, 
was the eldest son of Sir John Seymour, by 
Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Went- 
worth. In 1533, he accompanied the Duke 
of Suffolk to France, and was knighted the 
same year. On his sister's marriage to Henry 
VIII., he was created Viscount Beauchamp. In 
1544 he was appointed lieutenant-general of 
the north, and commanded an expedition 
against the Scots. The same year he was at 
the siege of Boulogne, where he defeated the 
French, who lay encamped before the place. 
By the king's will, he was nominated one of 
his executors and governor of his son ; and 
soon after was declared protector of the king- 
dom. In 1548 he was appointed lord treas- 
urer, created Duke of Somerset, and made 
earl marshal of England. The same year he 
marched into Scotland, and gained the victo- 
ry of Musselburgh ; but though this raised 
his reputation, his fate was now fast approach- 
ing, to which the execution of his brother, 
the admiral, greatly contributed. His great- 
est enemy was the Earl of Warwick, and 
though a marriage had been effected between 
their children, yet when that nobleman be- 
came Duke of Northumberland, he accused 
Seymour of treason, and the latter was exe- 
cuted on Tower Hill, Jan. 22d, 1552. 

SFORZA, James, called the Great, was 



born of mean parents, at Cotignola, in 1369. 
His original name v>-as Giacomo Attendolo, 
and he was called Sforza because of his great 
vigor. He entered the army as a common 
soldier, and by his good conduct rose to the 
rank of general, and afterward was made 
constable of the kingdom of Naples. Pope 
John XXIII. also appointed him gonfalonier 
of the church, and created him a count. He 
compelled Alphonso of Arragon to raise the 
siege of Naples ; but in pursuing the flying 
enemy, he fell into the river near Pescara, 
and was drowned in 1424. 

His natural son, Francis Sforza, com- 
manded with distinction in the service of 
Naples ; after which he married the daughter 
of the Duke of Milan, on whose death he was 
chosen general of the duchy ; but he abused 
that trust, and usurped the dukedom. He 
also made himself master of Genoa, and died 
in 1466. His descendants held the duchy for 
several generations. 

SHAFTESBURY. The first Earl of 
Shaftesbury was a brilliant but inconsistent 
statesman in the reigns of the second Charles 
and James in England. He was born in 
1621. Although a royalist, he accepted a 
commission from parliament, but contributed 
to the restoration of the king, and was 
accordingly rewarded. Having been acquit- 
ted on his trial for high treason in ] 681, he 
died in Holland in 1688. His grandson, 
Anthony Ashley Cooper, the third earl, 
attained distinction as an elegant philosophi- 
cal writer. He was born in London in 1671, 
and died at Naples in February, 1713. His 
style, though labored, is lofty and musical. 

SHAKSPEARE, William, was born at 
Stratford upon Avon, a market town of War- 
wickshire in England, in 1564. Ilis birth- 
day is not known with certainty, but it is 
conjectured to have been the 23d of April. 
His father was named John. His mother 
was Mary Arden, of the ancient family of the 
Ardens. John Shakspeare has been called a 
butcher, a wool-stapler, a glover : in that 
age of less subdivision of occupations, he 
may have been all three. Of Shakspearc's 
youth little is known : some say he was 
an attorney's clerk : a general tradition is 
that he was a wild young fellow, given to 
poaching and deer-stealing. At Shottery, a 



SHA 



798 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



pretty village within a mile of Stratford, the 
cottage is still standing where dwelt Ann 
Hathaway, whom he wooed and won, and 
who became his wife in 1582. By this mar- 
riage there were two daughters and a son : 
Susanna, Hammett, and Judeth. Hammett 
lied in 1596 : the daughters survived their 
father, and inherited his property. 

Soon after his marriage, Shakspeare re- 
moved to London, and became connected with 
the Blackfriars Theatre, of which he was 
shortly one of the proprietors. For this his 
plays were written, to very few of which, 
however, can any positive dates be assigned. 
Here he grew to be well to do in the world, 
and about the beginning of the seventeenth 
century, he retired to his native town, where 
he resided, looked up to by his neighbors, 
thenceforth till his death. His eldest daugh- 
ter, in 1607, married Dr. Hall, an eminent 
physician in Stratford, and died in 1649. 
Judeth married Thomas Quincy, a thriving 
tradesman, in February, 1616, and died in 
1662. Neither daughter left any heir male. 
Shakspeare himself died in April, 1616. He 
was buried the 25th of April : the day of 
his decease is not known. Ann, his wife, 
survived till 1623. Aubrey speaks of the 
dramatist as " a handsome, well shaped man, 
verie good company, and of a verie pleasant, 
reddie, and smooth witt." 

Shakspeare lies buried beneath the chancel 
of the fine old parish church of Stratford. 
On the flag above his ashes these quaint 
words are cut : — 

" GOOD FREND FOR lESUS SAKE FORBEARE, 
TO DIGG THE DTST ENCLOASED HEARE : 
BLESE BE ¥"= MAN y SPARES THES STONES, 
AND CVRST BE HE Y^ MOVES MY BONES." 

SHARP, Granville, an untiring advocate 
for the abolition of slavery in Great Britain 
and elsewhere, died in 1813, aged seventy- 
nine. 

SHEFFIELD, John, Duke of Buckingham- 
shire, was the son of Edward, Earl of Mul- 
grave, and born in 1649. At the age of sev- 
enteen he served in the fleet, and afterward 
had the command of a troop of horse. In 
1680, being then Lord Mulgrave, he was sent 
to the relief of Tangier, which service he 
accomplished. He complied very much with 
the measures of James II., and yet concurred 
in the revolution, after which he was created 
Marquis of Normandy and Duke of Buck- 



inghamshire. He died in 1720, and was 
buried in Westminster Abbey. 

He is said to have ' made love ' to Queen 
Anne when they both were young ; and when 
she became sovereign, she did not forget to 
exalt him. He wrote several poems. 

SHELBY, Isaac, was born Dec. 11th, 
1750, near Hagerstown, Md. In 1776 he 
commanded a company raised by the com- 
mittee of safety of Virginia, and marched 
against the hostile Indians. After the con- 
clusion of the Revolutionary war, throughout 
which he behaved with courage, he settled in 
Kentucky, of which state he was chosen the 
first governor in 1792. In 1813 he emerged 
from private life and joined Gen. Harrison on 
the frontier of Ohio with 4,000 volunteers. 
He died of apoplexy, July 18th, 1826. 

SHELLEY, Percy Byssoe, was the son of 
a wealthy baronet of Sussex, in which shire 
he was born, Aug. 4th, 1792. In boyhood 
he was a republican and a skeptic. Either 
of these characters was sufiBcicnt to brand 
one of his position as an outcast from Eng- 
lish society ; and his life was blasted and 
unhappy. Its later years were passed in 
Italy. He was temperate in his habits, gen- 
tle, affectionate, and generous ; so that even 
those who deplored or detested his opinions 
were charmed with the intellectual purity 
and benevolence of his life. He was acci- 
dentally drowned in the Bay of Spezia, the 
8th of July, 1822. His body washed ashore, 
was reduced to ashes by fire, and those were 
deposited in the Protestant burial-ground at 
Rome, near the remains of a child he had 
lately lost. Much of Shelley's poetry is ab- 
stract and obscure ; too many of its scenes 
are ghastly and repulsive; yet amid these 
faults are some of the purest strains in our 
language, — the odes to the Cloud and the 
Skylark, for instance. 

SHENSTONE, William, born in 1714, at 
the Leasowes, his father's little estate in 
Shropshire, died there in 1763. He wrote 
"The Schoolmistress," and some lesser 
poems, but spent most of his time and too 
much of his money in landscape gardening 
and ornamental agriculture, on the Leasowes. 

SHERIDAN, Richard Bkinsley, a cele- 
brated wit, author, and statesman, was the 
son of Thomas Sheridan, and was born in 
DubUn, Oct. 30th, 1751. Having quitted the 



SHE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



799 



Dublin school, he was placed at Harrow, 
which he left in his eighteenth year. While 
yet at school, his wit and humor began to 
appear, though in learning he rated as a 
blockhead. At an early age he married Miss 
Linley, a beautiful young lady, who, at the 
concerts and theatre at Bath, had attracted 
universal admiration. He did not obtain her 
without difficulty, for he was forced to fight 
two duels with a Captain Matthews, which 
stand unequaled in the history of single 
combats for ferocity and determination. In 
1775 his comedy of "The Rivals" was pro- 
duced with success at Covent Garden theatre. 
Although this comedy has not the wit of 
*' The School for Scandal," it always elicits 
rapturous applause. In 1780 Mr. Sheridan 
was returned to parliament for Stafford, and 
soon became distinguished as a powerful 
speaker on the side of the opposition, with 
Fox and Burke. When the Rockingham 
party came into power, he was made one of 
the under secretaries; and in the coalition 
administration he was appointed to the treas- 
ury. That post, however, he did not hold 
long, and during the whole of Mr. Pitt's 
ascendency, the talents of Sheriden were dis- 
played in combating that statesman. On the 
trial of Mr. Hastings, he acted a prominent 
part, and his eloquence had an electrifying 
effect upon his auditors. 

On the conclusion of Mr. Sheridan's speech 
on the Begum charge, on the impeachment 
of Mr. Hastings, the whole assembly, mem- 
bers, peers, and strangers, involuntarily 
joined in a tumult of applause, and adopted a 
mode of expressing their approbation new 
and irregular in Westminster Hall, by loudly 
and repeatedly clapping their hands. A mo- 
tion was immediately made and carried for 
an adjournment, that the members, who were 
in a state of delirious insensibility from the 
talismanic influence of such powerful elo- 
quence, might have time to collect their scat- 
tered senses for the exercise of a sober judg- 
ment. The motion was made by Mr. Pitt, 
who declared that this speech " surpassed all 
the eloquence of ancient and modern times, 
and possessed everything that genius or art 
could furnish, to agitate and control the 
human mind." 

" He has this day," said Burke, " surprised 
the thousands who hung with rapture upon 



his accents, by such an array of talents, 
such an exhibition of capacity, such a dis- 
play of powers, as are unparalleled m the 
annals of oratory ! a display that reflects the 
highest honor upon himself, a lustre upon 
letters, renown upon parliament, glory upon 
the country. Of all species of rhetoric, of 
every kind of eloquence that has been wit- 
'nessed or recorded, either in ancient or mod- 
ern times ; whatever the acuteness of the 
bar, the dignity of the senate, the solidity 
of the judgment seat, and the sacred moral- 
ity of the pulpit, have hitherto furnished, — 
nothing has surpassed, nothing has equaled, 
what we have this day heard in Westmmster 
Hall. No holy seer of religion, no states- 
man, no orator, no man of any literary de- 
scription whatever, has come up, in dne 
instance, to the pure sentiments of morality, 
or, in the other, to the variety of knowledge, 
force of imagination, propriety and vivacity 
of allusion, beauty and eloquence of diction, 
strength and copiousness of style, pathos and 
sublimity of conception, to which we have 
this day listened with ardor and admiration. 
From poetry up to eloquence, there is not a 
species of composition of which a complete 
and perfect specimen might not from that 
single speech be culled and collected." 

The specimens of the speech thus extrava- 
gantly praised, that have come down to us, 
do not at all account for the extraordinary 
effect which it had upon an audience made 
up of the brightest talent and keenest judg- 
ment of the time. 

In 1792 Mr. Sheridan had the misfortune 
to lose his wife, who left one son, Thomas 
Sheridan. Three years afterward he married 
Miss Ogle, daughter of the Dean of Winches- 
ter. But neither the large fortune which 
this lady brought him, nor the receiver- 
generalship of Cornwall, nor his interest in 
Drury Lane theatre, were able to supply Sher- 
idan's extravagances, and put him beyond 
the reach of pecuniary embarrassment. After 
the death of Mr. Fox, Sheridan was deprived 
of office. His intemperate habits and indo- 
lence completed the ruin which the burning 
of Drury Lane theatre began. Yet this 
calamity was borne with equanimity. Some 
of his companions found Sheridan at a ne-igh- 
boring ale-house quietly surveying the raging 
flames which were rapidly consuming his 



SHE 



800 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA 0^ 



property. On observing their astonisliment, 
Sheridan coolly observed, "Why shouldn't a 
man enjoy his pot and pipe by his own fire- 
side." 

Intemperance had undermined his consti- 
. tution, and he died in miserable circumstan- 
ces, July Tth, 1816. His plays are " The 
Rivals," "The Duenna," " School for Scan- 
dal," "St. Patrick's Day, or the Scheming- 
Lieutenant," " Trip to Scarborough," " The 
Camp," "The Critic, or Tragedy Rehearsed," 
"Robinson Crusoe, or Harlequin Friday," 
and " Pizarro," a tragedy translated from 
the German. Byron s monody on Sheridan 
concludes thus :— 

Ye orators ! whom yet our councils lead, 
Mourn for the veteran hero of your field ! 
Tlie worthy rival of the wondrous throe ! 
Whose words were sparks of immortality ! 
Ye bards ! to whom the drama's muse is dear ! 
He was your master — emulate him here 1 
Ye men of wit and social eloquence ! 
He was your brother — bear his ashes hence 
While powers of mind almost of boundless 

range. 
Complete in kind — as various in their change; 
While eloquence — wit — poesy — and mirth 
(That humbler harmonist of care on earth), 
Survive within our souls — while lives our sense 
Of pride in merit's proud pre-eminence, 
Long shall we seek his likeness — long in vain, 
And turn to all of him which may remain, 
Sighing that Xature formed but one such man. 
And broke the die — in moulding Sheridan ! 

Some of Sheridan's hon mots will be long 
remembered for their brilliancy. He once 
remarked that the tax upon mile-stones was 
unconstitutional: "Because," said he, "they 
are a race that can not meet to remonstrate." 

Young Tom Sheridan once said to his fa- 
ther : "If ever I get into parliament, I mean 
to set up a sign on my head, inscribed To let." 
" Aye," said Sheridan, " and add — inifur- 
nished." 

Sheridan was fond of practical jokes, one 
of which he played off upon the Duke of 
Devonshire. Sheridan was in the habit of 
frequenting Dolly's chop-house, where he 
generally called for deviled shin-bone of beef. 
One day, coming in rather later than usual, 
he was told that the only shin-bone in the 
larder was being cooked for his grace the 
Duke of Devonshire. Sheridan, who knew 
the Duke's person, though not acquainted 
with him, took a seat within ear-shot of him 



said he, " that Dolly's chop-house was one 
of the neatest establishments in London, but 
I made a discovery tliis morning which has 
convinced me that I was mistaken." The 
duke listened very attentivelj''. " As I was 
passing the kitchen window," continued 
Sheridan, " I observed a turnspit-boy greed- 
ily gnawing a shin-bone of beef. Presently 
one of the cooks ran up to him, and giving 
him a blow on the neck, compelled him to 
drop his prize. 'You dirty little rascal,' 
said the cook, ' couldn't you find nothing else 
to eat ? Here I've got to cook this bone for 
the Duke of Devonshire.' " Soon after the 
conclusion of this tale, a waiter entered the 
room, and advanced to his grace, with a cov- 
ered dish. "Your bone, sir!" "Take it 
away," roared the duke, with a face of great 
disgust, " I can't touch a morsel of it." 
"Stay, waiter!" said Sheridan, humbl}' ; 
" bring it to me. If his grace can't eat it, I 
can. Fetch me a bottle of claret — I don't 
wish a better luncheon." 

Two young sprigs of nobility once accosted 
Sheridan in Bond street. "Sherrj^," said 
one of them familiarly, " my friend and I 
liave been discussing the question whether 
you are knave or fool." " Why," said the 
wit, taking an arm of each, I beheve I am 
between both." 

SHERMAN, Roger, a signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, was born at Newton, 
Mass., April 19th, 1721, and was appren- 
ticed to a shoemaker. In 1743 the family 
moved to New Milford in Connecticut, where 
he entered upon trade as a country merchant. 
Having, however, always displayed a desire 
for knowledge, he studied with diligence, and 
in 1754 was admitted to the bar. In 1759 
he was appointed judge of the court of com- 
mon pleas in Litchfield. Two years after- 
ward he removed to New Haven, and in 1765 
was appointed judge of the Superior Court, 
and treasurer of Yale College. After holding 
a scat in the general assembly of Connecti- 
cut, he was sent to Congress in 1775. Mr. 
Slierman was one of the committee selected 
to draft the Declaration of Independence. He 
was a representative in the first federal con- 
gress, and in 1791 was chosen United States 
senator from Connecticut. He died July 23d, 



and began a conversation with a friend in a j 1793, in the seventy-third year of his age. 
loud tone of voice. "I always imagined," I SHIPPEN, William, professor of anatomy 

SHI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



801 



in the Pennsylvania University, from the es- 
tablishment of the medical school until his 
death, in 1808. 

SHIRLEY, James, born in London in 1590, 
was the last of the great race of old English 
dramatists. He was designed for the church, 
and Laud refused to ordain him because of a 
mole that disfigured his left cheek. When 
the civil wars broke out, he changed the pen 
for the sword, and fought for the king. The 
shutting of the theatres by the Puritans, 
ruined his occupation as a dramatist. The 
restoration did not mend his fortunes, and the 
great fire of 1666 in London left him house- 
less. Soon after this, he and his wife died 
on the same day. 

SHORE, Jane, mistress of Edward IV. of 
England, and afterward of the unfortunate 
Lord Hastings, was a woman of e.xquisite 
beauty and kind heart, but not of virtue 
enough to resist the temptations of a royal 
lover. She was fated to incur the indigna- 
tion of the Duke of Gloucester, who had been 
made protector of the realm on the death 
of Edward. This unfortunate woman was 
an enemy too humble to excite the protect- 
or's jealousy ; yet as he had accused her of 
witchcraft, of which she was innocent, he 
thought proper to make her an example for 
those faults of which she was really guilty. 
Jane Shore had been deluded from her hus- 
band, who was a goldsmith in Lombard street, 
and not the best of husbands, and lived with 
Edward the most guiltless mistress in his 
abandoned court. The charge against her 
was too notorious to be denied ; she pleaded 
guilty, and was accordingly condemned to 
walk barefoot through the city, and do pen- 
ance in St. Paul's church, in a white sheet, 
with a wax taper in her hand, before thou- 
sands of spectators. She lived above forty 
years after this sentence, and was reduced to 
the most extreme indigence. 

SHOVEL, Sir Cloudesley, a gallant Eng- 
lish admiral, was born near Clay, in Norfolk, 
about 1650. In 1674 he was a lieutenant 
under Sir John Narborough, who sent Mr. 
Shovel to the Dey of Tripoli with a requisi- 
tion, which the Moor treated with contempt. 
Sir John then dispatched the lieutenant on 
shore again, when the dey behaved much 
worse than before. On his return, Shovel 
stated to the admiral the practicability of 



destroying the enemy's shipping, which ser- 
vice he performed the same night without the 
loss of a man. For this exploit he was ap- 
pointed to the command of a ship. 

After the revolution he was knighted, and 
made a rear-adminxl, in which capacity he 
had a share in the victory of La Ilogue. In 
1703 he commanded a fleet in the Mediter- 
ranean, and the year following partook in the 
victory ofi" Malaga. In 1705 he sailed for 
England, and in «the night of Oct. 22d, fell 
by mistake upon the rocks of Sjdla, where 
his ship was totally lost, with some others, 
and all on board perished. His body being 
found by the fishermen, was stripped and 
buried ; but the fact becoming known, the 
remains were brought to London, and interred 
in "Westminster xVbbej^, where a monument 
was erected to his memory. 

SHREWSBURY, Battle of, July 21st, 
1403, between the army of Henry IV. and 
that of the nobles who had conspired to de- 
throne him. The latter were led by Percy 
(surnamed Hotspur), son of the Earl of North- 
umberland. The contest was most bloody, 
till the death of Hotspur by an unknown 
hand decided the fate of the day, and gave 
the victory to the king. 

SIAM, a country in Asia, containing 
250,000 square miles and 5,500,000 inhabit- 
ants. It is rich in natural productions, and 
its forests furnish many woods of trade. 
Elephants are found in Siam in great num- 
bers and perfection; Lanjang, the name of 
one town, signifies ' the place of ten million 
elephants.' Occasionally white elephants are 
found : they are regarded with great venera- 
tion, kept in temples, and waited on by 
priests. He who traps a white elephant 
receives a handsome reward, and if the ani- 
mal be a very fine one a pension, which is 
continued to his descendants. White mon- 
keys, white buffaloes, and white deer are also 
found. The Siamese are of Mongol origin. 
Their government is an absolute despotism, 
and their religion Buddhism. Bangkok, a 
place of considerable extent and commerce, 
with 400,000 inhabitants, is the capital of 
the kingdom. The Portuguese, in 1511, 
were the first Europeans who estabhshed 
intercourse with Siam. 

SIBERIA, the Russian dominion in Asia, 
includes the whole northern part of that con- 



51 



SIB 



802 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



tinent. The exploration of Siberia may be 
dated from the period when Russia emanci- 
pated herself from the yoke of the Tartar 
conquerors. A body of wandering Cossacks 
passed tho Ural mountains in 1580, and found 
a Tartar kingdom, of which Sibir was the 
capital. The khan or ruler having been 
totally defeated, Yermack, the Cossack chief, 
took possession of the kingdom, but M'as 
afterward surprised and cut off by an ambus- 
cade of Tartars. The Russian power spread, 
and in the course of eighty years, a few Cos- 
sacks and hunters had, by their intrepid 
exertions, added to Russia a territory larger 
in extent than all Europe. However, in 
extending their conquest, they came in con- 
tact with the Chinese empire, the military 
force of which defeated the Russians on the 
banks of the Amour, where they were obliged 
to terminate their progress, and which river 
formed the line of demarcation between the 
two empires. 

The mines and furs of Siberia render it 
valuable to the Russians, but it is most noted 
as the place of banishment for those who 
have fallen under the displeasure of the Rus- 
sian government. Many an unhappy exile 
has here dragged out a miserable existence, 
to which death would have been preferable. 
These wretched victims of state intrigues 
and ruthless despotism, have contributed 
greatly toward the civilization and improve- 
ment of portions of this country. The num- 
ber of exiles was augmented by the banish- 
ment to this dreary region of hundreds of the 
unhappy Poles, whose greatest crime was a 
firm attachment to an oppressed country. 
The exile of great officers of state has fre- 
quently been attended with all the mystery 
which characterized the seizures of the inqui- 
sition. Often some deserving man, uncon- 
scious of having committed any crime worthy 
of so severe a punishment, found himself 
suddenly in the hands of the officers of jus- 
tice. If he asked the cause of his seizure, 
he was commanded to be silent : if he beg- 
ged to take leave of his family, his request 
was refused. He sank into the stupor of 
despair, and awakened again to a sense of 
hope forever lost, as he found himself upon 
the fatal sledge which pursued its rapid path 
to the hated place of exile. 

SICILY. This island, which is part of the 



kingdom of the two Sicilies, or Naples, is 
separated from Italy by the straits ©f Mes- 
sina. Its area is 10,530 square miles, and it 
contains 2,091,580 inhabitants. The prin- 
cipal cities are Palermo, Syracuse, Messina, 
and Catania. There are several mountain 
groups, among them the noted ^tna. The 
country is rich and fertile, and was formerly 
the granary of Italy ; but it is no longer so 
well cultivated. It produces grain, silk, 
wines, excellent fruits, wax, and honey. 

The Sicilians are descended from a variety 
of races, who have made the island their 
abode, — Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Sar- 
acens, Normans, and Spaniards, besides the 
aboriginal stock ; accordingly there is consid- 
erable difference of complexion and features. 
The Sicilians are generally dark, and yet M'e 
sometimes see skins as fair as in the north of 
Italy. Unless bent down by poverty and 
disease, the Sicilian exhibits a spare but mus- 
cular and erect form, lively dark ej-es, great 
elasticity of limb, and quickness of motion. 
He is shrewd, keen of sight, and very imi- 
tative. Although the climate and state of 
society incline him to indolence, he is more 
easily roused into activity than the Neapoli- 
tan, and is more capable of perseverance. 
The Sicilian women are handsome and amor- 
ous, and their countenances often have a 



The mass of the people 
Their relmion is the 



strong Grecian cast, 
are very illiterate. 
Roman Catholic. 

This island was anciently known by the 
names of Sicania, Sicilia, and Trinacria, from 
its triangular form. yEtna, now Mount 
Gibello, still emits flames, throws up stones 
and ashes, and alarms the inhabitants by its 
roaring, and its convulsions have frequently 
overturned cities, and covered the island with 
ruins. The fabled Cyclops dwelt here. In 
the Tuscan Sea, near Sicily, lie the ^olian 
and Vulcanian Isles (now the Lipari Isles), in 
which Yulcan is fabled to have had his forges, 
and /Eolus to have confined the winds subject 
to his command. Sicily was peopled by 
Greeks from Chalcis, Achaia, Doris, and from 
Crete, Rhodes, and other islands, and by 
some colonies from Italy. Syracuse, which 
was founded by Corinthians, b.c. 749, became 
a leading city. It was at first governed by 
kings ; and afterward a democracy was estab- 
lished. Its history exhibits a perpetual alter- 



SIC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



803 



nation of slavery under tyrants, and of lib- 
erty under a popular government. Gelon is 
said to have introduced himself into Syra- 
cuse by his address, and to have gained the 
favor of the people, who invested him with 
absolute power, b.c. 483. He laid the foun- 
dation of that immense commerce which ren- 
dered Syracuse strong and opulent. He pro- 
posed to assist the Greeks against Xerxes, 
when the Carthaginians landed in Sicily an 
army of 300,000 men under the command 
of Hamilcar. 

Gelon, by means of an intercepted letter, 
was enabled to send a body of cavalry, that 
put Hamilcar to death, dispersed the troops, 
and burnt the ships, while he attacked the 
other camp. An assembly of the Syracusans 
being convened, Gelon was invited to assume 
the title of king, and invested with supreme 
authority. The people also passed a decree, 
settling the crown, after his death, on his two 
brothers, Hiero and Thrasybulus. Gelon 
was succeeded by his elder brother, Hiero, 
B.C. 471, whom some represent as an excel- 
lent prince, and others as a covetous, obsti- 
nate, and cruel tyrant. 

Hiero was succeeded by his brother Thra- 
sybulus, B.C. 459, a cruel and sanguinary 
tyrant, who massacred all those subjects who 
gave him the least cause of offense. Incensed 
at this oppressive conduct, the people took 
up arms, and expelled the tyrant, who retired 
to Italy. The Syracusans, attempting to 
subdue the neighboring cities, the latter 
requested the assistance of the Athenians, 
who had long wished to form an establish- 
ment in Sicily. Nicias, a prudent general, 
endeavored to dissuade the Athenians from 
such an undertaking ; but they were hurried 
on by enthusiasm, and determined to sell the 
Syracusans and their allies as slaves, and 
oblige the other cities of Sicily to pay an 
annual tribute to Athens. Accordingly, they 
set sail and arrived before Syracuse, which 
they besieged both by sea and land, b.c. 
416. The Syracusans were about to surren- 
der, when Gylippus, a Spartan general, 
arrived with assistance from Lacedsemon. 

Nicias found himself under the necessity 
of demanding a re-enforcement from Athens, 
which dispatched another fleet, commanded 
by Deaiosthenes ; that enterprising general 
induced Nicias to make an assault, which was 



not successful. At length the Athenian and 
Syracusan armaments met, and an engage- 
ment ensued, when the Athenians were com- 
pletely defeated. Finding no other resource 
left than to endeavor to reach some towns in 
alliance with them, they began their march. 
The dead and the dying retarded their pro- 
gress ; the enemy briskly pursued, and 
allowed them scarcely a moment of rest. 
Nicias and Demosthenes were made prison- 
ers, and after being publicly scourged, were 
thrown from a precipice. The soldiers were 
shut up in the quarries, where they received 
a scanty allowance of food, and were infected 
with the putrid bodies of their dead compan- 
ions. Such was the issue of this war, after 
it had continued nearly three years. 

Sicily was soon engaged in a new contest. 
The Egestines, who had invited the Atheni- 
ans into Sicily, dreading the resentment of 
the Syracusans, offered to put their city into 
the hands of the Carthaginians, from whom 
they requested assistance against the inhabi- 
tants of Selinuntum. The Carthaginians 
committed the management of the war to 
Hannibal, the grandson of Hamilcar, who 
landed in Sicily with an army of 300,000 
men. The Selinuntines defended their walls, 
their streets, their public squares, and even 
their houses, but were everywhere overpow- 
ered by numbers. Two thousand six hun- 
dred of them escaped to Agrigentum, and 
the rest were cut to pieces by the Carthagin- 
ians, who committed dreadful cruelties and 
atrocities. The conquerors then marched to 
Himera, before which Hamilcar had been 
killed by Gelon, and which shared the same 
fate as Selinuntum. Hannibal ordered three 
thousand Himcrians to be barbarously mas- 
sacred on the spot where his grandfather had 
been defeated and killed ; and after thus ter- 
minating the campaign, he embarked his 
troops, and set sail for Africa. 

Two or three years after, the Carthagin- 
ians returned to Sicily with 300,000 men, and 
attacked Agrigentum. In the first sally, the 
besieged burnt the machines, and made a 
prodigious slaughter of the enemy. At 
length Agrigentum being greatly distressed 
for want of provisions, the inhabitants 
resolved to leave the city, which was taken 
possession of by the Carthaginians. The 
Agrigentines, who took refuge in Syracuse, 



SIC 



804 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



filled that city with complaints against the 
Syracusan commanders, as if they had be- 
trayed Agrigentum into the hands of the 
enem}^ This raised such disturbances in 
Syracuse, as afforded to Dionysius, a bold, 
eloquent, and aspiring man, an opportunity 
of seizing on the sovereign power. After 
procuring a guard of a thousand men, and 
being joined by part of the garrison in 
Gela, he possessed himself of the citadel, 
and publicly declared himself king of Sj'ra- 
cuse, B.C. 404. But on the first defeat he 
experienced from the Carthaginians, the peo- 
ple revolted, and united with his enemies. 
Dionysius, however, found means not only to 
appease the revolt, but to conclude a peace 
with the Carthaginians. 

Dionysius again declared war with the 
Carthaginians, from whom he took the most 
important of the towns which they possessed 
in Sicily; but they, nevertheless, appeared 
before Syracuse, to which they laid siege. 
The Carthaginians being exhausted by a 
plague, were obliged to raise the siege, and 
Dionysius suffered them to retire unmolested 
into other parts of the island, on condition 
that they paid him a large svim of money. 
He then turned his arms against Italy, and 
took Rhegium, the inhabitants of which he 
treated with his usual inhumanity. He was 
succeeded by his son Dionysius, who was 
surnamed the younger, B.C. 366, and who 
was a weak and irresolute prince. Dion, the 
brother of Aristomache, the wife of Dionysius 
the elder, a friend and disciple of Plato, in- 
duced the young prince to banish the accom- 
plices of his debaucheries and to recall Plato. 
Through a cabal of courtiers, Dion and Plato 
were disgraced, and obliged to retire to Ath- 
ens. Dionysius not only refused to Dion the 
revenue arising from his property, but com- 
pelled his wife Arete, who was much beloved 
by her husband, to espouse Timocrates, one 
of his courtiers. These provocations incensed 
Dion, who collected a small band, and arriv- 
ing at Syracuse whilst Dionysius was en- 
gaged with the war in Italy, declared that he 
came not to avenge his own private wrongs, 
but to emancipate Syracuse and Sicily from 
the yoke of the tyrant. Under this standard 
of liberty, Dion obtained possession of the 
greater part of the city ; and having defeated 
Dionysius in an engagement, compelled the 



tyrant to flee into Italy. Dion, having mur- 
dered one of his generals, was assassinated 
in his own house by his guest and friend 
Calippus. 

The death of Dion, and the flight of Calip- 
pus, recalled Dion3'sius, B.C. 350, who again 
reinstated himself in the possession of his 
dominions, which he retained until he was 
again expelled by an army under Timoleon. 
This general overran Sicily as a conqueror, 
subdued the tyrants of several cities, whom 
he sent to Corinth to be companions of Dio- 
nysius, and defeated the Carthaginians, who 
again appeared in the island. For the space 
of twenty years, the Syracusans enjoyed the 
fruits of Timoleon's services. Then Syra- 
racuse groaned under the tyranny of Agath- 
ocles, who exceeded all his predecessors in 
cruelty and other vices. He was expelled by 
Sosistratus, who had usurped the supreme 
power. He then retired into Italy ; and dur- 
ing his abode in that country, Sosistratus was 
obliged to abdicate the sovereignty, and quit 
Syracuse. Sosistratus and the other exiles 
had recourse to the Carthaginians, who read- 
ily espoused their cause. 

Upon this, the Syracusans recalled Agath- 
ocles, whom they appointed commander-in- 
chief, and he defeated the combined armies of 
Sosistratus and the Carthaginians. Agath- 
ocles, therefore, began to exercise a sovereign 
power over his fellow-citizens, and took such 
measures as plainly showed that he aimed at 
monarchy. On discovering his design, the 
people transferred the conmiand of their for- 
ces to a Corinthian ; and Agathocles saved his 
life only by stratagem. 

Agathocles re-appeared under the walls of 
Syracuse, at the head of a strong army, and 
under pretense of a war with Erbita, a neigh- 
boring city, he collected a great number of 
soldiers, whom he induced to pillage Syra- 
cuse, and to massacre all the chief men. In 
a few hours more than four thousand persons 
fell a sacrilice ; and the streets were covered 
with slain. He ordered the pillage and mas- 
sacre to be continued two days longer, after 
which he was proclaimed king by the few 
survivors. 

The success of Agathocles gave uneasiness 
to the Carthaginians, who sent against him 
an army under the command of Hamilcar. 
This general gained over him a complete vic- 



SIC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



805 



tory, which obliged Agathocles to confine 
himself within Syracuse. Whilst the Car- 
thaginians besieged that city, Agathocles 
embarked some of his best troops, B.C. 307, 
and after landing in Africa burned the vessels 
which had conveyed his array. An engage- 
ment took place between the Syracusans and 
the Carthaginians, the latter of whom were 
defeated, with the loss of Hanno their gen- 
eral. 

Syracuse was now reduced to great extrem- 
ity, but Agathocles having sent to the inhab- 
itants of that city the head of Hanno, the 
sight of it encouraged them to support with 
success a last assault. They afterward at- 
tacked and entirely routed the Carthaginian 
army, took Hamilcar prisoner, and sent his 
head to Agathocles. As the war was pro- 
longed, Agathocles resolved to return to Sic- 
ily, and having given the necessary orders 
during his absence, embarked with him two 
thousand chosen men, and arrived at Syra- 
cuse. After restoring order to the govern- 
ment, and destroying a league which had 
been formed against him, he set out once 
more for Africa. But finding his affairs des- 
perate in that country, he determined to 
abandon his troops, and, making his escape, 
put to sea. In the first transports of their 
fury, the soldiers massacred two of his sons 
whom h(j had left behind, and, having elected 
chiefs for themselves, concluded with the Car- 
thaginians a peace, by which they were to be 
transported to Sicily, and put in posses- 
sion of the city of Selinuntum. At length, 
after a series of cruelties, Agathocles was 
burnt on the funeral pile, b.c. 289. 

The government was next assumed by Moe- 
non, who was expelled by Hycetas. The 
latter took the modest title of praetor, but 
was deprived of the sovereign power by 
Toenion, who was opposed by Sosistratus. 
But being attacked by the Carthaginians, 
these chiefs united and called into their assis- 
tance Pyrrhus, King of Epirus, who was 
then carrying on war against the Romans. 
Pyrrhus drove the Carthaginians out, and 
returned into Italy. 

Hiero was appointed to command the Syra- 
cusan forces against the Carthaginians, B.C. 
275, who had regained most of the places 
which they possessed before the arrival of 
the Epirots. He concluded a treaty with 



the Romans, the conditions of which were 
faithfully performed on both sides. The de- 
feats which the Romans sustained at the Lake 
Thrasymene and at Cannae, could not shake 
his constancy. He died at the age of ninety. 

Hiero appointed his grandson Hierony- 
mus king, b.c. 211, with a council of fifteen 
persons, called tutors. His vices and cruelty 
were such, that a conspiracy Was formed 
against him. He was assassinated while 
passing through a narrow street, b.c. 208, 
and the people showed so little concern for 
his person, that they suffered the body to 
rot in the place where it had fallen. Hieron- 
ymus was no sooner dead, than two of the 
conspirators hastened to prevent the attempts 
of Andranodorus, and of others of the king's 
faction. However, he soon after, in concert 
with Themistus, the husband of Harmonia, 
sister of the deceased king, formed a plot to 
exterminate the chief citizens of Syracuse. 
This being disclosed to the senate, Andran- 
odorous and Themistus were condenmed, 
though absent, and put to death as they were 
entering the senate-house. Soon after this 
the guardians and tutors of the late king, and 
all the royal family, were put to death. 

The Carthaginians now obtained an as- 
cendency in Syracuse. Two of the gen- 
erals, Hippocrates and Epytides, caused 
the number of the prastors to be reduced 
to two, and made the choice fall on them- 
selves. Marcellus, the Roman consul, ap- 
peared at the gates of Syracuse, b.c. 212, 
and demanded that the authors of the late 
massacre should be delivered into his 
hands ; but finding his demand treated with 
ridicule, he commenced hostilities, and at- 
tempted a general assault on the city. How- 
ever, by the genius of Archimedes, an able 
mathematician, without employing the sword, 
two Roman armies were repulsed on this occa- 
sion. Marcellus was, therefore, obliged to 
convert the siege into a blockade : and at 
length he obtained possession of the city by 
an escalade. The soldiers entered the houses 
of the Syracusans, seized all the valuables, 
but offered no violence to the persons of the 
inhabitants. Acradina, the strongest quar- 
ter of the city, held out some time longer, 
but was at length taken by means of an offi- 
cer who gave up to Marcellus one of the 
gates. After the capture of Syracuse, Agri- 



Si C 



806 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



gentum was besieged and taken. By order 
of the consul Lasvinus, the chiefs of the lat- 
ter city were scourged and beheaded, and 
the people reduced to slavery and sold by 
auction. After this terrible example, no 
more cities resisted, and Sicily was converted 
into a province of Rome, b.c. 198. 

Sicily remained in the hands of the Ro- 
mans during many centuries. At length, in 
the eighth and ninth centuries, the Saracens 
conquered Sicily, and the island remained in 
their possession two hundred years. In the 
eleventh century the Normans made the con- 
quest of this country, and in 12G6 it submit- 
ted to Charles of Anjou, a French prince. In 
1282, the terrible massacre of the French, 
called the Sicilian Vespers, took place. It 
commenced at Palermo, March 30th, 1282. 
The French had become hateful to the Sicil- 
ians, and a conspiracy against Charles of 
Anjou was already ripe, when the following 
occurrence led to its development and accom- 
plishment. On Easter Monday, the chief 
conspirators had assembled at Palermo ; and 
while the French were engaged in festivities, 
a Sicilian bride happened to pass by with her 
train. She was observed by one Drochet, 
a Frenchman, who, advancing toward her, 
began to use her rudely, under pretense of 
searching for arms. A young Sicilian, exas- 
perated at this affront, stabbed him with his 
own sword ; and a tumult ensuing, two hun- 
dred French were instantly murdered. The 
enraged populace now ran through the city, 
crying out, "Let the French die ! " and, with- 
out distinction of rank, age, or sex, they 
slaughtered all of that nation they could find, 
to the number of eight thousand. Even such 
as had fled to the churches found no sanctu- 
ary there ; and the massacre became general 
throughout the island. After this catastro- 
phe, the inhabitants transferred the sovereign- 
ty of their island to Spain, with whom it long 
remained, as well as that of the Neapolitan 
territory, to which Sicily became united in 
1430. Both were subject to the crown of 
Spain in 1700. In ITOT, Austria obtained 
possession of Naples and Sicily ; and by the 
peace of Utrecht, in 1713, while Naples was 
confirmed to them, Sicily was given to the 
duke of Savoy, with the title of king. In 
1720, the Austrians prevailed on the new 
possessor of Sicily to exchange it foi Sar- 



SID 



dinia, and added the former to the kingdom 
of Naples. The war of 1734, however, 
transferred the crown of the two Sicilies to a 
branch of the royal family of Spain, and it 
remained in their hands till 1799, when the 
royal family were expelled from Naples. The 
latter took refuge in Sicily, were afterward 
restored to Naples, but again compelled to 
take refuge in Sicily. 

The acquisition of Sicily is said to have 
been a primary object with Napoleon, but an 
attempt at invasion in 1810 was bafiled by 
the British troops. In 1815, the overthrow 
of Murat led to the restoration of the Bour- 
bons to the throne of Naples. Under their 
rule, Sicily has been deprived of many of 
its ancient rights. In 1848 the island rose 
in insurrection, but was soon reduced. In 
18G0, Garibaldi occupied the island ; Victor 
Emanuel entered Palermo Dec. 1st, and Sicily 
became part of the kingdom of Italy. 

KINGS OF THE TWO SICILIES. 

1713. Victor Amadeus, Duke of Savoy ; he ex- 
changed Sicily for Sardinia in 1718. 
1718. Charles VI. of Austria, Emperor of Ger- 
many. 
1734. Charles (Bourbon), second son of the King 
of Spain : upon the death of his brother, 
Ferdinand VI., he succeeded to the 
throne of Spain, renouncing Sicily and 
Naples to his third son, then only eight 
years of age. 
Ferdinand IV., third sou of Charles ; mar- 
ried Caroline, daughter of Maria The- 
resa of Austria. 
Joseph Bonaparte : transferred to the Span- 
ish throne. 
Joachim Murat : shot Oct. 13th, 1815. 
Ferdinand I. : formerly Ferdinand IV. of 
Naples, and intermediately Ferdinand 
III. of Sicily : now of the United King- 
dom of the two Sicilies. 
Francis I., son of Ferdinand. 
Ferdinand II., son of Francis. 
SIDDONS, Sarah, the greatest of English 
actresses, was born at Brecknock in South 
Wales, July 14th, 1755, the daughter of 
Roger Kemble. She married Mr. Siddons, 
an actor in her father's family, in 1773. Her 
career of dramatic triumph commenced with 
her second appearance in London, Oct. 10th, 
1782. Seven years before, she had ventured 
with ill success, upon the metropolitan boards 
in the character of Portia. Now, as Isabella, 
in " The Fatal Marriage," she laid the corner 
stone of her fame. She retired from the 
stage in 1812, and died June 8th, 1831. She 
was a woman of much personal beauty and 



1759. 



1806. 



1815. 



1825. 
1830. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



80/ 



dignity ; her voice was very melodious, and 
her mental endowments were of a high or- 
der. Her style of acting was grand, noble, 
and natural. 

SIDNEY, Algernon, was the second son 
of Robert, Earl of Leicester, by Dorothy, 
daughter of the Earl of Northumberland, 
and was born about 1621. He became a 
colonel in the army of the parliament, a mem- 
ber of the house of commons, and was nom- 
inated one of the king's judges, but did not 
sign the warrant for his execution. The 
same principles, however, which led him to 
oppose Charles, made him hostile to Crom- 
well. In 1659 he was one of the commis- 
sioners sent to mediate between Denmark and 
Sweden. On the restoration, Sidney re- 
mained abroad till 1677, when he received a 
conditional pardon; but in 1683, being impli- 
cated in what was called the Rye-House plot, 
he was arraigned before Chief-justice JefiFreys, 
and found guilty, though the evidence was 
defective, and in every sense illegal. He suf- 
fered death with great firmness upon Tower 
Hill, on the 7th of December the same year, 
glorying in his martyrdom for that old 
cause in which he had been engaged from 
his youth. He Avas firm to republican prin- 
ciples. 

SIDNEY, Sir Philip, the author of " The 
Arcadia," "Defense of Poesy," "Astrophel 
and Stella," &c., was born Nov. 29th, 1554, 
at Penshurst, in Kent, the seat of his father. 
Sir Henry Sidney, who was the friend of 
Edward VI., and in the reign of Elizabeth 
became lord deputy of Ireland. The mother 
of Sir Philip was Mary, daughter of the Duke 
of Northumberland. He made while young 
the tour of the greater part of Europe, and in 
1575 returned to England, where he became 
one of the brightest ornaments of the court 
of Queen Elizabeth. 

In 1580 a tournament was held at court, 
where, though Sidney displayed his prowess 
to great advantage, the victory was adjudged 
to the Earl of Oxford. This produced a 
challenge from Sidney ; but the duel being 
prevented by the queen's commands, our 
ruffled hero retired to Wilton, the seat of his 
brother-in-law, the Earl of Pembroke, and 
there wrote "The Arcadia." In 1585 Sid- 
ney was named as a candidate for the king- 
dom of Poland, but Elizabeth interposed her 



authority against it, " refusing," says the 
historian Camden, " to further his advance- 
ment, out of fear that she should lose the 
jewel of her times." 

The Protestants of the Netherlands Hav- 
ing solicited the assistance of England to 
relieve them from the Spanish yoke, a mili- 
tary force was sent over under the command 
of Sir Philip, who on his arrival at Flushing, 
was appointed colonel of all the Dutch regi- 
ments. Not long after, his uncle, the Earl 
of Leicester, joined him with additional 
troops, and Sidney was promoted to the rank 
of general of the horse. 

On the 22d of September, 1586, he fell in 
with a convoy sent by the enemy to Zutphen, 
and though the English troops were inferior 
to the enemy, they gained the victory ; but 
it was dearly purchased by the loss of their 
commander, who, after one horse was shot 
under him, mounted another, and continued 
the fight, till he received a fatal ball in the 
left thigh. As he was borne from the field, 
languid with the loss of blood, he asked for 
water, but just as the bottle was put to his 
lips, seeing a dying soldier looking wistfully 
at it, he resigned it, saying, "Thy necessity 
is yet greater than mine." He died on the 
19th of October. His death was lamented 
both at home and abroad. His bravery and 
chivalrous magnanimity, his grace and polish 
of manner, the purity of his morals, his 
learning and refinement of taste, had won 
him love and esteem wherever he was known. 
By the direction of Elizabeth, his remains 
were conveyed to London, and honored with 
a public funeral in old St. Paul's. 

SILISTRIA, a strong fortified town on the 
Danube, in Bulgaria, a province of Turkey. 
It wa^ taken by the Russians in 1829, after 
nine months' siege, and held some years by 
them as a pledge for the payment of a large 
sum by Turkey, but was eventually given 
up. In May, 1854, it was besieged by a 
strong Russian force, but the Turks held it 
against fearful assaults, and assuming the 
offensive, forced the raising of the siege, 
June 15th. The loss of the Russians was 
enormous. The town and its defenses were 
battered almost to ruins. 

SILK. Wrought silk was brought from 
Persia to Greece, 325 b.c. It was known at 
Rome in the time of Tiberias, when the sen- 



SIL 



808 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ate forbade the use of plate of massy gold, 
and also that men should debase themselves 
by wearing silk, fit only for women. Helio- 
gabalus first wore a garment of silk, a.d. 
220. Silk was at first worth its weight in 
gold, and was thought to grow like cotton. 
Silk-worms were brought from India to Eu- 
rope in the sixth century. Charlemagne sent 
OfiFa, King of Mercia, a present of two silken 
vests, A.D. 780. At Palermo, 1130, the Sicil- 
ians bred the worms, and spun and wove the 
silk. The manufacture spread into Italy and 
Spain, and also into the south of France, 
about 1510. Henry IV. propagated mulber- 
ry-trees and silk-worms throughout France, 
in 1589. Silken mantles were worn by some 
high-born English ladies at a ball at Kenil- 
worth Castle, 1286. Silk was worn by the 
English clergy in 1534. Manufactured in 
England in 1604, and broad silk woven from 
raw silk in 1620. Brought to great perfec- 
tion by the French refugees at Spitalflelds, 
1688. 

SIMNEL, Lambert, an impostor in the 
reign of Henry VII. of England, 148G, that 
pretended to be the Duke of York, son of 
Edward IV., who with his brother was smoth- 
ered in the Tower by order of Richard III. 
The rebellion was soon suppressed : Lambert 
was discovered to be a baker's son, and was 
only punished by promotion to an office in 
the royal kitchen. 

SINOPE (Sinoub), an ancient seaport of 
Asia Minor, on the Black Sea, formerly capi- 
tal of the kingdom of Pontus, and the repu- 
ted birth-place of Diogenes. Nov. 30th, 
1853, the Turkish fleet lying here was attack- 
ed by a superior Russian armament, and to- 
tally burnt or sunk, except one vessel which 
escaped to Constantinople with tidings of the 
disaster. The Turks fought with desperate 
valor. Four thousand lives were lost by fire 
or drowning, and Osman Pacha, the Turkish 
admiral, died at Sebastopol of his wounds. 
The town and citadel were demolished. In 
consequence of this event, the English and 
French fleets entered the Black Sea, Jan. 3d, 
1854. 

SIXTHS v., pope, was born in 1521, in 
the signory of Montalto, where his father, 
Pereto Peretti, was a poor vine-dresser. He 
was christened Felix. At the age of four- 
teen, he was allowed to make his profession, 



and in 1545 he received priest's orders, and 
took the name of Father Montalto. His pop- 
ularity as a preacher procured him many 
friends, and in 1555 he was appointed inquis- 
itor-general at Venice; where, however, he 
gave so much offense by his severity, as to be 
obliged to return to Rome. Pius V. made 
him general of his order, next Bishop of St. 
Agatha, and in 1570 raised him to the pur- 
ple. Hitherto Montalto had been remarked 
for his haughty demeanor, but now he as- 
sumed quite an opposite character, and 
appeared all humility, meekness, and conde- 
scension. He carried this hypocrisy so far, 
as to treat his family with neglect, telling 
them, " that he was dead to his relations and 
the world." He took no part in political con- 
tentions, and the other cardinals were so com- 
pletely imposed upon by him, that they called 
him "The ass of La Marca." In this Way 
he went on several years, adding to his de- 
ceit, the pretense of bodily infirmities. 
At length Gregory XIII. died, in 1585, and 
the election of a new pope was contested 
between three cardinals, whose respective 
interests were so equal, that they agreed to 
choose Montalto ; but when they informed 
him of their intention, he fell into such a fit 
of coughing, that they thought he would 
have expired. The election, however, took 
place, and no sooner was it announced, than 
the pope threw his staff" into the middle of 
the chapel, and began the " Te Deum " with 
a loud voice, to the astonishment of all who 
heard him. He took the name of Sixtus V., 
and though he administered justice with 
rigorous severity, the relaxed state of man- 
ners called for it, and no one could tax him 
with partiality. Among other things, he 
caused the Vulgate edition of the Bible to be 
revised, and he even went so far as to have 
an Italian version of it printed, which excited 
great alarm among bigoted Catholics. To- 
ward foreign powers he behaved with spirit, 
and took away from their ambassadors the 
liberty of granting protections, saying that 
he was determined no one should reign at 
Rome but himself His private character 
was free from reproach, and the only faults 
charged upon him were, the hypocritical 
course he took to gain the papac)^ and the 
inexorable rigor with which he acted while 
he enjoyed it. He died August 27th, 1590. 



SIX 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



809 



SIX NATIONS. The Mohawks, Senecas, 
Cayugas, Oneidas, and Onondagas, important 
tribes of Indians in New York when the 
French and English came, were banded to- 
gether in a powerful confederacy, called by 
the French the Iroquois, by the Dutch the 
Maquas, and by the English the Five Nations. 
Early in the eighteenth century the Tusca- 
roras migrated from North Carolina and 
joined the union, which thus came to be 
known as the Six Nations. The Mohawks 
were the leading tribe. 

SLOANE, Sir Hans, was born in Ireland 
in 1660. He was bred to medicine, acquired 
a high reputation, and was physician to 
George II. He devoted much time and re- 
search to his favorite sciences of botany and 
natural history. Upon his death in 1752, he 
bequeathed his great accumulation of objects 
of natural history, art, and antiquities, to- 
gether with his large library, to the British 
nation, on condition that his daughters should 
be paid £20,000. The collection and library 
cost him £50,000. Parliament accepted the 
offer, and having already acquired the Har- 
leian MSS. and the Cottonian library, placed 
all in Montagu House, which they purchased 
for the purpose ; and thus the British Muse- 
um had its origin. 

SMALL WOOD, William, a native of Mary- 
land, was appointed a brigadier by Congress 
in 1776, and a major-general in 1780. His 
command suffered severely at the battle of 
Long Island ; it was chiefly composed of 
young men from Maryland. Gen. Small wood 
served at Brandywine and Germantown, and 
accompanied Gates to his disastrous southern 
campaign. In 1785 he was a delegate in 
Congress from Maryland, and was chosen 
governor the same year. He died in Febru- 
ary, 17^2. 

SMEATON, John, an eminent civil engi- 
neer in England, the constructor of the Eddy- 
stone lighthouse, born at Leeds in 1724, died 
Oct. 28th, 1792. 

SMITH, Adaji, a great Scotch philosopher 
and political economist, was born at Kirkal- 
dy in Fifeshire, June 5th, 172.S. He occu- 
pied the chair of logic and- moral philosophy 
in the university of Glasgow. Resigning 
his professorship in 1768, he gave himself to 
the production of his great work, " An Inqui- 
ry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth 



of Nations," which appeared in 1766. He 
died at Edinburgh, July 8th, 1790. 

SMITH, James, a signer of the Declaration 
of Independence, was born in Ireland be- 
tween 1715 and 1720 ; he would never give 
the date of his birth. He was educated at 
Philadelphia, studied law, and eventually set- 
tled at York. In 1774 he was a member of 
an assembly of delegates from all the coun- 
ties of Pennsylvania, and, in January, 1775, 
of the Pennsylvania!! convention. Being 
elected a member of Congress, he retained 
his seat in that body until November, 1778. 
He died July 11th, 1806. 

SMITH, JouN, was born at Willoughby, 
in Lincolnshire, England, in 1579. He early 
displayed a roving disposition, and was fond 
of feats of daring. On the death of his 
father, he was apprenticed to a merchant of 
Lynn, whom he soon quitted to enter the 
service of a nobleman who was going to the 
continent. At Orleans he was dischai'ged 
with money to defray the expenses of his 
voyage home ; but meeting with a Scotch- 
man in the Low Countries, where he had 
enlisted as a soldier, he was persuaded to go 
to Scotland, and promised the countenance 
of King James. Disappointed in his expect- 
ations he returned to his native town, but 
finding no agreeable companions, he built 
himself a hut in the woods, and studied 
works on the military art, occasionally amus- 
ing himself with his hoi'se and lance. 

In 1596 he again set out on his travels, 
going first to Flanders and thence to France, 
where he fell in with some pilgrims at Mar- 
seilles, and set sail in their company for Italy. 
The pilgrims, however, attributing the storm 
which overtook them to the presence of a 
heretic, threw overboard Smith, who saved 
his life by swimming to the island of St. 
Mary, off Nice. He was befriended by a 
shipmaster, who took him to Alexandria, 
whence he coasted the Levant, and assisted 
in the capture of a Venetian ship. With his 
share of the prize-money, he made the tour 
of Italy, and then entered the Austrian ser- 
vice, having command of a company of horse, 
with which he accoi!ipanied the Transylva- 
nian army against the Turks. 

At the siege of Regal, the lord Turbisha 
challenged any Christian commander to fight 
with him in presence of the ladies for their 



SMI 



810 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



particular amusement. The duty of encoun- 
tering this champion devolved by lot upon 
Smith, who killed him, struck off" his head, 
and bore it in triumph to the general of the 
Transylvanian army. A friend of Turbisha 
now sent Smith a challenge which he accept- 
ed. They fought, as before, in the presence 
of the ladies, who witnessed the defeat of the 
Turk, and his decapitation by Smith. The 
latter now sent word to the Ottomans, that, 
for the further gratification of their ladies, 
he would encounter any champion whom they 
might select. One Bonomalgro accepted the 
challenge, and, in the combat which took 
place. Smith, although stricken to the ground, 
regained his saddle at a fortunate moment, 
and severed the infidel's head from his body. 
These brilliant exploits procured him a sort 
of military triumph, after the manner of the 
Romans, a splendid horse and sabre, and a 
major's commission. On the capture of Re- 
gal, the Prince of Transylvania gave Smith 
his miniature set in gold, a pension, and a 
coat of arms with three Turk's heads in a 
shield. 

After this he was taken prisoner, and made 
the slave of the mistress of a pacha who 
resided at Constantinople. This lady fell in 
love with the Christian hero, and sent him 
for safety to her brother, a pacha on the bor- 
ders of the Sea of Azoph. This dignitary, 
suspecting the passion of his sister, treated 
Smith with great severity, but the latter 
found an opportunity to kill his tyrant, and, 
mounting the fine charger of his follen foe, 
he made his way into Russia, w'hence he 
traveled through Germany, France, Spain, 
and Morocco, from which latter place he 
returned to England. On the 19th of Decem- 
ber, 1606, he sailed for America, with Gos- 
nold's expedition, letters patent having been 
obtained and a council nominated for the col- 
ony of Virginia. After some time the weight 
of the administration of the Jamestown set- 
tlement devolved upon Smith, who was ever 
active and energetic. But while exploring 
James River, he was taken prisoner by the 
Indian chief Powhatan, and doomed to death ; 
from which he was saved only by the coura- 
geous interposition of Pocahontas, Powhat- 
an's daughter, who procured his liberation. 

Smith, having been elected president of 
the colony, ably discharged the arduous du 



ties imposed upon him, although its inevita- 
ble difficulties were increased by mutiny and 
the hostility of the Indians. In 1609 he 
returned to England; but in 1614 he com- 
manded an expedition of discovery to North 
Virginia, now New England. The next two 
vessels belonging to the council of Plymouth, 
of which he had obtained the command, 
were driven to England by stress of weather. 
He next had command of a small vessel, 
which was seized by French men-of-war un- 
der pretense of piracy ; but was released 
after being detained some time. He now 
traveled about endeavoring to enlist men of 
note in his schemes for colonizing America, 
but without success. He urged upon Queen 
Anne (the wife of James I.) the propriety of 
rewarding Pocahontas, who had been brought 
to England ; and he published a history of 
Virginia and an account of his various voy- 
ages and hardships. He died in London, in 
1631, in the fifty -second year of his age. 

SMITH, Joseph, the founder of the sect of 
the Mormons, was born December, 1805, in 
Sharon, Vt., removed with his father, about 
1815, to Palmyra, N. Y., and assisted on the 
form till 1826. He received little education, 
read indifferently, wrote and spelt badly, 
knew little of arithmetic, and in all other 
branches of learning he was, to the day of 
his death, exceedingly ignorant. His own 
account of his religious progress is, that as 
early as fifteen years of age he began to have 
serious ideas concerning the future state ; 
that he fell into occasional ecstacies; and 
that in 1823, during one of these ecstacies, 
he was visited by an angel, who told him that 
his sins were forgiven, — that the time was 
at hand when the gospel in its fullness was to 
be preached to all nations, — that the Ameri- 
can Indians were a remnant of Israel, who, 
when they first came to this continent, were 
an enlightened people possessing a knowledge 
of the true God, and enjoying his favor, — 
that the prophets and inspired writers among 
them had kept a history or record of their 
proceedings, — tliat these records were safely 
deposited, — and that if faithful, he was to be 
the favored instrument for bringing them to 
light. On the following day, according to 
instructions from his angelic familiar, he went 
to a hill which he calls Cumorah in Palmyra, 
and there in a stone chest, after a little dig- 



SMI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



811 



ging, he saw the records ; but it was not till 
September, 1827, that "the angel of the Lord 
delivered the records into his hands." 

" These records were engraved on plates 
which had the appearance of gold, were sev- 
en by eight inches in size, and thinner than 
common tin, and were covered on both sides 
with Egyptian characters, small and beauti- 
fully engraved. They were bound together 
in a volume like the leaves of a book, and 
were fiistened at one edge with three rings 
running through the whole. The volume 
was about six inches in thickness, bore many 
marks of antiquity, and part of it was sealed. 
With the records was found a curious instru- 
ment, called by the ancients Urim and Thum- 
mim, which consisted of two transparent 
stones, clear as crystal, and set in two rims 
of a bow " — a pair of pebble spectacles, in 
other words, or "helps to read unknown 
tongues." 

By the " gift and power of God," through 
the means of the Urim and Thummim, he 
translated the records, and "being a poor 
writer, he employed a scribe to write the 
translation as it came from his mouth." In 
1830 a large edition of the "Book of Mor- 
mon" was published. It professes to be an 
abridgment of the records made by the 
prophet Mormon, of the people of the 
Nephites, and left to his son Moroni to finish. 
It was written, there is good reason to be- 
lieve, by a clergyman named Spaulding, 
about 1812. Smith having obtained the MS., 
resolved to palm it off as a new revelation. 

In this he was well abetted by one Rigdon. 
In 1830 they organized a church at Kirtland, 
Ohio. In 1831-2 they founded Zion, in 
Jackson county, Missouri. From 1833 to 
1839 the sect endured much persecution, and 
driven from place to place, were compelled 
to travel westward ; till in 1840-1 the city 
Nauvoo was laid out on the Mississippi, in 
Illinois, where a temple was built. In 1844 
Joseph and his brother Hiram, when in pris- 
on on a charge of treason, were shot by an 
infuriated mob, and Brigham Young was 
chosen seer. 

In 1845, the Mormons being much har- 
assed by their neighbors, departure from 
Nauvoo was determined on, and the Great 
Salt Lake vfas chosen "for an everlasting 
abode," and taken possession of, July 24th, 



1847. In 1849 the valley was surveyed by 
order of the United States government, and 
in 1850 the colony had attained to great pros- 
perity. The provisional government was 
abolished the same year, and Utah territory 
organized, Brigham Young being appoint- 
ed the first governor. 

The Mormons command payment of tithes, 
honor and encourage labor, permit and praise 
polygamy, and believe in the pov/er of their 
leaders to work miracles. Missionaries are 
sent to all parts of the globe, and the sect re- 
ceives large accessions from Europe. In 1857 
the Mormons and the United States govern- 
ment came in collision, and an armed force 
was sent into the territory. Bloodshed, how- 
ever, was avoided, for the 'saints' yielded 
after much blustei*. 

SMITH, Samuel Stanhope, D.D., LL.D., 
an eminent Presbyterian clergyman, and 
president of Princeton College ; he died in 
1819, aged sixty -nine. 

SMITH, Sydney, who for half a century 
was conspicuous as critic and political writer, 
was born at Woodford, county of Essex, 
England, in 1768. He received an excellent 
education at Winchester, where his scholas- 
tic triumphs won him a fellowship at Oxford ; 
and commenced his clerical life as curate of 
Netheravon, Wilts, a wild and desolate par- 
ish. He soon relinquished it in order to 
travel with the son of Mr. Beach, member 
of parliament for Cirencester. This event 
and its results, he has humorously described : 
" When first I went into the church, I had a 
curacy in the middle of Salisbury Plain, 
The squire of the parish took a fancy to me, 
and requested me to go with his son to reside 
at the university of Weimar. Before we 
could get there, Germany became the seat 
of war, and in stress of politics we put into 
Edinburgh, where I remained five years. 
The principles of the French revolution were 
then fully afloat, and it is impossible to con- 
ceive a more violent and agitated state of 
society. Among the first persons with whom 
I became acquainted were Lord Jeffrey, Lord 
Murray (late lord advocate for Scotland), and 
Lord Brougham ; all of them maintaining 
opinions on political subjects a little too lib- 
eral for the dynasty of Dundas, then exer- 
cising supreme power over the northern 
division of the island. One day we happened 



SMI 



812 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



to meet in the eighth or ninth story or flat in 
Buccleuch place, the elevated residence of the 
then Mr. Jeffrey ; I proposed that we should 
set up a Review; this was acceded to with 
acclamation. I was appointed editor, and 
remained long enough in Edinburgh to edit 
the first number of the Edinburgh Eevieic. 
The motto I proposed for the Review was — 

Tenui musain nicditamur avena — 
We cultivate literature ujion a little oatmeal. 

But this was too near the truth to be admit- 
ted, and we took our present grave motto 
from Publius Syrus, of whom none of us, I 
am sure, had ever read a single line ; and so 
began what has since turned out to be a very 
important and able journal. When I left 
Edinburgh it fell into the stronger hands of 
Lord Jeffrey and Lord Brougham, and reached 
the highest point of popularity and success." 

Smith left Edinburgh for London, where 
he became a popular preacher, and also gained 
fame for eloquence and wit as a lecturer upon 
helles lettrcs at the Royal Institution. 
Throughout his life his pen was busy in 
political effusions. It is said that his amus- 
ing *' Letters of Peter Plymley " did more 
toward effecting Catholic emancipation than 
any, and perhaps all, of the many other pub- 
lications upon the subject. 

He was for several years rector of Combe 
Florey, in Somersetshire, and afterward canon 
residentiary of St. Paul's. He died in 1845, 
aged seventy-si.x. 

SMITH, William, D.D., eminent for elo- 
quence and the advancement of literature ; 
for many years provost of the college of 
Philadelphia, and died in 1803. 

SMITH, Sir William Sydney (commonly 
called Sir Sydney Smith), was born in 1764. 
At twelve years of age he was a midshipman 
under Lord Rodney, and before he was twen- 
ty, a post-captain. In an attempt to cut out 
a French ship at Havre, he was taken pris- 
oner; and under a charge that he had vio- 
lated the law of nations by landing assassins 
in France, he was immured in the prison of 
the Temple at Paris, for two years. He was 
released through the address and intrepidity 
of Philippeaux, a French officer. An order 
of the minister was forged, directing the gao- 
ler to deliver Smith, to be transferred to 
another prison. The gaoler obeyed, and 
false passports bore Smith and Philippeaux 



to Rouen. In an open boat they hurried out 
into the channel, and were picked up by a 
British frigate. 

In 1798 Commodore Smith was dispatched 
with an independent command to the coast 
of Egypt. His aid enabled the Turks to hold 
Acre, and the plans of Napoleon were baffied. 
He was prominent in the operations by which 
the French were expelled from Egypt, and to 
the close of the war, displayed conspicuous 
gallantry and skill. In 1814 he was made a 
knight commander of the Bath, and received 
a pension of £1,000 a year. He subsequent- 
ly rose to the rank of admiral. He endeavored 
to procure from the congress of Vienna, the 
abolition of the slave trade, and a joint at- 
tack of the European powers upon the pirat- 
ical states of Barbary ; but fruitlessly. He 
formed at Paris an association called the 
Anti-Piratic, whose influence was afterward 
seen in the subjugation of Algiers. Few 
characters in modern history are so chivalric 
as Sir Sydney Smith. He died at his resi- 
dence in Paris, May 26th, 1840. 

SMITHSON, James, an illegitimate son of 
the Duke of Northumberland in England, 
died in 1829, bequeathing the bulk of his 
large property to the United States " to 
found at Washington, under the name oi the 
Smithsonian Institution, an estaolishment for 
the increase and diffusion of knowledge 
among men." 

SMOLENSK 0, a considerable town of 
European Russia, and capital of the govern- 
ment of the same name. The Russians 
made, here, their first serious opposition to 
the advance of the French, in the campaign 
of 1812. An obstinate conflict took place on 
the 16th and 17th of August, in which the 
town was bombarded, and set on fire. The 
Russians were compelled to fall back, and the 
French extinguished the flames. On quit- 
ting it in their disastrous retreat in Novem- 
ber following, they blew up part of the 
works. 

SMOLLETT, Tobias George, a celebrated 
novelist, was born near Renton in Dumbar- 
tonshire, in 1721. He was bred a physician, 
but made literature his profession. He died 
near Leghorn, Oct. 21st, 1771. 

SOBIESKI, John, was born in Gahcia in 
1629. He acquired great renown by his suc- 
cesses over the Turks, and on the death of 



SOB 



HISTORY AND BIOGEAPHY, 



813 



Michael in 1674, he was chosen King of 
Poland. The Turks still assailed their west- 
ern neighbors, and to Sobieski Europe owed 
a series of splendid victories which checked 
the progress and broke the iron power of the 
Moslem. To him at the battle of Vienna, in 
1683, Austria was indebted for her deliver- 
ance at the hour of her extremity. With 
what abominable ingratitude has she repaid 
her debt to Poland ! AVe can not withhold 
from the reader a sketch of this momentous 
battle. 

The Turks offered not the least opposition 
to the Poles as they crossed the bridge, and 
all the imperial troops were safely assembled 
on the western side of the Danube by the 
Yth of September, and amounted to about 
70,000 men. They could hear from Tuln the 
roar of the Turkish cannon. Vienna was, in 
fact, reduced almost to its last gasp. Most 
of the garrison were either killed or wounded, 
and disease was making even greater ravages 
than the enemy's balls. " The grave con- 
tinued open without ever closing its mouth." 
As early as the 22d of August, the officers 
had estimated that they could not withstand 
a general attack three days. If the vizier 
had pursued his advantage, Vienna must 
have fallen into his hands. But it was his 
object to avoid taking it by storm, in which 
case the plunder would be carried oflf by the 
soldiers ; whereas, if he could oblige it to 
surrender, he might appropriate its spoil to 
his own use. So careless was he, too, in his 
confidence, that he had not yet ascertained 
that the Poles were arrived, till they wei*e in 
his immediate vicinity ; and when the news 
was afterward brought to him that the King 
of Poland was advancing, "The King of 
Poland ! " said he, laughing, " I know, indeed, 
that he has sent Lubomirski with a few squad- 
rons." 

The governor, Starembourg, who had as- 
sured the Duke of Lorraine that "he would 
not surrender the place but with the last 
drop of his blood," began himself to despair 
of being longer able to hold out. A letter 
which he wrote at this period contained only 
these words : "No more time to lose, my 
lord, no more time to lose." 

The imperial array set out on the 9th of 
September for Vienna, but they had a march 
of fourteen miles to make across a ridge of 



mountains, over which the Germans could not 
drag their cannon, and were therefore obliged 
to leave them behind. The Poles were more 
persevering, for they succeeded in getting 
over twenty-eight pieces, which were all thej^ 
had to oppose to the three hundred of the 
enemy. 

On the 11th of September they reached 
Mount Calemberg, the last which separated 
them from the Turks. From this hill, the 
Christians were presented with one of the 
finest and most dreadful prospects of the 
greatness of human power, — an immense 
plain and all the islands of the Danube cov- 
ered with pavilions, whose magnificence 
seemed rather calculated for an encampment 
of pleasure than the hardships of war ; an 
innumerable multitude of horses, camels, and 
buffaloes ; 200,000 men all in motion ; swarms 
of Tartars dispersed along the foot of the 
mountain in their usual confusion ; the fire 
of the besiegers incessant and terrible, and 
that of the besieged such as they could con- 
trive to make ; in fine, a great city distin- 
guishable only by the tops of the steeples, 
and the fire and smoke that covered it. But 
Sobieski was not imposed on by this formi- 
dable sight. " This man," said he, " is badly 
encamped ; he knows nothing of war ; we 
shall certainly beat him." The eagle eye of 
the experienced waiTior was not mistaken. 

On the eve of the battle, he wrote to the 
queen in these words : " We can easily see 
that the general of an army who has neither 
thought of intrenching himself nor concen- 
trating his forces, but lies encamped there as 
if we were a hundred miles from him, is pre- 
destined to be beaten." 

Sunday, the i2th of September, 1683, was 
the important day, big with the fate of Leo- 
pold, that was to decide whether the Turkish 
crescent should wave on the turrets of Vien- 
na. The cannonade on the city began at the 
break of day, for which purpose the vizier on 
his part had withdrawn from his army the 
janizaries, all his infantry, and nearly all his 
artillery. The light cavalry, the Spahis, the 
Tartars, and other irregular troops, were the 
forces destined to encounter the enemy ; so 
egregiously did Kara Mustapha miscalculate 
the strength of his opponents. They were 
commanded by Ibrahim Pacha, who was re- 
garded by the Turks as one of the greatest 



SOB 



814 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



generals of the age ; but, unfortunately for 
them, he was one of those who disapproved 
the war, and particularly the present plan of 
it. At eight in the morning there was some 
skirmishing ; at eleven the Christian army 
was drawn up in array in the plain ; and 
Kara Mustapha, beginning to apprehend that 
the allies were more formidable than he anti- 
cipated, had changed his design, and came to 
command his troops in person. He was sta- 
tioned in the centre, and Sobieski occupied 
the same situation in his army. 

It was nearly five in the evening, and the 
engagement had only been partial ; for Sobi- 
eski's infantry had not come up, and the 
vizier was to be seen under a superb crimson 
tent, quietly sipping coffee, while the King 
of Poland was before him. At length the 
infantry arrived, and Sobieski ordered them 
to seize an eminence which commanded the 
vizier's position. The promptitude and gal- 
lantry with which this maneuvre was exe- 
cuted decided the fate of the day. Kara 
Mustapha, taken by surprise at this unex- 
pected attack, ordered all his infantry to his 
right wing, and the movement put all the line 
in confusion. The king cried out that they 
were lost men ; he ordered the Duke of Lor- 
raine to attack the centre, which was now 
exposed and weakened, while he himself 
made his way through the confused Turks 
straight for the vizier's tent. He was in- 
stantly recognized by the streamers which 
adorned the lances of his guard. " B}^ Al- 
lah ! " exclaimed the cham of the Tartars, 
" the king is with them ! " An eclipse of the 
moon added to the consternation of the su- 
perstitious Moslems. At this moment the 
Polish cavalry made a grand charge, and at 
the same time the Duke of Lorraine with his 
troops added to the confusion ; and the rout 
of the Turks became general. The vizier in 
vain tried to rally them. "And you," said 
he to the cham of the Tartars, who passed 
him among the fugitives, " can not you help 
me ? " "I know the King of Poland ! " was 
the answer. " I told you that if we had to 
deal with him, all we could do would be to 
run away. Look at the sky ; see if God is 
not against us." The immense Turkish army 
was wholly broken up, and Vienna was saved. 
So sudden and general was the panic 
among the Turks, that by six o'clock Sobieski 



had taken possession of their camp. One 
of the vizier's stirrups, finely enameled, was 
brought to him. " Take this stirrup," said 
he, " to the queen, and tell her that the per- 
son to whom it belonged is defeated." Hav- 
ing strictly forbidden his soldiers from plun- 
dering, they rested under the Turkish tents. 

Such were the events of the famous deliv- 
erance of Vienna as they were seen by a 
looker-on • and the outline of the narrative 
is filled up by one who was the best informed, 
and not the least impartial, no less than the 
great hero himself " The victory has been 
so sudden and extraordinarj^," he writes to 
the queen, " that the city, as well as the 
camp, was in continual alarm, expecting to 
see the enemy return every moment. Night 
put an end to the pursuit, and besides, the 
Turks defended themselves with fury in their 
flight. All the troops have done their duty 
well ; they attribute the victory to God and 
us. At the moment when the enemy began 
to give ground (and the greatest shock was 
where I was stationed, opposite the vizier), 
all the cavalry of the rest of the army ad- 
vanced toward me on the right wing, the cen- 
tre and the left wing having as yet but little 
to do. The emperor is about a mile and a half 
distant. He is coming down the Danube in 
a chaloupe ; but I perceive he has no great 
wish to see me, perhaps on account of the 
etiquette. I am very glad to avoid these 
ceremonies ; we have been treated with noth- 
ing else up to this time. Our darling is bi'ave 
in the highest degree." 

On the following day John made his en- 
trance inio Vienna. The breach made by 
the Turks, and through which they expected 
to march to the destruction of the city, was 
the road which admitted its deliverer. The 
citizens received him with undisguised ex- 
pressions of gratitude ; and, stern warrior as 
he was, Sobieski shed a tear of joy at receiv- 
ing the thanks and acclamations of the vic- 
tims whom he had rescued from destruction. 
" Never," said he, " did the crown j'ield me 
pleasure like this ! " The people could not 
help comparing him with their own disgrace- 
ful sovereign, and exclaiming, " Ah ! why is 
not this our master ?" With difficulty could 
the stern looks of the emperor's officers check 
these natural expressions of feeling. But 
Sobieski did not arrogate to himself only the 



SOB 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



815 



glory of the victory ; he went to the cathe- 
dral to return thanks, and began to sing the 
Te Deum himself. A sermon was afterward 
delivered, and the preacher chose the follow- 
ing text for the occasion : " There was a 
man sent from God, whose name was John." 

He died of apoplexy, June 17th, 169G, 
after a reign of twenty-two years ; and was 
justly considered the most accomplished sov- 
ereign that ever sat on tlie throne of Poland. 

SOCINUS, Faustus, founder of the Socin- 
ian sect, was born at Sienna in 1539, and 
died near Cracow in 1 604 His uncle Laelius, 
who died at Zurich in 1502, aged thirty-seven, 
held views somewhat similar. 

SOCRATES, the most celebrated philoso- 
pher of all antiquity, was a native of Athens. 
Philosophy soon became the study of Socra- 
tes ; and under Archelaus and Anaxagoras 
he laid the foundation of that exemplary vir- 
tue which succeeding ages have ever loved 
and venerated. He appeared like the rest 
of his countrj^men in the field of battle ; he 
fought with boldness and intrepidity ; and 
to his courage two of his friends and disci- 
ples, Xenophon and Alcibiades, owed the 
preservation of their lives. But the charac- 
ter of Socrates appears more conspicuous and 
dignified as a philosopher and moralist, than 
as a warrior. His principles were enforced by 
the unparalleled example of an affectionate 
husband, a tender parent, a warlike soldier, 
and a patriotic citizen, in his own person. 
He was born b.c. 470, and died b.c. 400, 
being unjustly condemned to death. Plato, 
who was one of his disciples, reverently en- 
titled him, " the best of all men of this time, 
the wisest and most just of all men." 

SOLON, one of the seven wise men of 
Greece, was born at Salamis, and educated at 
Athens. After he had devoted part of his 
time to philosophical and political studies, 
Solon traveled over the greatest part of 
Greece, but at his return home he was dis- 
tressed with the dissensions which were 
kindled among his countrymen. All fixed 
their eyes upon Solon as a deliverer, and he 
was unanimously elected archon and sove- 
reign legislator. He flourished about 600 

B.C. 

SOLYMAN II., the Great, succeeded his 
father Selim I., as Sultan of Turkey in 1520. 
Gazelles, governor of Syria, rebelling after 



the death of Selim, and having made himself 
master of a part of Egypt, was defeated by 
Solyman's generals, who himself resolved to 
turn his arms against the Christians. Ac- 
cordingly, in 1521 he took Belgrade, and the 
next year Rhodes. This victory was followed 
by the revolt of the Egyptians and some oth- 
er nations, which were defeated by Ibrahim 
Bas.sa ; and Solyman, in the mean time, being 
advanced with his army into Hungary, won 
the battle of Mohatz, in 1526, where Lewis 
II. of Hungary lost his life in a morass. He 
made several other expeditions into this king- 
dom, where he took Buda, Pest, Gran, and 
some other places, and died there himself at 
the siege of Zigeth or Sigeth, the 4th of Sep- 
tember, 1566, being seventy-two years of 
age. In 1529 Solyman besieged Vienna, but 
without success ; and in 1535, he took and 
plundered Tauris ; and his generals subdued 
several cities and provinces in Europe, Asia, 
and Africa. Besides his career of war, he 
improved the administration, of Turkej^, en- 
couraged learning, opened roads, erected 
caravansaries, hospitals, and libraries, and 
in other ways evinced an enlightened policy. 

SOMERS, John, Lord, a famous English 
lawyer and statesman, was born at Worces- 
ter, March 4th, 1650. In 1088 he was one 
of the counsel for the seven bishops ; and 
being chosen a member of the convention 
parliament, he distinguished himself at the 
conference of the two houses, on the ques- 
tion about the abdication of the throne. 
When the new government was established, 
he became, successively, solicitor general and 
attorney-general, and in 1693 lord-keeper. 
He was next raised to the peerage, appointed 
chancellor, and rewarded with lands in the 
county of Surrey. In 1700 he was deprived 
of the seals, and soon after impeached by 
the Commons ; but a misunderstanding aris- 
ing between the two houses, the Lords pro- 
nounced a verdict of acquittal. Lord Somers 
projected the union between England and 
Scotland, and was one of the managers ap- 
pointed to carry that measure into effect. In 
1 708 he was made president of the council, 
but went out of office again in 1710: after 
which he led a retired life, and died April 
26th, 1716. 

SOPHOCLES was born in the vicinity of 
Athens, B.C. 495. At the age of twenty-seven 
SOP 



816 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



he bore the prize away from ^schylus, who 
for thirty years had been the master of the 
Athenian stage. Twenty -seven years after, 
Sophocles was surpassed by Euripides. Soph- 
ocles died after completing his ninetieth 
year. Of the one hundred and thirteen 
plays that he wrote, only seven, with some 
fragments, have descended to us. In his 
hands the Athenian tragedy reached its high- 
est perfection. 

SOTHEBY, William, was distinguished 
as a translator. Some of his principal works 
are, Oberon, from the German of Wieland ; 
the Georgics of "Virgil translated into English 
verse ; and the translation of the Iliad and 
Odyssey of Homer, in four volumes octavo, 
with the designs of Flaxman. Mr. Sotheby 
diedinLondon, Dec. 30th, 1833, aged seventy- 
six. 

He was upward of seventy years old when 
he commenced his spirited and faithful ver- 
Bion of Homer. 



SOULT, Nicole Jean de Dieux, was born 
in 17G9, and entered the army in 1785. 
His skill and bravery won him rapid 
promotion; he was the first of the mar- 
shals whom Napoleon created in 1804, and as 
Duke of Dalmatia he w^as the first of the 
marshals who were ennobled. He showed 
great energy and talent in contending with 
Wellington in Spain, though the latter drove 
him into France. Soult fought for Bonaparte 
at Waterloo, and for a time was proscribed 
by the Bourbons. Ultimately he was re- 
stored to his dignities. He died Nov. 26th, 
1851. 

SOUTH, Robert, an eminent English di- 
vine, was born at Hackney in 1683, and edu- 
cated at Westminster school, and Christ 
Church, Oxford. He had a controversy with 
Sherlock concerning the Trinity, and both 
parties were charged with heresy. South 
was a man of great wit. His sermons are 
original and forcible. He died in 1716. 




SOUTH CAROLINA has an area of 28,000 
square miles. In I860 the population was 
703,708, of whom 9,914 were free negroes, 
and 402,406 slaves. In form South Carolina 
is a triangle, wedged in between North Caro- 
lina and Georgia, with the Atlantic for a 
base. 

A tract of great breadth, with occasional 
swamps, bounded on the east by the sea, is 
perfectly level ; but proceeding inland we 
observe the land to become more elevated, 
and gradually to present an undulating and 
broken appearance. The low lands are an 



unhealthy residence, but in the upper regions 
the inhabitants enjoy a salubrious climate. 

The principal rivers, such as the Great 
Pedee, the Santee, and the Congaree, are 
navigable for small craft ; in the lower 
part of their course they are shallow and 
obstructed by bars. Similar obstacles dimin- 
ish the value of the harbors. 

The southern part of the coast is skirted 
by a range of islands, separated from the 
main land by narrow channels, which aiford 
an inland steamboat navigation from Charles- 
ton to Savannah. These islands, like the 



SOU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



817 



neighboring continent arc low and flat, but 
are covered witli forests of live oak, pine, 
and palmettoes, and they yield the black- 
seed or Sea-Island cotton. Before the culti- 
vation of cotton, many of them were the 
haunts of alligators, and their thick woods 
and rank weeds rendered them impenetrable 
to man. At present, they are under culti- 
vation, and well inhabited ; and as the voya- 
ger glides by their shores, he is enchanted 
with the prospect of their lively verdure, 
interspersed with thick clumps of palmet- 
toes and flowering groves of orange-trees. 
The live oak, which is so called on account 
of its being an evergreen, is a noble tree, 
with a trunk sometimes twelve feet in girth ; 
its long branches are spread horizontally, and 
festoons of moss hang from them almost 
sweeping the ground. The laurel is here 
seen covered with large white blossoms, 
shaped like a lily, and a foot in circumference. 
The long sandy beaches, which border these 
islands toward the sea, are covered with 
thousands of water-fowl. 

Cotton and rice are the great agricultural 
staples ; the former of which clothes more 
of mankind than either wool, flax, hemp, or 
silk, and the latter feeds more of the human 
race than any other grain. Rice was first 
sown in Carolina in 1G93. There are no 
manufactures of any importance; but the 
commerce of the state is extensive : it con- 
sists of exports of her own raw produce, 
such as rice, cotton, tar, pitch, turpentine, 
and lumber, and of large quantities of the 
productions of North Carolina and Georgia, 
and in imports for home consumption. 

South Carolina was granted to Lord Clar- 
endon and others in 1GG3, but no permanent 
establishment was made until 1680. The 
celebrated John Locke drew up a plan of 
government for the colony,, but it proved im- 
practicable. In 1719 the proprietary govern- 
ment was done away, the two Carolinas were 
separated, and they were made royal colo- 
nies. During the Revolutionary war, this 
state was distinguished for its exertions in 
the good cause, which owed much to the 
bravery of Marion, Sumter, and Lee, all of 
whom were worthy of the military reputa- 
tion they enjoyed. In 1780 and 1781 it was 
the theatre of important military operations, 
and was overrun by the British troops. 



52 



SOU 



The present constitution was adopted in 
1790. The governor is chosen for two j^ears 
by the legislature, whose sessions are annual. 
He is not re-eligible for the next four years. 
The representatives and half the senators are 
chosen biennially. The constitution grants the 
right of suffrage to every free white male citi- 
zen of the age of twenty-one years, who has 
resided in the state two years, and has been 
possessed at least six months o( a freehold of 
fifty acres of land or a town lot, or who has 
resided in the election district six months and 
paid a tax of three shillings sterling to the 
state the preceding year. 

South Carolina was the first state to secede 
during the late rebellion. She had been in 
1832 the hot-bed of nullification, and was 
now again the headquarters of disunionism. 
The state was for a long time comparatively 
free from the ravages of the war, owing to 
her distance from the principal areas of cam- 
paigning, but during Sherman's march north- 
ward from Savannah the Union troops lived 
at free quarters on the country, and inflicted 
upon South Carolina a considerable share of 
the horrors of war. 

Columbia, the capital, is pleasantly situ- 
ated on the Congaree, just below the junction 
of the Saluda and Broad Rivers. It is regu- 
larly laid out, with very wide streets, and is 
a neatly built town of 6,000 inhabitants. It 
was laid out in 1787. [See Charleston.] 

SOUTHEY, Robert, was one of the most 
voluminous and learned English authors of 
the century. A poet, scholar, antiquary, 
critic, and historian, he wrote more than even 
Scott, and it is said he burned more verses 
between his twentieth and thirtieth years 
than he published during his whole life. He 
was a native of Bristol, the son of a linen- 
draper, and was born Aug. 12th, 1774. He 
was indebted to a maternal uncle. Dr. Her- 
bert, chaplain to the English factory at Lis- 
bon, for most of his education, and in 1792, 
was admitted to Baliol College, Oxford, hav- 
ing passed with credit through Westminster 
school. He was designed for the church ; 
but becoming a Jacobin in politics and a 
Socinian in religion, he left Oxford in 1794. 
The extreme opinions he then held were 
embodied in a drama called " Wat Tyler," 
which was long afterward published surrep- 
titiously by a knavish bookseller, to annoy 



818 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



its author. In 1794 he made the acquaint- 
ance of Coleridge ; and, having already pub- 
lished poems in conjunction with his friend 
Lovell, he now, with his new ally, wrote 
"The Fall of Robespierre" and "Joan of 
Arc." In 1795 Southey married, at Bristol, 
Edith Fricker, the sister ol Mrs. Coleridge 
and Mrs. Lovell. According to De Quincey, 
the poet, compelled by poverty, parted with 
his wife at the portico of the church immedi- 
ately after the marriage, and set out to ac- 
company an uncle to Lisbon. On his return 
in 1797, he puVjlished "Letters from Spain 
and Portugal." He was still reluctant to 
embrace literature as a profession. The study 
of law was commenced in London, but never 
zealously pursued, and gradually deserted 
altogether for literary study and composi- 
tion. His circumstances were made easier 
by the friendship of Mr. Wynn, who allowed 
him an annuity of £100 till he obtained the 
laureateship. His youthful extremities of 
opinion were already, to all appearance, quite 
extinct ; if he was not even far on the way 
toward that admiration of aristocratic prin- 
ciples and of the Anglican hierarch)', which, 
oddly mingled with liberal hobbies of his 
own, he entertained and uttered so vehement- 
ly in the later stages of his life. 

In 1801 he accompanied Mr. Foster, chan- 
cellor of the exchequer, to Ireland, as private 
secretary ; and the same year witnessed the 
publication of another epic, " Thalaba the 
Destroyer," an Arabian fiction of great beauty 
and magnificence. In 1803 he settled him- 
self in a house called Greta Hall, near Kes- 
wick ; and there he resided nearly forty years, 
laboring at his desk with the steadiness of a 
book-keeper, and dividing his time, easily and 
regularl}^, between the tasks by which hc' 
made his bread and the undertakings by 
which he hoped to gain immortality. In 
1813 he was appointed poet-laureate, chiefly 
through the influence of Sir Walter Scott, 
who himself declined the place. His pro- 
ductions in this capacity won him little credit, 
and one of them, " The Vision of Judgment," 
cost him a merciless and witty castigation 
from Byron in a poem of the same name. 
His only certain source of income was his 
pension, from which he received £135, and 
the laureateship, which was £90 : the larger 
portion of these two sums, however, went to 



the payment of his life-insurance, so that not 
more than £100 could be calculated upon as 
available ; and the Quarterly Review was 
therefore for many years his chief means of sup- 
port. He received, latterly, £100 for an arti- 
cle, and commonly furnished one for each num- 
ber. What more was needful had to be made 
up by his other works, which, as they were al- 
ways published on the terms of the publisher 
taking the risk and sharing the profit, pro- 
duced him but little, considering the length 
of time they were often in preparation ; and 
as he was constantly adding new purchases 
to his library, but little was to be reckoned 
on this account. For the " Penin.sular AVar " 
he received £1,000, but the copyright re- 
mained the property of the publisher. He 
was a most thoroughly domestic man, in that 
his whole pleasure and happiness centered in 
his home ; but yet, from the course of his 
pursuits, his family necessarily saw but little 
of him. Every day, overj^ hour, had its 
allotted emplojanent ; there were always 
engagements to publishers imperatively re- 
quiring punctual fultiUment ; always the cur- 
rent expenses of a large household to take 
anxious thought for : he had no crops gi-ow- 
ing while he was idle. " My ways," he used 
to say, " are as broad as the -king's high road, 
and my means lie in an inkstand." 

But out of the gains of his steady toil, the 
industrious and kind-hearted man of letters 
supported one of his sisters-in-law for some 
time in his house, and the other for many 
years ; while he brought up his family in 
respectability, and left at his death about 
twelve thousand pounds in cash and insur- 
ances, and a large and valuable library. His 
principal poems, besides those already men- 
tioned, were " Madoc" (1805), "The Curse 
of Kehama" (1810), and " Roderick, the Last 
of the Goths " (1814). The first is inferior, 
but the latter two added largely to his al- 
ready splendid reputation. His lives of Nel- 
son and of AVesley were highlj^ popular. 
His prose is excellent in style, easy and idio- 
matic, tasteful and clear, though wanting in 
point and tending to verbosity. " The Doc- 
tor," whose authorship was for a long time a 
mystery, was published anonymously in 
1834 : it has much that is clever and a great 
deal that is amusing ; but it contains rather 
the collections of a reading man, than the 



SOU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



819 



Inventions or observations of a man of 
genius. 

In 1836 Sir Eobert Peel wrote to Southey, 
informing him that he had advised the king 
to " adorn the distinction of the baronetage 
with a name the most eminent in Uterature, 
and which had claims to respect and honor 
that literature could never confer,"— that of 
Southey. He accompanied this with a pri- 
vate letter, begging to know if there was any 
way in which the possession of power would 
enable him to be of sei'vice to Mr. Southey. 
The author declined the baronetcy, as he had 
not the means of supporting it, and asked 
for an increase of his pension, which was 
then £200. Sir Robert soon after added to 
this a new pension of £300, on the principle 
of "the recognition of literary and scientific 
eminence as a pviblic claim." He conferred, 
at the same time, a similar pension on Prof 
Airey, of Cambridge, Mrs. Somerville, Sharon 
Turner, and James Montgomery. 

In 1837 the death of Mrs. Southey, after 
long affliction, deeply depressed her husband, 
already worn down by his many years of hon- 
orable toil. In 1839 he found an affectionate 
companion for his decline by w^edding Miss 
Caroline Bowles, herself a w^ell-known poet- 
ess. He was attacked by paral3^sis, his mem- 
ory and other powers failed raj) idly, and he 
had been imbecile a good while before his 
death, which took place March 21st, 1843. 

A foible of Southey's was his fondness for 
cats. The merry nicknames he so profusely 
bestowed upon his human acquaintances 
were paralleled by those he gave his feline 
favorites. Whimsical mention of them 
abounds in his correspondence. Thus, in a 
letter to one of his daughters, he grieves to 
inform her of the " illness of his Serene 
Highness the Archduke Rumpelstilzchen, 
Marquis Macbun, Earl Tomlemagne, Baron 
Raticide, Waouhler and Skratsch. His Se- 
rene Highness is afflicted with the mange." 
And in 1837 he wrote to Mrs. Bray, " My 
cattery consists at present only of Thomas, 
Baron Chincilta, and Grey de Bychen, his 
spouse and half-sister, Knurra-Murra-Purra- 
Hurra-Skurra, and the older half-brother of 
both, who is an out-of-door freebooter, and 
whose name is Chaka-chekka-chikka-cheeka- 
chokka-choaka-chowski." In his liking for 
Grimalkin he is only equaled by the captain 



with whom the novelist Fielding sailed to Lis- 
bon. When a kitten fell overboard, he had 
the ship put about to save it, and when the 
unlucky animal was afterward suffocated in 
a feather-bed, his lamentations resembled an 
Irish howl. 

SPAIN, an extensive country of Europe, 
separated by the Pyrenees from France, and 
surrounded by the Mediterranean, the Atlan- 
tic, and the Bay of Biscay, contains 177,718 
square miles, and about 17,000,000 inhabit- 
ants. Spain is naturally one of the most 
fertile countries in the world. Its wines, 
silks, oil, wool, metals, and minerals ; various 
fruits, as citrons, lemons, oranges, pome- 
granates, almonds, and figs ; and its famous 
horses, — are as valuable as they are celebra- 
ted. The principal mountains are the Pyre- 
nees, between France and Spain ; Montserrat 
in Catalonia ; the mountains of the Asturias, 
those of the kingdom of Leon and New Cas- 
tile ; and the Sierra Morena in Andalusia. 
The principal rivers are the Douro, which 
rises in Old Castile, the Tagus, the Guadiana, 
and the Guadalquivir, all flowing into the 
ocean. The Ebro, whose sources are in the 
frontiers of Aragon, discharges itself into the 
Mediterranean. 

The ancient provinces of Spain have been 
supplanted by new divisions, but as their 
names are historic, we give a list of them : 
Aragon, Asturias, Basque provinces, Old and 
New Castile, Catalonia, Cordova, Estrema- 
dura, Galicia, Granada, Jaen, Leon, Mercia, 
Navarre, Seville, and Valencia. A few colo- 
nial possessions have been preserved from the 
broad dominions once under Sjaanish rule in 
the Old World and the New ; as, Cuba, Por- 
to Rico, and some lesser islands in the West 
Indies, and the Philippines in the East Indies. 
The Balearic Isles (Majorca, Minorca, &c.), 
in the Mediterranean, and the Canaries in 
the Atlantic, belong to Spain, and form prov- 
inces of the kingdom. The commerce and 
manufactures, once so considerable, have 
shared the general decay. 

The Roman Catholic is the established reli- 
gion, and the only faith that* is tolerated. 
Education is very scantily diffused, the poorer 
classes receiving little or none ; the univer- 
sities once so famous have sunk in repute 
and the number of students, and many have 
ceased to exist. The government of Spain 



SPA 



820 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



is a constitutional monarchy, the national 
legislature being called the Cortes. 

Madrid, the capital of Spain, and of the 
ancient province of New Castile, has about 
217,000 inhabitants. It is surrounded by a 
brick wall, twenty feet high, and entered by 
fifteen gates. As one approaches it, the many 
fantastic spires of churches and conventual 
buildings, the tiled roofs of the houses, the 
sterility of the neighborhood, and the want 
of villas and gardens such as usually mark 
the environs of a great city, give to Madrid a 
gloomy appearance. The interior is more 
comely. It was a mere village until the 
reign of Henry III. of Castile. The wild 
boar and the bear were abundant in the adja- 
cent mountains, and his love of hunting them 
led him to make Madrid his residence during 
the season for the chase. Philip H. made it 
the capital of the Spanish dominions. We 
have only room for a list of other principal 
towns, with their population : Barcelona, 
140,000; Valencia, 71,000; Carthagena, 
28,000; Malaga, 66,000; Cadiz, 54,000; 
Corunna, 19,000; Ferrol, 16,000; Valladohd, 
20,000 ; Saragossa, 40,500 ; Granada, 70,000 ; 
Cordova, 42,000; Toledo, 13, 500 ; St. Jago 
de Compostella, 29,000 ; Seville, 85,000. 

The clouds which cover the primitive his- 
tory of Spain, do not begin to be dissipated, 
till the period when the Phoenicians arrived, 
and formed establishments in the country, 
before uncivilized and unknown. It is sup- 
posed that they landed in the island of St. 
Peter, where they constructed the temple of 
Hercules, the remains of which are still to 
be seen when the sea ebbs more than usual. 
Soon afterward, the town of Gades, or Gadir, 
was erected ; Calpe and Abyla became re- 
nowned for the two columns denominated the 
pillars of Hercules, on which the Phoenicians 
engraved the inscription, Non x>lt(s ultra. 

The Greeks, the pupils of the Phoenicians 
in the art of navigation, did not fail to share 
with them the advantages of this discovery. 
They established an extensive commerce in 
Spain, and founded several cities, among the 
rest A\mpuriafe and the unfortunate Sagun- 
tum ; but the Carthaginians, possessing still 
greater skill and power, soon made them- 
selves masters of the whole peninsula ; and 
such they would have remained, had not the 
Romans, who alone were able to dispute with 



SPA 



them this brilliant conquest, at length suc- 
ceeded in their eiforts to wrest it from them. 
In the hope of escaping from servitude, the 
Spaniards sometimes endeavored to defend 
themselves ; but more frequently, deceived 
by the phantom of a generous alliance, they 
faithfully promoted the views of their differ- 
ent oppressors. 

Thus, three cities chose rather to perish 
than to surrender ; Saguntum, from attach- 
ment to the Romans ; Astapa in Boetica, to 
the Carthaginians, and Numantia for the sake 
of liberty. Exhausted by all these calami- 
ties, Spain at length began to breathe, and 
by degrees to recruit her strength under the 
peaceable dominion of the Romans. Induced 
by the fertility of her soil, and the richness 
and variety of her productions, that people 
founded numerous colonies in Spain ; military 
roads were opened in every quarter ; aque- 
ducts conveyed to the cities the tribute of 
the waters ; triumphal arches reminded the 
conquerors of their glory ; theatres and cir- 
cuses effaced from the minds of the van- 
quished the memory of their misfortunes. 
Saguntum saw its walls reared once more ; 
Merida, Tarragona, Cordova, Salamanca, Se- 
govia, and other towns, admired the splendor 
of their new edifices, the glorious testimo- 
nies of the predilection of Rome for this 
country, the rival of Italy. 

This happy administration did not last 
long. Rome, when mistress of the world, 
soon became as odious as Carthage. Spain 
had its Clodius and its Verres ; and the most 
beautiful province of the empire of the 
CiBsars Vas also the most wretched. The 
Asturians and Cantabrians alone preserved 
their independence, amid their mountains. 
Augustus undertook their subjugation ; they 
defended themselves, and most of them per- 
ished sword in hand. The poets of Rome 
celebrated this cruel victory, but posterity 
admired only its victims. 

Spain was subject to the Romans till toward 
the conclusion of the fourth century. The 
northern nations, after having ravaged the 
other countries of Europe, penetrated into 
Spain during the reign of Ilonorius : the 
Suevi made themselves masters of Galicia, 
and part of Portugal ; the Alani and Van- 
dals, of Boetica. The Visigoths, following at 
the heels of these ferocious conquerors, com- 



( 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



821 



pelled the Alani and Vandals to retire to Af- 
Trica ; the Suevi made a longer resistance, 
but at length they ceased to be a distinct 
people, and all Spain received law from the 
Goths. Tranquil possessors of Spain, and 
enlightened by the gospel, they began to be 
civilized; but the climate which softened 
their character, the repose which enervated 
their courage, prepared an easy victory for 
new conquerors. 

The cruelty of King Vitiza, who died in 
711, and the weakness of Roderick, his succes- 
sor, accelerated the fatal moment, and Spain 
fell a prey to enemies till then unknown. 
The Arabs and Moors made an irruption into 
the south of Spain, as the Goths had previ- 
ously done in the north. The fate of Spain 
was decided in the unfortunate battle of 
Xerxes de la Frontera, where Roderick lost 
his throne and his life. The conquerors, 
finding no other obstacles, took possession of 
all Spain, except those same Pyrenees which 
had so long preserved their ancient inhabi- 
tants from the Roman yoke. These moun- 
tains, and their caverns, afforded a refuge to 
such of the Spanish Goths as, collected by 
Pelagius, a prince of the blood-royal of that 
nation, were able to avoid the yoke of the 
Saracens. 

This second invasion, which might natu- 
rally be supposed to have left the native 
Spaniards no trace of their laws, their cus- 
toms, ajid national qualities, produced a con- 
trary effect : so amply have the blessings 
bestowed on this happy country seemed al- 
ways to compensate the inhabitants for the 
severity of fortune. The Moors were not 
long before they felt that influence which had 
softened the manners of the Goths, and 
taught them to relish the charms of a tran- 
quil life. No sooner were the new conquer- 
ors happy, than they ceased to be barbarous. 
The principle of civilization was developed 
among them with extraordinary rapidity ; the 
love of letters ennobled their ideas, and puri- 
fied their taste, without diminishing their 
courage. At Seville, at Grenada, at Cordova, 
schools and public libraries were opened ; 
and while Christian Europe was covered with 
the clouds of ignorance, the genius of Aver- 
roes, and a multitude of learned men, enlight- 
ened the civilized Mussulmans. Not content 
with patronizing the sciences, the Moorish 



kings, themselves, cultivated them. Those ■ 
princes united the private virtues with mili- 
tary qualities ; they were poets, historians, 
mathematicians, philosophers, and great cap- 
tains ; and many of them deserved a still 
more honorable appellation, that of the best 
of kings. At this new epoch of the history 
of Spain, a new taste was introduced into the 
arts, and gave a direction to architecture in 
particular. The ancient structures of the 
Goths did not harmonize with the customs 
and the religion of the Moors. The latter, 
indifferent to external decorations, reserved 
all their ingenuity for the interior of their 
edifices. There they lavished whatever was 
calculated to delight the senses and to accord 
with a sedentary and voluptuous life. Hence 
the singular magnificence of their palaces 
and their mosques, — that richness in their 
ornaments, that finish in the smallest details, 
which far surpass the beauty of the whole. 

The Moors were not left to reign in quiet : 
Pelagius having fled to the mountains, not 
only defended himself there with courage, 
but under the banners of the cross ventured 
to conduct his troops into the countries con- 
tiguous to his retreat. This illustrious man, 
concerning whom we have, unfortunately, 
but few particulars, had collected all the 
nobles of the Asturias and the rest of Spain. 
This force, which long proved invincible, was 
the instrument of the conquests of different 
chiefs, the ablest of whom made themselves 
sovereigns. By them were founded the 
kingdoms of Castile, Leon, Aragon, and 
Navarre, successively conquered from the 
Moors. 

This war, which continued several centu- 
ries, has, alternately, the air of history and 
of romance. It consists of battles, sieges, 
assaults, and still more frequently of tourna- 
ments, banquets, and challenges, given 
and accepted with equal audacity. In 
these celebrated lists, triumphed the heroes 
whose exploits are recorded in the Spanish 
romances ; and of these, Rodrigo de Bivar, 
surnamed the Cid, particularly distinguished 
himself Equal in virtue, and superior in 
power, to Bayard, he was, like him, the ob- 
ject of the veneration not only of his breth- 
ren in arms, but also of the enemies of his 
countrJ^ 

Reduced to the single kingdom of Gre- 



SPA 



822 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



nada, the Moors there maintained themselves 
for several centuries ; but, at length, expelled 
from their last asylum, they were obliged to 
withdraw to Africa in 1492. This important 
event was reserved to crown the felicity of 
Ferdinand and Isabella, and the arms of Gon- 
salvo de Cordova, seconded by other chiefs 
of equal celebrity. Sovereigns of Spain and 
of the New World, Ferdinand and Isabella, 
after having attained the pinnacle of prosper- 
ity, had the misfortune to leave their im- 
mense possessions to a foreign dynasty. 
They formed the dowry of their daughter 
Joan, wife of Philip the Fair, Archduke of 
Austria, and mother of Charles V. 

Fortune, by her extraordinary favors, and 
Cardinal Ximenes, by a wise administration, 
threw a lustre upon the reign of Charles V., 
at one and the same time Emperor of Ger- 
many and King of Spain. The talents and 
genius of this prince seemed to have destined 
him for universal monarchy ; and to his own 
misfortune and that of the woild, he aspired 
to it. Palled, however, with the pomp and 
pageantries of grandeur, he chose to end his 
days in a monastery, and resigned his crown 
to his son Philip, in 1556. 

In this reign of Philip II., Portugal was 
made a dependency of Spain. Now, too, the 
great armada was sent forth against England. 
Philip III. ascended 'the throne in 1598. 
During this reign, the Moors were, at several 
times, transported into Africa ; and Spain 
sustained a loss of about 600,000 useful sub- 
jects- Philip IV. i^ossessed good natural 
abilities ; and though the greatest part of his 
reign was clouded by misfortunes or disap- 
pointments, he certainly was desirous of in- 
creasing the grandeur of the Spanish mon- 
archy. The young king, Charles II., was 
inaugurated in 1660, and displayed promis- 
ing abilities. He was twice married, but had 
the mortification of seeing himself without 
oflFspring. When he resolved to make a will 
in favor of the electoral house of Bavaria, 
the young prince whom he had destined for 
his successor died soon after. Upon hearing 
that the different powers of Europe had actu- 
ally made a partition of his territories, in 
order, as they said, to avoid a general war, 
Charles was so incensed, that he left his 
crown, by a new will, to Philip, Duke of An- 
jou, grandson of his eldest sister and of 



Louis XIV. He expired in the thirty -ninth 
year of his age, and the thirty-fifth of his 
reign ; and in him ended the Austrian 
branch, which had given five sovereigns to 
the Spanish nation. 

Philip of Anjou was solemnly proclaimed 
on the 24:th of November, 1700. During his 
absence in Italy with the French troops, a 
league was formed against the house of 
Bourbon, the object of which was to wrest 
the crown of Spain from Philip V., and to 
place it on the head of Charles, Archduke of 
Austria, who was also descended from a prin- 
cess of Spain. This competitor arrived in 
Portugal, which had also joined the league, 
and assumed the name of Charles III., in 
1704-, and being supported by the English, 
he immediately commenced the campaign. 
The fate of these two princes, during the 
course of the war, was as various as singu- 
lar ; they expelled each other alternately 
from the capital. 

Philip V. died after a turbulent reign of 
forty-three years. Ferdinand VI. succeeded 
him, in 1746, and died after a reign of fifteen 
years. As Ferdinand had no issue, the crown 
devolved on his brother Charles III, then 
King of Naples and the Two Sicilies, who 
transferred his Italian possessions to his third 
son, and hastened to Madrid, to receive (he 
homage of his new subjects. Charles seemed 
to devote his whole attention to the internal 
economy of his dominions ; but his,- zeal for 
the family compact soon roused him into 
action, and induced him to proclaim war 
against Great Britain and Portugal in 17G1. 
However, this war was unsuccessful, and on 
the 10th of February, 1763, a treaty of peace 
was concluded between the courts of Madrid, 
Lisbon, and London. When the war be- 
tween Great Britain and her American colo 
nies had subsisted for some time, and France 
had taken part with the latter, Spain was 
also induced to commence hostilities with 
England. Accordingly, they laid siege to 
Gibraltar, and made great naval preparations 
in 1782 ; but all their exertions proved vain 
and ineffectual. The sad catastrophe of their 
armada before Gibraltar, the repeated frus- 
tration of all their designs upon Jamaica, and 
the very embarrassed state of their finances, 
induced the Spaniards to terminate so long, 
expensive, and sanguinary a war, and 



SPA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



828 



to conclude a peace with Great Britain in 
1783. 

Charles IV. ascended the throne of Spain 
in 1788, and declared war against France in 
1798. After making every effort, his Catho- 
lic majesty concluded a treaty. Spain was 
afterward drawn into an alliance with the 
French republic, and persuaded to commence 
hostilities against Great Britain. In the 
summer of 1797, a Spanish fleet, of twenty- 
seven sail of the line, was appointed to form 
a junction with the French fleet at Brest ; 
and, after being re-enforced by a numerous 
squadron of Dutch vessels, an attempt was 
to be made on some part of the British do- 
minions. However, before the intended 
junction could be effected, the Spanish fleet 
was met by Admiral Jervis, near Cape St. 
Vincent, and an engagement ensued, in which, 
notwithstanding the great inequality, the 
English captured four of the enemy's ves- 
sels. The court of Madrid again issued a 
declaration of war against England, and made 
great preparations for prosecuting hostilities 
with vigor and effect. After the junction of 
the French Brest fl^t with that of Spain, at 
Ferrol, the united armament experienced sev- 
eral signal defeats from the victorious British 
navy, which terminated with the ever mem- 
orable battle of Trafalgar, Oct. 21st, 1805. 

In 1807 a treaty was concluded between 
the sovereigns of France and Spain, the ob- 
ject of which was a partition of the king- 
dom of Portugal. After obtaining posses- 
sion of the capital of Portugal, and securing 
free access for his troops to every part of the 
peninsula, the Emperor of France waited for 
a favorable opportunity to render himself 
master of the whole. 

In 1808 Charles IV. formed the design of 
removing the seat of government to Mexico, 
in America. No sooner had this transpired, 
than an attack was made on the palace of 
Godoy at Aranjuez ; and though the prince 
effected his escape, the king found it necessa- 
ry to dismiss him from all his employments. 
The populace, however, still remaining in a 
state of insurrection at Aranjuez and Madrid, 
and the king being deprived of his prime 
minister, Charles published another decree, 
in which he announced that he had abdicated, 
the throne in favor of his son, the Prince of 
Asturias, March 19th, 1808; and in the fol- 



lowing May, father and son signed a conven- 
tion at Bayonne, by which they ceded the 
Spanish monarchy to the Emperor Napoleon. 
To this the people did not agree. At Mad- 
rid the populace rose against 10,000 French 
troops with Murat at their head. A dread- 
ful carnage took place, and terminated in the 
defeat of the insurgents, and the disarming 
of the whole city. A junta was summoned 
to meet at Bayonne, where a new constitu- 
tion for Spain was laid before them for their 
acceptance ; Joseph Bonaparte, the new 
king, transferred from the throne of Naples 
to that of Spain, appeared in royal state. 

An explosion of indignant patriotism burst 
forth from one extremity of Spain to the 
other. Provincial juntas were established, 
which gave a regular organization to the 
popular efforts ; and the junta at Seville was 
the first to proclaim Ferdinand VII. and war 
against France. The friendship and assist- 
ance of Great Britain were solicited, and 
immediately granted. A desperate struggle 
now commenced. The success of the Span- 
iards was various, but the French in a short 
time found themselves obliged to evacuate 
Madrid. 

Napoleon now determined in person to 
change the fortune of the war ; and having 
put his veteran troops in motion for Spain, 
he proceeded to Bayonne, and thence to the 
head-quarters of the French army at Vitto- 
ria. The military force of Spain was w^holly 
unable to meet, upon equal terms, French 
armies commanded by the most consummate 
generals ; and the campaign which followed 
the arrival of Napoleon, was a series of vic- 
tories to the one, and of defeats to the other. 
The French appeared intent on subjugating 
the whole country ; but Napoleon was obliged 
to leave Spain, in consequence of a breach 
between France and Austria. His generals, 
however, conducted the war in Spain with so 
much ability, that the cause of Spanish inde- 
pendence was rendered almost desperate ; 
and in 1810, King Joseph issued a manifesto 
in which he affected to consider the contest 
as decided. 

The cortes of Spain assembled at Cadiz. 
This body of national representatives was 
elected by the provinces, cities, and provin- 
cial juntas ; and they were termed the gen- 
eral or extraordinary cortes, and to them 



SPA 



824 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



was intrusted the sovereign power. They 
swore fealty to Ferdinand VII., and declared 
the renunciations at Bayonne null and void. 
They took the title of majesty till the arrival 
of Ferdinand, and assumed the legislative 
])owcr of the state. 

The war was still prosecuted by the Span- 
iards, but not with suflBcient vigor ; and the 
French actively employed their superiority 
of force in extending their conquests through 
a considerable part of Spain. In the course 
of two months, the Spaniards lost the for- 
tresses of Tortosa, Olivenca, and Badajos, 
without any sufficient reason. The reduc- 
tion of these places was followed by that of 
Tarragona, in which every outrage and cru- 
elty suifered in a town taken by storm, was 
inflicted upon the inhabitants ; and, bj" this 
conquest, the French became possessed of 
the whole coast of Catalonia. 

Lord Wellington, with the British and 
Portuguese forces, recovered possession of 
Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, in 1812; an*l 
he soon after gave Marshal Marmont a signal 
defeat at Sahimanca. The effects of this 
great victorj'- wore felt in different parts of 
Spain'; King Joseph, with the central French 
army, found himself obliged again to leave 
Madrid ; and the French deserted the long 
continued blockade of Cadiz. 

The Spanish cortes presented the august 
spectacle of a public signature of the articles 
of that constitution which had so long been 
the object of their labors. Deputies from all 
parts of the monarchy were present in this 
solemnity. A commission was appointed to 
carry the constitution to the regency. The 
deputies swore to obey the constitution ; the 
regency took the oath of office ; and the 
constitution was solemnly proclaimed. 

The next important event was the battle 
of Vittoria, in 1813. The French retired by 
Pampeluna ; and being driven from all their 
strong posts, they at length crossed the Bid- 
assoa, and re-entered France. The allied for- 
ces took the strong castle of St. Sebastian, 
in the operations against which the British 
navy gave effectual assistance. The progress 
of the allies in France afterward produced the 
capitulation of most of the French garrisons 
remaining in Spain ; and at length the state 
of affiiirs would no longer permit the deten- 
tion of Ferdinand. 



The king proceeded to Valencia in 1814, 
where he was joined by most of the gran- 
dees and many prelates. At this place, 
Ferdinand issued a royal proclamation, in 
which he declared his intention not only not 
to swear or accede to the constitution, or to 
any decree of the cortes derogating from his 
prerogatives as sovereign, but to pronounce 
that constitution and those decrees null and 
of no effect. The decree for dissolving that 
body was received with enthusiasm by the 
people of Madrid. A great number of per- 
sons M'ere arrested, whose names comprised al- 
most all those who had rendered themselves 
conspicuous during the reign of the cortes in 
favor of public liberty. Yet Ferdinand was 
received in Madrid with every demonstration 
of loyalty. 

The period from 1814 to 1820 has been 
called the reign of terror in Spain. The 
court of inquisition was re-established, 
though, it is said, in a milder form ; arrests 
and prosecutions Avere multiplied, and Spain 
was effectually thrown back to that degraded 
state among nations from which she had seem- 
ed about to emerge. D\#ing the captivity of 
Ferdinand in France, the inhabitants of 
Mexico and South America were divided into 
two parties ; the loyalists, who submitted to 
the regency, and the independents, who 
aimed to govern themselves. The latter tri- 
umphed, and those possessions were lost to 
Spain. 

Ferdmand died in 1833. Ilis will named 
Isabel, his infant daughter, as his successor, 
and her mother, Christina, was appointed 
queen-regent. Don Carlos, the brother of 
Ferdinand, laid claim to the throne, on the 
ground that by the Salique law women were 
not eligible. A bloody civil strife ensued, 
lasting till September, 1840, when the Carl- 
ists were finally defeated. 

KINGS OF SPAIN. 

1512. Ferdinand V., the Catholic. He was the 
heir to the throne of Aragon ; by hi.s 
marriage with Isabella of Castile the 
two kingdoms were united ; and by the 
conquest of Grenada and Navarre, he 
became monarch of all Spain : suc- 
ceeded by his grandson. 

1516. Charles I., son of Joan of Castile and 
Philip of Austria ; became Emperor of 
Germany as Charles V., in 1519. 

1556. Philip II., his son, King of Naples and 
Sicily. 

1598. Philip III., his son. 



SPA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



825 



1621. Philip IV., his son. 

1665. Charles II., his son. 

I'ZOO. Philip v., Dulve of Anjou. 

1724. Louis I., reigned a few months. 

1724. Philip V. again. 

1745. Ferdinand VI., his son. 

1759. Charles III., brother of Ferdinand. 

1788. Charles IV., his son. 

1808. Ferdinand VII., his son. 

1808. Joseph Bonaparte. 

1814. Ferdinand VII., restored. 

1833. Isabella II., his daughter. 

SPARTA, or Laced^mon, was one of the 
most celebrated cities of Greece. Laconia, 
the country of which Sparta was the capital, 
was bounded north by Arcadia, east by the 
Argolic Gulf, south by the Ionian Sea, and 
west by Messenia. The Heraclidas, when 
possessed of Greece, founded four kingdoms, 
of which Sparta (or Lacedajmon, as it was 
called from its fourth king) and Corinth were 
the most distinguished. For nine hundred 
years the Heraclidse furnished kings to Spar- 
ta. Lycurgus gave the Spartans their cele- 
brated laws. [See Lycukgus.J The helots 
were enslaved Messenians, whose country fell 
into the hands of the Spartans. The bravery 
of the Spartans was displayed against the 
Persians, and, unfortunately, against their 
own countrymen in their civil wars. The 
Peloponnesian war ended (b.c. 404) in the 
overthrow of Athens, and the supremacy of 
the Spartans over all Greece. They were, 
however, unable to contend successfully 
against the Thebans under Epaminondas, and 
were defeated by him in the battles of Leuc- 
tra and Mantinea, the last of which was fatal 
to the victor. Like the rest of their coun- 
trymen, they fell beneath the power of Mace- 
don. They were distinguished by fierceness, 
fortitude, austerity, and contempt of luxury. 

They were the most vigorous of the Greeks, 
and the handsomest men and women were 
found among them. A nation of warriors, 
the painter, the sculptor, the poet, the histo- 
rian, did not flourish among them ; and agri- 
culture and trade, as well as arts and letters, 
were loft to the Helots and other inferior 
races. Their government was practically 
oligarchical. The kingly or hereditary 
authority was shared by two persons at the 
same time. A few scattered ruins mark the 
site of the ancient city of Sparta. 

SPENSER, Edmund, whose genius was one 
of the glories of the reign of Queen Eliza- 



beth, was born in London about 1553. Sid- 
ney and Raleigh were his friends and patrons. 
In 1586, Spenser obtained Irom the crown a 
grant out of the forfeited estates of the Earl 
of Desmond in the sojth of Ireland. There, 
in Kilcolman Castle, he wrote the most of 
" The Faery Queen ; " there he brought home 
his wifo, Elizabeth, welcoming her with that 
noble strain of pui-e and fervent passion, 
" The Epithalamiani," the most magnificent 
spousal verse in the language ; and there he 
received the visits of Raleigh, his ' shepherd 
of the ocean,' and read him the gorgeous and 
f-hivalric verse of his great poem, — 

" Amongst the coolly shade 
Of the green alders, by the MuUa's shore." 

" The Faery Queen " was welcomed with loud 
acclaim, and Spenser acknowledged as the 
greatest poet of the time. 

In Ireland, all the English interlopers were 
hated by the conquered natives. Spenser 
held office under the crown, and was a stren- 
uous supporter of the arbitrary injustice that 
might called right. In one of the storms of 
insurrection Kilcolman Castle was beset, 
plundered, and burned. Spenser and his 
wife escaped, but in the confusion of the 
calamity their new-born child perished in the 
flames. The impoverished and broken-hearted 
poet reached London, to die in about three 
months, Jan. 16th, 1599. lie was buried in 
Westminster Abbey, the Earl of Essex defray- 
ing the cost of the funeral, and the hearse 
attended by his brother poets, who threw 
" mournful elegies " into his grave. 

SPINOLA, Ambrose, a famous general, 
was born in Spain, of a n.oble Genoese fam- 
ily, in 1571. He commanded an army in 
Flanders, and in 1604 took Ostend ; for which 
great exploit he was made general of all the 
Spanish troops in the Low Countries, where 
he was opposed by Maurice of Nassau. In 
the war occasioned by the disputed succession 
to the duchy of Cleves and Julicrs, Spinola 

I took Aix-la-Chapelle, Wesel, and Breda. He 

' died in 1630. 

SPINOZA, Baruch, or Benedict, born in 
Amsterdam, Nov. 24th, 1632, died at the 
Hague, Feb. 24th, 1677. His father was a 
wealthy Portuguese Jew. 

SPURZHEIM, John Caspar, the celebra- 
ted phrenologist, was born on the 31st of 
December, 1776, at the village of Longwich 



SPU 



82G 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



neai- Treves, on the Moselle, in Germany; 
was educated at the university of Treves ; 
became acquainted, about the year 1800, 
with Dr. Gall, the founder of the doctrine 
of craniology, as it was then called, and 
afterward became an associate and fellow- 
laborer in defending and propagating their 
opinions m different countries of Europe. 
After having given lectures in various cities 
on the continent of Europe, and in Great 
Britain and Ireland, he sailed to America in 
1832, and on the 17th of September com- 
menced a course of lectures on phrenology at 
Boston, and soon after another course at 
Cambridge. He died after an illness of about 
three weeks, in Boston, Mass., Nov. 10th, 
1832, much lamented by those who had made 
his acquaintance. 

STAEL-HOLSTEIN, Anne Louisa Ger- 
MATNE Necker, Baroncss de, was the daugh- 
ter of Necker, the minister of finance, and 
was born in Paris, in 1766. Her earliest 
productions were "Sophia," a comed}^, writ- 
ten in 1786, and the tragedies of "Lady 
Jane Grey" and "Montmorency." In 1786 
she married the Baron de Stael-Holstein, the 
Swedish ambassador. During the reign of 
terror, she left Paris, but on the recognition 
of the French republic by Sweden, her hus- 
band returned to France in his official capaci- 
ty, bringing his wife with him. He died in 
1798. At Paris, Madam de Stael first beheld 
Napoleon on his return after the treaty of 
Campo Formio. But her early feelings of 
admiration for him were soon changed into 
those of aversion and hatred. She was ban- 
ished from France by Bonaparte. In her 
exile she published various works, among 
them two romances, "Delphine" and " Cor- 
inne ou Italic," the last the fruits of her tour 
in Italy. She visited Germany and Russia, 
and produced a work upon the former. At 
Geneva she married a young French officer 
by the name of De Rocca, but did not 
acknowledge the union until her death. In 
1814 she returned to Paris, but Napoleon's 
return from Elba drove her to Coppet. She 
died July 14th, 1817. 

STANDISH, Miles, served some time in 
the English army in the Netherlands, and 
settled with Robinson's congregation at Ley- 
den. He was not a member of the church, 
— "never entered the school of Chriiit, or of 



John the Baptist." He came over in the May- 
flower, and from his experience in warfare 
was naturally made commander of the mili- 
tary force of the colony. He was one of the 
magistrates till his death at Duxbury in 1656, 
aged about seventy-two. 

STANHOPE, Charles, the third earl, was 
born Aug. 3d, 1753. In 1774, he stood can- 
didate for Westminster, but without success. 
By the interest of the Earl of Shelburne, 
however, he was brought into parliament for 
the borough of Wycombe, which he repre- 
sented till the death of his father, in 1786, 
called him to the upper house. He distin- 
guished himself at an early period of th- 
French Revolution, by an open avowal of 
republican sentiments, and went so far as to 
lay aside the external ornaments of the peer- 
age. He was also a frequent speaker, and 
on some occasions was left single in a minor- 
ity. He died Dec. 16th, 1816. He distin- 
guished himself in science by several valua- 
ble inventions ; among them a printing-press 
known by his name. His first wife was a 
daughter of the great Lord Chatham. Their 
daughter. Lady Hester Stanhope, retired to 
Syria after the death of her uncle, William 
Pitt, and there on Mount Lebanon led a 
strange, romantic life, till her death in 1839, 
at the age of seventy-three. 

STARK, JoHX, a general in the Revolu- 
tionary war, was born at Londonderry, N. H., 
Aug. 17th, 1728. In the French war of 
1755 he served with distinction, and at the 
battle of Bunker Hill fought at the head of 
the New Hampshire troops. At Trenton and 
Princeton his voice was heard, but at Ben- 
nington he covered himself with glory. Pre- 
vious to the battle, he adch-essed his troops 
in a style well calculated to^win their atten- 
tion. "We must beat them, my boys," con- 
cluded he, "or this night Molly Stark is a 
widow." He died May 8th, 1822. 

STEELE, Sir Richard, was born in 1671 
in Ireland, of English parentage. Reckless- 
ness, wit, vivacity, and good humor distin- 
guished him through life. With him origi- 
nated the periodical essays, the "Tattler," 
the "Spectator," the "Guardian," &c., which 
his pen and that of Addison so richly 
adorned. He was also a vigorous poHtical 
writer, sat in parliament, and was knighted 
by George I. Party spirit severed the friend- 



I 



STE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



827 



ship so long existing between him and Addi- 
son ; Steele's conduct in the aflair was far the 
most creditable and manly. His carelessness 
embroiled him in pecuniary diflficulties, and 
he died in Wales in 1729. 

STEPHEN, King of England, was the 
third son of Adela, fourth daughter of Wil- 
liam the Conqueror, and of Stephen, Count 
of Blois. He was born in 1105, and was 
invited to the English court by his uncle, 
Henry I., who gave him lands and honors, 
and promoted his marriage with Matilda, the 
heiress of Boulogne. On the death of Henry 
I., in the year 1135, Stephen assumed the 
crown. In order to secure himself he passed 
a charter, granting several privileges to the 
different orders of the state ; to the nobility, 
a permission to hunt in their own forests ; to 
the clergy, a speedy filling of all vacant ben- 
efices ; and tO the Saxon people, restoration 
of the laws of Edward the Confessor. Ma- 
tilda, the daughter of Henry, asserting her 
claim to the crown, landed upon the coast of 
Sussex, assisted by Robert, Earl of Glouces- 
ter. The whole of Matilda's retinue amounted 
to no more than one hundred and forty 
knights, who immediately took possession of 
Arundel Castle ; but her forces every day 
seemed to gain ground. Meantime Stephen 
flew to besiege Arundel, where she had taken 
refuge, and where she was protected by the 
queen dowager, who secretly favored her 
pretensions. This fortress was too feeble to 
promise a long defense, and would have been 
soon taken, had it not been represented to 
the king, that as it was a castle belonging to 
the queen dowager, it would be an infringe- 
ment on the respect due to her to attempt 
taking it by force. Stephen, therefore, per- 
mitted Matilda to come forth in safety, and 
had her conveyed with security to Bristol, 
another fortress equally strong with that 
whence he permitted her to retire. Matilda's 
forces increased every day ; and a victory 
gained by them, threw Stephen from the 
throne and exalted Matilda in his room. 
Matilda, however, affected to treat the nobil- 
ity with a degree of disdain, to which they 
had long been unaccustomed ; so that the 
nation soon began to desire the deposed 
king. The Bishop of Winchester fomented 
these discontents ; and when he found the 
people ripe for a tumult, detached a party of 



his friends and vassals to block up the city 
of London, where the queen then resided, 
and measures were taken to instigate the 
Londoners to a revolt, and to seize her per- 
son. Matilda having timely notice of this 
conspiracy, fled to Winchester, whither the 
bishop followed her. His party was soon 
sufficient to bid the queen open defiance ; and 
to besiege her in the very place where she 
first received his benediction. There she 
continued for some time, but the town being 
pressed by famine, she was obliged to escape, 
while her brother, the Earl of Gloucester, 
endeavoring to follow, was taken prisoner, and 
exchanged for Stephen, who still contniued 
a captive. Thus a sudden revolution once 
more took place ; Matilda was deposed, while 
Stephen was again recognized as king. His 
reign, however, was soon terminated by his 
death, which happened about a year after the 
treaty at Canterbury, when Henry, Matilda's 
son, succeeded. 

STEPHENSON, George, an eminent civil 
engineer, whose name is finked M'ith the 
development of England's railway system, 
was born near Newcastle, in April, 1V87. He 
commenced life with picking turnips at two- 
pence a day. Of course his advantages for 
education were nothing. His ingenuity in 
repairing an obstinate defect in the steam- 
engine of a colliery at Killingworth gained 
him the charge of the engine. He built a 
rude locomotive as early as 1815. The first 
railroad in England was that from Stockton 
to Darlington, opened in 1825 : Stephenson 
was the engineei'. His locomotives then 
traveled six miles an hour : the speed he 
foresaw, under suspicion of insanity, he lived 
to realize. With the construction of the 
Liverpool and Manchester railway, Mr. 
Stephenson entered upon the field of his 
great fame. He died Aug. 12th, 1848. His 
son Robert, the builder of the Britannia 
tubular bridge over the Menai Straits, has 
succeeded and added to his fiither's fame. 

STERNE, Lawrence, the author of " Tris- 
tram Shandy," was born at Clonmel, Ire- 
land, Nov. 24th, 1713, bred a clergyman, and 
died in London, March 18th, 1768. 

STEUBEN, Frederick William Augustus, 
Baron von ; a brave Prussian officer who en- 
tered the American service during our Revo- 
lution, and in 1778 was appointed by Con- 



STE 



828 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



gress inspector-general of the forces, with 
the rank of major-general. He commanded in 
the trenches at Yorktovvn, where he received 
the first offer of Cornwallis to capitulate. 
Baron von Steuben was generous and hospi- 
table, and introduced strict and efficient dis- 
cipline into the army. He settled in Oneida 
county. New York, where he had received a 
grant of land, and, by the exertions of Wash- 
ington and Hamilton obtained a pension of 
$2,500 from the general government. He died 
in 1795 of apoplexy. 

STEVENS, Edwakd, a native of Virginia, 
commanded a battalion of riflemen in the 
battle of Great Bridge, near Norfolk, and 
behaved with gallantry at Brandywine, Ger- 
mantown, Camden, Guilford, and Yorktown. 
He became a brigadier-general. He died in 
1820, aged seventy-six. 

STEWART, DuGALD, a celebrated philo- 
sophical writer, born in Scotland, 1753, died 
in 1828. He was professor of moral philos- 
ophy in the university of Edinburgh. 

STIRLING, William Alexander, Lord, 
was born at New York, N. Y., in 1726. He 
was a major-general in the army of the United 
"States during the Revolution, and distin- 
guished himself throughout the whole of the 
eventful struggle, but particularly in the 
battles of Long Island, Germantown, and 
Monmouth. He died at Albany, 1783, with 
the reputation of a learned, brave, honest, 
and patriotic man. The title of Lord Stir- 
ling was given him by courtesy, as he claimed 
to be the rightful heir to the earldom of that 
name in Scotland, although his claims were 
not sustained by legal tribunals. 

STOCKTON, Richard,, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born near 
Princeton, N. J., Oct. 1st, 1730. Having 
graduated at New Jersey College, he made 
the tour of Great Britain. He became a law- 
yer of eminence. June 21st, 1776, he was cho- 
sen by the provincial congress a delegate to 
the general congress assembled at Philadel- 
phia. Nov. 30th of the same year, while re- 
turning from a visit to the northern army, he 
was seized in the night by the British, and 
conveyed to New York, where he was treated 
with such severity that his constitution was 
broken, and after languishing a long time, he 
died at Princeton, Feb. 28th, 1781, in the 
fifty -first year of his age. 



STOICS. The disciples of Zeno, the cynic 
philosopher (190 B.C.), were named Stoics, 
because they listened to their master's har- 
angues in a porch or portico at Athens, 
called in the Greek, stoa. Zeno taught that 
man's supreme happiness consisted in living 
agreeably to nature and reason, and that God 
was the soul of the world. The sect were 
marked by stiffness, patience, apathy, auster- 
ity, and insensibility. 

STONE, Thomas, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, was born in Charles 
county, Maryland, 1742. He was a law- 
yer by profession, and he was a delegate in 
congress, 1775-79 and 1784-85. In 1784 he 
was chosen president ^^rw tempore of con- 
gress. He died at Port Tobacco, Md., Octo- 
ber 5th, 1787. 

STONY POINT. The scenery of the Hud- 
son river bears Nature's grandest imprint. 
The hand that framed an universe of worlds 
has thrown together along the banks of this 
noble stream a wild assemblage of rocks and 
mountains. The Palisades, as they are called, 
commence on the Avestern side of the Hud- 
son, just above Weehawken, and extend about 
twelve miles up the river. They are bold, 
abrupt demonstrations of omnipotence, mould-, 
ed by Him whose power is not bounded by 
time or circumstance. The cannon of a 
thousand armies might roar out their ineff'ect- 
ual vengeance against this natural battery, 
which frowns over the broad bright stream 
at an elevation of from sixty to one hundred 
and fifty feet ; and the parapet would laugh 
in scorn at the power of battle. 

After the Palisades terminate, a country 
of hills and vales succeeds ; the former 
rounded up like loaves of sugar, and the lat- 
ter indented like dimples on the cheek of 
beauty. Occasionally, however. Nature has 
projected into the stream one of her bold 
fronts, — a miniature formation of those " hills 
of fear," which cast their sombre shadows 
across the pass of the Highlands. One of 
these projections is Stony Point, standing 
out in bold relief from the rural scenery just 
below. The impressions which crowd into 
the spectator's mind in this region, are not 
all derived from river, mountain, or valley : 
tradition and history lend a melancholy glory 
to this revolutionary ground. On the east- 
ern bank stretches away the celebrated 



STO 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



829 



"neutral ground" throughout the entire 
extent of AVestchester county, where regu- 
lars, cow-boys, Virginia horse, and continen- 
tals, Whigs, and Tories, appeared and disap- 
peared like the actors of a wild and bloody 
tragedy. On the left, Stony Point is allied 
to associations of military achievements of 
unfading renown ; while farther up, the mem- 
ory of Arnold's treason, Andre's capture, and 
his untimely although merited fate, twines 
around the memorable rocks of West Point. 

Stony Point is about forty miles above 
New York and ten or fourteen below West 
Point. It is a rounded, gravelly hill, of 
small extent, jutting into the stream, and 
connected with the main land by a low mo- 
rass which is partially overflowed with the 
tide waters. It was fortified in the Revolu- 
tionary war, and, occupied by a small force, 
might have been considered as a remote out- 
post to the strong fortress of West Point. 
It was captured by the British in the year 
1779, strongly repaired, and garrisoned by 
more than six hundred soldiers, commanded 
by the brave Lieut. Col. Johnson. 

A few days before the 15th of July, in the 
same year, a tall, commanding personage, 
mounted on a strong charger, was seen on 
the eminences above Stony Point. He had a 
glass in his hand, and appeared to study the 
character of the defenses with an intensity 
of interest. Johnson, who was returning the 
gaze of the horseman with his spy-glass, 
turned to one of his staff and remarked that 
the apparition on the hill portended no good. 
Rumors were afloat about the intrenchments 
that the same tall figure had* been seen across 
the river on the highest opposite eminence 
the day before, like a horseman painted 
against the sky. A cow-boy said that this 
figure was the apparition of Washington, 
and that it never was seen excepting just 
before a battle or a thunder storm. But 
while these idle rumors floated around the 
atmosphere of the camp, the real Washing- 
ton, from observations made with his own 
eyes, was concerting a soldier-like plan for 
its surprise. 

On the night of the 15th of July, 1779, by 
the twinkl.ng light of the stars that broke 
over and through the clouds, two columns 
of soldiers might have been seen under tlie 
brow of the eminence in the rear of the fort. 



They were stern men — the silent, thoughtful 
men of New England. The eagle-eyed 
Wayne was their chief, and his lieart was 
like that of the lion. The regiments of Feb- 
iger and Meigs, with the youthful Major 
Hull's detachment, formed the right column ; 
Butler's regiment, with two companies under 
Major Murphy, formed the left. The van of 
the right was formed of »one hundred and 
fifty volunteers at whose head stood the 
brave Fleury ; one hundred volunteers under 
Stewart composed the van of the left. And 
still farther advanced, the noblest post of all, 
stood two forlorn hopes of twenty men each ; 
one commanded by Lieut. Gibbons, and the 
other by Lieut. Knox. Wayne stepped from 
man to man through the vanguards, — saw 
them take their flints from their pieces, and 
fix the death-bayonet. At twenty minutes 
past eleven, the two columns moved to 
the bloody work before them, one going 
to the left and the other to the right, to make 
their attack on opposite sides. 

The inhabitants on the eastern side of the 
river first heard a sharp crashing as the for- 
lorn hope on either side broke in the double 
row of abatis ; the muskets of the sentinels 
flashed suddenly amidst the darkness, and in 
a moment the fortress vomited out flame and 
thunder as if a volcano had been ignited, and 
was tossing its lava upward. The cry of 
battle, not to be mistaken, shrill, wild, and 
fearful, broke upon the still air of night. 
But all was in vain for the fortress. Under 
showers of grape, and full ni the red eye of 
battle, the two gloomy, still, unwavering col- 
umns moved on, and their vanguards met in 
the centre of the works. The British made 
an instant surrender to avoid the extermina- 
tion which awaited the deploy of the columns 
upon the intrenchments. Sixty -three British 
soldiers lay dead at their guns ; five hundred 
and forty-three were made prisoners ; and the 
spoils were two standards, two flags, fifteen 
pieces of ordnance, and other materials of 
war. Of the assailants fifteen were killed, 
and eighty-three wounded, the forlorn hopes 
suffering most severely. Wayne led the right 
column. At the inner abatis he was struck 
on the head by a musket-ball, which brought 
him on his knees. Believing himself mor- 
tally wounded, he exclaimed: " March on ! 
Carry me ii>to the fort, for I will die at the 



STO 



83) 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



head of my column ! " His aids, Fishbow 
and Archer, raised him to his feet, and bore 
him through the works. The wound was not 
fatal, and 'Mad Anthony 'joined in the loud 
huzzas that arose when the two divisions met 
victorious within the forfress. His success- 
ful exploit was one of the most daring and 
brilliant achievements of the Revolution. 

These spots, where the life-blood of the 
free has been poured out like water, and 



where the traces of the Revolutionary ditch 
and mound still remain, arc altars sacred to 
the high recollections of freedom. Green be 
the turf over these departed patriots. The 
bold bluff of »S tony' Point is classic ground. 
Hither in future time shall the poet and the 
sentimentalist come to pay their tribute of 
affection and honor, where — 

" Our fiithcrs knelt 
In praj-cr and battle for a world." 




STORY S HOUSE AT CAMBRIDGE, MAS 



STORY, Joseph, an eminent jurist, was 
born at Marblchead, Mass., in 1779. He was 
elected to Congress in 1809, and at the end 
of his tci-m was appointed an associate jus- 
tice of the supreme court of the United 
States, in which capacity he served with 
great ability and distinction, till his decease 
in 1845. 

STRAFFORD. Thomas Wentavorth, eld- 
est son of Sir William Wentworth, of York- 



STR 



shire, was born in Chancery Lane, London, 
April 13th, 1593. In IGU "he succeeded to 
the baronetcy, and in 1G21 entered parlia- 
ment. At the commencement of the reign 
of Charles I., during the arbitrary adminis- 
tration of Buckingham, Wentworth used his 
eloquence and great abilities on the side of 
the opposition. But he was haughty, ambi- 
tious, and fond of power. After the assassin- 
ation of Buckingham, he proved i-cncgade 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



831 



to the popular cause, and became the king's 
most trusted counselor in military and politi- 
cal matters. He was made lord-lieutenant 
of Ireland and Earl of Strafford. It was his 
aim to make Charles a monarch as absolute 
as any on the continent ; to put the estates 
and the personal liberty of the whole people 
at the disposal of the crown ; to deprive the 
courts of law of all independent authority, 
even in ordinary questions of civil right 
between man and man, and to punish with 
merciless rigor all who murmured at the acts 
of the government, or who applied even in 
the most decent and regular manner to 
any tribunal for relief against those acts. 

Familiar with the plans of the statesmen 
from whom he had apostatized, and pursuing 
his policy with an admirable fii-mness and 
precision, he was for a time successful. In 
his Irish viceroyalty he had established a 
militarydespotism by which the king was as 
absolute as any prince in the world could be. 
So he would have it in England, and thereto 
a standing army was necessary. The illegal 
expedient of the ship-money was tried, and 
unjust judges sustained it against the oppo- 
sition of John Hampden. But just as Lord 
Strafford was exulting in the near success of 
his schemes, the attempt of Archbishop 
Laud to force episcopacy upon Scotland, 
aroused a tumult which endangered them. 
His imperious will to carry them through at 
all hazards increased the animosity against 
him and his measures. Upon the assembling 
of the Long Parliament in November, 1G40, 
he was impeached, as well as Laud. The 
legal evidence necessary to support the char- 
ges could not lie obtained, and his enemies 
resorted to a bill of attainder. The king 
could not save him, and he was beheaded 
May 12th, 1G41. 

STUART. The founder of this royal 
house was Walter the Steward of Scotland, 
whose wife, Marjory, was the daughter of 
the great Robert Bruce. David II., son of 
Robert Bruce, dying without issue in 1371, 
the son of Walter and Marjory came to the 
throne, under the name of Robert IL He 
was not a warrior, yet the usual wars with 
England mark his reign. His eldest son and 
successor was also better fitted for the clois- 
ter than such a seat as the Scottish throne in 
those troublesome times. The younger son, 



created Duke of Albany by Robert III. (the 
first instance of the title in Scotland), was of 
a bolder and a baser stamp. The baptismal 
name of Robert IIL was John : at his acces- 
sion he took that more fortunate name the 
great Bruce had borne. His eldest son David 
was starved to death by the cruel and ambi- 
tious Albany, and James, whom he sent to 
France for safety, was taken captive by the 
English and detained in confinement. Such 
sorrows brought Robert to the grave, April 
1st, 1406. The captivity of James we have 
elsewhere described, [^^ee James I.] During 
the long years of his absence, Albany ruled 
as regent, and afterward his son. James at 
last returned, deigned fourteen years, and 
was assassinated by conspirators in his bed- 
chamber. James IL, only a lad of seven at 
his father's death, perished by the bursting 
of a cannon at the siege of Roxburgh in 
1460. James III., his son, a weak fellow, 
dabbled in astrology, whose starry mandates 
led him to murder one brother, banish anoth- 
er, and so bear himself in divers things that 
his subjects were stirred to revolt. His own 
son (James IV.) appeared in the field with 
the insurgents ; the father was mysteriously 
murdered in his flight from defeat. [See 
Bannockbukn.] James IV. wedded Marga- 
ret Tudor of England, but this did not save 
him from collision with her brother, Henry 
VIII. AVith the flower of his nobility, and 
thousands of his soldiery, he sank amid — 

" The stern strife and carnage drear 

Of Flodden'ri fatal field. 
Where shivered was fair Scotland's spear, 

And broken was her shield." 

His son, James V., was then hardly more 
than a year old. As he grew to man's estate 
he developed many virtues, and was a hand- 
some, gallant, brave, and accomplished prince. 
He died in 1542, at the early age of twenty- 
nine. He had married Mary, sister of the 
famous Duke of Guise, and widow of the 
Duke of Longueville. Seven days before 
her husband's death, on the 7th of Decem- 
ber, a da'ughter had been born to them, 
christened Mary ; she became a queen by the 
bereavement which made her an orphan. 
Ten months after, the babe was crowned at 
Stirling by Cardinal Beaton, and solemnly 
proclaimed Queen of Scotland. James Ham- 
ilton, Earl of Arran, was appointed regent 



STU 



832 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



during her minoritj^, but she was left in the 
care of her mother, who was respected for 
her wisdom and talents, and revered for her 
justice and piet}-, although she was not free 
from the pride and ambition which marked 
the house of Guise. 

The regency refused the politic desire of 
Henry VIII. of England to unite both king- 
doms by the marriage of his son Edward with 
the heiress of Scotland. Since he could not 
make a wedding, 'bluff king Hal' made war. 
Unconscious of the disastrous battle of Pinkie, 
and the ravages of the English armies, was 
little Mary in her childhood. Her mother 
selected four young maidens of her age, to be 
the companions of her studies and the mates 
of her pleasures ; they all bore the same 
name, and were afterward called the 
' Queen's Maries.' They were Mary Beaton, 
Mary Seyton, Mary Fleming, and Mary Liv- 
ingstone. An old ballad says : — 

" Last night the queen had four Maries ; 

To-night she'll hae but three : 
There was Mary Seyton, and Mary Beaton, 

And Mary Livingstone, and me .'" 

As the original Maries, one by one, married 
and left her service, the queen replaced them 
with new ones of the same name, and seems 
to have pleased herself with the fancy of 
having four Maries always in attendance upon 
her. 

The contest with England led Scotland to 
a closer allianca with France. Mary was 
aflBanced to the infant dauphin, Francis, the 
son of Henry II. It was agreed that she 
should be educated in the French court, and 
a French army was sent to Scotland to con- 
tend with the English. In France Mary 
spent thirteen happy years. Her naturally 
quick capacity had the advantage of the best 
masters in music, languages, and all womanly 
accomplishments ; and her beauty (so great 
that "no one could look upon her without 
loving her," says one that looked) was as 
brilliant as were her attainments. In 1558 
the nuptials between her and Francis were 
solemnized with great splendor. Her hus- 
band was shy and sickly, but they sincerely 
loved each other. When Elizabeth, soon 
after, came to the English throne, Mary, who 
was the next heir, committed her first politi- 
cal error, in deference to the wishes of her 
father-in-law and uncles, assuming the title 



STU 



and arras of queen of England, on the ground 
of Elizabeth's illegitimacy from the unlaw- 
fulness of Catharine's divorce. The jealousy 
and hatred thus aroused in the breast of 
Elizabeth was never allayed. 

Henry II., in 1559, was accidentally slain 
in a tournament, and Francis and Mary were 
crowned at Rheims. The health of the 
young king was rapidly declining, and in a 
few months Mary was a widow. Exposed to 
the jealousy of Catharine de Medici, the 
queen-regent, and deprived of the counte- 
nance of her uncles the Guises, who had been 
banished from court, Mary decided to return 
to her native realm. In tears again and 
again she bade adieu to the shores of France, 
and when night came on, she lay upon a 
couch spread on the deck and wept herself to 
sleep. She landed in Scotland, Aug. 20th, 
1501. The contrast between its roughness 
of soil and rudeness of manners, Und the 
fertile plains and polished customs of France, 
was very keenly felt. During her absence 
the ancient religion to which she had been 
bred, had been supplanted by an austere 
Calvinism that found great offense in the 
"fiddling, uncomely skipping," and other 
joyousness wherewith she sought to dispel 
the gloom of Ilolyrood. 

The conduct of the government she en- 
trusted to her natural brother. Lord James 
Stuart, afterward Earl of Murray, an able, 
artful, and ambitious man. For two or three 
3'ears after her return from France, her life 
was comparatively tranquil and happy. She 
had to bear severe and sometimes insolent 
reprimands from John Knox, whose zeal and 
undoubted piety were not tempered by mjld- 
ness, and occasionally burst beyond his judg- 
ment ; but she endeavored to conciliate the 
reformers, and win the affection of her sub- 
jects. Many desired her hand, — princes of 
foreign states, and aspiring men among her 
own nobility. She unfortunately selected 
her cousin, young Henry Stuart, Lord Darn- 
ley, four years her junior, and also second 
cousin to Queen Elizabeth. They were mar- 
ried July 29th, 1565. He was a headstrong, 
conceited youth, and his drunkenness and 
ill temper soon alienated the love of the 
queen, while his ambition raised murmurs 
among the nobility. Mary relied much upon 
the advice of her secretary, David Rizzio, an 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



Italian, Darnley, the Earl of Morton, and 
others, resolved upon his murder. On the 
9th of March, 15C6, while sitting at supper 
with the queen and some other ladies, in 
Holyrood, he was attacked by the assassins, 
stabbed over Mary's shoulder as she tried to 
defend him, then dragged from the room and 
dispatched at the head of the staircase. 

In the following June, Mary gave birth to 
a son at Edinburgh Castle. Her husband 
had deeply alienated her, and incurred gene- 
ral contempt and odium by the weakness and 
ill temper he everywhere displayed. It was 
now that James Hepburn, the restless, ambi- 
tious, dissolute, and daring Earl of Bothwell, 
found favor at court. His character was well 
known, but amid all the treason about her, 
he had been faithful to her interests. Both- 
well, Murray, Huntley, Maitland, and others 
of her counselors, urged upon Mary a divorce 
from Darnley, but she was loath. It was 
Bothwell's design to make himself master of 
her and of the government ; he decided upon 
the murder of Darnley, who was then re- 
covering from the small-pox, and lodging for 
the benefit of the air in a house called the 
Kirk-of-Field, just out of Edinburgh. On 
Sunday night, the 9th of February, 1567, 
the house was blown up with gunpowder ; 
the bodies of Darnley and his servant were 
found in a garden at some distance. Both- 
well stood a mock trial, and was acquitted. 
His next object was to marry the queen. 
Mary was returning from Stirling with a small 
retinue, Avhen Bothwell, at the head of a 
thousand armed men, encountered her near 
Linlithgow, seized the reins of her horse, and 
carried her to the castle of Dunbar, where 
he kept her closely sequestrated for .a fort- 
night He procured certain leading nobles 
and prelates to recommend him as a fit and 
proper husband for the queen, and having 
got a divorce from his wife, Lady Jane Gor- 
don, he brought Mary back to Edinburgh on 
the 3d of May ; and on the 15th of May the 
guilty and disgraceful nuptials were solem- 
nized. The month which Mary spent with 
Bothwell was the most miserable of her life. 
A powerful confederacy of nobles was formed 
against her husband ; Mary placed herself in 
their hands, and Bothwell fled, to end his life 
miserably in Norway. 

The confederate lords obliged Mary to sign 



53 



a renunciation of her crown in favor of her 
son, and she herself was committed as a pris- 
oner, and secluded from her friends. The 
place of her confinement in the castle of 
Lochleven was all but inaccessible ; but 
Mary's beauty had procured her a friend in one 
of her attendants, and by his means she con- 
trived to escape. She found herself very 
speedily at the head of a considerable body 
of troops, who proclaimed her pretensions, 
and prepared to maintain them against those 
of the regent Murray. They were, however, 
worsted in an engagement which ensued near 
Glasgow ; and Mary, panic-struck, fled to- 
ward England, and put herself under the 
protection of one of Elizabeth's governors. 

This was exactly what that princess had 
hoped. She, however, disguised her designs 
under the mask of friendship ; affected to 
pity the forlorn condition of the fugitive 
queen ; and, under the idea of granting her 
an asylum, betrayed her into a prison. Eliz- 
abeth thus became the arbiter between Mary 
and her late subjects, and a sort of court was 
appointed to hear both parties, and decide 
between them ; but the proceedings were 
stopped by Mary refusing to answer the accu- 
sations brought against her. 

During Mary's continuance in confinement, 
she engaged the affection of the Duke of 
Norfolk, a favorite of Queen Elizabeth, but 
who seems very readily to have entered into 
those ambitious views which such an alliance 
would naturally open to him. The design, 
however, was discovered, and Norfolk was 
committed to the Tower, tried for high trea- 
son, condemned, and executed. 

Elizabeth had no peace while Mary lived. 
She tried to inculpate the captive in various 
plots; 'she tampered with some of her offi- 
cers to induce them to become assassins. At 
last the English parliament enacted that not 
only conspirators themselves, but those per- 
sons (however innocent or ignorant of their 
purpose) in whose cause they conspired, 
were equally guilty of treason. Under this 
infamous law, Mary was made an accomplice 
in Babington's plot in 1586. 

Mary's character rose with her misfortunes, 
and now at their climax displayed a firmness 
and an energy of which her impetuous tem- 
per and fluctuating policy had excited little 
suspicion. After a long confinement at Cov- 



STU 



834 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



entry, she was removed to Fotheringay Cas- 
tle, to undergo the formality of a trial. 
When brought before the commissioners she 
disclaimed their authority, and asserted her 
innocence. The commissioners, after hearing 
her defense, declared her guilty of conspiring 
the death of Elizabeth, and condemned her 
to death. She received the tidings with com- 
placency. 

The last letter which Mary addressed to 
Elizabeth read as follows : — 

" Madam, I thank God from the bottom of my 
heart that, by the sentence which has been passed 
against me, he is about to put an end to my te- 
dious pilgrimage. I would not wish it prolonged 
though it were in my power, having had enough 
of time to experience its bitterness. I write at 
present only to make three last requests, which, 
as I can expect no favor from your implacable 
ministers, I should wish to owe to your majesty 
and to no other. First, as in England I can not 
hope to be buried according to the solemnities 
of the Catholic church (the religion of the ancient 
kings, your ancestors and mine, being now 
changed), and as in Scotland they have already 
violated the ashes of my progenitors, I have to 
request that as soon as my enemies have bathed 
their hands in my innocent blood, my domestics 
may be allowed to inter my body in some consecra- 
ted ground ; and above all, that they may be per- 
mitted to carry it to France, where the bones of the 
queen, my most honored mother, repose. Thus 
that poor frame which has never enjoyed repose 
so long as it has been joined to my soul, may find 
it at last when they will be separated. Second, 
as I dread the tyranny of the harsh men to whose 
power you have abandoned me, I entreat your 
majesty that I may not be executed in secret, 
but in the presence of my servants and other 
persons who may bear testimony of my faith and 
fidehty to the true church, and guard the last 
hours of my life and my last sighs from the false 
rumors which my adversaries may spread abroad. 
Third, I request that my domestics, who have 
served me through so much misery and with so 
much constancy, may be allowed to retire with- 
out molestation wherever they choose, tq enjoy 
for the remainder of their lives the small legacies 
which my poverty has enabled me to bequeath to 
them, i conjure you, madam, by the blood of 
Jesus Christ, by our consanguinity, by the mem- 
ory of Henry VII., our common father, and by 
the royal title which I carry with me to death, 
not to refuse me those reasonable demands, but 
to assure me, by a letter under your own hand, 
that you will comply with them ; and I shall then 
die as I have lived, your affectionate sister and 
prisoner, Mary Queen of Scots." 

Whether Elizabeth ever answered this let- 
ter, does not appear ; but it produced so lit- 
tle effect, that epistles from her to Sir xVmias 
Paulet still exist, which prove that in her 
anxiety to avoid taking upon herself the 



sponsibility of Mary's death, she wished to 
have her privately assassinated or poisoned. 
Paulet, however, though a harsh and violent 
man, positively refused to sanction so nefari- 
ous a scheme. Yet in the very act of insti- 
gating murder, Elizabeth could close her 
eyes against her own iniquity, and affect 
indignation at the alleged offenses of another. 
But perceiving, at length, that no alter- 
native remained, she ordered her secretary 
Davidson to bring her the warrant for Mary's 
execution, and after perusing it, she delib- 
erately affixed her signature. She then 
desired him to carry it to Walsingham, say- 
ing, with an ironical smile, and in a " merry 
tone," that she feared he would die of grief 
when he saw it. Walsingham sent the war- 
rant to the chancellor, VA'ho affixed the great 
seal to it, and dispatched it by Beal, with a 
commission to the Earls of Shrewsbury, 
Kent, Derby, and others, to see it put in exe- 
cution. Davidson was afterward made the 
victim of Elizabeth's artifice ; to complete 
the solemn farce she had been playing, she 
pretended he had obeyed her orders too 
quickly, and doomed him in consequence to • 
perpetual imprisonment. 

From tyrants like these who would have 
expected either mercy or justice ? Mary was 
perfectly resigned to her fate, and met it like 
one who placed the most unwavering reliance 
in the efficacy of the religion she professed. 
After hearing the warrant for her execution, 
she said that though " she was sorry it came 
from Elizabeth, she had long been expecting 
the mandate for her death, and was not im- 
prepared to die." "For many years," she 
added, " I have lived in continual affliction, 
unablo to do good to myself or to those who 
are dear to me ; and as I shall depart inno- 
cent of the crime which has been laid to my 
charge, I can not see why I should shrink 
fi'om the prospect of immortality." She then 
laid her hand on the New Testament, and 
solemnly protested that she had never either 
devised, compassed, or consented to the death 
of the Queen of England. Before leaving 
the world, Mary felt a natural curiosity to be 
informed upon several subjects of public 
interest, which, though connected with her- 
self, and generally known, had not penetrated 
the walls of her prison. She asked if no 
foreign princes had interfered in her behalf; 



STU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



835 



if her secretaries were still alive ; if it was 
intended to punish them as well as her; if 
they brought no letters from Elizabeth or 
others; and, above all, if her son, the King 
of Scotland, was well, and had evinced siny 
interest in the fate of a mother who had al- 
ways loved and never wronged him. Being 
satisfied upon these points, she proceeded to 
inquire when her execution was to take 
place ? Shrewsbury replied that it was fixed 
for the next morning at eight. She appeared 
startled and agitated for a fev;- minutes, say- 
ing that it was more sudden than she had 
anticipated, and that she had yet to make 
her will, which she had hitherto deferred, in 
the expectation that the papers and letters 
which had been forcibly taken from her 
would be restored. She soon, however, 
regained her self-possession ; and informing 
the commissioners that she desired to be left 
alone to make her preparations, she dismissed 
them for the night. 

Upon Bourgoine making the remark that 
"more than a few hours was allowed to the 
meanest criminal," she said "she must sub- 
mit with resignation to her fate, and learn to 
regard it as the will of God." She then 
requested her attendants to kneel with her, 
and she prayed fervently for some time in the 
midst of them. Afterward, while supper 
was preparing, she employed herself in put- 
ing all the money she had by her into sepa- 
rate purses, and affixed to each, with her own 
hand, the name of the person for whom she 
intended it. At supper, though she sat 
down to table, she ate little. Her mind, 
however, was in perfect composure ; and 
during the repast, though she spoke little, 
placid smiles were frequently ol>served to pass 
over her countenance. The calm magnanim- 
ity of their mistress only increased the dis- 
tress of her servants. They saw her sitting 
among them in her usual health, and with 
almost more than her usual cheerfulness, par- 
taking of the viands that were set before her ; 
yet they knew that it was the last meal at 
which they should ever be present together, 
and that the interchange of afiectionate ser- 
vice upon their part, and of condescending 
attention and endearing gentleness on hers, 
which had linked them to her for so many 
years, was now about to terminate forever. 
Far from attempting to offer her consolation, 

ST 



they were unable to discover any for them- 
selves. As soon as the melancholy meal was 
over, Maiy desired that a cup of wine should 
be given to her ; and putting it to her lips, 
drank to the health of each of her attendants 
by name. She requested that they would 
pledge her in like manner ; and each, falling 
on his knee, and mingling tears with the 
wine, drank to her, asking pardon at the 
same time for all the faults he had ever com- 
mitted. In the true spirit of Christian hu- 
mility, she not only willingly forgave them, 
but asked their pardon also. The inventory 
of her wardrobe and furniture was then 
brought to her ; and she wrote in the margin 
opposite each article the name of the person 
to whom she wished it should be given. She 
did the same with her rings, jewels, and all 
her most valuable trinkets ; and there was 
not one of her friends or servants, either pi-es- 
ent or absent, to whom she forgot to leave a 
memorial. 

These duties being discharged, Mary sat 
down to her desk to arrange her papers, to 
finish her will, and to write several letters. 
She then drew up her last will and testa- 
ment ; and without ever lifting her pen from 
the paper, or stopping at intervals to think, 
she covered two large sheets with close writ- 
ing, forgetting nothing of any moment, and 
expressing herself with all that precision and 
clearness which distinguished her style in the 
very happiest moments of her life. She 
named as her four executors, the Duke of 
Guise, her cousin-german ; the Archbishop 
of Glasgow, her ambassador in France ; Les- 
ley, Bishop of Ross ; and Monsieur de Ruys- 
seau, her chancellor. She next wrote a letter 
to her brother-in-law, the King of France, in 
which she apologized for not being able to 
enter into her affairs at greater length, as she 
had only an hour or two to live, and had not 
been informed till that day after dinner that 
she was to be executed next morning. 
"Thanks be unto God, however," she added, 
" I have no terror at the idea of death, and 
solemnly declare to you that I meet it inno- 
cent of every crime. The bearer of this let- 
ter, and my other servants, will recount to 
you how I comported myself in my last mo- 
ments." The letter concluded with earnest 
entreaties that her faithful followers should 
be protected and rewarded. Her anxiety on 
U 



83t> 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



their account at such a moment indicated all 
that amiable generosity of disposition which 
was one of the leading features of Mar)''s 
character. About two in the morning she 
sealed up all her papers, and said she would 
now think no more of the affairs of this 
world, but would spend the rest of her time 
in prayer and commune with her own con- 
science. She went to bed for some hours ; 
but she did not sleep. Her lips were observed 
in continual motion, and her hands were fre- 
quently folded and lifted up toward heaven. 

On the morning of Wednesday, the 8th of 
Februarj", Mary rose with the break of day ; 
and her domestics, who had watched and 
wept all night, immediately gathered round 
her. She told them that she had made her 
will, and requested that they would see it 
safely deposited in the hands of her execu- 
tors. She likewise besought them not to 
separate until they had carried her body to 
France ; and she placed a sum of money in 
the hands of her physician to defray the ex- 
penses of the journey. Her earnest desire 
was, to be buried either in the church of St. 
Denis in Paris, beside her first husband, 
Francis, or at Eheims, in the tomb which 
contained the remains of her mother. She 
expressed a wish, too, that, besides her friends 
and servants, a number of poor people and 
children from different hospitals should be 
present at her funeral, clothed in mourning 
at her expense, and each, according to the 
Catholic custom, carrying in his hand a 
lighted taper. 

She now renewed her devotions, and w\as 
in the midst of them, with her servants pray- 
ing and weeping round her, when a messen- 
ger from the commissioners knocked at the 
door, to announce that all was ready. She 
requested a little longer time to finish her 
prayers, which was granted. As soon as she 
desired the door to be opened, the sheriff, 
carrying in his hand the white wand of 
office, entered to conduct her to the place of 
execution. Her servants crowded round her 
and insisted on being allowed to accompany 
her to the scaffold. But contrary orders 
having been given by Elizabeth, they were 
told that she must proceed alone. Against 
such a piece of arbitrary cruelty they remon- 
strated loudly, but in vain ; for as soon as 
Mary passed into the gallery, the door was 



closed, and believing that they were separa- 
ting from her forever, the shrieks of the 
women, and the scarcely less audible lamen- 
tations of the men, were heard in distant 
parts of the castle. 

At the foot of the staircase leading down 
to the hall below, Mary was met by the Earls 
of Kent and Shrewsbury ; and she was al- 
lowed to stop and take farewell of Sir Andrew 
Melvil, the master of her household, whom 
her keepers had not allowed to come into her 
presence for some time before. With tears 
in his eyes Melvil knelt before her, kissed 
her hand, and declared that it was the heav- 
iest hour of his life. Mary assured him that 
it was not so to her. " I now feel, my good 
Melvil," said she, "that all this world is van- 
ity. When you speak of me hereafter, men- 
tion that I died firm in my faith, willing to 
forgive my enemies, conscious that I had 
never disgracefl Scotland my native country, 
and rejoicing in the thought that I had 
always been true to France, the land of my 
happiest years. Tell my son," she added, 
and when she named her only child, of whom 
she had been so proud in his infancy, but in 
whom all her hopes had been so fatally 
blasted, her feelings for the first time over- 
powered her, and a flood of tears flowed from 
her eyes — "Tell my son that I thought of 
him in my last moments, and that I have 
never yielded, either by word or deed, to 
aught that might lead to his prejudice ; de- 
sire him to preserve the memory of his un- 
fortunate parent ; and may he be a thousand 
times more happy and more prosperous than 
she has been." 

Before taking leave of Melvil, Mary turned 
to the commissioners, and told them that her 
three last requests were, that her secretary 
Curl, whom she blamed less for his treacher}'- 
than Naw, should not be punished ; that her 
servants should have free permission to depart 
to France ; and that some of them should be 
allowed to come down from the apartments 
above to see her die. The earls answered 
that they believed the two former of these 
requests would be granted ; but that they 
could not concede the last, alleging, as their 
excuse, that the affliction of her attendants 
would only add to the severity of her suffer- 
ings. But Mary was resolved that some of 
her own people should witness her last mo- 



STU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



837 



ments. *' I will notsubmit to the indignity," 
she said, " of permitting my body to fall into 
the hands of strangers. You are the ser- 
vants of a maiden queen, and she herself 
were she here, would yield to the dictates of 
humanity, and permit some of those who 
have been so long faithful to me to assist me 
at my death. Remember, too, that I am 
cousin to your mistress, and the descendant 
of Henry VII. ; I am the dowager of France, 
and the anointed queen of Scotland." 
Ashamed of any farther opposition, the earls 
allowed her to name four male and two female 
attendants, whom they sent for, and permit- 
ted to remain beside her for the short time 
she had to live. 

The same hall in which the trial had taken 
place was prepared for the execution. At 
the upper end was the scaffold, covered with 
black cloth, and elevated about two feet from 
the floor. A chair was placed on it for the 
Queen of Scots. On one side of the block 
stood two executioners, and on the other the 
Earls of Kent and Shrewsbury ; Bealandthe 
sheriff were immediately behind. The scaf- 
fold was railed off from the rest of the hall, 
in which Sir Amias Paulet with a body of 
guards, the other commissioners, and some 
gentlemen from the neighborhood, amount- 
ing altogether to about two hundred persons, 
were assembled. Mary entered, leaning on 
the arm of her physician, while Sir Andrew 
Melvil carried the train of her robe. She 
was in full dress, and looked as if she were 
about to hold a drawing-room, not to lay her 
head beneath the axe. She wore a gown of 
black silk, bordered with crimson velvet, 
over which was a satin mantle ; a long veil 
of white crape, stiffened with wire, and edged 
with rich lace, hung down almost to the 
ground ; round her neck was suspended an 
ivory crucifix, and the beads which the Cath- 
olics use in their prayers were fastened to her 
girdle. The symmetry of her fine figure had 
long been destroyed by her sedentary life ; 
and years of care had left many a trace on 
her beautiful features. But the dignity of 
the queen was still apparent ; and the calm 
grace of mental serenity imparted to her 
countenance at least some share of its former 
loveliness. With a composed and steady 
step she passed through the hall, and ascend- 
ed the scaffold ; and as she listened unmoved 



while Beal read aloud the warrant for her 
death, even the myrmidons of Elizabeth 
looked upon her with admiration. 

Mary Queen of Scots died in the forty- 
fifth year of her age. Her remains were 
interred in Peterborough cathedral; they 
were removed by her son, and now repose in 
Westminster Abbey, about ten yards from 
the tomb of Elizabeth. 

James had been reared to contemn and 
detest his unfortunate mother ; to regard her 
with selfish fear as one who might deprive 
him of his throne ; and when Mary sent him 
a present of a vest embroidered with her own 
hands, accompanied by a tender letter, and 
some jewels which remained in her posses- 
sion, all were returned to her with disdain, 
and the messenger refused even an audience, 
because his mother, never having surrendered 
her own rights, addressed him as the Prince, 
and not as the King of Scotland. He had 
Buchanan for his instructor, who, when ac- 
cused of having made his pupil a pedant, 
replied, " that he could make nothing else of 
him." In 1589 he married Anne, daughter 
of Frederick of Denmark, whom he brought 
from Copenhagen. In 1600 while hunting, 
an attempt was made to seize his person by 
the Earl of Gowrie, who, with his brother, 
was slain, while the kmg escaped unhurt. 
In 1603 he succeeded to the English throne ; 
and the year following, the Hampton Court 
conference, between the divines of the estab- 
lished church and the Puritans, was held in 
his presence. The next year the gunpowder 
plot was discovered. The condemnation and 
death of Raleigh was the greatest blot on the 
character and reign of James, who also les- 
sened his popularity by undertaking the de- 
fense of the Protestants of Germany, and 
then abandoning their cause. He died in 
March, 1625. 

James was succeeded by his son Charles I., 
an unfortunate monarch, whose disasters 
were prepared for him by his predecessors, 
and by the increasing spirit of liberty, but 
precipitated and increased by the alternate 
obstinacy and fickleness of his disposition. 
He ascended the throne in 1625, and found 
that his reign was likely to be troubled by 
a strong opposition ; but he could not find 
courage to make those concessions which the 
people were minded to demand of royalty. 



STU 



838 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



The friends of liberty were disposed to view 
with a stern eye, the stand which the king took. 
They had already impeached his favorite min- 
ister, and his unsuccessful attempt to relieve 
Rochelle in 1627 increased their enmity. 
Charles, blinded by the monarchical doctrines 
of his father James, although he saw that his 
popularity was daily declinmg, took no steps 
to gain the affections and confidence of his 
people. The parliament refused to sanction 
the wishes of the monarch, and passed the 
famous bill of rights, which he was obliged 
to confirm. 

Having made peace with France and Spain, 
Charles determined to rely on his own resour- 
ces, but resorted to the desperate expedient 
of levying ship money. This, and the kings 
attempt to force the liturgy on the Scotch, 
brought upon him the opposition of Hampden 
and the Covenanters, to both of whom 'he 
was forced to submit. After several parlia- 
ments had been called and dissolved, Charles 
called the long jxirliament of 1640. Straf- 
ford and Laud were impeached, and the fury 
of the Puritans was excited against the 
church and the bishops. The signal for 
insurrection was given by the king going 
himself to the house and demanding the per- 
sons of five members whom he accused of 
treason. Civil war broke out; many en- 
gagements took place, with various success, 
but on the king's defeat at Naseby, he retired 
to Oxford, and on the approach of Fairfax, 
the parliamentary general, threw himself 
on the protection of the Scots, who sold him 
to the parliament. The army, now divided 
from the parliament, conveyed him to Hamp- 
ton Court, whence he escaped with the inten- 
tion of quitting the kingdom, but was retaken 
and brought back. Charles now professed 
himself ready to grant all the terms demanded 
for his release, except the abolition of epis- 
copacy. He was arraigned for high treason, 
tried, and condemned. His conduct during 
his trial was a noble pattern of Christian 
meekness and firmness, and this he retained 
to his death. He was beheaded at White- 
hall, on the 30th of January, 1648. 

Charles had wedded Henrietta Maria, 
daughter of Henry TV. of France, and sev- 
eral children issued from the union. Charles 
TI. succeeded to his father's rights. He was 
born in 1G30, and was at the Hague when 



his father was executed. The Scots, who 
had l>etrayed the father, sent an invitation to 
the son which he accepted ; he was crowned 
at Scone, in 1651, when he was obliged to 
take the covenant. But he had no mean 
opponent in Cromwell, who defeated the 
Scotch at Dunbar, and Charles at Worcester. 
The appearance of the two armies was strik- 
ingly contrasted. The parliamentarians were 
remarkable for the plainness of their dross 
and equipments, their hair being cropped 
close (whence their appellation of round 
heads), and nothing merely ornamental ap- 
pearing on their persons. The cavaliers, on 
the contrary, despising the austerity of their 
antagonists, were distinguished by their long 
curling locks, the finish of their equipments, 
and the reckless gayety of their bearing. 
From the battle of Worcester, Charles made 
his escape, and lay hidden in the thick 
branches of an oak in Boscobel wood, while 
his pursuers actually seated themselves under 
the tree. After many journeyings, in various 
disguises, he escaped to France. 

In 1660 he was restored; and with him 
licentiousness and infidelit}' returned in a 
full tide. In 1662 he married the Princess 
Catherine of Portugal, by whom he had no 
children, although his illegitimate offspring 
were numerous. With the exception of the 
sale of Dunkirk to supply his extravagan- 
ces, the acts of Charles's reign can scarcely 
be considered as his own, and belong rather 
to the history of his country. He lived in 
the indulgence of his appetites, interfering 
little in matters of state policy. The few he 
meddled with were of an odious nature. 
Charles died of an aploplectic fit, Feb. 6th, 
1685, and by receiving, in his last moments, 
the sacrament from a popish priest, proved 
that he lived a hypocrite as well as a liber- 
tine. 

By aifability and wit, by going abroad with- 
out ostentation, and mixing with the lowest 
of his subjects, Charles obtained a certain 
degree of popularity, and the name of the 
Merry Monarch distinguished him during his 
life. His wit was ready and pleasant, as 
Rochester, whose disposition much resembled 
the monarch's, happily expressed in the epi- 
gram in which he speaks of Charles as one — 
" Who never said a foolish thiug, 
Aud uever did a wise oue." 



STU 



. 



HISTORY AND BIOUEAPHY. 



8^9 



To this the king repUed : " The matter was 
easily accounted for : his discourse was his 
own ; his actions were his ministry's." 

Charles and his courtiers being one day 
present at the exhibition of a man who dar- 
ingly climbed to the point of the spire of Salis- 
buiy cathedral, and planted a flag there, the 
king said to his favorite, " Eaith ! Rochester, 
this man shall have a patent, that no one may 
do this but himself!" 

James II., Charles's brother and successor, 
had as bad traits as he, without his popular- 
ity. An insurrection headed by the Duke of 
Monmouth, was the first disturbance in his 
I'eign. Monmouth had ever been the darling 
of the people, and some averred that Charles 
had married his mother, and owned his legit- 
imacy on his death-bed. The Duke of Ar- 
gyle, in the north, seconded his views, and, 
with Monmouth, planned a double insurrec- 
tion, but both were defeated and executed. 
James suspended the exercise of the Protest- 
ant religion, acknowledged the supremacy'- of 
the pope, and allowed the Jesuits to establish 
themselves in the kingdom. The indignation 
of the people was now roused, and they hailed 
with joy the arrival of the Prince of Orange, 
before whom James fled. He was hospitably 
received by Louis XIY. of France, who aided 
him in his subsequent unsuccessful attempts 
to regain his throne. James died at St. Ger- 
main in France, 1701. 

James's first wife was Anne Hyde, daugh- 
ter of the Earl of Clarendon, who died be- 
fore her husband's accession. Mary, their 
oldest daughter, was the consort of William 
of Orange, and reigned jointly with him. 
Anne, her sister, succeeded to the crown, and 
is known by the grateful title of good Queen 
Anne. Though thirteen children were born 
to her and her husband, Prince George of 
Denmark, all died young. 

James's second wife was Mary Beatrice of 
Modena. Their son is known in English his- 
tory as the Pretender, or the Chevalier de 
St. George. [See Pketendek.] He was 
acknowledged by Louis XIV. as James III. 
of England, and Anne is said to have long 
entertained th'e hope of securing the succes- 
sion to him; her dying words were, "0 mv 
dear brother, how Ipity thee ! " 

Charles Edward, the Young Pretender, was 
the grandson of James II., and was born at 



Rome in 1720. In 1745 he landed in Scot- 
land, and published a manifesto, exhibiting 
the claims of his father to the English throne. 
He was joined by several Highland chiefs, 
who, entering Edinburgh, caused his father 
to be proclaimed. Charles Edward was pass- 
ing the night in the village of Stateford, and 
had thrown himself upon his couch in a state 
of agitation, which prevented his sleeping 
for more than two hours. As soon as he 
learned that Edinburgh was occupied by the 
Highlanders of Lochiel, Keppoch, Arlshied, 
and O'SuUivan, he mounted hishoi-se, and on 
the given signal, the army was in readiness 
to enter the city. The castle still held out 
for the house of Hanover. To avoid the 
balls of the enemy, who commanded the most 
direct road, the prince and his followers, 
diverging from the main route, came by the 
way of Duddingston to the royal park, which 
they entered through a breach in the wall. 
The royal park, the favorite promenade of 
James II. when he was at Edinburgh, 
being then Duke of York, comprises Arthur's 
Seat, which seems to shelter Holyrood at its 
feet, the basaltic rocks of Salisbury crags, 
the hermitage of St. Anthonj^, and the valley 
of St. Leonard, spots to which poetry and 
romance have given an interest that history 
has failed to confer. 

From an eminence near the hermitage, 
Charles could contemplate, for the first time, 
the palace of his ancestors, with its quadrangu- 
lar court, and the round towers of the principal 
facade. No alteration had taken place since 
the time of his grandfather. The entire 
building was standing, and the standard of 
the Stuarts waved proudly in the wind that 
swept over the majestic pile. The gothic 
chapel only was in ruins, as if to remind the 
prince that, in the revolution of 1088, the 
war was particularly directed against the 
faith of his grandfather, who decorated this 
place with such joomp. Charles dismounted. 
Already the park and the surrounding gar- 
dens were filled with a dense crowd of all 
ranks, ages, and parties. There were many 
merely curious spectators, but more warm 
Jacobites, and the latter hastened to congrat- 
ulate the prince, who received them with 
ease, and that smiling look of pleasure which 
was so seductive to all. 

His youth, his fine form, his light locks, 



STU 



840 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



his delicate complexion, so different from the 
bilious hue that characterized the counte- 
nances of his ancestry, the perfect oval of his 
face, his intelligent blue eyes, the correct 
arch of his eyebrows, his regular nose, and 
mouth of aristocratic diniinutiveness, were 
all curiously analyzed by the spectators. 
Some troubled whigs declared that there was 
in the countenance of the prince an air of 
melancholy, which was a presage of disaster 
in the midst of his triumph ; but the Jacob- 
ites, and particularly the ladies of Edinburgh 
and Perth, were in raptures at the graces of 
their Charlie, as he was familiarly and pop- 
ularly termed. They delighted to dwell upon 
his picturesque costume. Upon his vest of 
tartan plaid, glittered the national star of the 
order of St. Andi-ew ; a scarf of gold and 
azure served him as a baldric, and to his 
neat blue velvet cap was attached the white 
cockade, which called to mind the rose of 
Lancaster. When he mounted the splendid 
bay charger which had been presented to 
him by the Duke of Perth, the acclamations 
of the spectators redoubled, for the prince 
was, in fact, a most accomplished cavalier 
*' Our hero looks like Robert Bruce," cried 
the Jacobites, and they were not deceiving 
themselves, for the portrait of Bruce at Holy 
rood served to verify the resemblance. 

In the midst of an enthusiasm which might 
almost be called general, Charles could well 
forget, in this concourse of his father's sub- 
jects, the hostile terms of whig and torj', 
and savf around him only Scotchmen, inter- 
ested, like himself, in severing the bonds im- 
posed upon Scotland under the specious 
name of the union. In all the manifestoes 
of the Stuart family, since 1715, they ap- 
pealed as frequently to the memory of na- 
tional independence, as to the claims of their 
house. Thus, when Charles Edward was 
approaching the gate of the palace, he was 
suddenly met by a hoary -headed gentleman, 
James Hepburn of Keith, who was known to 
be opposed from principle to the "right 
divine of kings," and who had more than 
once haughtily blamed the government of 
James II. This gentleman, who was es- 
teemed by all parties, was the first to show 
himself the partisan of Charles Edward, 
whom he regarded as the champion of the 
deliverance of Scotland. Hepburn wished 



to be, in a manner, his herald into the palace 
of his fathers, and drawing his sword, he 
marshaled the prince with dignity to the 
apartment destined for his reception. 

At intervals, the hostile cannon of the cas- 
tle growled upon the city, as if to still the 
exulting shouts of the people. A ball di- 
rected at the palace shattered a tower, to the 
indignation of the populace, who knew that 
the English soldiery would dishonor, without 
remorse, the most precious monument of 
their ancient city. 

"With what emotions must Charles Edward 
have explored the royal halls of Ilolyrood, 
condemned for sixty years to a kind of soli- 
tary widowhood by the exile of his family. 
In the first gallery he beheld that long range 
of royal portraits, which the pride of Edin- 
burgh holds so dear. In adjacent apartments 
he found the first traces of that beautiful 
queen, whose tragic fate alone occupies the 
mind, even among the multitude of histori- 
cal and fabulous images. Here were her 
bed and curtains, the chairs where she was 
seated, those which she herself embroidered ; 
and alas ! was there not the imperishable 
stain of Rizzio's blood ? 

The shouts of the people, eager to behold 
their prince, more than once banished the 
reflections in which Charles Edward was in- 
dulging, and forced him to appear at the win- 
dows and show himself to the citizens of 
Edinburgh. A part of the crowd was called 
off to assist at the ceremony at the Cross of 
the High street, now destroyed — a place 
where the proclamation of public acts had 
taken place from time immemorial. The 
gallery in which the heralds and pursuivant 
at arms, clad in their official costume, ap- 
peared, was decorated with tapestry. A 
troop of Highlanders were formed in lines 
two deep on each side of the street, the trum- 
pets sounded a flourish, the bagpipes played 
their pibrochs, and when the crowd was 
silenced, James III. was proclaimed, the com- 
mission appointing Charles Edward regent 
read, as well as the manifesto of the prince, 
dated Paris, May ICth, 1'745. JChe innumer- 
able windows of the houses in the High 
street, some of which were more than ten 
stories high, were filled with ladies, who 
waved their white handkerchiefs, to excite 
the shouts of the people ; the attachment to 



STU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



841 



the legitimate monarch appeared universal, 
as if the faults of the dynasty had been ex- 
piated by its misfortunes. While the her- 
alds were proclaiming James and his son, at 
the foot of the gallery, the Lady Broughton 
of Murray, a woman of uncommon beauty, 
appeared upon a splendid horse, with a drawn 
sword in her hand, like a heroine of Ariosto 
or Tasso, while other ladies distributed white 
ribbons to their brothers and admirers. 

Charles Edward was at first successful, 
defeating General Cope at Preston Pans, but 
he returned to Edinburgh and wasted his 
time in idle parades. Being, however, joined 
by several- discontented chiefs, he marched 
as far as Manchester, but hearing that the 
king was about to take the field, he returned 
to Scotland, and defeated the English forces 
under Hawley at Falkirk. In the mean time 
the Duke of Cumberland advanced to Edin- 
burgh, and thence to Aberdeen, the Preten- 
der retreating before him. At length the 
two armies met at CuUoden, when, after an 
obstinate conflict, in which the Highlanders 
displayed signal courage, the royal army was 
successful, and the rebels fl«d, leaving 3,000 
of their number dead upon the field. 

A well authenticated anecdote of this 'bat- 
tle strikingly displays the simplicity and 
ferocity of the Highlanders. An English 
officer, having fallen into the hands of a mus- 
cular adversary, who had thrown away his 
musket, and was brandishing a broadsword, 
supplicated for quarter. " Quarter ! quar- 
ter ! " cried the irritated Highlander, " I hae 
nae the time to quarter ye, sae ye must eon 
be contentit to be cuttit in twa," suiting the 
action to the word. 

Charles Edward wandered for a long time 
in disguise, chiefly among the Hebrides, and 
finally effected his escape to France. Nothing 
throws a clearer light on the fidelity and 
honor of the Scotch, than the fiict that al- 
though Charles was frequently at the mercy 
of some of the poorest mountaineers, the 
high price which was set upon his head 
could not tempt them to betray him. One 
time, after having been without food for days, 
his dress torn to tatters by his briery hiding- 
places, Charles, finding himself near the 
house of a whig gentleman, sought shelter in 
it. " I am your political opponent," said the 
high-rj^inded whig ; " but I am also your fel- 



low-man. I scorn to take advantage of your 
distress, and will protect you as long as you 
choose to remain beneath my roof.'" He 
kept his word, and even furnished the unhap- 
py prince with a disguise which facilitated 
his escape. This feeling of forbearance to 
Charles, after his defeat, was manifested in a 
higher quarter. King George, being at a 
ball, a lady, who did not know him, asked 
him to drink to the health of the Pretender. 
"AVillingly," replied the king ; "I cannot 
refuse to drink to the health of every unfor- 
tunate prince." 

With the defeat of the Pretender ended 
all the hopes of the unfortunate Stuart fam- 
ily. Charles Edward died at Florence, in 1788. 

STUART, GiLBEKT, a celebrated American 
portrait-painter, born at Newport, R. I., in 
1755. He studied under Sir B. West, in 
London, where he pursued his profession 
with great success. Upon his return to 
America, he resided successively in Philadel- 
[)hia, AVashington, and Boston, in which lat- 
ter city he died in 1828. 

SUCHET, Louis Gabriel, a brave and 
skillful general in the armies of Napoleon, 
was born at Lyons in 1772. He gained the 
rank of marshal and Duke of Albufera, and 
died in 1820. 

SUE, Eugene, a celebrated French novelist, 
born at Paris in 1807, the son of an eminent 
surgeon. Having squandered his patrimony 
in extravagant living, he was driven to writ- 
ing romances. "The Mysteries of Paris" 
and " The Wandering Jew " were his most 
successful works. He died in exile in Savoy, 
xiug. 3d, 1857. 

SUEVL In the time of Ca3sar, the Suevi 
were numbered among the most warlike 
nations of Germany, and agreed in customs 
and manners with the other inhabitants of 
that extensive country. Their situation is 
said to have been between the Elbe and the 
Vistula. Tiberius transported some thou- 
sands of them into Gaul, and assigned lands 
to others beyond the Danube. The Suevi 
formed a kingdom in the vicinity of the 
towns of Merida, Seville, and Carthagena, 
in Spain, which, in the year 585, was reduced 
to a province of the Gothic monarchy, by 
Leovigild, king of the Visigoths, after it had 
subsisted one hundred and seventy-four 
years. 



SUE 



842 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



SULLIVAN, James, brother of Gen. Sul- 
livan, was born at Berwick, Maine, April 
22d, 1744, and studied law under his brother. 
He was for several years governor of Massa- 
chusetts, and held sonic high judicial offices. 
He died Dec. 10th, 1808, in the sixty-fifth 
year of his age. 

SULLIVAN, John, was born at Berwick, 
Me., Feb. 17th, 1740. For a few years be- 
fore the Revolution, he practiced law in New 
Hampshire. He resigned his seat in the 
congress of 1774, to enter the army, in 
which he was appointed brigadier-general in 
1775. In the battle of Long Island he was 
taken prisoner, but was soon exchanged, and 
intrusted with the command of the right 
division in the battle of Trenton. He also 
commanded the right wing at the battles of 
Brandywine and Germantown. The differ- 
ences between Count d'Estaing and Sullivan 
caused the failure of the siege of Newport 
in August, 1777. In 1779 he defeated the 
Six Nations of Indians in New York. His 
extensive calls for military stores, and stric- 
tures on the conduct of Congress with re- 
gard to him, were followed by his resigna- 
tion of his command on the 9th of Novem- 
ber. After the close of the war, in 1786, he 
was elected president of New Hampshire, 
and held the office for three years. In Octo- 
ber, 1789, he was appointed district judge 
of New Hampshire. He died Jan. 23d, 1795. 

SULLY. Maximilian de Betuune, Baron 
de Rosni, and Duke of Sully, was born at 
the castle of Rosni in 1559. At the age of 
eleven, his father presented him to the Queen 
of Navarre, who gave him an appointment 
about the person of her son Henry, with 
whom Sully was educated. Soon after this 
the queen, on the invitation of Charles IX., 
went to Paris, and died there, not without 
suspicion of poison ; which opinion received 
confirmation when the massacre of St. Bar- 
tholomew occurred soon afterward. In that 
carnage. Sully escaped by passing through 
the crowd as a student to the college of 
Burgundy, where the principal locked him 
up in a closet for three days. In 1576 Henry 
of Navarre eluded the vigilan.ce of his guards 
and arrived at Tours, accompanied by SuUj^, 
who, in the war that ensued, carried his valor 



wish you to reserve it for better occasions, " 
In all the battles and sieges that followed, 
he bore a prominent part. Henry IV. made 
him governor of Poitou, grand master of the 
ports and harbors of France, and erected, in 
his favor, the lands of Sully upon the Loire" 
into a duchy. To the wise counsels and 
reforms of Sulh^, who now shone as a great 
statesman, the reign of Henry IV. owes a 
major part of its renown. On the murder 
of that great monarch, in 1610, the duke 
retired from court, and employed himself in 
writing his memoirs. He died at his castle 
at Villabon, Dec. 22d, 1641. 

SUMATRA, an island in the eastern seas, 
the largest of the Sunda Isles, is divided ob- 
licjuely by the equator, and contains about 
160,000 square miles; it is fertile, but the 
interior is little known. It is partly subject 
to native tribes, and partly to the sway and 
influence of the Dutch. 

SUMxMERFIELD, John, a very popular 
preacher of the Methodist church, died at 
New York, in 1825, aged twenty -seven. He 
was born in England. 

SUMTER, Thomas, a distinguished parti- 
san officer, during the American revolution- 
ary war, whose operations were principally 
confined to South Carolina, where he died in 
his ninety-eighth year, June 1st, 1832. In 
the halls of congress he served his country, 
as well as in the field. Sumter was younger 
than Marion, larger in frame, better fitted in 
strength of body for the toils of war, and, 
like his compeer, devoted to the freedom of 
his country. His aspect was manly and 
stern, denoting insuperable firmness and 
lofty courage. Determined to deserve suc- 
cess, he risked his own life and the lives of 
his associates without reserve. 

SUW ARROW, Peter xYlexis, field-marshal 
and generalissimo of the Russian armies, was 
born about 1730. He made his first cam- 
paign in the seven years' war, and distin- 
guished himself so much, that in 1762 he 
was appointed colonel of infantry. In 1768 
he was made brigadier ; soon after which he 
was raised to the rank of major-general; and 
for his services in Poland, he received the 
orders of St. Anne, St. George, and Alexan- 
der. In 1773 he had a command against the 



almost to excess, which made Henry say to Turks, whom he defeated at Tourtakaye ; on 
him one day, " I admire your courage, but which occasion he wrote to Marshal IJoman- 

SUW 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHT. 



843 



zoif, as follows : " Glory to God ! Glory to 
thee ! Tourtakaye's taken, and taken by 
me ! " On the renewal of the war in 1787, 
Suwarrow defended Kinburn, and was 
wounded at the siege of Oxzakow. Sept. 
22d, 1789, he gained, in conjunction with 
the Austrian general Saxe Coburg, the vic- 
tory of Ryninik, though the Turks mustered 
four to one against the allies. This achieve- 
ment was followed by the taking of Bender 
and Belgrade, for his share in which, Suwar- 
row was created, by the Emperor Joseph, a 
count of the Roman empire, and by his 
own sovereign, a count of the empire of 
Russia, with the title of Rymnikski. In 
1790 he took Ismail, where, though the plun- 
der was immense, Suwarrow would not take 
a single article for himself After this, 
Suwarrow iiad a principal concern in the 
operations which produced the partition of 
Poland, for which he was made a field-mar- 
shal, and presented with an estate. When 
the Emperor Paul embarked in the confede- 
racy against France, Suwarrow was appointed 
commander of the combined army in Italy, 
where he gained some advantages, particu- 
larly the battle of Novi. After this he 
crossed the Alps, ancrmarched into Switzer- 
land, but being disappointed of re-enforce- 
ments, he was obliged to retreat toward 
the lake of Constance. He was then re- 
called, and died of chagrin. May 18th, 
1800. ' 

SWEDEN occupies the eastern and larger 
portion of the Scandinavian peninsula in 
the north of Europe. It contains 170,715 
square miles, and has 3,641,600 inhabitants. 
Its only foreign possession is St. Bartholo- 
mew's Island in the West Indies. The north 
of Sweden is mountainovis, wild, and thinly 
populated. The number of lakes is verj- 
great : it is estimated that they cover nearly 
one-eighth of the area of the kingdom : 
Wener, Wetter, and Malar are the principal. 
The only navigable rivers are those that have 
been made so by art. The climate and soil 
do not favor the growth of grain. Forests 
cover over a fourth of the surface, principally 
pines, firs, and birch. Besides timber, tar, 
and pitch for export, they supply firewood 
and charcoal, of which there is a large con- 
sumption, since Sweden has no coal. She is 
rich in other minerals ; there are valuable 



copper mines, but her subterranean stores 
of iron are the most important. 

The government is a constitutional mon- 
archy. The supreme legislative power is 
vested in the diet, which, as of old, consists 
of the four orders of nobles, clergy, burgh- 
ers, and peasants (landholders who are not 
noble). It meets at Stockholm every fifth 
year, and the sessions are limited to three 
months, unless protracted by press of business. 
The Lutheran religion is the established 
creed. There is a large university at Upsa- 
la, and another at Lund. Subordinate schools 
of various grades are sustained by the gov- 
ernment. In many districts sparseness of 
population renders it necessary that the 
schoolmasters should be ambulatory. It is 
a general practice for parents, especially 
those in the country, to instruct their chil- 
dren in the long winter evenings. 

Stockholm, the capital, is situated at the 
junction of Lake Malar with an inlet of the 
Baltic, about thirty-six miles from the sea as 
the channel goes. It is built partly on the 
mainland and partly on nine islands. It is a 
handsome city, surrounded by delightful 
environs, and is the most industrious and 
commercial town in Sweden. It contains 
93,000 inhabitants. 

The early chronicles of Sweden are a mass 
of fables and heroic legends. The introduc- 
tion of Christianity, by Ansgarius, Bishop 
of Brc!men, in 82!), seems to present the first 
certain period of Swedish history. The early 
history of all the northern nations, even dur- 
ing the first ages of Christianitj^, is confused 
and uninteresting, and often doubtful, but 
suflBciently replete with murders, massacres, 
and ravages. That of Sweden is void of 
consistency, till about the middle of the four- 
teenth century, when it assumes an appear- 
ance more regular and consistent. The 
Swedes perished in the dissensions between 
their prelates and lay barons, or between 
those and their sovereigns ; they were drained 
of the little riches they possessed, to support 
the indofent pomp of a few magnificent 
bishops ; and, what was still more fatal, the 
unlucky situation of their internal affairs 
exposed them to the inroads and oppression 
of the Danes, who, by their neighborhood 
and power, were always able to avail them- 
selves of the dissensions in Sweden. In 



SWE 



8U 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



1397 Margaret, Queen of Denmark and Nor- 
way, joined Sweden with them. The tyran- 
ny of her grand-nephew Eric was not endur- 
able, and the Danes were expelled in 1433. 
For nearly a century the Danish monarchs 
strove to subjugate the land. In 1520 Chris- 
tian 11. of Denmark determined to destroy at 
once all the Swedish nobility, in order to re- 
venge the troubles they had occasioned, and 
to prevent the people from revolting in future, 
by depriving them of proper persons to con- 
duct their operations. Ue cut off the chief 
men of the nation with the axe of the execu- 
tioner. The entire senate were conducted to 
death before the eyes of the citizens of Stock- 
holm. The cruelty of Christian is almost 
inconceivable ; he indiscriminately pillaged 
all ranks of people, erected every where 
scaffolds and gibbets, and brandished the 
scythe of death over every head. He did 
not consider it as a sufficient gratification to 
deprive his victims of life ; he took a pleas- 
ure in prolonging the duration of their suf- 
ferings by the sight of the preparations 
which preceded the execution, and he wished 
to give them as it were a full relish of all the 
bitterness of death. Among other instances 
of cruelty and barbarity, he obliged women 
to sew with their own hands the sacks in 
which they were to be tied up and drowned. 
Gustavus Vasa, whose father was one of 
the victims of the massacre, roused his coun- 
trymen to arms, and the expulsion of the 
Danes (Christian II. being opportunely de- 
throned at the same time in Denmark) was 
followed by the coronation of Gustavus. In 
1528 the confession of Augsburg was 
solemnly adopted as the national standard of 
faith. Under Gustavus Sweden rose from 
her semi-barbarous condition to a considera- 
ble affluence and prosperity. Gustavus Adol- 
phus was the* greatesi; of his successors. 
The illustrious Oxenstiern aided him in the 
improvement of the kingdom. He gained 
broad conquests in his wars with Russia and 



peace of "Westphalia in 1648, Sweden received 
Pomerania, Kugen, Bremen, &c., with the 
annexed rights as a state of the empire, — 
acquisitions which raised her to the rank of 
a first-rate power. In 1 (554 Christina abdi- 
cating the crown in favor of her cousin, the 
Count Palatine of Deux-Ponts, retired to 
France, and afterward to Rome, where she 
died a Roman Catholic in 1689. The new 
monarch, Charles Gustavus, renewed war 
with Poland, overran the country, and 
attacked Denmark, which had sided with 
Poland, obtaining the cession of various Dan- 
ish provinces. In a subsequent attack on 
Denmark, the Swedes were repulsed from 
Copenhagen by the aid of the Prussians 
and the Dutch, and the disappointed ambi- 
tion of the king is said to have hastened his 
death. During the minority of his son 
Charles XL, the long contest with Poland 
was concluded by the peace of Oliva ; Livo- 
nia, Esthonia, and Oesel were confirmed to 
Sweden, and the claim of the Polish kings to 
the Swedish crown was given up. In the 
war with Prussia and Denmark (1G75-1G79), 
the Swedes were worsted, but at the peace of 
Fontainebleau (1679) they regained all they 
had lost. This reign was the epoch of the 
first struggle between the crown, supported 
by the burghers and peasants, and the power 
of the senate and nobles. In 1G93 the king 
was formally declared absolute by an act of 
the diet. He left his dominions in 1697 to 
his son, the famous Charles XII., then a lad 
of fifteen. The kingdom was in the highest 
state of prosperity and power ; yet the inex- 
perience of the young king tempted his 
neighbors to attack. A coalition was formed 
against him by Poland, Denmark, and Prus- 
sia. Charles assumed the offensive, humbled 
Denmark in six weeks, routed the Czar be- 
fore Narva, and then invading Poland, ex- 
pelled Frederick Augustus of Saxony from 
the throne. But Charles's inva.sion of Rus- 
sia in 1708 and 1709 was fatal to his schemes 



Poland, and fell in the moment of triumph ! of ambition : in the course of a few years his 
as the champion of the Protestant faith in conquests were lost as rapidly as they had 
Germany. Christina, his daughter, succeeded been won ; and when in 1718 he fell at the 



at the age of six years, under the guardian- 
ship of Oxenstiern, who administered the 
kingdom with consummate ability. A war 
with Denmark (1643-1645) ended te the 
advantage of Sweden ; and at the general 



siege of Fredericshall in Norway, Sweden 
was on the verge of ruin. His sister Ulrica 
Eleonora was soon forced to renounce the 
crown in fjivor of her husband, Frederick of 
Hesse Cassel. A treaty with Russia, by 



SWE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



845 



which Livonia, Ingria, Esthonia, Careha, 
Oesel, &c., were ceded to the czar, gained 
peace for the exhausted kingdom. For the 
next twenty years the court of Stockhohn 
was a scene of foreign intrigue and corrup- 
tion, in which the Hats, or French party, and 
the Caps, or Eussian foction, alternately pre- 
dominated. Agriculture and commerce flour- 
ished nevertheless ; Linnaeus and his disci- 
ples gave a new impulse to science ; and leg- 
islation was improved by a new code, 1084. 
In a war with Russia (1G41) the Swedes were 
everywhere defeated, and at the peace of 
Abo (1743), through British mediation, part 
of Finland was given to Russia. 

The reign of Adolphus Frederick was 
peaceful in its foreign relations, with the ex- 
ception of the share taken against Russia, 
through the influence of the Hats, in the 
Seven Years' war. Gustavus III., in 1772, 
supported by the army and the body of the 
people, forcibly repealed the constitution of 
1720, re-establishing the relative powers of 
the various branches of government nearly 
as before 1680 ; the party names of Hats and 
Caps were forever prohibited, the use of tor- 
ture abolished, and the press declared free. 
In 1780 Sweden joined the armed neutrality 
of the northern powers against England ; 
and in 1783 a commercial treaty was con- 
cluded with the United States. An alliance 
with the Porte in 1787 led to a war with 
Russia and her ally Denmark ; and the muti- 
nous conduct of the Swedish officers, who 
refused to invade Russia without orders from 
the states, produced the ' act of safety ' 
(1789), which gave the king absolute power 
of war and peace, and abolished the senate, 
the last stronghold of aristocratic power. 
The peace of Werela (1790) was concluded 
on the basis of mutual restoration. In 1792 
Gustavus III. was shot by Ankerstrcem at a 
masquerade. His successor, Gustavus IV., 
formed an alliance with Russia and England 
against Napoleon in 1805 : the French occu- 
pied Pomerania and Stralsund in 1807 ; Rus- 
sia, after the conferences of Tilsit, turned 
her arms upon her late ally, and seized 
upon Finland, the impregnable fortress of 
Sv^borg being betrayed by the governor; 
an auxiliary force of 11,000 English, under 
Sir John Moore, was dismissed without effect- 
ing anything ; the Danes also declared war : 

SW 



and Tornea and the Aland Isles Were taken 
by the Russians. These multiplied misfor- 
tunes were ascribed to the incapacity of the 
king, who had shown symptoms of mental 
derangement ; he was deposed in 1809, and 
his uncle Charles XIII. called to the throne, 
to the exclusion of the son of Gustavus, who 
was declared incapable of ever inheriting. 
Peace with Russia was dearly purchased by 
the cession of Finland, East Bothnia, and 
Aland, — nearly a quarter of the territory of 
the kingdom, with a third of its population ; 
but France restored Pomerania in 1810, on 
the adoption of Napoleon's continental sys- 
tem. In 1810, on the election of a crown- 
prince, in consequence of the age of the king 
and the want of an heir, the choice of the 
states fell upon Bernadotte, one of Napoleon's 
ablest marshals. He assumed the reins of 
government, and soon leagued with Russia 
and England against the declining power of 
the great Corsican The services of Sweden 
were rewarded in 1814 by the acquisition of 
Norway, which Denmark was compelled to 
yield, Sweden at the same time rehnquishing 
to Prussia Pomerania and her remaining Ger- 
man possessions. The crowns of Sweden 
and Norway were declared indissolubly uni- 
ted, though each kingdom retamed its sepa- 
rate constitution. In 1818 the king died, 
and Bernadotte ascended the throne as Charles 
XIV. His rule was marked by the uniform 
and increasing prosperity of the Scandina- 
vian kingdoms. 

KINGS OF SWEDEN. 

1520. Chrlstiern or Christian 11. of Denmark. 

1523. Gustavus Vasa : by whose valor the Swedes 
are delivered from the Danish yoke. 

1560. Eric XIV.^ son of Gustavus: dethroned, 
and died in prison. 

1568. John III., brother of Eric. 

1592. Sigisraund, King of Poland, son of John 
III.: disputes for the succession contin- 
ued the whole of this reign. 

1604. Charles IX., brother of John III. 

1511. Gustavus (Adolphus) II., the Great. 

1633. [Interregnum.] 

1633. Christina, daughter of Gustavus Adol- 
phus. 

1654. Charles X. (Gustavus), son of John Casi- 
mir, Count Palatine of the Rhine. 

1660. Charles XL, son of the preceding. 

1697. Charles XII., styled the "Alexander," the 
"Quixote," and the "Madman of the 
North." 

1719. Ulrica Eleonora, his sister, and her con- 
sort Frederick I. 

1741. Frederick reigned alone. 

E 



846 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



1761. Adolphns Frederick, of Holstein-Gottorp, 

desoendi'd from the family of Vasa. 
1771. Gustavus(Adolphus)III. 
11'J2. Gustavus (Adolphus) ly. : dethroned, and 

the government assumed bj his uncle, 

the Duke of Suderniania. 
1809. Charles XIII., Duke of Suderniania. 
1818. Ciiarles (John) XIV. (Bernadotte), the 

French Prince of Ponte Corvo. 
1844. Oscar, his son, ascended the throne, March 

8th. 

SWEDENBORG, Emanuel, an eminent 
mathematical, philosophical, and mystical 
writer, died in London, March 29th, 1772. 
He was born in Stockholm, Jan. 29th, 1688. 

SWIFT, Jonathan, was born in Dublin 
(some say at Cashel in Tipperar}^), Nov. 30th, 
1667. Born a posthumous child, and bred 
up an object of charity by his uncle, this sin- 
gular and haughty man earl}^ adopted the cus- 
tom of observing his birthday as an occasion 
for sorrow rather than joy, and of reading, 
as it annually recurred, that striking scrip- 
ture in which Job laments and curses the 
day upon which it was said in his father's 
house that a man-child was born. Swift was 
.sent to Trinity College, Dublin, which he 
left in his twenty-first year, and was received 
into the house of Sir William Temple, a dis- 
tant kinsman of his mother. Afterward he 
took orders in the Irish church, but soon 
tired of the life and income of an obscure 
country clergyman, threw up his living, and 
returned to the service of Sir William Tem- 
ple. That gentleman died in 1699, and Swift 
was glad to accompany Lord Berkeley to Ire- 
land as chaplain. From that nobleman he 
obtained the rectory of Aghar and the vicar- 
ages of Laracor and Rathveggan, to which 
was afterward added the prebend of Dunla- 
vin ; in all making his income only some 
£200 a year. At Jloorpark Swift had con- 
tracted an intimacy with Miss Hester John- 
son, daughter of Sir Williatn Temple's stew- 
ard ; and en his settlement in Ireland, this 
lady, accompanied by another female, of mid- 
dle age, came to reside in his neighborhood. 
He has immortalized her under the name of 
Stella. In 1701 Swift became a political wri- 
ter on the whig side, and on his visits to Eng- 
land, he associated with Addison, Steele, and 
Arbuthnot. In 1710, conceiving that he was 
neglected by the ministry, he quarreled with 
the whig!?, and was welcomed by Harley and 
the tory administration with open arms. 

SV, 



He carried with him shining weapons for 
party warfare — irresistible and unscrupulous 
satire, steady hate, and a dauntless spirit. 
From his new allies he received, in 17*1 8, the 
deanery of St Patrick's. The accession of 
the house of Hanover ruined his hopes, and 
he retired to Ireland a disappointed man. 

During his residence in England, he had 
engaged the affections of another young 
lady, Esther Vanhomrigh, who, under the 
name of Vanessa, rivaled Stella in poetical 
celebrity and in personal misfortune. After 
the death of her father. Miss Vanhomrigh 
and her sister retired to Ireland, where they 
had a small property near Dublin. Swift's 
pride or ambition led him to postpone indefi- 
nitely his marriage with Stella. Though he 
declared he loved her better than his 
life a thousand millions of times, he kept 
her in a state of hope deferred, injurious 
alike to her peace and her reputation. He 
dared not confess his situation to Vanessa 
when this second victim avowed her passion. 
He was flattered that a girl of eighteen, beau- 
tiful and accomplished, should sigh for 'a 
gown of forty-four,' and he did not stop to 
weigh the consequences. The removal of 
Vanessa to Ireland, as Stella had gone before, 
to be near his presence ; her irrepressible 
passion, which no neglect could quench ; her 
life of deep seclusion, checquered only by 
the occasional visits of Swift, eac'li of which 
she commemorated by planting with her own 
hand a laurel in the garden where they met ; 
her agonizing remonstrances, when all her 
offerings and devotion had failed, — are touch- 
ing beyond expression. Swift could give 
but the coldest return. The tragedy deep- 
ened. Eight' years had Vanessa nursed her 
hopeless attachment in solitude. At length 
she wrote to Stella, to ascertain the nature 
of her connection vsith Swift : the latter ob- 
tained the fatal letter, and rode instantly to 
Marley Abbey, Vanessa's residence. x\s he 
entered, the sternness of his countenance 
struck the unfortunate woman with such 
terror that she could scarce ask whether he 
would not sit down. lie answered by fling- 
ing a letter on the table; and instantly 
leaving the house, mounted his horse and 
returned to Dublin. When Vanessa opened the 
packet, she found only her own letter to Stel- 
la. It was her death-warrant. She simk at 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



847 



once under the disappointment of the delayed 
yet cherished hopes which had so long sick- 
ened her heart, and beneath the unrestrained 
wrath of him for whose sake she had indulged 
them. She survived this last interview only 
a few weeks. Stella and Swift were at last 
secretly married in the garden of the deanery, 
when on her part all but life had foded away. 
Just before her death, he offered to acknowl- 
edge the union, but she replied, " It is too 
late." The fair sufferers were deeply re- 
venged ; in a few years the malady came 
which Swift had long foreseen and dreaded. 
After various attacks of giddiness and deaf- 
ness, his temper became ungovernable, and 
his reason gave way. His almost total si- 
lence during the last three years of his life 
(for the last year he spoke not a word) appalls 
and overawes the imagination. He died on 
the 19th of October, 1745, and was interred 
in St. Patrick's cathedral, amid the tears and 
prayers of his countrymen. His fortune, 
amounting to about £10,000, he left chiefly 
to found a lunatic asylum in Dublin. 

Swift's "Drapier's Letters" gave him un- 
bounded popularity in Ireland. "Gulliver's 
Travels" and the "Tale of a Tub" are the 
chief corner-stones of his fame. His prose 
is a model of simple and vigorous English. 
His verse is of a homely stamp, but strikingly 
true to nature. There have been few so 
faithful depicters of human nature, in its 
frailties and weakness, as the misanthropic 
Dean of St. Patrick's. 

In Swift's version of iEsop's foble of the 
apples and the ordure, when he came to the 
address of the latter to the former,— 

" How we apples swim," — 
he subjoined the following lines upon a pomp- 
ous, pragmatical limb of the law whom he 
disliked : — 

" So at the bar the booby Bottesworth, 
Though half a crown outpays his sweat's worth, 
Who knows in law nor text nor margent. 
Calls Singleton his brother aergeanV 

Singleton was a first-rate barrister. The 
poem was sent to Bettesworth at a time when 
he was surrounded by his friends in a con- 
vivial party. He read it aloud till he had 
finished the lines relative to himself. He 
flung it down with great violence, trembled 
and turned pale. After some pause, his rage 
for a while depriving him of utterance, he 



took out his penknife, and, opening it, vehe- 
ment!}' swore, "With this very penknife I 
will cutoff his ears." He went to the dean's 
house, and, not finding him at home, fol- 
lowed him to the house of a friend, where, 
being shown into a back room, he desired the 
dean might be sent for. On Swift entering 
the room, and asking what were his com- 
mands, " Sir," said he, " I am Sergeant Bettes- 
worth." — "Of what regiment, pray, sir?" 
said Swift. — " Oh, Mr. dean, we know your 
powers of raillery — you know me well 
enough ; I am one of his majesty's sergeants- 
at-law, and I am come to demand if you are 
the author of this poem [producing it] and 
these villainous lines on me." — " Sir," said 
Swift, " when I was a young man, I had the 
honor of being intimate' with some great 
legal characters, particularly Lord Somers, 
who, knowing my propensity to satire, ad- 
vised me, when I lampooned a knave or fool, 
never to own it. Conformably to that advice, 
I tell you I am not the author. " Bettesworth 
went off grumbling, saying Swift was like 
one of his own vile Yahoos, besmearing peo- 
ple with his filth, and out of the reach of 
punishment. 

SWITZERLAND, a country .in Europe, 
lying between France, Germany, and Ita- 
!}', contains 15,179 square miles, and 
2,400,000 inhabitants. More than half the 
country is mountainous, the Jura Mountains 
separating it from France, and the ranges of 
the Alps occupying the southern and eastern 
portions. Its picturesque and sublime scene- 
ry is well known; firom the snowy sum- 
mits and icy glaciers of the drear Alpine 
heights, enclosing pastoral valleys of surpris- 
ing verdure and loud torrents plunging in 
wild cascades, to the placid lakes of Lenian, 
Constance, Zurich, Luzern, Neufchatel, and 
scores of lesser beauties, that sleep in the 
plains below. With such a variety of sur- 
face the climate and productions also widely 
vary. The valleys and plains are fertile, and 
the lower regions of the mountains afford 
fine pastures for herds and flocks. 

The Swiss confederation consists of twen- 
ty-two cantons,-- -Aargau, Appenzell, Basel, 
Bern, Freyburg, St. Gal), Geneva, Glarus, 
Grisons, Luzern, Neufchatel, SchafThausen. 
Schwyz (from which the country has its 
name), Soleure, Thurgau, Ticino, Unterwal- 



SWI 



848 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



den, Uri, Valais, Vaud, Zug, and Zurich. 
The sovereign authority is vested in the fed- 
eral assembly, which consists of two repre- 
sentative chambers. The city of Bern is the 
federal metropolis. A majority of the Swiss 
are Calvinists ; yet there are many Catho- 
lics, and some of the cantons are almost ex- 
clusively of the Romish faith. Liberty of 
conscience and freedom of worship are en- 
joyed by all. Education is generally diffused. 
Some of the private schools are famous for 
combining industrial training with scientific 
instruction. Hospitals for the infirm poor 
exist in every town, and some are richly 
endowed. The Swiss formerly sought ser- 
vice in large numbers in the armies of France, 
Holland, Spain, Naples, &c., ; foreign enlist- 
ment is now generally prohibited. 

Some portions of Switzerland have been 
busy with manufactures for centuries. The 
canton of Zurich has thousands of hands 
employed m making silks, handkerchiefs, 
ribbons, and cotton cloths and prints. The 
city of Basel (whose clocks in former times 
were an hour in advance of those of other 
places), a great centre of trade, makes many 
ribbons and satins, and much leather, paper, 
and tobacco. Geneva's watches and musical 
boxes are known to all Europe and Amer- 
ica. 

The exaggerated accounts given of the riches 
and milder climate of Italy, occasioned the 
successive mroads of various troops of barbari- 
ans who gloried in the common name of Gauls. 
In all these expeditions, the Helvetians took 
a considerable share, and afterward joined 
the Cimbri and the Teutones against the Ro- 
mans. However, their want of discipline 
finally proved ftxtal to them ; and the arms 
of Marius and Sylla obtained over the com- 
bined forces of Germany the most complete 
and decisive victory. From this era, the Hel- 
vetians lived in friendship and alliance with 
the Romans, till the arts of Orgetorix, one 
of their chieftains, involved them in that 
unfortunate expedition which ended in their 
being deprived of liberty and independence 
by Julius Caesar, 57 b.c. Helvetia thus be- 
came a province of Rome. The decline of 
the Roman power, and the irruption of the 
Goths, Vandals, Huns, and other northern 
tribes hastened the downfall of the unhappy 

Helvetians. Of those M^ho settled in Helve- 



tia, the chief were the Burgundians and the 
more barbarous Alemanni, a German nation, 
who made their first appearance in 214, and 
settled in the duchy of AVirtcmberg. On 
the downfall of the western nation, the Ale- 
manni overran that part of Gaul since known 
by the name of Alsace; and being joined by 
their countrymen in Germany, they entered 
the territories of the Ripuarian Franks, and 
put all to fire and sword. This unprovoked 
attack, summoning Clovis, king of the Salian 
Franks, to the defense of his allies, the Ale- 
manni were entirely defeated in a general en- 
gagement, with the loss of their king ; and 
this nation acknowledged the sovereignty of 
Clovis, in 496, who gradually subdued, and 
afterward civilized the greatest part of Hel- 
vetia. Under the Franks it remained till 
888, when, upon the death of Charles the 
Gross, it was seized by Raoul, and became 
part of the kingdom of Burgundy, which 
was given by Rodolf, the last king of Burgun- 
dy, to Conrad II., Emperor of Germany, in 
1032 ; from which time it was esteemed a 
part of the empii-e ; but being unjustly 
treated by Albert, Duke of Austria, the in- 
habitants revolted in 1308. Werner Stauff- 
acher of Schwyz, Walter First of Uri, and 
Arnold von Melchthal of Unterwalden, con- 
spired to free their land from the tyranny of 
Gessler, and the imperial minion was slain 
by brave William Tell. In a cavern near 
the lake of Luzern, the three founders of the 
Helvetic confederacy, are said, in Swiss tra- 
ditions, to sleep. The herdsmen say that 
they lie there, in their antique garb, in quiet 
slumber ; and when Switzerland is in her 
utmost need, they will awaken and regain 
the liberties of the land. 



When Uri's beechen woods wave red 

In the burning hamlet's light, 
Tlien from the caverns of the dead, 
Shall the sleepers wake iu might ! 
With a leap, like Tell's proud leap, 

When away the helm he flung. 
And boldly up the steep 

From the flashing billow sprung I 

They shall wake beside their forest sea 

In the ancient garb they wore, 
When they linked the hands that made us free, 
On the Grutli's moonlit shore ; 
And their voices shall be heard, 

And be answered with a shout, * 

Till the echoing Alps are stirred, 
And the signal-fires blaze out ! 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



849 



And the land shall see such deeds again, 

As those of that proud day, 
When Winkelried, on Sempach's plain. 
Through the serried spears made way ! 
And when the rocks came down 

On the dark Morgarten del!, 
And the crowned helms o'ertUrown 
Befoi-e our fathers fell ! 

For the Kuhreiheu's* notes must never sound 
In a land that wears the chain, 

And the vines on Freedom's holy ground 
Untrampled must remain. 

And the yellow harvests wave. 

For no stranger's hand to reap. 
While within their silent cave 
The men of Grutli sleep ! 

In 1315 the several states of which this 
country was composed made their league 
perpetual; and in 1648 their liberty was 
absolutely fixed by the treaty of Westpha- 
lia. The peace of Aarau, in 1712, termina- 
ted the intestine struggles of the Swiss, 
which long rent in sunder the bonds of their 
union. Under the protection of the Helvetic 
league, the whole territory of Switzerland 
became, and for ages continued, an industri- 
ous, a free, a blameless, and a hapj^y nation, 
until they were attacked by their neighbors 
the French. In 1798 the directory of France 
having become daring by the peace which 
they had dictated to the emperor, suddenly 
declared war against Switzerland. 

Partly by force, and partly by treachery, 
they succeeded in their attempt, and, after 
changing the government from a federal into 
an united republic, continued to levy contri- 
butions, and impose exactions, with the most 
unpardonable severity. The treaties of 
Luneville and of Amiens.hcld out to the Hel- 
vetic confederacy a guarantee of her ancient 
freedom and independence, which were never 
fully realized. By the treaty of Vienna, in 
1815, the integrity of the nineteen cantons, 
as they existed in a political body, was recog- 
nized as the basis of the Helvetic system. 
To Switzerland were united the Valais, the 
territory of Geneva, and the principality of 
Neufchatel, which formed three new cantons ; 
and to the Helvetic confederation were added 
the bishopric of Basel, and the city and ter- 
ritory of Bienne, which form part of the 
canton of Bern. 

* The Kuhreihen is the melody known by the name of the 
Ranz des Vaches, which was forbidden to be played by the 
royal bands in Paris, because it caused the Swiss guards to 
desert, and return to their native mountains, of which it 
powerfully reminded them. 

54 SYL 



The canton of Neufchatel was formerly a 
principality, wliich finally came into the 
possession of Frederick I. of Prussia. In 
1806 it was ceded to France, and Napoleon 
bestowed it upon his general Berthier, who 
enjoyed it till 1815, when it fell at the disposal 
of the allies. They restored the king of 
Prussia the title of prince, with certain rights, 
but made the country part of the Swiss con- 
federation. In 1848 the inhabitants repudi- 
ated their allegiance to Prussia, and pro- 
claimed Neufchatel a free and independent 
member of the Swiss republic. In 1856 
Prussia threatened a war to regain possession. 
Great energy and determination were shown 
by the Swiss in reply. On the intervention 
of France and England the dispute was at 
last adjusted by treaty in 1857. For a pecu- 
niary compensation the Prussian king re- 
nounced his claims, retaining the title of 
Prince of Neufchatel without any political 
rights. 

SYLLA, L. Cornelius, a celebrated Ro- 
man, of a noble family. He first entered the 
army under the great Harms', whom he ac- 
companied m Numidia, in the capacity of 
quiBstor. He rendered himself conspicuous 
in military affixirs, and Bocchus, one of the 
princes of Numidia, delivered Jugurtha into 
his hands for the Roman consul. The rising 
fame of Sylla gave umbrage to Marius, who 
was always jealous of an equal, as well as of 
a superior ; but the ill language which he 
made use of, rather inflamed than extin- 
guished the ambition of Sylla. He left the 
conqueror of Jugurtha, and carried arms 
under Catullus. For his services in the Social 
or Marsic war, he was rewarded with the 
consulship, in the fiftieth year of his age. 
In this capacity he wished to have the 
administration of the Mithridatic war; but 
he found an obstinate adversary in Marius,. 
and he attained the summit of his wishes 
only when he had entered Rome sword in 
hand. After he had slaughtered his enemies, 
set a price upon the head of Marius, and put 
to death the tribune Sulpitius, who had con- 
tinually opposed^ his views, he marched 
toward Asia, disregarding the flames of dis- 
cord which he left behind him unextinguished. 
Mithridates was already master of the great- 
est part of Greece, and Sylla, when he 
reached the coast of Peloponnesus, was de- 



850 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



layed by the siege of Athens, and .of the 
Piraeus. His boldness succeeded, the Pirseus 
surrendered, and the conqueror sjaared the 
city of Athens. Two celebrated battles, at 
Ch^ronea and Orchomenus, rendered him 
master of Greece. He crossed the Helles- 
pont, and attacked Mithridates in the very 
heart of his kingdom. The artful monarch, 
who well knew the valor and perseverance 
of his adversary, made proposals of peace, 
and Sylla did not hesitate to put an end to a 
war which had rendered him master of so 
much territory, and which enabled him to 
return to Rome like a conqueror. Murgena 
was left at the head of the Roman forces in 
Asia, and S3^11a hastened to Italy. In the 
plains of Campania, he was met by a few of 
his adherents, and was informed that if he 
wished to contend with Marius, he must en- 
counter fifteen generals, followed by twenty- 
five well disciplined legions. Pompey em- 
braced his cause, and marched to the camp 
with three legions. Soon after he appeared 
in the field to advantage ; the confidence of 
Marius decayed with his power, and Sylla 
entered Rome, a tyrant and a conqueror. 
The streets were daily filled with dead bodies, 
and seven thousand citizens, to whom the 
conqueror had promised pardon, were sud- 
denly massacred in the circus. 

Wholesale confiscation of the property of 
his opponents enabled Sylla to reward his 
partisans. When unbridled murder had 
raged for several days, one ventured to ask 
the dictator when there was to be an end of 
it. "We do not ask," said he, "to save 
those whom you wish to destroy, but to free 
from fear those whom you mean to save." 
Sylla answered that he did not yet know 
whom he would spare. " Then tell us whom 
you will punish." To this Sylla assented, 
and at once posted the names of eighty per- 
sons. Day by day he added to this list, 
which was hung up in the forum, and called 
the proscription. These atrocities were not 
confined to Rome : proscription and confis- 
cation stalked throughout Italy. Sylla's 
object was to break down the democracy, 
and establish the ancient aristocratic form of 
the government. In the height of his su- 
premacy, — in the struggle for which more 
than a hundred thousand lives had been sac- 
rificed, throngs thrust into exile, and multi 



tudes reduced to beggary by confiscation,-— 
the cold-blooded tyrant laid down his dicta- 
torship, and calmly retired to private life ! 
He took up his abode at Cumaj, where he 
passed his time in writing his memoirs, hunt- 
ing and fishing, and licentious debauches. 
Within a year he was attacked by a most 
loathsome disease, and one day hearing that 
a magistrate of the adjacent town of Puteoli 
was putting off the payment of a debt to the 
corporation, in exjpectation of his death, he 
had him brought to his chamber, and 
strangled in his presence. The exertions he 
made caused him to throw vip a quantity of 
blood, and he died that night, in the sixtieth 
year of his age, b.c. 18. 

SYPHAX, a king of Numidia, married 
Sophonisba, the daughter of Asdrubal, and 
forsook the alliance of the Romans to join 
himself to the interest of his father-in-law, 
and of Carthage. He was conquered in a bat- 
tle by Masinissa, the ally of Rome, and given 
to Scipio the Roman general. The conqueror 
carried him to Rome, where he adorned his 
triumph. Syphax died in prison, B.C. 201, 
and his possessions were given to Masinissa. 

SYRACUSE, a celebrated city of Sicily, 
founded about b.c. 732, by Archias, a Corin- 
thian, and one of the Heraclidaj. It was 
under different governments ; and after being 
freed from the tyranny of Thrasybulus, B.C. 
466, it enjoyed security for sixty-one years, 
till the usurpation of the Dlonysii, who were 
expelled by Timoleon, B.C. 343. In the age 
of the elder Dionysiiis, an army of one hun- 
dred thousand foot and ten thousand horse, 
and four hundred ships, were kept in con- 
stant pay. It fell into the hands of the 
Romans, under the consul Marcellus, after a 
siege of three years, b.c. 212. Modern Syra- 
cuse has only 14,000 inhabitants. 

SYRIA, a country of western Asia, border- 
ing on the Mediterranean Sea, forming part 
of the Ottoman empire, and containing about 
70,000 square miles, and 1,500,000 inhabit- 
ants. We mention its principal towns. Alep- 
po once ranked as the third city of the Otto- 
man dominions. The population in 1795 is 
said to have amounted to 250,000 : it is now 
less than a third of that. Seen from a dis- 
tance, this city presents a picturesque appear- 
ance ; its gay terraces, graceful mosques, 
airy arches, and shadowing trees, afford a 



SYR 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



851 



combination which is grateful to the senses ; 
but a nearer approach, Uke daylight on a 
phantasmagoria, dispels the illusion. Walk- 
ing through the streets, the eye wanders 
over high stone walls which flank the way, 
or turns baffled from the lattices with which 
the infrequent windows of the houses are 
churlishly guarded. The inhabitants of Alep- 
po differ but little from those of other Mo- 
hammedan cities and countries. They have 
the same love for indolent pleasures, the same 
fondness for the luxuries of the bath. The 
Jews of Aleppo have in their synagogue a man- 
uscript of the Old Testament which they con- 
sider to be of great antiquity. As a com- 
mercial place, Aleppo has degenerated in 
modern times. The English, in the reign of 
Elizabeth, established a factory here, and 
consuls of various nations reside in the place 
at present. The city, including the suburbs, 
is seven or eight miles in circumference. 
Eight thousand inhabitants, together with 
two-thirds of the city, were destroyed by 
earthquakes in 1822 and 1823. The plague 
has often made fearful ravages here. Aleppo 
has also been the scene of fanatical massa- 
cres. In October, 1850, the Mohammedans 
mercilessly attacked the Christian inhabit- 
ants, slew many, and burned or plundered 
their dwellings and churches. 

Antioch is another famous town. It is 
fifty miles west of Aleppo, on the Orontes, 
twenty-one miles from the sea. The popula- 
tion is less than 10,000, the houses low, and 
the land neglected. The appearance of the 
city is melancholy, and no remains recall the 
splendors of the day when it was the third 
city in the world, for beauty, greatness, and 
population. It was built by Seleucus Nica- 
nor, B.C. 300, partly on a hill, and partly in a 
plain, and named for Antiochus, his father. 
It was for a great length of time the resi- 
dence of the Macedonian kings of Syria, and 
of the Roman governors when Syria became 
a province of that empire. The Christian 
Ciith was established at Antioch by St. Paul 



and St. Barnabas, and here their disciples 
first bore the name of Christians. It con- 
tinued to be a city of great importance, 
notwithstanding frequent and awful earth- 
quakes, till A.D. 538, when Chosroes the 
Persian razed it to the ground. It was re- 
built by Justinian, again became a considera- 
ble place, and continued such till the time of 
the crusades. In 1098 it was taken by God- 
frey, and became the seat of an European 
principality, which was overthrown by the 
Turks in 1269. Its commerce and importance 
passed to Aleppo. 

Damascus is one of the most ancient towns 
in the world, being mentioned as existing in 
the days of Abraham (Genesis xiv. and xv.), 
and it is one of the few that have maintained 
a flourishing prosperity in all ages, though 
often subject to the devastating fortune of 
war. It was possessed in turn by Assyri- 
ans, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Saracens, 
and Turks. Tamerlane destroyed it in 1400. 
Here St. Paul began to preach the gospel, 
A.D. 52. Damask linens and silks were first 
manufactured at Damascus ; and damask roses 
were transplanted to Europe from its gar- 
dens, whence the name m each case. 

Syria formed a part of the Assyrian, 
Babylonian, Persian, and Macedonian em- 
pires in succession, ^fter the battle of 
Ipsus, B.C. 301, it became the centre of the 
kingdom of the Seleucidae, the usual abode 
of the kings being at Antioch, its capital. 
Their dominion was destroyed, and Syria 
declared a Roman province by Pompey, B.C. 
65. Under the Caesars it was one of the 
most populous, flourishing, and luxurious 
provinces of the empire. It had a consider- 
able commerce, and proved indeed the empo- 
rium that connected the eastern and western 
quarters of the world. The Saracens wrested 
the land fi-om the declining eastern empire in 
the seventh century. In 1516 it was con- 
quered and united to the Turkish empire by 
the Sultan Selim 11. 



SYR 



852 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



T. 



TACITUS, Caius Cornelius, a celebrated 
Roman historian, was born about a.d. 58. 
The time of his death is unknown. 

TALAVERA, a town of Spain, situated on 
the Tagus, thirty-five miles west of Toledo, 
famous for the battle fought here July 28th, 
1809, between the French and the allies un- 
der Sir Arthur Wellesley. The French army 
amounted to 47,000 men, and the allied force 
to 19,000 British and 30,000 Spaniards. In 
the afternoon of the 27th, the French opened 
a cannonade on the left of the British posi- 
tion, while their cavalry attacked the Span- 
ish infantr}^, and attempted to win the town 
of Talavera ; they were finally repulsed. At 
nine in the evening, the action ceased, but 
Soult, the French commander, ordered a 
night attack to be made on the height occu- 
pied by General Hill, which he considei-ed 
the key of the English position. Of this 
height the French gained a momentary pos- 
session, but it was recovered at the point of 
the bayonet. At daybreak, the 28th, the 
French again attacked Hill's position, and 
were repulsed; failing also in their other 
attempts, they rest^l about eleven, and, it is 
said, cooked their dinners on the field. At 
noon, Soult ordered a general attack along 
the whole line. At the close of the day, the 
French were repulsed at all points, and effect- 
ually defeated. 

Marshals Victor and Sebastiani commanded 
the French advance. Soult, Ney, and Mortier 
being in the rear, compelled Wellesley to 
retire after the battle. 

TALBOT, Lord, born at Blechmore, ir^ 
Shropshire, in 1373. In the first year of 
Henry V. he was appointed lieutenant of Ire- 
land, where he suppressed a rebellion, and 
brought the chief, Donald McGuire, to Eng- 
land, lie next served in France, to the con- 
quest of which he greatly contributed. His 
name struck terror into the French soldiers, 
till the appearance of Joan of Arc, as a super- 
natural being, turned the scale, and the 
English army retreated. The battle of Patay 
completed the disaster, and Lord Talbot fell 
wounded into the hands of the enemy. At 
the end of three years and a half, he was 



ransomed, and again led the English to vic- 
tory. He took a number of strong places, 
and carried his arms to the walls of Paris, 
for which he was created Earl of Shrews- 
bury. In 1443 he concluded a treaty with 
the French king; and the following year 
went again to Ireland as lord lieutenant ; but 
in 1450 he was recalled to serve in France, 
where he fell at the battle of Castillon, in 
his eightieth year, July, 1453. 

TALLARD, Camille d'Hostun, Count and 
Duke de, marshal of France, was born in 
1652, in Dauphiny. He served under Tur- 
enne in Holland, in 1G72. In 1693 he was 
made lieutenant-general, and in 1697 was 
sent ambassador to England. The war being 
renewed, he assumed the command on the 
Rhine in 1702, and the year following made 
himself master of Landau, after defeating 
the Prince of Hesse ; but in 1704 he lost the 
battle of Blenheim, and was taken prisoner 
by Marlborough, to whom he said, " Your 
grace has beaten the finest troops in Europe." 
The duke replied, "You will except, I hope, 
those who defeated them." Marshal Tallard 
remained in England till 1712, when he re- 
turned to Paris, and was created a duke. He 
died in 1728. 

It is said that he was the first to introduce 
celery to the English tables, during his cap- 
tivity. 

TALLEYRAND-PERIGORD, Charles 
Maurice de, was born in Paris in 1754, bred 
to the church, and though his life was not 
very consistent with the cloth, he rose to be 
Bishop of Autun. His participation in the 
measures that preceded the outbreak of the 
revolution, led to his excommunication by 
the pope, and he became a diplomatist, the 
part for which nature destined him. A fail- 
ure in some of his intrigues rendered flight 
necessary, and he remained in the United 
States till after the reign of terror. Return- 
ing, he became minister of foreign affairs 
under the Directory, and retained the post 
under Napoleon, by whom he was made 
Prince of Benevento. In 1809 he was de- 
prived of his offices, and conspired against 
the emperor. He was minister under Louis 



TAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



853 



XVIII., retired from public life before the 
storm of 1830, came forth under Louis Phil- 
ippe, and was ambassador to England till 
1835. He died in 1838. Napoleon said, 
"Talleyrand was always in a state of trea- 
son, but it was a treasonable complicity with 
Fortune herself; his circumspection was ex- 
treme; he conducted himself toward his 
friends as if at some future time they might 
be his enemies, and toward his enemies as if 
they might become his friends." 

TALMA, Francis Joseph, the Garrick of 
the French stage, was born in Paris about 
1770, but his youth was passed in London, 
where his dramatic taste was formed by wit- 
nessing the acting of Kemble and the match- 
less Siddons. He died at Paris, Oct. 19 th, 
1826. 

TAMERLANE (a corruption of Timour 
Lenk, Timour ' the lame ') was, according to 
some authorities, the son of a shepherd, and 
to others, of royal descent. He was born in 
1335, at Kesch, in the ancient Sogdiana, and 
became sovereign of Tartary in 1369. His 
first conquest was that of Balkh, the capital 
of Khorassan, on the frontiers of Persia. He 
next made himself master of Kandahar, and 
after reducing all ancient Persia under his 
dominion, he turned back in order to subdue 
the people of Transoxana. Thence he 
marched to lay siege to Bagdad, which he 
took, and proceeding with his victorious 
army into India, he subdued the whole of 
that nation, and entered Delhi, the capital of 
the empire. After Tamerlane had completed 
the conquest of India, he marched his army 
back, and falling upon Syria, he took Damas- 
cus. Thence, in 1401, he suddenly returned 
to Bagdad, which had partly shaken off 
the yoke. He soon became master of it 
again, and gave it up to the fury of the sol- 
diers, on which occasion eight hundred thous- 
and inhabitants are said to have been de- 
stroyed, and the city was razed to the 
ground. About this time five Mohammedan 
princes, who had been dispossessed by the 
Sultan Bajazet of their dominions, situated 
on the borders of the Euxine Sea, implored 
Tamerlane's assistance ; and at length he 
was prevailed on to march his army into Asia 
Minor. He began with sending ambassadors 
to Bajazet, who were ordered to insist on his 
raising the siege of Constantinople, and doing 



justice to the five Mohammedan princes 
whom he had stripped of their dominions. 
Bajazet disdaining these proposals, Tamerlane 
declared war against him, and put his troops 
in motion. Bajazet raised the siege of Con- 
stantinople, and July 28th, 1402, the ever 
memorable battle took place, between Caesa- 
rea and Angora. After an obstinate contest 
Bajazet was defeated and taken prisoner. 
Tamerlane, who had hitherto fought with the 
scymitar and with arrows, employed several 
field-pieces in this engagement, and the Turks 
employed cannon and the ancient Greek fire. 
Tamerlane's splendid victory did not, how- 
ever, deprive the Turkish empire of a single 
city. Musa, the son of Bajazet, became sul- 
tan, but notwithstanding the protection of 
Tamerlane, he was unable to oppose his 
brothers ; and a civil war raged thirteen 
years among the family. Soon after this, 
Tamerlane ravaged Syria, and from thence 
he repassed the Euphrates, and returned to 
Samarcand. He conquered nearly as great 
an extent of territory as Genghis Khan. He 
was scarcely settled in his newly acquired 
empire, India, when he began to plan the 
conquest of China, but he died in the midst 
of his extraordinary careei", early in the year 
1405. 

TARQUINIUS, Lucius, surnamed Priscus, 
the fifth king of Rome. He distinguished 
himself so much by his liberality and enga- 
ging manners, that Ancus Martins, the reign- 
ing monarch, nominated him the guardian of 
his children, and after his death the people 
chose Tarquin king. Tarquin reigned with 
moderation and popularity. He increased 
the number of the senate, and made himself 
friends by electing one hundred new senators 
from the plebeians. The glory of the Roman 
arms, which was supported with so much 
dignity by the former monarchs, was not 
neglected in this reign, and Tarquin showed 
that he possessed vigor and military pru- 
dence in the victories which he obtained over 
the united forces of the Latins and Sabines, 
and in the conquest of the twelve nations of 
Etruria. He laid the foundations of the cap- 
ital, and to the industry and the public spirit 
of this monarch, the Romans were indebted 
for aqueducts and subterranean sewers, 
which supplied the city with fresh and whole- 
some water, and removed all the filth and 



TAR 



854 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ordure, which, in a great capital, too often 
breed pestilences and diseases. Tarquin was 
the first who introduced among the Romans 
the custom to canvass for offices of trust and 
honor; he distinguished the monarch, the 
senators, and other inferior magistrates, with 
particular robes and ornaments, with ivory 
chairs at spectacles, and the hatchets carried 
before the public magistrates, were, by his 
order, surrounded with bundles of sticks, to 
strike more terror, and to be viewed with 
greater reverence. Tarquin was assassinated 
by the two sons of his predecessor, in the 
eightieth year of his age, thirty-eight of 
which he had sat on the throne, b.c. 576. 

TARQUINIUS Suferlus was grandson of 
Tarquinius Prisons. He ascended the throne 
of Rome after his father-in-law Servius Tullius, 
and was the seventh and last king of Rome. He 
murdered his father-in-law, and seized the 
kingdom. The crown which he had obtained 
with violence, he endeavored to keep by a 
continuation of tyranny. He paid no regard 
to the decisions of the senate, or the appro- 
bation of the public assemblies, and by wish- 
ing to disregard both, he incurred the jeal- 
ousy of the one and the odium of the other. 
He was successful in his military operations, 
and the neighboring cities submitted ; but 
while the siege of Ardea was continued, the 
wantonness of the son of Tarquin at Rome 
forever stopped the progress of his arras ; 
and the Romans, whom a series of barbarity 
and oppression had hitherto provoked, no 
sooner saw virtuous Lucretia stab herself, 
not to survive the loss of her honor, than the 
whole city and camp arose with indignation 
against the monarch. The gates of Rome 
were shut against him, and Tarquin was for- 
ever banished from his throne, b.c. 509. 
Tarquin died in the ninetieth year of his age, 
about fourteen years after his expulsion from 
Rome. 

TARQUINIUS, Sextus, the eldest of the 
sons of Tarquin the Proud, rendered himself 
known by a variety of adventures. "When 
his father besieged Gabii, young Tarquin 
publicly declared that he was at variance 
with the monarch, and the report was the 
more easily believed when he came before 
Gabii with his body all mangled and covered 
with stripes. This was an agreement be- 
tween the father and the son, and Tarquin 



had no sooner declared that this proceeded 
from the tyranny and oppression of his father, 
than the silly people of Gabii intrusted him 
with the command of their armies, fully con- 
vinced that Rome could never have a more 
inveterate enemy. When he had thus suc- 
ceeded, he dispatched a private messenger to 
his father, but the monarch gave no answer to 
be returned to his son. Sextus inquired 
more particularly about his father, and when 
he heard from the messenger that when the 
message was delivered, Tarquin cut oiF with 
a stick the tallest poppies in his garden, the 
son followed the example by putting to death 
the most noble and powerful citizens of 
Gabii. The town soon fell into the hands of 
the Romans. The violation of Lucretia by 
Sextus led to the expulsion of the family 
from the throne. Sextus was at last killed 
in battle during a war which the Latins sus- 
tained against Rome in the attempt of re- 
establishing the Tarquins on the throne. 

TASSO, ToKQUATO, one of the most cele- 
brated of Italian poets, was born at Sorrento, 
on the southern shore of the Bay of Naples, 
about 1544. His unfortunate days were 
partly spent in a madhouse. He died at 
Rome in 1595. "Jerusalem Delivered" is 
his greatest work. 

TAYLOR, George, a signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, was born in Ireland 
in 1716. He came to America while a young 
man, with no fortune but good character 
and sound honesty. He obtained a humble 
position in the extensive iron works of Mr. 
Savage on the Delaware, rose to be clerk, 
and afterward married his employer's widow, 
and became possessed of large property. 
After having been a member of the colonial 
legislature, he was chosen to congress in 
1776. He died Feb. 23d, 1781. 

TAYLOR, Jeremy, the most eloquent and 
imaginative of England's divines, was born 
at Cambridge in August, 1613. He has 
been styled by some the Shakspeare, and by 
others the Spenser, of theological literature. 
In the civil war he accompanied the royal 
army as chaplain, and in 1644 he was taken 
prisoner in the battle fought before Cardigan 
Castle in Wales. He was soon released, 
and continued in Wales, writing discourses 
that form so noble a monument to his mem- 
ory. After the restoration he was made 



TAY 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



855 



Bishop of Down and Connor in Ireland. He 
was a man of learning, fervent piety, en- 
lightened toleration, and great gentleness of 
'demeanor. He died Aug. 13th, 1G67. 

TAYLOR, Zachary, twelfth president of 
the United States, was born in Orange coun- 
ty, Virginia, Nov. 24th, 1784; being the 
second son of Col. Richard Taylor, whose 
ancestors emigrated from England in 1692, 
and settled in Eastern Virginia. Col. Rich- 
ard was a companion in arms of Washington, 
and distinguished alike for patriotism and 
valor ; his wife, the mother of Zachary, was 
a woman of high spirit and intelligence. In 
1790 Col. Taylor i-emoved with his family to 
Kentucky, settling on the ' dark and bloody 
ground,' where Zachary was reared amid 
the startling and nerving incidents of a bor- 
der life, to which doubtless was owing the 
hardihood that marked him during his mili- 
tary life. Till the age of twenty-one he fol- 
lowed the life of a farmer. The military 
service very early engaged his affections and 
excited his ambition. When the movements 
of Aaron Burr began to excite suspicion, 
volunteer companies were raised in Ken- 
tucky, to oppose his designs by arms should 
occasion demand. In such a troop Zachary 
and his brothers were enrolled ; but events 
did not require the services of the volunteers, 
and Zachary returned to his farm. 

On the death of his brother, Lieut. 
Hancock Taylor, who held a commission 
in the United States army, a chance for 
the vacancy was afforded to Zachary. 
Through the influence of his relative, James 
Madison, then secretary of state, and of his 
uncle. Major Edmund Taylor, he received 
from President Jefferson, May 3d, 1808, his 
commission as first-lieutenant in the seventh 
regiment of infantry. In the tvi^enty-fourth 
year of his age, he was in the enjoyment of 
a competency as a farmer ; but his active 
mind, and his love for a soldier's life, led hmi 
to prefer the care and privations of the camp 
and the field to the quiet comfort of a landed 
proprietor at home. The outbreak of the 
war with England in 1812 found him promo- 
ted to the rank of captain. He distinguished 
himself by the successful defense of Fort 
Harrison on the Wabash against a large force 
of Miami Indians. The garrison numbered 
but fifty-two men, of whom nearly two 



thirds were mvalids, and he himself was just 
recovering from a fever. This gallant re- 
pulse, at odds so unfavorable, was highly 
praised, and it forthwith procured from Pres- 
ident Madison a preferment to the rank of 
brevet major, the first brevet, it is said, ever 
conferred in the American army. 

Taylor rose from grade to grade till he be-t 
came general in the Indian wars of Florida 
and Arkansas. His greatest achievement in 
Florida was the victory of Okeechobee, 
which was gained on Christmas day, 1837; 
one of the most memorable battles in our 
annals of Indian wars, and remarkable for 
skill and bravery on both sides. But he ac- 
quired his greatest reputation as a military 
chieftain, in the invasion of Mexico in 1846. 
The victories of his little army at Palo Alto, 
Resaca de la Palma, Monterey, and Buena 
Vista, were largely due to his merit as a 
commander, which was acknowledged by his 
countrymen in every form of popular rejoic- 
ing and congratulation. He was nominated 
for the presidency by the whig party, and 
was successful over his competitor. Gen. 
Cass. His inauguration took place March 4th, 
1849. He was not destined to serve out his 
term : a short illness terminated his life, July 
yth, 1850. Among his last words were, "I 
have done my duty. I am not afraid to die." 
His sudden death was sincerely mourned 
throughout the land. 

TCHERNAYA, Battle of the. Aug. 
16th, 1855, the lines of the allied army in the 
Crimea, on the river Tchernaya, were at- 
tacked by 50,000 Russians under Prince 
Gortschakoff. The brunt of the attack was 
borne by the Fi-ench and Sardinians, and the 
Russians were severely repulsed. 

TEKELI, Emeric, Count of, a Hungarian 
noble who went into Transylvania in 1671, 
and with some others soon distinguished 
himself at Prince Abafti's court, where he 
became, in a little time, first minister of state, 
and afterward generalissimo of the troops 
sent to assist the insurgent Hungarians 
against Austria, with which he made himself 
master of several places in Upper and Lower 
Hungary. Eventually he was forced to seek 
refuge in Turkey, and died at Constantino- 
ple in 1705. 

TELL, William, a Swiss patriot, was an 
inhabitant of Burgelm in Uri. In 1307 Her- 



TEL 



856 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



man Gessler, the Austrian governor of that 
province, set his cap on a pole, to which all 
who passed were required to pay obeisance. 
This order Tell disobeyed, for which Gessler 
commanded him, on pain of death, to shoot 
an arrow at an apple placed upon the head 
of his own son. Tell, who was an excellent 
marksman, cleft the apple without hurting 
the child; after which he declared, that if 
he ^lad missed his aim, it was his intention 
to have directed another arrow through the 
heart of the tyrant. Gessler then caused 
Tell to be taken into a boat, for the purpose 
of convejnng him out of the province ; but 
in crossing the lake a storm arose, and as the 
prisoner rwas an experienced steersman, he 
was intrusted with the helm, of which he 
was no sooner possessed than he steered 
close to a rock, leaped on shore, and soon after- 
ward shot Gessler near Kuznacht. The Swiss 
rose in arms, and the Austrian government 
was overthrown. Tell perished in an inun- 
dation in 1354. 

TEMPLARS. The Knights Templars, one 
of the most celebrated orders of knighthood, 
originated in the following manner. In the 
year 1118, Hugh de Paganes and Godfrey de 
St. Amor, with seven gentlemen, went to the 
Holy Land, where they determined to erect 
and enter into a brotherhood. Being at Jeru- 
salem they consulted what they should do, 
that might be a service acceptable to God ; 
and being informed that in the town of Zaff, 
there resided many thieves that used to rob 
the pilgrims that resorted to the Holy Sepul- 
chre, they resolved to make the passage more 
free by dispersing these robbers ; and for the 
encouragement of these gentlemen in so good 
an undertaking, the king of Jerusalem as- 
signed them lodgings in his palace adjoining 
to Solomon's palace, from which place they 
were called Knights Templars. 

Baldwin IL, third king of Jerusalem, and 
Guarimond the patriarch, finding their ac- 
tions successful, furnished them with neces- 
sary provisions ; and though their charitable 
services made them acceptable unto all, yet 
for the first nine years they were in so great 
distress, they were forced to accept the char- 
ity of well disposed people. But many 
Christians resorted to them, and increased 
their numbers greatly. When at war, their 
banner was one half black, the other half 



white, signifying that they were white and 
fair to Christians, but black and terrible to 
their enemies. Pope Honorius, at the request 
of Stephen, patriarch of Jerusalem, pre- 
scribed unto them an order of life, whereby 
they were to wear a white garment, to which 
Pope Eugenius added a red cross. They 
made their vows, in the presence of the be- 
fore mentioned patriarch, of obedience, pov- 
erty, and chastity, and to live under the rule 
of the regular canons of St. Augustine. 

The Knights Templars (according to Dug- 
dale) wore linen coifs and red caps close over 
them: on their bodies shirts of mail, and 
swords girded on with a broad belt : over all 
they had a white cloak reaching to the 
ground, with a cross on their left shoulder. 
They used to wear their beards of great 
length, whereas most of the other orders 
shaved. The badge of the order was a patri- 
archal cross, enameled red, and edged with 
gold, worn on the breast pendant to a ribbon. 

The Templars being numerous and famous 
for their enterprises, not only for securing 
the passages, but for fighting both by sea 
and land against the infidels, they became 
highly favored by the Christian princes, who 
assigned to them great revenues to be spent 
in God's service. In process of time, they 
became exceedingly w'ealthy and powerful, 
so that they grew proud, and withdrew 
themselves from their obedience to the patri- 
arch of Jerusalem, and attached themselves 
to the pope. But in the end they did not 
receive that favor they expected from the 
pope, for by him or through his consent, 
upon some infamous crimes charged agaijist 
them, their lands and possessions were seized 
upon, and otherwise disposed of, their order 
suppressed, and they themselves imprisoned, 
condemned, and cruelly executed. Accord- 
ing to the opinions of many authors, they 
were unjustly accused by subornation of wit- 
nesses, merely to gain their revenues, which 
were exceedingly great, having no less than 
sixteen thousand lordships in Europe. 

The first settlement of this order in Eng- 
land (according to Dugdale) was in Holborn 
in London, but their chief residence, in the 
reign of Henry II., was the Temple in Fleet 
street, which was erected by them, and the 
church (built after the form of the Temple 
at Jerusalem) dedicated to God and our 



TEM 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



857 



Blessed Lady, by Heraclius, patriarch of 
Jerusalem, in the year 1185. 

On Wednesday after the feast of the Epiph- 
any, in the year 1307, the first of Edward 
II., by the king's special command, and a 
bull from the pope, the Knights Templars 
generally, throughout England, were seized 
and cast into prison, and in a general coun- 
cil held at London, being convicted of vari- 
ous impieties, all their possessions were con- 
fiscated by the crown. 

The order was condemned in a general 
council at Vienna, under Pope Clement V., 
in 1311, and by a general decree of the said 
Clement, in the seventh year of his papacy, 
they were incorporated with the Knights Hos- 
pitallers. After this numbers of the order 
were burned alive and hanged, and it suffered 



great persecution throughout Europe, partic- 
ularly in France in the reign of Philip of 
Valois. It was finally extirpated in England 
in 1340. 

TEMPLE, Sir William, a celebrated states- 
man, born in London in 1028. In 1665 he 
went on a secret mission to the Bishop of 
Munster ; after which he was employed in 
forming the triple alliance between England, 
Sweden, and Plolland. He next became the 
resident minister at the Hague, and in that 
capacity promoted the marriage of the Prince 
of Orange and the Princess Mary. In 1679 
he was appointed secretary of state ; but the 
next year he resigned that situation, and re- 
tired to his country seat in Surrey, where he 
was often visited by Charles 11., James II. 
and William III. He died in 1698. 







TENNESSEE, with an area of 44,000 
square miles, had in 1850 a population of 
1,109,801, of whom 7,300 were free negroes 
and 275,719 slaves. 

The western part of this state is level or 
gently undulating, the middle is broken by 
hills, and the eastern part is mountainous. 
There can be nothing grand and imposing in 
scenery, nothing striking and picturesque in 
cascades and precipitous sides of mountains 
covered with woods, nothing romantic and 
delightful in deep and sheltered valleys, 
through which wind still and clear streams, 
that is not found in this state. 

Tennessee is bountifully supplied with 
noble rivers, and fine pure streams. The 
Mississippi washes its western border ; the 



Tennessee and the Cumberland have a large 
part of their course within its limits. Gold 
has been found in the south-eastern section 
of the state ; iron occurs throughout the re- 
gion east of the Tennessee ; and coal of abun- 
dance and excellent quality is found among 
the Cumberland Mountains. Salt is al^o a 
Valuable product. Agriculture forms the 
principal occupation of the inhabitants. A 
large portion of the land is productive, and 
many of the valleys of East Tennessee, and 
much of the middle and western sections, 
are eminently fertile. Indian corn and cot- 
ton are the staple crops, and a good deal of 
tobacco, hemp, and wheat are raised. In 
East Tennessee large droves of live stock 
are raised for eastern markets. The pine 



TEN 



858 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



forests of this section yield tar, turpentine, 
rosin, and lampblack. The chief articles 
which are sent to the New Orleans market 
are cotton, corn, whiskey, hogs, horses, cat- 
tle, flour, gunpowder, saltpetre, poultry, 
bacon, lard, butter, apples, pork, coarse lin- 
en, tobacco, &c. 

Tennessee appears to have been first visited 
by hunters and Indian traders from North 
Carolina, about 1730. Like Kentucky, it 
was found to abound in buffalo, elk, and 
other game. Fort Loudon was built on the 
Little Tennessee in 1757, and several settle- 
ments were made. These were broken up 
by the Indians, the Cherokees, Choctaws, 
Chickasaws, and Shawnees ; but they were 
renewed a few years afterward, and though 
hostilities continued to retard their progress, 
immigrants continued to pour into the new 
country, which belonged to the province of 
North Carolina. In 1784 the settlers of Ten- 
nessee made an abortive attempt to form a 
separate government under the name of 
Frankland. In 1790 a territory south-west 
of the Ohio, including the present states of 
Kentucky and Tennessee, was organized ; in 
1794 the latter was constituted a separate ter- 
ritory by its present name ; and in 1796 it was 
admitted into the Union as a sovereign state. 

Tennessee did not secede in form, but the 
center and west of the state were strongly 
rebel. In the east, intensely Unionist, the 
rebels exercised great brutality. The princi- 
pal military occurrence here was Longstreet's 
siege of Burnside in Knoxville, which he how- 
ever raised Dec. 4, 1863, and retreated. After 
the fall of Forts Henry and Donelson, Nash- 
ville at once fell into Union hands (Feb 24, 
1862), and so remained. The surrender of 
Island No. 10, soon after, and that of Mem- 
phis, (April and June, '62,) gave the Union- 
ists possession of most of the state. Rose- 
crans's victory at Murfreesboro, in the last 
days of 1863, drove Bragg from the southern 
part, and the only serious attempt on it after- 
wards was Hood's invasion in the end of 1864, 
which resulted in his defeat at Franklin, Nov. 
30, 1864, and the utter annihilation of his 
army at Nashville shortly afterwards. Ten- 
nessee passed an emancipation law in Janu- 
ary, 1865. 

Nashville, the capital, is situated on the 
southern bank of the Cumberland, in a rich 



and picturesque tract; population in 1860, 
17,000. Murfreesboro was formerly the cap- 
ital. Memphis, on the Mississippi, occupies 
the only advantageous site between the Ohio 
and Vicksburg, on either bank of the great 
river, a distance of 650 miles ; population in 
18^.0, 22,623. 

Knoxville, the leading town of East Ten- 
nessee, at the head of navigation on the Hol- 
ston, a head-stream of the Tennessee, had 
4,000 inhabitants in 1853. 

TERENCE, a celebrated author of come- 
dies, was born at Carthage, and a slave in 
Rome ; his master Terentius Nuncanus gave 
him a good education and his liberty ; he 
was drovrned on his voyage home from 
Greece, 159 b.c. 

TEWKESBURY, a market town of Glou- 
cestershire, in England. It was at this place 
that the last battle was fought between the 
adherents of the houses of York and Lancas- 
ter, May 4th, 1471. This battle, it is well 
known, proved fatal to the Lancastrians ; 
Queen Margaret and her son were taken pris- 
oners. The field in which it was fought is 
still called the Bloody Meadow, and is situ- 
ated about half a mile from the tovsTi. In 
the civil war in the reign of Charles I., 
Tewkesbury was the scene of severe contests 
between the contending forces. 

TEXAS comprises an area of 325,520 
square miles. In 1860 it had 604,215 inhab- 
itants, of whom 182,566 were slaves. This 
does not include the Indians, who were esti- 
mated at 29,000. The country along the 
coast is low and level ; back of this, an un- 
dn.lating prairie region, and the western sec- 
tion is hilly and mountainous. Cotton is 
the staple product ; tobacco, sugar-cane, and 
the cereal grains produce abundant crops ; 
the vine grows abundantly ; the fruits of 
northern andl5outhern climes ripen here side 
by side. Texas is believed to have a very 
rich store of minerals. Her forests of live 
oak and cedar surpass those of any other 
state in the Union. The entire coast, the 
river bottoms, and the chief part of the east- 
ern section, are heavily timbered with pine, 
oak, ash, hickory, cedar, cypress, and other 
forest trees, often of noble dimensions. Her 
prairies furnish pastures for thousands of 
horses and cattle ; swine are also raised in 
large numbers. 



TEX 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



859 




Until 1836 Texas formed a part of Mexico, ernment of Thebes was monarchical, and 



Upon the defeat of Santa Anna, then presi- 
dent of Mexico, by Gen. Houston at San Ja- 
cinto, he was made prisoner. As a condition 
of release, he signed a treaty acknowledging 
the independence of Texas. In 1845 the 
republic was annexed to the United States as 
a sovereign member of the Union. 

Texas was a seceding state, and within her 
limits the main body of the small regular 
army of the United States was treacherously 
surrendered to the rebels by the contrivance 
of General Twiggs, early ki the year 1861. 
The remote situation of the state saved it in 
a great measure from the suiferings of war, 
but it contributed many men to the rebel 
army, and aided in maintaining the war also 
by the introduction of supplies from Mexico. 

Austin, the capital, had 3,000 inhabitants 
in 1853. Galveston is the chief town and 
port of the state ; population in 1853, 7,000. 

THAMES, Battle of the. This was a 
decisive contest between the Americans under 
Gen. Harrison, and the British and Indians 
commanded by Col. Proctor and the celebra- 
ted Tecumseh, fought Oct. 5th, 1813, near 
the Moravian towns on the river Thames 
in Upper Canada. Harrison's troops were 
victors, and Tecumseh was slain. 

THEBES, a celebrated city, capital of 
Bcetia, situated on the banks of the river 
Ismenus. Cadmus is supposed to have first 
begun to found it by building the citadel 
Cadmea. It was afterward finished by Am- 
phion and Zethus ; but, according to Varro, 
it owed its origin to Ogyges. The early gov- 



many of the sovereigns are celebrated for 
their misfortunes, such as Lais, (Edipus, Poly- 
nices, Eteocles, &c. The war which Thebes 
supported against the Argives, is famous, as 
well as that of the Epigoni. Under Epami- 
nondas, the Thebans, though before depend- 
ent, became masters of Greece, and every- 
thing was done according to their will and 
pleasure. When Alexander invaded Greece, 
he ordered Thebes to be totally demolished, 
because it had revolted against him, except 
the gates, the temples, and the house where 
the poet Pindar had been born and educated. 
In this dreadful period, 6,000 of its inhabi- 
tants were slain, and 30,000 sold for slaves. 
Thebes was afterward repaired by Cassan- 
der, the son of An ti pater, but it never rose 
to its original consequence, and Strabo, in 
his age, mentions it merely as an inconsider- 
able village. The monarchical government 
was abolished there at the death of Xanthus, 
about 1190 years before Christ, and Thebes 
became a republic. 

THEBES, the No of Scripture, an ancient 
celebrated city of Egypt, called alsoHecatom- 
pylos on account of its hundred gates, and 
at a later day, Diospolis, as being sacred to 
Jupiter. The original circumference of this 
gigantic city is said to have been 140 stadia. 
It was ruined by Cambyses, king of Persia. 
Its most magnificent ruins are those of 
Luxor and Karnac. 

It is difficult to describe the stupendous 
and noble ruins of Thebes. Beyond all oth- 
ers they give you the idea of a ruined, yet 



THE 



860 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



imperishable city ; so vast is their extent, 
that you wander a long time confused and 
perplexed, and discover at every step some 
new object of interest The ruins of the 
great temple of Luxor are near the water's 
side, and its lofty yellow pillars, each thirty 
feet in circumference, and ranged in long col- 
onnades, instantly arrest the attention. The 
entrance is through a magnificent propylon, 
or gatewa}'', covered with elaborate sculp- 
tures. From the temple of Luxor to that of 
Karnac, the distance is a mile and a half, 
and they were formerly connected by a long 
avenue of sphinxes, the mutilated remains 
of which, the heads being broken off the 
greater part, still line the whole path. Ar- 
rived at the end of this avenue, you first 
pass under a very elegant arched gateway, 
seventy feet high, and quite isolated. About 
fifty yards farther you enter a temple of in- 
ferior dimensions. You then advance into a 
spacious area, strewed with broken pillars, 
and surrounded with vast and lofty masses 
of ruins, — all parts of the great temple : a 
little on your right is the magnificent portico 
of Karnac, the vivid remembrance of which 
will never leave him who has once gazed on 
it. Its numerous colonnades of pillars, of 
gigantic form and height, are in excellent 
preservation, but without ornament. Passing 
hence, you wander amidst obelisks, porticoes, 
and statues, the latter without grace or beau- 
ty, but of a most colossal kind. If you 
ascend one of the hills of rubbish, and look 
around, you see a gateway standing afar, 
conducting only to solitude; detached and 
roofless pillars, while others lie broken at 
their feet ; the busts of gigantic statues ap- 
pearing above the earth, while the rest of 
the body is yet buried, or the head torn 
away, while others lie prostrate or broken 
into useless fragments. On the left spread 
the dreary deserts of the Thebais, to the 
edge of which the city extends. In front is 
a pointed and barren range of mountains : 
the Nile flows at the feet of the temple of 
Luxor ; but the ruins extend far on the 
other side of the river, to the very feet of 
those formidable precipices, and into the 
wastes of sand. 

THEMISTOCLES, a celebrated statesman 
and general of Athens. When Xerxes in- 
vaded Greece, Themistocles was at the head 



of the Athenian republic, and in this capa- 
city the fleet was intrusted to his care. 
While the Lacedgemonians under Leonidas 
were opposing the Persians at Thermopylas, 
the naval operations of Themistocles and of 
the combined fleet of the Peloponnesians were 
directed to destroy the armament of Xerxes, 
and to ruin his maritime power. The battle 
which was fought near the island of Salamis, 
B.C. 480, was decisive ; the Greeks obtained 
the victory, and Themistocles the honor of 
having destroyed the formidable navy of 
Xerxes. These signal services to his country 
endeared Themistocles to the Athenians, and 
he was universally called the most warlike 
and most courageous of all the Greeks who 
fought against the Persians. He was received 
with the most distinguished honors ; and by 
his prudent administration, Athens was soon 
fortified with strong walls, the Piraeus was 
rebuilt, and her harbors were filled with a 
numerous and powerful navy, which ren- 
dered her the mistress of Greece. Yet in 
the midst of that glory, the conqueror of 
Xerxes incurred the displeasure of his coun- 
trymen, which had proved so fatal to many 
of his illustrious predecessors. He was ban- 
ished from the city, and after he had sought 
in vain a safe retreat among the republics of 
Greece and the barbarians of Thrace, he 
threw himself into the arms of a monarch 
whose fleets he had defeated, and whose 
father he had ruined. Artaxerxes, the suc- 
cessor of Xerxes, received the illustrious 
Athenian with kindness. Themistocles died 
in the sixty-fifth year of his age, about 449 
years before the Christian era. 

THEOCRITUS, a Greek pastoral poet, 
flourished 260 e.g. 

THEODORIC L, king of the Visigoths, in 
the south of France, succeeded Wallia, in 
41 9. lie laid siege to Aries, but was repulsed 
by Aetius ; some time after he defeated Lito- 
rius, general of the Roman army, and leci 
him prisoner to Toulouse. But when the 
formidable forces of Attila, king of the Huns, 
put all the princes of the Gauls into a great 
consternation, he united his forces with^Mer- 
ovee, king of France, Aetius, andGundicaire, 
king of the Burgundians, and fought and 
defeated Attila at Chalons. Theodoric was 
killed in the battle, in 451. 

THEODORIC II., son of the above, mur- 



THE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



861 



dered his eldest brother Thorismond, in 453, 
and made himself master of the town of 
Narbonne, which was surrendered to him by 
Count Agrippin, in 462. Advancing into 
Spain, Rechaire, king of the Suevi, his bi'other- 
in-law, gave him battle ; but having worsted 
and taken Rechaire in his retreat, Theodoric 
sentenced him to death, and was himself 
killed soon after by the contrivance of one of 
his brothers called Evaric, who ascended the 
throne in 466. 

THEODORIC, king of the Ostrogoths, 
founded their dominion in Italy, 493. His 
name, like that of Charlemagne after him, 
was celebrated m heroic songs, while politi- 
cal writers and historical critics commend 
alike his talents and his virtues. He died at 
Ravenna in 526, aged sixty-one. 

THEODOSIUS FLAVIUS, a Roman em- 
peror, surnamed Magnus, from the greatness 
of his exploits. He was invested with the 



ance in the church, and publicly to make 
atonement for an act of barbarity which had 
excluded him from the bosom of the church 
and the communion of the faithful. In his 
private character Theodosius was an exam- 
ple of soberness and temperance ; his palace 
displayed becoming grandeur, but still with 
moderation. He never indulged luxury, or 
countenanced superfluities. He was fond of 
bodily exercise, and never gave himself up 
to pleasure and enervating enjoyments. The 
laws and regulations which he introduced in 
the Roman empire, were of the most salutary 
nature. 

THERAMENES, an Athenian philosopher 
and genei'al in the age of Alcibiades, was 
one of the thirty tyrants of Athens. He 
was accused by Critias, one of his colleagues, 
because he opposed their views, and he was 
condemned to drink hemlock, though de- 
fended bj^ his own innocence and the friendly 



imperial purple by Gratian, and appointed I intercession of the philosopher Socrates. 
over Thrace and the eastern provinces, which He drank the poison with great composure. 



had been in the possession of Valentinian. 
The first years of his reign were marked by 
diflFerent conquests over the barbarians. The 
Goths were defeated in Thi'ace, and four 
thousand of their chariots, with an immense 
number of prisoners of both sexes, were the 
reward of the victory. Conspiracies were 
formed against the emperor, but Theodosius 
totally disregarded them ; and while he pun- 
ished his competitors for the imperial purple, 
he thought himself suiBciently secure in the 
love and the affection of his subjects. He 
triumphed over the barbarians, and restored 
peace in every part of the empire. He died 
of a dropsy at Milan in the sixtieth year of 
his age, after a reign of sixteen years, the 
17th of January, a.d. 395. Theodosius was 
the last of the emperors who was the sole 
master of the whole Roman empire. His 
want of clemency, in one awful instance, 
was too openly betrayed ; for when the peo- 
ple of Thessalonica had unmeaningly, per- 
haps, killed one of his oflBcers, the emperor 
ordered his soldiers to put all the inhabitants 
to the sword, and no less than six thousand 
persons, without distinction of rank, age, or 
sex, were cruelly butchered in that town in 
the space of three hours. This violence irri- 
tated the ecclesiastics, and Theodosius was 
compelled by St. Ambrose to do open pen- 



and poured some of it on the ground, with 
the sarcastical exclamation of, " This is 
to the health of Critias." This happened 
about 404 years before the Christian era. 

THERMOPYL^, a small pass leading 
from Thessaly into Locris and Phocis. It 
has a large ridge of mountains on the west, 
and the sea on the east, with deep and dan- 
gerous marshes, being in the narrowest part 
only twenty-five feet in breadth. It is cele- 
brated for a battle which was fought there 
B.C. 480, on the 7th of August, between 
Xerxes, and the Greeks under Leonidas. 
Xerxes assembled his troops and encamped 
on the plains of Thracis. Xerxes having no 
particular quarrel with the Spartans, sent 
messengers to desire them to lay down their 
arms; to which the Lacediemonians boldly 
replied, "Let Xerxes come and take them." 
On the evening of the seventh day after 
Xerxes had arrived at the straits of Thermo- 
pylae, twenty thousand chosen men, com- 
manded by Hydarnes, and conducted by the 
traitor Epialtes, who had offered to lead 
them through another passage in the moun- 
tains, left the Persian camp. The next morn- 
ing they perceived a thousand Phocians, 
whom Leonidas had sent to defend this im- 
portant, but generally unknown, pass. The 
immense shower of darts from the Persians 



THE 



862 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



compelled the Phocians to abandon the pas- 
sage they had been sent to guard ; -and they 
retired to the highest part of the mountain. 
This gave the Persians an opportunity of 
seizing the pass, through which they marched 
with the greatest expedition. In the dead 
of the night the Spartans, headed by Leoni- 
das, and full of resentment and despair, 
marched in close battalion to surprise the 
Persian camp. Dreadful was the fury of the 
Greeks ; and on account of want of disci- 
pline, there being no advance guard or watch, 
greatly destructive to the Persians. Num- 
bers fell by the Grecian spears, but far more 
perished by the mistakes of their own troops, 
who, in the confusion that prevailed, could 
not distinguish friends from foes. Wearied 
with slaughter, the Greeks peneti-ated to the 
royal tent ; but Xerxes, with his favorites, 
had fled to the extremity of the encamp- 
ments. The dawn of day discovered to the 
Persians a dreadful scene of carnage. The 
handful of Greeks by whom this terrible 
slaughter had been made, retreated to the 
straits of Thermopyte; and the Persians, 
by menaces, stripes, and blows, could scarce- 
ly be compelled to advance against them. 
The Greeks halted where the pass was wid- 
est, to receive the charge of the enemy. The 
shock was dreadful. After the Greeks had 
blunted or bi'oken their spears, they attacked 
with sword in hand, and made an incredible 
havoc. Four times they dispelled the thick- 
est ranks of the enemy, in order to obtain 
the sacred remains of their king Leonidas, 
who had fallen in the engagement. Two 
days had they held the pass : on the third, 
when their unexampled valor was about to 
carry off the inestimable prize, the hostile 
battalions under the conduct of Epialtes, 
were seen descending the hill. All hopes 
were now dispersed, and nothing remained to 
be attempted but the last effort of a gener- 
ous despair. Collecting themselves into a 
phalanx, the Greeks retired to the narrowest 
part of the strait ; and on a rising ground, 
took p'ost behind a wall which the Phocians had 
sometime raised, now mostly in ruins. As 
they made this movement, the Thebans, 
whom fear had hitherto restrained from de- 
fection, revolted to the Persians ; declaring 
that their republic had sent earth and water 
in token of their submission to Xerxes ; and 



that they had been reluctantly compelled to 
resist the progress of his arms. In the mean 
time, the Lacedaemonians and Thespians were 
assaulted on every side ; the wall was beaten 
down, and the enemy entered the breaches. 
But instant death befel the Persians that 
entered. In this last struggle, the most he- 
roic and determined courage was displayed 
by every Grecian. It being observed to 
Diocenes, the Spartan, that the Persian ar- 
rows were so numerous as to intercept the 
light of the sun, he replied this was a favor- 
able circumstance, because the Greeks there- 
by fought in the shade. At length it became 
impossible for the Greeks to resist the impet- 
uosity and weight of the darts and other mis- 
siles continually poured upon them. They 
therefore fell, not conquered, but buried un- 
der a trophy .of Persian arms. In this dread- 
ful conflict, the Persians Jost 20,000 men, 
and according to some historians, the whole 
of the Persian army amounted to five mil- 
lions ! 

Of the 300 Spartans one only returned, 
and he was fiercely reproached for escaping 
from a field where all his companions had 
fallen. After the defection of the Thebans, 
Leonidas had only his countrymen and 700 
Thespians. 

THESPIS, a famous Greek tragic poet, 
and first representor of tragedy at Athens ; 
flourished 536 B.C. His stage was a wagon. 
THESSALY was one of the principal di- 
visions of Northern Greece. It contained 
four provinces, mostly surrounded with 
mountains. In the centre of Thessaly, on 
the river Enipeus, were the city and plain of 
Pharsalus, famous for the battle fought there 
between Cgesar and Pompey. Thessalj^ was 
governed by its own kings till it became sub- 
ject to Macedon. 

With the exception of a short period under 
Jason of Pherae, b.c. 371, Thessaly never 
assumed a prominent position in the affairs 
of Greece. This region was the cradle of 
many of the Grecian nations, as the Dorians, 
the Achaians, the yEtolians, &c. Here were 
Olympus, Ossa, and Pelion, mountains great 
in fable, and here was laid the scene of many 
a classical adventure. 

THISTLEAVOOD, Arthur, a disappointed 
man and desperate politician, who, in 1819, 
planned a conspiracy to assassinate the Brit- 



THI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



863 



ish ministers, at a cabinet dinner in Grosve- 
nor square, and overthrow the government. 
He, and his confederates, fifteen or sixteen 
in number, assembled in a stable-loft in Cato 
street, Mary-le-bone, on the evening on which 
they proposed tp effect their purpose, but the 
police having notice, they were surrounded, 
and most of them captured. Thistlewood 
and four others were tried at the Old Bailey, 
and being convicted, were executed in the 
usual manner in which death is inflicted for 
high treason. May 1st, 1820. 

The plot is called the Cato street conspir- 
acy. Rumor attributed this, with other com- 
binations of the time, to the machinations 
of ministerial spies, who perfidiously abetted 
the designs of malcontents, so as to bring 
them within the clutch of the law. 

THOMSON, Charles, secretary of the con- 
tinental Congress, was born in Ireland, No- 
vember, 1729, and came to America at the 
age of eleven. He went into business in 
Philadelphia, where he distinguished him- 
self by his early opposition to the obnoxious 
measures of the British ministry. From 
17V4 till his resignation in 1789 he was the 
untiring secretary of Congress. He died 
Aug. IGth, 1824. 

THOMSON, James, was born in Roxburgh- 
shire, Scotland, in 1700, and spent his boy- 
hood among the Cheviot Hills. After study- 
ing at Edinburgh, he sought his fortunes in 
London. The publications of the " Seasons " 
gained him friends and fame at once. He 
died at Kew, near London, Aug. 27th, 
1748. 

THORNTON, Matthew, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born in 
Ireland in 1714, and when only three years 
of age was brought by his fiither to America. 
He was bred at Worcester, Mass., studied 
medicine, and served as surgeon in the expe- 
dition of 1745 against Louisburg. He set- 
tled as a physician in Londonderry, N. H. ; 
was sent to the continental congress in 1776. 
The same year he was made chief-justice of 
the court of common pleas of New Hamp- 
shire and afterward he was raised to the 
bench of the superior court. He died in 
Massachusetts, June 24th, 1803. 

THORWALDSEN, Albert, was born at 
Copenhagen, Nov. 19th, 1770. He was long 
a student and resident in Rome, and gained a 



lofty reputation as a sculptor. He died at 
Copenhagen, March 24th, 1844. 

THRACE, a large country of ancient Eu- 
rope, south of Scythia, bounded by Mount 
Hajmus. It had the ^gean Sea on the south, 
on the west Macedonia and the river Stry- 
mon, and on the east the Euxine Sea, the 
Propontis, and the Hellespont. Its northern 
boundaries extended as far as the Ister (now 
the Danube), according to Pliny and others. 
The Thracians were looked upon as a cruel 
and barbarous nation ; they were naturally 
brave and warlike, addicted to drinking and 
licentious pleasures, and they sacrificed, 
without the smallest humanity, their ene- 
mies on the altars of their gods. Their gov- 
ernment was originally monarchical, and 
divided among a number of independent 
princes. Thrace received its name from 
Thrax, the son of Mars, the chief deity of 
the country. The first inhabitants lived 
upon plunder, and on the milk and flesh of 
sheep. 

THRASYBULUS, a famous general of 
Athens, who began the expulsion of the thirty 
tyrants of his country, though he was only 
assisted by thirty of his friends. His efforts 
were attended with success, b.c. 401, and the 
only reward he received for this patriotic 
action, was a crown made with two twigs of 
an olive branch ; a proof of his own disin- 
terestedness and of the virtues of his coun- 
trymen. The Athenians employed a man 
whose abilities and humanity were so con- 
spicuous, and Thrasybulus was sent with a 
powerful fleet to recover their lost power in 
the ^gean, and on the coast of Asia. After 
he had gained many advantages, this great 
man was killed in his camp by the inhabi- 
tants of Aspendus, whom his soldiers had 
plundered M'ithout his knowledge, b.c. 391. 

THRASYMENUS, a lake of Italy near 
Perugia, celebrated for a battle fought on its 
shore between Hannibal and the Romans, 
under Flaminius, b.c. 217. No less than 
15,000 Romans were left dead on the field of 
battle, and 10,000 taken prisoners, or, ac- 
cording to Livj', 6,000, or Polybius 15,000. 
The loss of Hannibal was about 1,500 men. 
About 10,000 Romans made their escape, 
covered with wounds. This lake is now 
called the Lake of Perugia. 

THUCYDIDES was an Athenian, born 



THU 



864 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



about B.C. 471. He held a command in the 
Peloponnesian war, and for faihng to raise 
the siege of Amphipolis, was sent into exile. 
For twenty years he was a refugee. During 
this time he busied himself with the history 
of the war, which has given him a high rank 
among classic authors. When peace was 
concluded between Athens and Sparta, b.c. 
404, the return of exiles was permitted, and 
Thucydides was restored to his country the 
next year. It is supposed that he was assas- 
sinated at Athens, about 391 b.c. 

THURLOW, Lord Edward, a famous 
chancellor of England during the reign of 
George III., died in 1806, at the age of sev- 
enty-four. 

TIBERIUS, Claudius Nero, a Roman 
emperor after the death of Augustus, was 
descended from the family of the Claudii. 
His first appearance in the Roman armies 
was under Augustus, in the vrar against the 
Cantabri ; and afterward in the capacity of 
general, he obtained victories in different 
parts of the empire, and was rewarded with 
a triumph. He had the command of the Roman 
armies in Illyricum, Pannonia, and Dalmatia, 
and seemed to divide the sovereign power 
with Augustus. At the death of this cele- 
brated emperor, Tiberius, who had been 
adopted, assumed the reins of government. 
The beginning of his reign seemed to prom- 
ise tranquillity to the world ; Tiberius was a 
watchful guardian of the public peace ; he 
was the friend of justice ; and never assumed 
the sounding titles which must disgust a free 
nation, but he was satisfied to say of himself 
that he was the master of his slaves, the gen- 
eral of his soldiers, and the father of the cit- 
izens of Rome. That seeming moderation, 
however, which was but the fruit of the 
deepest policy, soon disappeared, and Tibe- 
rius was viewed in his real character. The 
armies mutinied in Pannonia and Germany, 
but the tumults were silenced by the pru- 
dence of the generals and the fidelity of the 
officers, and the factious demagogues were 
abandoned to their condign punishment. 
This acted as a check upon Tiberius in 
Rome ; he knew from thence, that his power 
was precarious, and his very existence in 
perpetual danger. He continued, as he had 
begun, to pay the greatest deference to the 
senate : all libels agains thim he disregarded, 



and he observed, that, in a free city, the 
thoughts and the tongue of every man should 
be free. AV^hile Rome exhibited a scene of 
peace and public tranquillity, the barbarians 
were severally defeated on the borders of 
the empire, and Tiberius gained new honors, 
by the activity and valor of Germanicus and 
his other faithful lieutenants. He at last 
retired to the island of Capreae on the coast 
of Campania, where he buried himself in 
unlawful pleasures. The care of the empire 
was intrusted to favorites, among whom Se- 
janus for a while shone with uncommon 
splendor. In this solitary retreat, the em- 
peror proposed rewards to such as invented 
new pleasures, or could produce fresh luxu- 
ries. While the emperor was lost to himself 
and the world, the provinces were harassed 
on every side by the barbarians, and Tibe- 
rius found himself insulted by those enemies 
whom hitherto he had seen fall prostrate at 
his feet with every mark of submissive adu- 
lation. At last grown weak and helpless 
through infirmities, he thought of his ap- 
proaching dissolution ; and as he well knew 
that Rome could not exist without a 
head, he nominated, as his successor, Caius 
Caligula. Tiberius died at Misenum, the 
16th of March, a.d. 37, in the seventy-eighth 
year of his age, after a reign of twenty -two 
years, six months, and twenty-six days. It 
has been wittily observed by Seneca, that he 
never was intoxicated but once all his life, 
for he continued in a perpetual state of intox- 
ication from the time he gave himself to 
drinking, till the last moment of his life. 

TICONDEROGA, Fort, was situated on a 
peninsula at the junction of the outlet of 
Lake George with Lake Champlain. The 
French built a fortress here in 1756. An 
English army under Abercrombie attacked 
it, July 6th, 1758, and was severely repulsed 
by the forces of Montcalm. Lord Amherst 
was more successful in 1759. He commenced 
a siege; the garrison saw that surrender 
would be inevitable, so that they dismantled 
the works, and their flight left it to the pos- 
session of the English. The bold exploit of 
Ethan Allen secured it to the Americans in 
1775, the 10th of May. It was evacuated 
by Gen. St. Clair when threatened by the 
host of Burgoyne in 1777. The fortress is 
now in ruins. 



TIC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



865 



TIGRANES, a king of Armenia, who made 
himself master of Assyria and Cappadocia, 
By the advice of Mithridates, his father-in-law, 
he declared war against the Romans. He 
despised these distant enemies, and even or- 
dered the head of the messenger to he cut 
off who first told hnn that the Roman general 
was boldly advancing toward his capital. Hio 
pride, however, was soon abated, and though 
he ordered the Roman consul Lucullus to be 
brought alive into his presence, he fled with 
precipitation from his capital, and was soon 
after defeated near Mount Taurus. This to- 
tally disheartened him ; he refused to receive 
Mithridates into his palace, and even set a 
price upon his head. His mean submission 
to Pompcy, the successor of Lucullus in 
Asia, and a bribe of 60,000 talents, insured 
him on his throne; he received a garri- 
son in his capital, and continued at peace 
with the Romans. His second son, of the 
same name, revolted against him, and at- 
tempted to dethrone him with the assistance 
of the king of Parthia, whose daughter he 
had married. This did not succeed, and the son 
had recourse to the Romans, by whom he was 
put in possession of Sophene, while the father 
remained quiet on the throne of Armenia. 
The son was afterwai'd sent in chains to 
Rome, for his insolence to Pompey. 

TILLOTSON, John, an eminent English 
divine (1630-1094), was the son of a clothier 
at Sowerby, near Halifax and was bred in 
the Calvinistic faith of the Puritans. While 
studying at Cambridge, his views were some- 
what modified, and at the passing of the act 
of uniformity in 1662, he submitted to the 
law, and accepted a curacy. He quickly be- 
came noted as a preacher, rose in the church, 
and after the revolution was made Archbishop 
of Canterbury. 

TILLY, John Tzerkles, Count de, a cele- 
brated general in the 'thirty years war' in 
Germany, was born near Brussels, and is said 
to have been originally a Jesuit, which order ho 



he committed a horrible massacre. The 
same year he was routed by Gustavus Af'iol- 
phus ; and while defending the passage of 
the Lech against the Swedes, he received a 
mortal wound, April 30th, 1 632. 

TILSIT, a town on the Niemen in East 
Prussia, celebrated for a memorable treaty 
concluded between France and Russia, July 
7th, 1807, whereby Napoleon restored to the 
Prussian monarch one-half his dominions, 
and Russia recognized the confederation of 
the Rhine, arjd the elevation of Joseph, 
Louis, and Jerome Bonaparte to the thrones 
of Naples, Holland, and Westphalia. Napo- 
leon and Alexander met on a raft in the mid- 
dle of the Niemen to arrange the terms of 
this peace. 

TIME. The year.— The Egyptians, it is 
said, were the first who fixed the length of 
the year. The Roman year was intro- 
duced by Romulus, 738 B.C. The solar or 
astronomical year was found to comprise 365 
d.,5 h.,48m., 51.6 s., 265 e.g. The sidereal 
year, or return to the same star, is 365 d. 6 h., 
9 m., lis. A lunar year is the space of time 
comprehended in twelve lunar months, or 
354 d., 8 h., 48 m., and was in use among the 
Chaldeans, Persians, and ancient Jews. 
Once in every three j^ears was added another 
lunar month, so as to make the solar and the 
lunar years nearly agree. But though the 
months were lunar, the year was solar ; that 
is, the first month was of thirty days, the 
second of twenty-nine, and so alternately ; 
and the month added trienniallj'- was called 
the second Adar. The Jews afterward fol- 
lowed the Roman style of computing time. 
The saMatical year was every seventh year 
among the Jews. Then the ground lay fal- 
low, • and people and beasts had rest. 
Every seventh sabbatical year was called the 
jubilee year. Then there was joy and re- 
joicing ; all debts were forgiven; all slaves 
were set at liberty. 

Different nations commenced the year at 



quitted for the Spanish army, and served un- [ different seasons.. The Jews dated the be- 
derAlva in Flanders. Ho commanded the Ba- ! ginning in the month of March ; the Athe- 
varian troops under Duke Maximilian, and had nians began the year in the month of June; 



a great share in the battle of Prague, Nov. 8th, 
1620. At that of Lutter, in Lunenburg, in 
1626, he defeated the king of Denmark, with 
whom he afterward concluded a treaty. In 
1631 he took the city of Magdeburg, where 



55 



the Macedonians on the 24th of September ; 
the Christians of Egypt and Ethiopia on the 
29th or 80th of August, and the Persians 
and Armenians on the 11th of the same 
month. Nearly all the nations of Christen- 



TTM 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA O: 



dom now commence the year with the 1st 
of January. Charles IX. ordered this in 
France in 1564. The EngHsh began their 
year on the 25th of December, until the Con- 
quest. William the Conqueror having been 
crowned Jan. 1st, the year thereafter began 
at that time. But though the historical year 
thus began, the civil or legal year did not 
commence till the 25th of March, and this 
continued as late as 1752, the time of the 
change from old to neic style. This discrep- 
ancy caused great practical inconveniences ; 
since January, February, and part of March 
sometimes bore two dates ; and we often find 
in old records, 1745-1746, or 1745-6, or 
174|. Such reckoning often led to chrono- 
logical errors; thus the revolution of 1688, 
as it is generally called, happened in Febru- 
ary of the year 1688, according to the then 
mode of computation ; but if the year were 
held to begin, as it does now, on the 1st of 
January, it would be the revolution of 1689. 
The Roman calendar has in great part 
been adopted by almost all nations. Romu- 
lus divided the year into ten months, com- 
prising three hundred and four days. Being 
fifty days shorter than the lunar year, and 
sixty-one less than the solar, its commence- 
ment of course did not correspond with any 
fixed season. Numa Pompilius (713 b.c.) 
corrected this calendar, by adding two 
months ; and Julius Caesar, desirous to make 
it more correct, fixed the solar year as being 
three hundred and sixty-five days, six hours, 
45 B.C. The six hours were set aside, and 
at the end of four years forming a day, the 
fourth year was made to consist of three 
hundred and sixty-six days. The day thus 
added was called intercalary, and was counted 
before the 24th of February, which among 
the Romans was the 6th of the calendar, and 
which was therefore counted twice and called 
bissextile. . It is now the 29th of February. 
This almost perfect arrangement was denom- 
inated the Julian style, and prevailed general- 
ly throughout the Christian world till the time 
of Pope Gregory XIIT. It was defective in 
this particular ; that the solar year consisted 
of three hundred and sixty-five days, five 
hours, and forty-nine minutes, and not of 
three hundred and sixty -five days, six hours. 
This difference of eleven minutes, each year, 
at the time of Gregory had amounted to ten 



entire days, the vernal equinox falling on 
the 11th instead of the 21st of March. To 
obviate this error, Gregory ordained, in 1582, 
that that year should consist of three hun- 
dred and fifty-five days only ; and to prevent 
further irregularity, it was determined that a 
year beginning a century should not be bis- 
sextile, with the exception of that beginning 
each fourth century : thus, 1700 and 1800 
were not bissextile, nor will 1900 be so, but 
the year 2000 will be a leap year. In this 
manner three days are retrenched in four 
hundred years, because the lapse of the 
eleven minutes each year makes three days 
in about that period. The year of the calen- 
dar is thus made as nearlj' as possible to cor- 
respond with the true solar year, and future 
errors of chronology are avoided. 

The new calendar was called the Grego- 
rian, from the pontiff who had ordained the 
alteration, and was at once adopted in the 
Roman Catholic states of Europe. England, 
Denmark, and Sweden rejected it then ; but 
in 1751 an act of parliament ordered its use 
in Great Britain. To the time of Gregory, 
the deficiency in the Julian calendar had 
amounted to ten days, we have seen ; in 1751 
there was a difference of another day. Eleven 
days, therefore, were dropped from the Brit- 
ish September, in 1752, the third being made 
the fourteenth. The former reckoning is 
known as old style, while that of the Grego- 
rian calendar is called new style. 

The Months. — January was added to the 
year by Numa when he reformed the Roman 
calendar, and derives its name from Janus, a di- 
vinity among the early Romans. Numa placed 
it about the winter solstice, and made it the 
first month, because Janus was supposed to 
preside over the beginning of all business. 
The first day was a festival. Feb'niary was 
also added by Numa, and so called from Feb- 
rua, a feast which was held in behalf of the 
manes of deceased persons, when sacrifices 
were performed, and the last offices were paid 
to the shades of the dead. March was the 
first month of the year till the time of Numa. 
Romulus gave it the name of his supposed 
father, Mars ; though Ovid observes that the 
people of Italy had the month of March 
before the rule of Romulus, but that they 
placed it verj^ differently in the calendar. 
Of the origin of April we have no account. 



TIM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



867 



May received its name, some say, from Rom- 
ulus, who gave it this appellation in respect 
to the senators and nobles of his city, who 
were denominated major es ; though others 
suppose it was so called from Maia, the 
mother of Mercury, to whom sacrifices were 
oflFered on the first day. On May-day the 
ancient Romans went in procession to the 
grotto of Egeria. It has been unmemorially 
observed in England as a rural festival ; and 
high poles, called May-poles, are yet in many 
places thickly hung with garlands wreathed 
in honor of the day. June some derive 
a Junone, and others d Junioriius, this being 
for the young, as the month of May was for 
aged persons. Ovid, in his Fasti, introduces 
Juno as claiming this month. July was 
named by Marc Antony in honor of Julius 
Caesar, whose birth fell in it. August, in 
like manner, was so called in honor of 
Augustus Caesar, because in this month he 
was born, was created consul, thrice tri- 
umphed in Rome, subdued Egypt to the 
Roman empire, and made an end of the civil 
wars. It was previously called SextlUs, or 
the sixth from March. September being the 
seventh month in the year before January 
and February were added, has its name from 
sejjtimus, seventh. The emperor Domitian 
gave it his own name, Germanicus ; the sen- 
ate under Antoninus Pius called it Antoni- 
nus ; Commodus gave it his surname, Hercu- 
leus ; and the emperor Tacitus his own 
name, Tacitus. But these names all fell into 
disuse. So, also, the senate ordered October 
to be called Faustinus, in honor of Faustina, 
wife of Antoninus the emperor ; Commodus 
would have had it called Invinctus, and 
Domitian Domitianus : in spite of all these 
changes, the month retains the name denot- 
ing that it was at first eighth in the year. 
October was sacred to Mars. November was 
anciently the ninth month, whence its name. 
When the Roman senators would have called 
this month after Tiberius, in imitation of 
the similar honor paid to Julius Caesar and 
Augustus, the emperor absolutely refused, 
saying, " What will you do, conscript fathers, 
if you have thirteen Caesars?" December 
took its name from decern, being at first the 
tenth month. In the reign of Commodus, it 
was called Amazonius, in flattery of a 
courtesan whom that emperor passionately 



and had got painted like an Ama- 



loved, 
zon. 

Days of the Week. — The week is supposed 
to have been first used among the Jews, who 
observed the Sabbath every seventh day. 
They iiad three sorts of weeks : the first the 
common one of seven days ; the second of 
years, which was seven years ; the third of 
seven times seven years, at the end of which 
was the jubilee. 

The following are the names of the days 
of the week among several nations: — 



Latin. 


Saxon 


English. 


Dies Solis, 


Suu's Day, 


Sunday, 


Dies Lunte, 


Moon's Day, 


Monday, 


Dies Martis, 


Tiw's day, 


Tuesday, 


Dies Mercurii, 


Woden's day, 


Wednesday 


Dies Jovis, 


Thor's day, 


Thursday," 


Dies Veneris, 


Friga's day, 


Friday, 


Dies Saturui, 


Sa! erne's day, 


Saturday. 


German. 


French. 


Spanish. 


Sonntag, 


Dinuinclie, 


Domingo, 


Moiitag, 


Lundi, 


Lunes, 


Dienstag, 


Mardi, 


Martes, 


Mittwoche, 


Mercredi, 


Miercoles, 


Donnerstag, 


Jcudi, 


Jueves, 


Frcitag, 


yeudredi, 


Viernes. 


Sonnabend, or 






Samstag, 


Samedi, 


Sabado. 



The present English names are all derived 
from the Saxon. Sunday was the day on 
which, anciently, divine adoration was paid 
to the sun. Among Christians it is com- 
monly called Dies Dominica, or Lord's day, 
on account of the Saviour's appearance after 
the resurrection, in commemoration whereof 
it is observed as the Christian Sabbath. In 
the year 960 the Sabbath was ordained to be 
kept holy in England from Saturday at three 
in the afternoon till Monday at break of day. 
It is very remarkable that the heathen na- 
tions, who can not be supposed to have had 
any knowledge of the law or history of 
Moses, accounted one day of the seven more 
sacred than the rest. Hcsiod styles the sev- 
enth day " the illustrious light of the sun ;" 
and Homer says, "then came the seventh 
day, which is sacred or holy." Almost all 
nations, likewise, having any notions of reli- 
gion, have appropriated one day in seven to 
the purposes of devotion, though they have 
differed with regard to the day. Tuesday 
was so called from Tuisto, Tiw, or Tuesco, a 
Saxon deity particularly worshiped on this 
day. Tuisto is mentioned by Tacitus. 
Wednesday is a corruption of Woden's day, 



TIM 



868 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



so called from the Saxon god Woden, or Odin, 
worshiped on this day. Woden was the 
reputed author of magic and the inventor of 
all the arts, and is thought to answer to the 
Mercury of the Greeks and Romans ; others 
suppose him to be the same as Mars. IViurs- 
day derived its name from Thor, a deified 
hero worshiped by the ancient northern na- 
tions, especially by the Scandinavians and 
Celts. His authority extended over the 
winds and seasons, and particularly over 
thunder and lightning. He is said to have 
been the most valiant of the sons of Odin. 
This day, which was consecrated to Thor, 
still retams his name in the Danish, Swedish, 
and Low Dutch languages, as well as in the 
English. [See Fkiday.J Saturday owes its 
name to the ancient Saxon idol Seater, or 
Saterne, the same with Saturn. The Jews 
still observe it as the Sabbatli, in commemo- 
ration of the creation, and their redemption 
from the bondage of Egypt. 

The Houks. — Daj^ began at sunrise among 
most of the northern nations, at sunset 
among the Athenians and Jews, and among 
the Romans at midnight, as it does with us. 
It began to be divided into hours from the 
year 293 B.C., when L. Papirius Cursor 
erected a sun-dial in the temple of Quirinus 
at Rome. Before the invention of water- 
clocks, 158 B.C., the time was called at Rome 
by public criers. The Chinese divided the 
day into twelve parts of two hours each. 
The Italians reckon the day from sunset to 
sunset, counting twenty-four hours round, 
instead of two divisions of twelve hours each 
as we do. In England the measurement of 
time in early days was alike uncertain and 
difficult. One way was by wax candles, 
three inches burning an hour, and six can- 
dles burning a day. These candles were in- 
vented by Alfred, a.d. 886, clocks and hour- 
glasses not being then known in England. 
Seamen have a way of their own for reckon- 
ing time, by watches and bells. The watches 
are as follows : from twelve at night to four 
in the morning, from four to eight o'clock, 
and from eight till noon ; then from noon to 
four, from four to six, from six to eight, and 
from eight till midnight. The two short 
watches in the afternoon are called the dog- 
watches. At the first half-hour of each 
watch, the ship's bell is struck once, at the 

T 



second half-hour twice, and so on; so that 
eight strokes, or eight bells as the phrase is, 
denote the end of the watch. 

In the year 1792, the French nation, in 
their excessive desire to change all the exist- 
ing institutions, decided to adopt a new cal- 
endar founded on philosophical principles ; 
but as they were unable to produce any plan 
more accurate and convenient than that pre- 
viously in use, they were contented to follow 
the old plan under a new name, merely 
changing some of the minor details and sub- 
divisions, and commencing the yearat a differ- 
ent period. The first year of the era of the 
republic began on the 22d of September, 
1 792. As all the public acts of the French 
nation were dated according to this altered 
style for a period of more than twelve years, 
its record here may be useful. Autumn : 
Vendemiare (vintage month), from Sept. 22d 
to Oct. 21st; Brumaire (fog month), Oct. 
22d to Nov. 20th ; Frimaire (sleet month), 
Nov. 21st to Dec. 20th. Winter: Nivose, 
(snow month), Dec. 21st to Jan. 19th ; Plu- 
viose (Ys\n month), Jan. 20th to Feb. 18th; 
Ventose (wind month), Feb. 19th to March 
20th. Spring : Germinal (sprouts' month), 
March 21st to April 19th; i'Vorea? (flowers' 
month), April 20th to May 19th; Frairial 
(pasture month), May 20th to June 18th. 
Summer: Memdor (harvest month), June 
19th to July 18th; Fervidor (hot month), 
July 19th .to Aug. 17th; Frnctidor (fruit 
month), Aug. 18th to Sept. 16th. Sanscu- 
lottides, or feasts dedicated to — Les Vertus 
(the virtues), Sept. 17th ; Le Genie (genius), 
Sept. 18th; Le Tmrail (labor), Sept. 19th; 
U Ojnnion (o^imon), Sept. 20th ; Les Recom- 
2)enscs (rewards), Sept. 21st. Though this 
era commenced Sept. 22d, 1792, its establish- 
ment was not decreed until the 4th Frimaire 
of the year II. (Nov. 24th, 1793). This rev- 
olutionary calendar existed until tlie 10th 
Nivose, year of the republic XIV., being the 
31st of December, 1805, when Napoleon re- 
stored the Gregorian mode of calculation. 

TIMOLEON was born in Corinth about b.c. 
410. His first exploit was the deliverance of 
Corinth from the tyranny of his elder brother 
Timophanes, in which it was necessary to put 
him to death. Timoleon's patriotism was 
not appreciated, and amid execrations for his 
share in the tragedy, he gloomily withdrew 
IM 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



869 



from public life. When twenty years there- 
after, the Syracusans, oppressed with the 
tyranny of Dionysius the younger, and of 
the Carthaginians, had solicited the assistance 
of the Corinthians, every one looked upon 
Tiuioleon as a proper deliverer ■ but all ap- 
plications would have been disregarded, if 
one of the magistrates had not thus spoken : 
" Timoleon, if you accept of the com- 
mand of this expedition, we will believe that 
you have killed a tyrant; but if not, we can 
not but call you your brother's murderer." 
This had due effect ; and Timoleon sailed for 
Syracuse in ten ships, accompanied by about 
1,000 men. The Carthaginians attempted to 
oppose him, but Timoleon eluded their vigi- 
lance. Icetas, who had the possession of the 
city, was defeated, and Dionysius, who 
despaired of success, gave himself up into 
the hands of the Corinthian general. This 
success gained Timoleon adherents in Sicily ; 
many cities which hitherto had looked upon 
him as an invader, claimed his protection ; 
and when he was at last master of Syracuse, 
by the total overthrow of Icetas, and of the 
Carthaginians, he razed the citadel which 
had been the seat of tyranny, and erected on 
the Spot a common hall. When Syracuse 
was thus delivered from tyranny, Timoleon 
extended his benevolence to the other states 
of Siciljf, and all the petty tyrants were re- 
duced and banished from the island. A code 
of salutary laws was framed for the Syracu- 
sans ; the armies of Carthage, which had 
attempted again to raise commotions in Sicily, 
were defeated, and peace was at last re-estab- 
lished. The gratitude of the Sicilians was 
shown everywhere to their deliverer. Timo- 
leon was received with repeated applause in 
the public assemblies ; and though a private 
man, unconnected with the government, he 
continued to enjoy his former influence at 
Syracuse ; his advice was consulted on mat- 
ters of importance, and his authority respect- 
ed. He ridiculed the accusations of malevo- 
lence ; and when some informers had charged 
him with oppression, he rebuked the Syra- 
cusans, who were going to put the accusers 
to immediate death. Timoleon died at Syra- 
cuse, about 337 years before the Christian 
era. His body received an honorable burial, 
m a public place, called, from him, Timole- 
oateum ; but the tears of a grateful nation 



were more convincing proofs of the public 
regret, than the institution of festivals and 
games yearly to be observed on the anniver- 
sary of his death. 

TIPPECANOE, Battle of. In this fierce 
engagement, Nov. 7th, lyil. Gen. Harrison, 
then governor of the territory of Indiana, 
defeated a large body of Shawnees. 

TIPPOO SAIB, the son of Hyder All, and 
the last Sultan of Mysore, resisted the spread 
of the British power in India with unavail- 
ing energy and bravery. Cooped up at last 
in Seringapatam, his capital, he refused the 
grasping terms his enemies oiTered. The 
British stormed the stronghold. May 4th, 
1799, and Tippoo Saib fell amid heaps of 
slain. His age was fifty. 

TITIAN. TiziANO Vecellio was born in 
the Venetian territories in 1477. He com- 
menced the study of painting at the age of 
ten. He first appeared as a great painter in 
1514, at the court of Alfonso I., Duke of 
Ferrara, where he executed several eminent 
works, and painted a portrait of Ariosto, who 
had commemorated him in the "Orlando 
Furioso." At Venice he produced a succes- 
sion of magnificent pictures. In 1530 he 
painted a portrait of Charles V. at Bologna, 
and is supposed to have accompanied the 
emperor into Spain. There are many of his 
master-pieces at Madrid. Charles V. made 
him count palatine of the empire, and knight 
of the order of St. la go. During a visit to 
Rome Michael Angelo visited him, praised 
highly a painting upon which he vv'as en- 
gaged, and afterward said that " if Titian 
had been as much assisted by art as he is by 
nature, nothing could surpass him." Titian 
excelled as a colorist and portrait painter. 
He continued to wield the pencil till after he 
was ninety, and died of the plague at Venice, 
in 1576, at the advanced age of ninety -nine. 

TITUS, Flavius Vespasianus, .son of Ves- 
pasian and Flavia Domitilla, became known 
by his valor in the Roman armies, particularly 
at the siege of Jerusalem. In the seventy- 
ninth year of the Christian era, he was in- 
vested with the imperial purple, and the Ro- 
man people had every reason to expect in 
him the barbarities of a Tiberius and the 
debaucheries of a Nero. When raised to 
the throne, he thought himself bound to be 
the father of his people, the guardian of vir- 



TIT 



870 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 




ARCH OP TITUS AT ROME. 



tue, and the patron of liberty ; and Titus is, 
perhaps, the only monarch who, when in- 
vested with uncontrollable power, bade adieu 
to those vices, luxuries, and indulgences, 
which as a private man he had never ceased 
to gratify. All informers were banished from 
his presence, and even severely punished. 
A reform was made in the judicial proceed- 
ings, and trials were no longer permitted to 
be postponed for 3'ears. To do good to his 
subjects was the ambition of Titus ; and it 
was at the recollection that he had done no 
service, or granted no favor, one day, that he 
uttered the memorable words, " My friends, 
I have lost a day ! " Two of the senators 
conspired against his life, but the emperor 



disregarded their attempts. He made them 
his friends by kindness, and, like another 
Nerva, presented them with a sword to de- 
stroy him. During his reign, Rome was 
three days on fire ; the towns of Campania 
were destroyed by an eruption of Vesuvius ; 
and the empire was visited by a pestilence, 
which carried off an infinite number of in- 
habitants. In this time of public calamity, 
the emperor's benevolence and philanthropy 
were conspicuous. The Romans, however, 
had not long to enjoy the favors of this mag- 
nificent prince. Titus was taken ill ; and as 
he retired into the country of the Sabincs, to 
his father's house, his indisposition was in- 
creased by a burning fever. He died the 



TIT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



871 



13th of September, a.d. 81, in the forty -first 
year of his age, after a reign of two years, 
two months, and twenty days. 

TOULON, a seaport in the south-east of 
France. The most remarkable event in its 
history is the occupation of the town and 
harbor by the British, in the autumn of 
1793, the subsequent siege by the repubh- 
can troops of France, and the precipitate 
abandonment of the place by the British 
troops, on the 19th of December, 1793, after 
burning and carrying off about half the 
squadron contained in the port. Bonaparte, 
then only a lieutenant, commanded part of 
the besieging artillery, and conducted it with 
great judgment. 

TOULOUSE, a city of France, formerly 
capital of the province of Languedoc, and now 
of the department of Upper Garonne, contain- 
ing 85,500 inhabitants. An obstinate battle 
was fought here on the 10th of April, 1814, 
between the British under Lord Wellington, 
and the French, under Soult ; neither com- 
mander having been apprised of the abdica- 
tion of Bonaparte. The British troops were 
successful, but suffered severely ; their loss, 
in killed and wounded, was between four and 
five thousand men ; that of the French ex- 
ceeded 10,000. 

TOURNAMENTS. The first authentic 
mention of a tournament is to be found in the 
Chronicle of Tours, which records the death 
of Geoffrey de Friuli in 1066 ; adding the 
words, qid torneamenta invenit, "who in- 
vented tournaments." From the appearance 
of these exercises in Germany about the same 
time, we may conclude that this date is pretty 
nearly correct ; and that if tournaments were 
not absolutely invented at that precise pe- 
riod, they were then first regulated by dis- 
tinct laws. In England they did not appear 
till several years later, when the Norman 
manners introduced after the conquest had 
completely superseded the customs of the 
Saxons. 

The ceremonies and the splendor of the 
tournament of course differed in different ages 
and different countries ; but the general prin- 
ciple was the same. It was a chivalrous 
game, originally instituted for practicing 
those exercises, and acquiring that skill, 
which were likely to be useful in knightly 
warfare. 



. A tournament was usually given upon the 
occasion of any great meeting, for either mil- 
itary or political purposes. Sometimes it 
was the king himself who sent his heralds 
through the land to announce to all noblemen 
and ladies, that on a certain day he would 
hold a grand tournament, where all brave 
knights might try their prowess. At other 
times a tournament was determined on by a 
body of independent knights ; and messen- 
gers were often sent into distant countries to 
invite all gallant gentlemen to honor the pas- 
sage of arms. 

The spot fixed upon for the lists was usu- 
ally in the immediate neighborhood of some 
abbey or castle, where the shields of the va- 
rious cavaliers who proposed combating, 
were exposed to view for several days pre- 
vious to the meeting. A herald was also 
placed beneath the cloisters to answer all 
questions concerning the champions, and to 
receive all complaints against any individual 
knight. If, upon investigation, the kings of 
arms and judges of the field found that a just 
accusation was laid against one of the knights 
proposing to appear, a peremptory command 
excluded him from the lists ; and if he dared 
in despite thereof to present himself, he was 
driven forth with blows and ignominy. 

Round about the field appointed for the 
spectacle were raised galleries, scaffoldings, 
tents, and pavilions, decorated with all the 
magnificence of the age. Banners and scutch- 
eons, and bandrols, silks and cloth of gold, 
covered the galleries and floated round the 
field ; while all that rich garments and pre- 
cious stones, beauty and youth, could do to 
outshine the inanimate part of the scene, was 
to be found among the spectators. Here too 
was seen the venerable age of chivalry ; all 
those old knights whose limbs were no longer 
competent to bear the weight of arms, sur- 
rounding the field to view the prowess of 
their children, and judge the deeds of the 
day. Heralds and pursuivants, in the gay 
and many-colored garments which they pe- 
culiarly affected, fluttered over the field, , 
and bands of warlike music were stationed 
near to animate the contest and to salute the 
victors. 

The knights, as they appeared in the lists, 
were greeted by heralds and the people ac- 
cording to their renown ; but the approba- 



TOU 



872 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



tion of the female part of the spectators was I home, was greeted with loud acclamations ; 
the great stimulus to all the chivalry of the ! and valor met both its incitement and its 



field. Each knight, as a part of his dut}^, 
either felt or feigned himself in love ; and it 
was upon these occasions that his lady might 
descend from the high state to which the 
mystic adoration of the day had raised her, 
and bestow upon her favored champion a 
glove, a riband, a bracelet, a jewel, which, 
borne on his crest through the hard-contested 
field, was the chief object of his care, and the 
great excitement to his valor. Often, too, 
in the midst of the combat, if accident or 
misfortune deprived the favored knight of the 
gage of his lady's affection, her admiration 
or her pity won her to supply another token, 
sent by a page or squire, to raise again her 
lover's resolution, and animate him to new 
exertions. 

The old romance of Perce-forcst gives a cu- 
rious picture of the effects visible after a 
tournament, by the eagerness with which the 
fair spectators had encouraged the knights. 
" At the close of the tournament, the ladies 
were so stripped of their ornaments, that the 
greater part of them were bareheaded. Thus 
they went their ways with their hair float- 
ing on their shoulders more glossy than fine 
gold, and with their robes without the 
sleeves ; for they had given to the knights to 
decorate themselves, wimples and hoods, 
mantles and shifts, sleeves and bodies. When 
they found themselves undressed to such a 
pitch, they were at first quite ashamed ; but 
as soon as they saw every one was in the 
same state, they began to laugh at the whole 
adventure, for they had all bestowed their 
jewels and their clothes upon the knights 
with so good a will, that they had not per- 
ceived that they uncovered themselves." 

This is perhaps an exaggerated account of 
the enthusiasm M'hich the events of a tourna- 
ment excited in the bosom of the fair ladies 
of that da)' : still, no doubt can be entertain- 
ed, that they not only decorated their knights 
before the tournament with some token of 
their approbation, but in the case of its loss, 
often sent him even a part of their dress in 
the midst of the conflict. The other specta- 
tors, also, though animated by less thrilling 
interest, took no small share in the feelings 
and hopes of the different parties. Each 
blow of the lance or sword, struck well and 



reward, in the expecting silence and the 
thundering plaudits with each good cham- 
pion's movements were waited for and seen. 

In the meanwhile, without giving encour- 
agement to any particular knight, the her- 
alds strove to animate all by various quaint 
and characteristic exclamations; such as, 
"The love of ladies!" "Death to the 
horses ! " " Honor to the brave ! " " Glory 
to be won by blood and sweat ! " " Praise to 
the sons of the brave ! " 

It would occupy too much space to enter 
into all the details of the tournament, or to 
notice all the laws by which it was governed. 
Every care was taken that the various knights 
should meet upon equal terms, and many a 
precaution was made use of to prevent acci- 
dents, and to render the sport both innocent 
and usefuL But no regulations could be 
found sufBcient to guard against the danger- 
ous consequences of such furious amu.se- 
ments ; and Ducange gives a long list of 
princes and nobles who lost their lives in 
these fiital exercises. The church often in- 
terfered, though in vain, to put them down ; 
and many monarchs forbade them in their 
dominions ; but the pomp Avith which they 
were accompanied, and the excitement they 
afforded to a people fond of every martial 
stimulus, rendered them far more permanent 
than might have been expected. 

The weapons in tournaments were, in al- 
most all cases, restrained to blunted swords 
and headless spears, daggers and battle-axes ; 
but, as may well be imagined, these were not 
to be used without danger ; so that even those 
festivals that passed by without the absolute 
death ofanyof the champions, left, neverthe- 
less, many to drag out a maimed and miser- 
able existence, or to die after a long and 
weary sickness. And yet the very peril of 
the sport gave to it an all-powerful interest, 
which we can best conceive, at present, from 
our feelings at some deep and thrilling trag- 
edy. 

After the excitement, and the expectation, 
and the suspense, and the eagerness, came 
the triumph and the prize; and the chosen 
queen of the field bestowed upon the cham- 
pion whose feats were counted best, that 
reward, the value of which consisted more in 



TOU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



the honor than the thing itself. Sometimes 
it was a jewel, sometimes a coronet of tlow- 
ers or of laurel ; but in all cases the award 
implied a right to one kiss from the lips of 
the lady appointed to bestow the prize. It 
seems to have been as frequent a practice to 
assign this prize on the field, as in the cha- 
teau or palace whither the court retired after 
the sports were concluded ; and we often find 
that the female part of the spectators were 
called to decide upon the merits of the sev- 
eral champions, and to declare the victor 
as well as confer the reward. Mirth and fes- 
tivity ever closed the day of the tournament, 
and song and sports brought in the night. 

Everything that could interest or amuse a 
barbarous age was collected on the spot 
where one of these meetings was held. The 
minstrel, the juggler, the saltimbank, the 
story-teller, were present in the hall to soothe 
or to entertain ; but still the foundation of 
tale and song was chivalry ; the objects of 
all praise were noble, deeds and heroic ac- 
tions ; and the very voice of love and tender- 
ness, instead of seducing to sloth and effem- 
inacy, was heard prompting to activity, to 
enterprise, and to honor — to the defense of 
virtue, and the search for glory. 

It may be here necessary to remark, that 
there were several sorts of tournaments, 
which differed essentially from each other ; 
but we shall not pause upon these any longer 
than merely to pomt out the particular differ- 
ences between them. The joust, which was 
certainly a kind of tournament, was always 
confined to two persons, though these per- 
sons encountered each other with blunted 
arms. 

The combat at outrance was, in fact, a 
duel, and only differed from the trial by bat- 
tle in being voluntary, while the other was 
enforced by law. This contest was often the 
event of private quarrels, but was, by no 
means, always so ; and, to use the language 
ofDucange, "though mortal, it took place 
ordinarily between two persons who most 
frequently did not know each other, or, at 
least, had no particular misunderstanding, 
but who sought alone to show forth then- 
courage, generosity, and skill in arms." 
Sometimes, however, the combat at outrance 
was undertaken by a number of knights to- 



gether, and often much blood was thus shed, 
without cause. 

The pas cFarmes, or passage of arms, dif- 
fered from general tournaments, inasmuch 
as a certain number of knights fixed their 
shields and tents in a particular pass, or spot 
of "ground, which they declared their inten- 
tion to defend against all comers. The space 
before their tents was generally listed in, as 
for a tournament ; and during the time fixed 
for the defense of the passage, the same con- 
course of spectators, heralds, and minstrels 
was assembled. 

The round table was another distinct sort 
of tournament, held in a circular amphithea- 
tre, wherein the knights invited jousted 
against each other. The origin of this festi- 
val, which was held, we believe, for the last 
time by Edward III., is attributed to Roger 
Mortimer, who, on receiving a knighthood, 
feasted a hundred knights and a hundred 
ladies at a round table. The mornings were 
spent in chivalrous games, the prize of which 
was a golden lion, and the evenings in ban- 
quets and festivities. This course of enter- 
tainment continued three days with the most 
princely splendor; after which Mortimer, 
having won the prize himself, conducted his 
guests to Warwick, and dismissed them. 

From this account, taken from the history 
of the Priory of Wigmore, Monestrier deduces 
that those exercises called "round tables" 
were only tournaments, during which the 
lord or sovereign giving the festival, enter- 
tained his guests at a table which, to prevent 
all ceremony in respect to precedence, was in 
the form of a circle. Perhaps, however, this 
institution may have had a different and an 
earlier origin, though we find it mentioned in 
no author previous to the jear 1279. 

Chivalry, which, in its pristine purity, 
knew no reward but honor, soon — as it be- 
came combined with power — appropriated to 
itself various privileges, which, injuring its 
simplicity, in the end brought about its fall. 
In the first place, the knight was, by the fact 
of his chivalry, the judge of all his equals, and 
consequently of all his inferiors. He was 
also, in most cases, the executor of his own 
decree, and it would indeed have required a 
different nature from humanity to secure such 
a j urisdiction from frequent perversion. The 



TOU 



874 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



knight also took precedence of all persons 
who had not received chivalry, a distinction 
well calculated to do away with that humility 
which was one of knighthood's strictest laws. 
Added to this was the right of wearing par- 
ticular dresses and colors, gold and jewels, 
which were restrained to the knightly class 
by very severe ordinances. Scarlet and green 
were particularly reserved for the order of 
knighthood, as well as ermine, minever, and 
some other furs. Knights also possessed 
what was called privilege of clergy ; that is to 
say, in case of accusation, they could claim 
to be tried before the ecclesiastical judge. 
Their arms were legally forbidden to all other 
classes, and the titles of sire, monseigneur, 
sir, don, &c., were applied to them alone, till 
the distinction was lost in the course of time. 
[See Chivalry.] 

In 1559, Henry II. of France, in a tilt with 
the Comte de Alontmorenc}-, wdien celebrat- 
ing the nuptials of his sister with the Duke 
of Savoy, had his eye struck out, an accident 
which caused his death in a few days ; and 
from this event tournaments were abolished 
in France. One was held in Sinithficld so 
late as the twelfth century, when the taste 
for them declined in England. 

TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE ; a mulatto 
of St. Domingo, rose to the command of the 
blacks of that island, formed a constitution, 
and adopted the wisest and most humane 
regulations. He was treacherously betrayed 
and imprisoned by the French, and died in 
France in 1803, aged sixty. 

TRAFiVLGAR, Battle of, between the 
British fleet under Lord Nelson, and the com- 
bined fleet of France and Spain, on the 21st 
of October, 1805. On the 19th, it was com- 
municated to his lordship that this fleet had 
put to sea, and as he concluded that their 
destination was the Mediterranean, he imme- 
diately made all sail for the entrance of the 
straits of Gibraltar with twenty -seven ships, 
three of them sixty -fours. On Monday, 21st, 
at daylight, the enemy was discovered off 
Cape Trafalgar. The commander-in-cliief 
immediately made a signal for the fleet to 
bear up in two columns, as they formed in 
order of sailing ; a mode of attack which he 
had previously directed, to avoid the incon- 
venience and delay in forming a line of battle 
in the usual manner, while he gave out, as the 



signal, " England expects every man to do 
his duty." Never was expectation more 
amply fulfilled, or orders obeyed with more 
perfect regularity and effect. The enemy's 
line consisted of thirty-three ships, of which 
eighteen were French and fifteen Spanish ; 
the French under Admiral Villeneuve, who 
was also commander-in-chief, and the Span- 
iards under Admiral Gravina. The action 
began at twelve o'clock, by the leading ships 
of the columns breaking through the enemy's 
line; the commander-in-chief about the tenth 
ship from the van, and Admiral Collingwood 
about the twelfth from the rear, leaving the 
van of the enemy unoccupied, the succeeding 
ships breaking through, in all parts, astern 
of their leaders, and engaging the enemy at 
the muzzles of their guns. The conflict was 
severe, and the enemy fought with great brav- 
ery, but the impulse of British skill and cour- 
age was irresistible. About three in the 
afternoon, many of the French and Spanish 
ships having struck their colors, their line 
gave way. Admiral Gravina, with ten ships, 
joining their frigates to leeward, stood toward 
Cadiz. The five headmost ships in their van 
tacked, and standing to the southward, to 
windward of the British line, were engaged, 
and the sternmost of them taken ; the others 
went off, leaving to the English nineteen 
ships of the line, of which two were first- 
rates, with Villeneuve, commander-in-cliief, 
and two other flag oflicers. Such a battle 
could not have been fought without sustain- 
ing great loss of men. The number of killed, 
however, did not exceed four hundred and 
twenty-three, nor that of the wounded eleven 
hundred and sixty -four. The gallant Nelson 
fell in the arms of victory. About the mid- 
dle of the action, his lordship received a 
musket -ball in his left breast, which was aim- 
ed at him from the top of the ship with which 
the Victory was engaged. On his being car- 
ried below, he complained of acute pain in 
the breast, and of privation of sense and mo- 
tion of the body and inferior extremities : his 
respiration became short and ditficult; his 
pulse small, weak, and irregular ; he fre- 
quently declared that his back seemed shot 
through ; that he felt every instant a gush 
of blood within his breast, and that he had 
sensations which indicated to him the ap- 
proach of death. In the course of an hour 



TRA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



875 



his pulse became indistinct, his extremities 
and forehead cold, but he retained his wonted 
energy of mind, and exercise of his faculties, 
till the latest moment of his existence ; and 
when victory, as signal as decisive, was an- 
nounced to him, he expressed his heart-felt 
satisfaction at the glorious event, in the most 
emphatic language. He delivered his last 
orders with his usual precision, and in a few 
minutes after expired without a struggle. 

TRAJAN, Marcus Ulpius, a Roman em- 
peror, was born near Seville in Spain, a.d. 
53, and was adopted by Nerva. After Nerva 
died, the accession of Trajan to the vacant 
throne was confirmed by the unanimous re- 
joicings of the people, and the free concurrence 
of the armies on the confines of Germany and 
the banks of the Danube. The barbarians 
continued quiet, and the hostilities which 
they generally displayed at the election of a 
new emperor whose military abilities the}' 
distrusted, were now few. Trajan, however, 
could not behold with satisfaction and uncon- 
cern the insolence of the Dacians, who claim- 
ed from the Roman people a tribute which 
the cowardice of Domitian had offered. De- 
cebalus, their warlike monarch, soon began 
hostilities, by violating the treaty. The em- 
peror entered the enemy's country, by throw- 
ing a bridge across the rapid stream of the 
Danube, and a battle was fought, in which 
the slaughter was so great, that in the Roman 
camp linen was wanted to dress the wounds 
of the soldiers. Trajan obtained the victor}'- ; 
Decebalus, despairing of success, destroyed 
himself, and Dacia became a province of 
Rome. An expedition was now undertaken 
into the east, and Parthia threatened with 
immediate war. Trajan passed through the 
submissive kingdom of Armenia, and by his 
well directed operations made himself master 
of the provinces of Assyria and Mesopotamia. 
He extended his conquests in the east, ob- 
taining victories over unknown nations ; and 
when on the extremity of India, he lament- 
ed that he possessed not the vigor and youth 
of an Alexander, that he might add unex- 
plored provinces and kingdoms to the Roman 
empire. Trajan had no sooner signified his 
intention of returning to Italy, than the 
conquered barbarians appeared again in arms, 
and the Roman empire did not acquire one 
single acre of territory from the conquests of 



her sovereign beyond the Tigris. The return 
of the emperor toward Rome was hastened 
by indisposition. He expired in the begin- 
ning of August, A.D. IIT, after a reign of 
nineteen years, six months, and fifteen days, 
in the sixty -fourth year of his age. 

TRENCK, Fkederick, Baron von, a Prus- 
sian officer, born at Konigsberg, in 1726, aid- 
de-camp of Frederick the Great, served with 
distinction in the seven years' war; but, in 
consequence of an intrigue with the Princess 
Amelia, sister of Frederick, was imprisoned 
in the fortress of Glatz, from which he con- 
trived to make his escape, entering the Aus- 
trian service. In 1758, having gone to Dant- 
zic for the purpose of arranging the disposi- 
tion of his mother's property, he was arrested 
and imprisoned in the fortress of Magdeburg, 
from which he was freed in 1703 by the in- 
terference of the Princess Amelia. He next 
went to Aix-la-Chapelle, where he married 
the daughter of a burgomaster of the city in 
1765. Here he engaged in literature, poli- 
tics, and commerce. On the failure of his 
wine-trade he returned to Germany, where he 
was received with favor and employed in va- 
rious missions. In 1787, he revisited his 
native country and was favorably received 
by the successor of Frederick and the Prin- 
cess Amelia. In 1791 he went to France, but 
falling under suspicion, was guillotined, July 
25th, 1794 

TRENTON, the capital of New Jersey, on 
the eastern bank of the Delaware River, thirty 
miles north-east of Philadelphia, contains 
20,000 inhabitants. Here was fought a mem- 
orable battle at early morn on the 2()th of 
December, 1776. On the night cf the 25th, 
the American army, under the command of 
Washington, crossed the Delaware, during the 
fury of a winter storm, and suddenly attacked 
the Hessians hei'e, defeating them complete- 
ly. Of the British, twenty men were killed, 
and nearly 1,000 taken prisoners ; of the 
Americans, only two were killed, two frozen 
to death, and five wounded. 

TRIPOLI, the most easterly of the Barba- 
ry states, is the least fertile. The great moun- 
tain range which diffuses verdure and fertility 
through the others, terminates, and the great 
desert presses close upon the cultivated 
territory. The tract in which the city of 
Tripoli stands is only an oasis, and a short 



TRI 



876 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



journey carries one into the midst of the 
sandy wastes. Tripoli thus can not equal the 
other capitals of Barbary; and its population 
does not exceed 20,000. Even this is sup- 
ported rather by commerce and industry, 
than by the limited productions of the soil. 
It is a theatre of trade with the interior coun- 
tries of Africa, by means of caravans across 
the desert. The rulers of Tripoli have shown 
a more enlightened spirit than has been dis- 
played in the other states of Barbary. In 
the midst of the tenantless and desolate 
wastes eastward from the city of Tripoli, 
occur fertile districts, in which thick groves 
of the olive and the date rise about the villa- 
ges, luxuriant crops of grain spring up, and 
flocks of sheep and goats browse on the wel- 
come pasturage. Barca, the ancient Cyrena- 
ica, across the ancient Gulf of Syrtis, so 
fearful to the mariners of old, exhibits a 
very improved aspect. It is traversed by a 
steep ridge, abounding in numerous springs, 
which sprinkle the surrounding deserts with 
valleys of brilliant verdure. 

Throughout this land are the traces of 
cities that flourished in the times of Greece 
and Rome, now either wholly deserted, or 
dwindled into miserable Arab villages ; the 
Gyrene of the Greeks, the Berenice of the 
Ptolemies, Lcptis Magna, Teuchira, Ptolc- 
meta, &c. Remains of their magnificence 
linger with the shattered coknnns and 
rich entablatures, that lie buried in the 
sand till borne away by some Arab utilitarian 
for millstones or building materials, and in 
the dismantled walls and gateways, whose 
strength vainly prolongs the struggle with 
time. Of all these ruins the best preserved 
are the tombs and sepulchral grottoes, over 
whoso ornaments and inscriptions shrubs and 
weeds thickly cluster. The citj'^ of the living 
has gone to decay ; the city of the dead has 
better survived ; only the cry of the jackal 
and the hyena, the noise of the owl and the 
bat, disturb its pious solitude with discord- 
ant sounds of life. 

After the conquest of Carthage, Tripoli 
became a Roman province. After the Van- 
dals, it was under the dominion of kings, 
natives of the country, but afterward fell into 
the hands of the Saracens, who came from 
Egypt, and who carried awaj"- a great num- 
ber of slaves, both from the kingdom and 



the capital. The sceptre was then assumed 
by pirates or adventurers, from whom it was 
wrested by the Spaniards in 1510. The 
latter resigned it to the knights of St. John 
of Jerusalem, who in 1551, were obliged to 
yield it to three fiimous corsairs, Salha Rais, 
Sinan Dassat, and Dragut, who were assisted 
with troops furnished by the grand seignior 
for this purpose, and who fully established 
the authoi'ity of the Turks. Tripoli then 
became famous, like the other Barbary states, 
for its piracies. In 1713 Ilamct the Great 
massacred the Turkish officers and garrison, 
and established himself as bashaw independ- 
ent of the Porte. The authority continued 
hereditary in his family till 1802, when Tur- 
key recovered her power over the country, 
and it is now governed by a bashaw sent 
from Constantinople. The Arabs of the in- 
terior are substantially independent, and 
frequently war with the Turkish autl)ority. 
The depredations of the corsairs of Tri- 
poli upon our commerce led in 1801 to a war 
between it and the United States. In August, 
1804, Commodore Preble repeatedly bom- 
barded the city of Tripoli. Soon after, the 
bashaw offered acceptable terms of peace, and 
a treaty was concluded June 3d, 1805. 

TRIUMPH. The triumphal military pro- 
cession of a victoiious Roman general was a 
spectacle of gi'cat splendor and interest. 
When a general gained a considerable victo- 
r}^ he demanded a triumph of (he senate. It 
was the highest military honor which could 
be obtained in the Roman state, and was re- 
served for those generals who, bj'' hard-earned 
victories and glorious achievements, had 
added to the territories of the connnonwealth, 
or delivered tlie state from threatened dan- 
ger. The triumphal procession began from 
the Campus Martins, without the city, and 
passed through the most public places of the 
city to the capitol ; the streets being strewed 
with flowers, and the altars smoking with 
incense. First went musicians of various 
kinds ; the oxen destined for the sacrifice 
next followed, having their horns gilt, and 
their heads adorned witli garlands ; then in 
carriages were brought the spoils taken from 
the enemy, statues, pictures, plate, armor, 
&c., with the titles of the vanquished nations, 
and their images or representation. The 
spoils were succeeded by the captive kuigs 



TRI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



or leaders, with their children and attendants ; 
after the captives came the lictors, having 
their fasces wreathed with laurel, followed 
by a great company of musicians and dan- 
cers, dressed like satyrs, and wearing golden 
crowns ; and next came a long train of persons 
carrying perfumes. After these came the tri- 
umphant general, dressed in purple embroid- 
ered with gold, with a crown of laurel upon 
his head, a branch of laurel in his right hand, 
and in his left an ivory sceptre with an eagle 
on the top ; the general's face was painted 
with vermilion, and a gold ball hung from his 
necii on his breast. The chariot in which 
the triumphant general stood was gilt, adorn- 
ed with ivory, and drawn by four white 
horses abreast, or sometimes by elephants. 
That he might not' be too much elated, a 
slave stood behind him, who frequently whis- 
pered in his ear, " Remember that thou art a 
man ! " The general was attended by his 
relatives, and a great crowd of citizens all in 
white; after his cur followed the consuls and 
senators ; and last came the victorious arm}^ 
crowned with laurel, decorated with the gifts 
which they had received for their valor, and 
singing the general's praises, in Avhich the 
citizens as they passed along also joined. 

There was a lesser triumph, called the ova- 
tion, which was awarded to generals whose 
victories were not so considerable. He who 
was thus rewarded entered the city with a 
myrtle crown upon his head, that tree be- 
ing consecrated to Venus ; wherefore when 
an ovation was decreed to Marcus Crassus, 
he particularly desired it as a favor of the 
senate, to be allowed a laurel crown instead 
of one of myrtle. This triumph was called 
ovation, because the general offered a sheep 
when he came to the capital ; whereas in 
the great triumph he offered a bull. Pub- 
lius Posthumus Tubertus was the first who 
was decreed an ovation, B.C. 503. Triumphs 
were also distinguished into land and sea 
triumphs, according as the victory had been 
gained. 

TRIUMVIRI, were three magistrates ap- 
pointed equally to govern the Roman state 
with absolute power. The first triumvirate, 
B.C. 60, was in the hands of Julius Cgesar, 
Pompey, and Crassus, who, at the expiration 
of their office, kindled a civil war. The 
second and last triumvirate, B.C. 43, was un- 



der Augustus, M. Antony, and Lcpidus, and 
through them the Romans totally lost their 
liberty. The triumvirate was in full force 
at Rome for the space of about twelve years. 
There were also officers who were called tri- 
umviri capitales^ created a.u.c. 4G4. They 
took cognizance of nnu'ders and robberies, 
and everything in wliicli slaves were con- 
cerned. Criminals under sentence of death 
were intrusted to their care, and they had 
them executed according to the commands 
of the praetors. The triumviri nocturni 
Avatched over the safety of Rome in the night 
time, and in case of fire, were ever ready to 
take the most effectual measures to extinguish 
it. The triumviri agrarii had the care of 
colonies, that were sent to settle in different 
parts of the empire. They made a fair divis- 
ion of the lands among the citizens, and exer- 
cised over the new colony all the power which 
was placed in the hands of the consuls at 
Rome. The triumviri monetales were mas- 
ters of the mint, and had the care of the 
coin, hence their office was generally inti- 
mated by the following letters often seen on 
ancient coins and medals: iiivir. a.a.a.f. r. 
i. e., Triu7nviri auro^ argento^ cere^ Jlando, 
feriendo. The triumviri 'valetudinis were 
chosen when Rome was visited by a plague 
or some pestiferous distemper, and they took 
particular care of the temples of health and 
virtue. The triumviri senatus legendi 
were appointed to name those that were 
most worthy to be made senators from 
among the plebeians. The triumviri men- 
sarii, were chosen in the second Punic war, 
to take care of the coin and prices of ex- 
change. 

TROMP, Martin -Harpertzoon, a great 
Dutch naval commander, was born at the 
Brill, in Holland, in 1579. He rose from the 
lowest station to the rank of admiral. In 
the war between England and the United 
Provinces, Van Tromp fought five desperate 
engagements, in the last of which, July 29th, 
1653, he was killed by a musket shot. The 
states-general struck medals to his honor. 
He carried a broom at the mast-head, to im- 
ply that he would sweep' the English from 
the seas. 

TROY, a city, the capital of Troas, in Asia 
Minor, or according to others, a country of 
which Ilium was the capital. Of all the 



TRO 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



:-Xl%|^^^ 



^^~;*-_7_ 




PLAINS OF TROY. 



wars which have been carried on among the 
ancients, that of Troy is the most famous. 
The Trojan war was undertaken by th» 
Greeks, to recover Helen, whom Paris, the 
son of Priam, king of Troy, had carried 
away from the house of Menelaus. The 
armament of the Greeks amounted to a thou- 
sand ships. Agamemnon was chosen gene- 
ral of all the forces ; but the princes and 
kings of Greece were admitted amorrg his 
counselors, and by them all the operations 
of the war were directed. The Grecian army 
was opposed by a more numerous force. 
The king of Troy received assistance 
from the neighboring princes in Asia Mi- 
nor, and reckoned among his most active 
generals. Rhesus, king of Thrace, and 
Memnon, who entered the field M'ith 20,000 
Assyrians and Ethiopians. The army of 
the Greeks was visited by a plague, and the 
operations were not less retarded by the 
quarrel of Agamemnon and Achilles. After 
the siege had been carried on for ten years, 
some of the Trojans, among whom were 
^15neas and Antenor, betrayed the city into 
the hands of the enemy, and Troy was re- 



duced to ashes. The poets., however, main- 
tain, that the Greeks made themselves mas- 
ters of the place by artifice. The greatest 
part of the inhabitants were put to the sword, 
and the others carried away by the conquer- 
ors. This happened, according to the Arun- 
delian marbles, about 1184 years before the 
Christian era. Some time after, a new city 
was raised, about thirty stadia from the ruins 
of the old Troy : but though it bore the 
ancient name, and received ample donations 
from Alexander the Great, when he visited 
it in his Asiatic expedition, yet it continued 
to be small, and in the age of Strabo it was 
nearly in ruins. 

TRUMBULL, John, was born in Water- 
town, Conn., in 1750, and educated at Yale 
College, of which he became a tutor in 1771. 
He subsequently studied law m the office of 
John Adams, in Boston, and became acquain- 
ted with the leading patriots of Massachu- 
setts. In 1775 was published the first part 
of "McFmgal," apolitical satirical poem in 
the style of Hudibras, which passed through 
thirty editions. For mai»y years Mr. Trum- 
bull was a member of the legislature of Con- 



TRU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



879 



necticut, and was appointed a judge of the 
superior court in 1801, and afterward of the 
court of errors. In 1825 he removed to 
Detroit, Michigan, where he died May 12th, 
1831. 

TRUMBULL, Jonathan, eminent lawyer 
of Connecticut, patriot of the revolution, 
chief justice of the supreme court of Con- 
necticut, and fifteen years governor of that 
state, died in 1785, at Lebanon, Conn., in 
the seventy-fifth year of his age. Gen. 
Washington relied upon him as one of his 
main pillars of support. He was the origi- 
nal Brother Jonathan. 

TRUXTON, Thomas, a captain in the 
United States' navy, was born on Long 
Island, New York, Feb. 17th, 1755. Being 
impressed, he served a short time on board 
the President, a British sixty -four. In 1775 
he brought some powder to the colonies, and 
was afterward captured, but escaped. He 
was then appointed lieutenant on board the 
Congress, a private armed ship, and, sailing 
in company with another vessel in 1776, 
took several valuable prizes. While in com- 
mand of the St. James, of twenty guns, he 
beat off a British vessel of thirty-two guns. 
In the short war with France he commanded 
the frigate Constellation, and captured the 
French frigate L'Insurgente of fifty -four 
guns. In 1800 he retired from the service. 
He died May 5th, 1822, in his sixty-seventh 
year. 

TUDOR, THE House of. The sovereigns 
of this fomily who reigned over Britain and 
Ireland, were five in number : Henry VII., 
Henry VIII., Edward VL, Mary, and Eliza- 
beth. 

Henry VII., the son of Edmund Tudor, 
Earl of Richmond, and Margaret, a descend- 
ant of John of Gaunt, was born in 1455. 
He was grandson of Catherine, queen of 
Henry V., who married Owen Tudor after 
her royal husband's death. Young Rich- 
mond landed at Milford Haven, Aug. 7th, 
1485, and having defeated the usurper Rich- 
ard III. at the memorable battle of Bos- 
worth, in the same year, was proclaimed 
king. Jan. 18th, 1486, he married Eliza- 
beth, daughter of Edward IV. By this mar- 
riage the claims of the royal houses of York 
and Lancaster were united. The queen died 
Feb. nth, 1503. Henry, soon after his mar- 



riage, went into the north, where the parti- 
sans of Richard were strong, and making 
hostile preparations, but they were quelled. 
The conspiracy of 1487, headed by Lambert 
Simnel, an impostor who pretended to be a 
Plantagenet, was also put down. Henry re- 
ceived, as a compromise for his claim upon 
the French crown, £186,250, besides twenty- 
five thousand crowns yearly. In 1492 the 
country was disturbed by an impostor named 
Osbeck, or Warbeck. [See Wakbeck.] The- 
schemes of another impostor, named Wilford, 
who personated the Earl of Warwick, afford- 
ed Henry a pretext for arresting the earl, and 
signing his death-warrant. Henry died of a 
consumption in 1509, By his avarice and 
rapacity, he is said, at one period, to have 
amassed £1,800,000. 

Henry VIII. was born in 1491. His elder 
brother, Prince Arthur, having died in 1502, 
he succeeded his father in 1509, and wedded 
his brother's widow, Catherine of Arragon, 
the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella. 
His interview with Francis I. of France, at 
Ardres, a small town within the English 
pale, near Calais, May 31st, 1520, is famous 
for its magnificence. The nobles attendant 
upon the monarchs, indulged in display so 
rich and expense so lavish, as to win for the 
plain of meeting the name of The Field of 
the Cloth of Gold. Many of Henry's retinue 
sank themselves in great debt, and were not 
able, by the penury of their whole lives, to 
repair the vain extravagance of these few 
days. 

Henry began to dabble in theology, and 
wrote a tract in behalf of the church of 
Rome and against Luther, who had just com- 
menced the reformation in Germany ; upon 
which Pope Leo X. granted him in 1521 the 
title of Defender of the Faith, which is still 
retained by the sovereigns of Great Britain. 
In 1527 Henry having conceived a violent 
passion for the beautiful Anne Boleyn, one 
of the queen's maids of honor, was badly 
troubled in conscience that he should be the 
husband of his brother's widow, and he im- 
mediately set about procuring a divorce. 
But both the pope and Cardinal Wolsey 
were unwilling to sanction this unjustifiable 
scheme. Wolsey was therefore forced to give 
place to Thomas Cranmer, and after being 
arrested, died at Leicester Abbey, not with- 



TUD 



880 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 




HENKY VIII. 



out suspicion of having been poisoned. Hen- 
ry privately married Anne Boleyn (whom he 
had created Marchioness of Pembroke), 
Nov. 14th, 1532. He had previously repudi- 
ated Catherine, and a formal divorce was de- 
clared. May 23d, 1533. The unhappy queen 
retired to a monastery, and died Jan. 6th, 
1536. The royal amour involved a great 
religious revolution. Henry declared him- 
self the "head of the church," and since 
Clement VH. would not sanction the union 
with Anne Boleyn, the authority of the pon- 
tiff in England was abolished. The abbeys 
and other ecclesiastical foundations were 
despoiled, and their great wealth seized by 
the crown, or bestowed upon citizens. Yet 
the Anglican church, as at first established 
in 1534, was not Protestant. It differed from 
the Romish church on the point of the papal 
supremacy, and on that point alone. Henry 
burnt as heretics those who avowed the 
tenets of Luther, while he hung as traitors 
those who owned the authority of the pope. 

TU 



The wives of "bluff King Hal" held a?, 
ticklish hold on life or favor as those of Blnc- 
beard. Conceiving a passion for Jane Sey- 
mour, maid of honor to Anne Boleyn, the 
latter, accused of high treason and adultery, 
was beheaded at the Tower, May 19th, 1536, 
and the former married on the following day. 
She died in giving birth to a prince, after- 
ward Edward VI., Oct. 13th, 1537. Henry 
was inveigled by the advice of Cromwell, 
Earl of Essex, and by a flattering portrait of 
Holbein's painting, into wedding Anne of 
Cleves. Both her person and disposition he 
hated upon acquaintance : she was divorced 
July 10th, 1540, six months from the time 
of marriage ; Cromwell was arrested for 
treason, was not allowed to be heard in de- 
fense, was convicted, and was beheaded July 
28th, 1540. The vacancy in the royal bed 
was soon filled by Catherine Howard, niece 
of the Duke of Norfolk, married Aug. 8th, 
1540. She, too, being accused of infidelity, 
was beheaded on Tower Hill, with the Lady 
D 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



881 



Hochford, Feb. 12th, 1542. In 1543, Henry 
married his sixth and last wife, Catherine 
Parr. Though his health was declining 
apace, yet his implacable cruelties were not 
less frequent. The Duke of Norfolk, and his 
son, the Earl of Surrey, were the last who 
felt the effects of the tyrant's suspicions. 
The latter was arrested, tried, and con- 
demned for high treason, notwithstanding 
his eloquent and spirited defense, and the 
sentence was soon after executed upon him 
on Tower Hill. The parliament meeting on 
the 14th of January, 1546, a bill of attainder 
was found against the Duke of Norfolk. 
The death-warrant was made out, and imme- 
diately sent to the lieutenant of the tower. 
The duke prepared for death, but was saved 
by the death of Henry. 

Not men only, but women, of the noblest 
blood, greatest virtues, and most innocent 
lives, perished beneath the axe. The execution 
of the venerable Countess of Salisbury was 
remarkable for her resistance to the execu- 
tioner. When he directed her to lay her 
head on the block, she would not ; telling 
him that she knew of no guilt, and would not 
submit to die like a criminal. He chased her 
round and round the block, aiming at her 
hoary head, and at length took it off, after 
mangling the neck and shoulders with ghastly 
gashes. She was daughter of " perjured, 
riceting Clarence," and the last of the royal 
line of Plantagenet. 

Henry VHI. died Jan. 28th, 1547, at the 
age of fifty-six, after a reign of nearly thirty- 
eight years. 

Edward VI., the heir of the crown, was 
a lad of ten years at his father's death, and 
ascended the throne under the protectorate of 
his maternal uncle, the Duke of Somerset. 
The most important event during the reign 
of the boy-king, was the progress of the 
Reformation. The ecclesiastical system of 
Henry VIII. was neither Roman Catholic nor 
Protestant, and was assailed with equal fury 
by all who were zealous either for the new 
or for the old opinions. The ministers who 
held the royal prerogatives in trust for the 
infant king could not venture to persist 
m so hazardous a policy ; it was necessary 
to make a choice; the government must 
either submit to Rome, or must obtain 
the aid of the Protestants. The govern- 



56 



ment and the Protestants had only one 
thing in common, hatred of the papal pow- 
er. The English reformers were eager to go 
as far as their brethren on the continent, and 
if left to themselves would have carried on 
the work of reform as unsparingly as it had 
been in Scotland. But, as the government 
needed the support of the Protestants, so the 
Protestants needed the protection of the gov- 
ernment. Much was therefore given upon 
both sides ; a union was effected, and the 
fruit of that union was the Church of Eng- 
land. Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury, 
took the chief part in adjusting the new 
ecclesiastical polity. The liturgy was first 
framed in 1547-8, and afterward, in 1551, 
upon the solicitation of Calvin and others, 
reviewed and altered to nearly its present 
state. The book of common prayer and the 
church service were established in 1552. 
Concerning these beneficent measures, the 
king, who was aii amiable and virtuous 
youth, acquiesced in the wishes of his sage 
counselors. 

The might and ambition of the Protector 
Somerset made him many enemies, and by 
the machinations of Dudley, Earl of North- 
umberland, he was driven from power and 
at last beheaded; Dudley then swayed 
with a power as absolute. The king wasted 
with consumption, and died at Greenwich 
palace, July 6th, 1553. His father had set- 
tled the succession, in case of no issue from 
Edward, upon Mary, the daughter of Cath- 
erine of Arragon. The ambitious Dudley 
persuaded Edward to set aside his father's 
will, and appoint as his successor Lady Jane 
Grey, a grand-niece of Henry VIII., who 
favored the evangelical doctrines of the 
Reformation, while Mary was a bigoted pa- 
pist. This being accomplished, Northumber- 
land married his son, Loixl Guilford Dudley, 
to the new heir of the crown. [See Gkey, 
Lady Jane.] 

Mary was in her thirty-ninth year when 
she ascended the throne. Her young rivals 
expiated a short-lived exaltation on the scaf- 
fold. Mary was gloomy, tyrannical, and 
sanguinary, and such was her reign. The 
persecutions and vexations she had endured 
in the time of her father and brother, for her 
adherence to the Romish faith, had soured 
her temper and taught her to oppress others. 



TUD 



882 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



Papacy was restored, Bishops Latimer, Rid- 
ley, and Crarmier were burned at the stake, 
and the flames of martyrdom were lit through- 
out the realm. Three hundred persons suf- 
fered at the stake as heretics in the short 
space of Mary's reign, and throngs sought 
refuge abroad. In her blind zeal, the queen 
thought such horrors were for the glory of 
God and true religion. In 1554 she wedded 
Philip II. of Spain, whom she deeply loved, 
and who in return neglected and despised 
her. She died childless soon after the loss 
of Calais, Nov. 17th, 1558. She is popularly 
known as Bloody Mary. 

Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn, 
had been named third in succession by her 
father. She was born in Greenwich palace, 
Sept. 7th, 1533, and was therefore in her 
twenty-fifth year when the death of Mary 
called her to the throne. The Elizabethan 
age is deservedly famous. It was the time 
of Shakspeare, Bacon, Sidney, Spenser, and 
Raleigh ; while on the continent these great 
names were rivaled by those of Luther, Sul- 
ly, Ariosto, Tasso, Cervantes, Camoens, 
Michael Angelo, Titian, and Correggio. In 
the century immediately preceding, printing 
had been invented, the new world had been 
discovered, and the reformation effected, and 
these great events were producing their re- 
sults upon the world, — results that are yet 
unfinished and whose value can not be com- 
puted. So successful was the long reign of 
the virgin queen, and such a contrast did it 
afford to that of her predecessor, that she has 
since been known as Good Queen Bess. By 
her own sagacity, and the wisdom of her coun- 
selors, the power of England was greatly 
strengthened, and the attacks of Philip II. 
of Spain gloriously warded. Trade and nav- 
igation flourished, and the manufactures of 
England began to arise. 

When Elizabeth came to the throne her 
course as to religion was in doubt. She duti- 
fully notified the pope of her accession. The 
arrogant answer of the pontiff, threatening 
her for assuming the crown without his per- 
mission, decided her, papal authority was 
thrown off, and the independent church of 
England once more established. Those who 
had been driven from England in the days 
of Mary returned. While in exile they had 
become accustomed to a simpler worship and 



a more radical churchdom than the Anglican, 
and on their return many desired a deeper 
reform than Elizabeth would sanction. Here 
was the beginning of the sectaries afterward 
called Puritans. Elizabeth knew not tolera- 
tion, and Catholics and Puritans were perse- 
cuted with relentless vigor. The struggle 
between Papacy and Protestantism involved 
the nations of Europe in war. At the head 
of the Catholic party was the greatest mon- 
arch of the age, Philip II. of Spain. England 
became the head of the Protestant interest, 
although Elizabeth was persecuting Protes?- 
tants at home. A succession of dark plots 
formed by Roman Catholics against the life 
of the queen and the existence of the English 
nation, kept society in constant alarm. What- 
ever might be the faults of Elizabeth, it was 
plain that, to speak humanely, the fate of 
the realm and of all reformed churches was 
staked on the security of her person and the 
success of her administration. To strengthen 
her hands was therefore the first duty of a 
patriot and a Protestant ; and that duty was 
well performed. The Puritans, even in the 
depths of the prisons to which she had sent 
them, prayed, and with no simulated fervor, 
that she might be kept from the dagger of 
the assassin, that rebellion might be put 
down under her feet, and that her arms might 
be victorious by sea and land. One of the 
most stubborn of the stubborn sect, imme- 
diately after one of his hands had been lop- 
ped off by the executioner for an offense 
into which he had been hurried by his in- 
temperate zeal, waved his hat with the hand 
that was left him, and shouted, " God save 
the queen ! " 

The private character of Elizabeth is f;:r 
less bright and less noble than her public 
career. She had many of her father's traits ; 
she was imperious, selfish, and avaricious ; 
she was arbitrary and dangerous in caprice. 
Tremendous oaths she had in her mouth as 
often as a fishwoman. Yet she had strong 
desire to be lovely and be loved. From her 
courtiers she extorted the grossest flattery. 
She had a singularly homely face, the sight 
of which in a mirror, when she began to 
grow old, convulsed her with rage. Yet the 
warriors, statesmen, and scholars that adorned 
her court, called her a Venus, a goddess, a 
nymph, when she had reached the ugliness 



TUD 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



883 



of sixty -five. In the exasperation of offended 
power and jealous self-will, she signed the 
death-warrant of her favorite, Essex ; the 
token that should have saved his life did not 
reach her ; and ever after she writhed in re- 
morse. [See Devekeux.] Her treatment of 
Mary, Queen of Scots, is a foul stain upon 
her reputation. During the sixteen years 
that she held the Scotch Queen in durance, 
she distinctly indicated how welcome would 
be the assassination of the captive. None 
would do such a deed, and Maiy was at last 
sacrificed on the scaffold. Queen Elizabeth 
died unmarried at Richmond, March 24th, 
1603, having reigned over forty-four years. 
She was the last of the race of Tudor, and 
the throne passed to the house of Stuart, in 
the person of James VI. of Scotland, son of 
the unhappy Mary. 

The government of the Tudors was, on 
the whole, more arbitrary than that of the 
Plantagenets. Personal character may in 
some degree explain the difference, for cour- 
age and force of will were common to all the 
men and women of the house of Tudor. 
They exercised their power during a period 
of a hundred and twenty years, always with 
vigor, often with violence, sometimes with 
cruelty. They, in imitation of the dynasty 
which had preceded them, occasionally in- 
vaded the rights of individuals, occasionally 
exacted taxes under the name of loans and 
gifts, occasionally dispensed with penal stat- 
utes, and, though they never presumed to 
enact any permanent law by their own au- 
thority, occasionally took upon themselves, 
when parliament was not sitting, to meet 
temporary exigencies by temporary edicts. 
It was, however, impossible for the Tudors to 
carry oppression beyond a certain point ; for 
they had no armed force, and they were sur- 
rounded by an armed people. The palace 
was guarded by a few domestics, whom the 
arfay of a single shire, or of a single ward 
of London, could with ease have overpow- 
ered. These haughty princes were therefore 
under a restraint sti'onger than any which 
mere laws can impose — under a restraint 
which did not, indeed, prevent them from 
sometimes treating an individual in an arbi- 
trary and even in a barbarous manner, but 
which effectually secured the nation against 
general and long continued oppression. 



They might safely be tyrants within the pre- 
cinct of the court, but it was necessary for 
them to watch with constant anxiety the tem- 
per of the country. Henry VIII., for exam- 
ple, encountered no opposition when he 
wished to send Buckingham and Surrey, 
Anne Boleyn and Lady Salisbury, to the 
scaffold ; but when, without the consent of 
parliament, he demanded of his subjects a 
contribution amounting to one-sixth of their 
goods, he soon found it necessary to retract. 
The cry of hundreds of thousands was that 
they were English and not French, freemen 
and not slaves. In Kent the royal commis- 
sioners fled for their lives. In Suffolk four 
thousand men appeared in arms. The king's 
lieutenants in that county vainly exerted 
themselves to raise an army. Those who 
did not join the insurrection declared that 
they would not fight against their brethren 
in such a quarrel. Henry, proud and self- 
willed as he was, shrank, not without reason, 
from a conflict with the roused spirit of a 
nation. He had before his eyes the fate of 
his predecessors who had perished at Berkeley 
and Pomfret. He not only canceled his ille- 
gal commissions, he not only granted a gen- 
eral pardon to all the malcontents, but he 
publicly and solemnly apologized for his in- 
fraction of the laws. His conduct on this 
occasion well illustrates the whole policy of 
his house. The temper of the princes of 
that line was hot, and their spirit high ; but 
they understood the temper of the nation 
which they governed, and never once, like 
some of their predecessors, and some of their 
successors, carried obstinacy to a fatal point. 
The discretion of the Tudors was such that 
their power, though it was often resisted, 
was never subverted. The reign of every 
one of them was disturbed by formidable 
discontents ; but the government never failed 
either to soothe the mutineers, or to conquer 
and punish them. Sometimes, by timely 
concessions, it succeeded in averting civil 
hostilities ; but in general it stood firm, and 
called for help on the nation. The nation 
obeyed the call, rallied round the sovereign, 
and enabled him to quell the disaffected 
minority. — Macaulay. 

TUNIS, one of the Barbary states, consists 
chiefly of a large peninsula, stretching into the 
Mediterranean in a north-easterly direction. 



TUN 



884 



COTTAGE CYCLO P E D I A OP 



It contains about 30,000 square miles, and a 
population of 2,500,000, of which 100,000 
are said to be Jews. The eastern part of 
the country possesses luxuriant fertility, but 
the western part is less favored by nature and 
contains a scanty population. Rich in mines 
of silver, lead, and copper, the Tunisian 
mountains have never been properly ex- 
plored. The principal articles of export are 
grain, olive oil, wool, soap, sponge, orchilla 
seed, gold dust, ivory, -and ostrich feathers. 
Tunis, the capital, an irregularly built city, 
about ten miles south-west of the site of an- 
cient Carthage, contains from 130,000 to 
200,000 inhabitants, of whom about 30,000 
are Jews. It was once strongly fortified. 
The gates in its ruined walls are closed for 
two hours on every Friday in the middle of 
the day, because of a prediction that the 
Christians will take possession of the city on 
that day of the week, and in those hours. 
Tunis is the largest town in Barbary, and its 
commerce is quite important. About sixty 
miles south is Kairwan, founded by the Sar- 
acens about 609, and long the capital of their 
dominion in Northern Africa. It is the holy 
city of Africa, and strangers are obliged to 
pass through it in deep silence. The great 
mosque, said to' be supported by five hun- 
dred granite or marble pillars, is the most 
magnificent and the most revered in all Bar- 
bary. Vestiges of antiquity are scattered 
through this country : the site of great Car- 
thage is unoccupied, a few miserable huts 
stand where Utica was ; and many another 
town of the ancient time or the middle ages 
has passed away, leaving amphitheatre, or 
temple, or arch, in ruins to mark its site. 
The city which the Romans erected on the 
site of ancient Carthage, was in a flourishing 
condition, when the Saracens conquered and 
destroyed it ; and Tunis arose with consider- 
able magnificence. The Normans of Sicily 
conquered the Tunisians, but were forced to 
give way, in turn, to Abdalmamum of Moroc- 
co. In 1530 Charles V. invaded Africa, and 
defeated the Algerine Turks, who under Bar- 
barossa had gained possession of Tunis. In 
1574 the Turks seized upon it, and estab- 
lished a government at the head of which 
was a pacha, subject to the grand seignior. 
The head of the government is now styled 
the bey, and pays an annual tribute to the 



grand seignior, of whom he is otherwise in- 
dependent. 

Like the other Barbary states, Tunis was 
notorious for its corsairs. In 1816 Lord 
Exmouth threatened it with the fate of Al- 
giers, and white slavery was forever abolished. 
TURENNE, Henki de la Tour d'Auvekgne, 
Viscomte de, a famous general, was the sec- 
ond son of Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, 
Duke de Bouillon, and was born at Sedan in 
1611. He first served under his uncles, the 
Princes Maurice and Henry of Nassau ; and 
in 1634 was made major-general. In 1644 
he became marechal of France ; and 
though he lost the battle of Mariendal, in 
1645, he soon after gained that of Nordlin- 
gen, which restored the Elector of Treves to 
his dominions ; and the next year he formed 
a junction with the Swedish army, which 
compelled the Duke of Bavaria to sue for 
peace. But the same prince soon afterward 
broke the treaty, on which Turenne made 
himself master of his territories. In the 
civil wars of France, he joined the discon- 
tented party ; but was shortly after brought 
over to the king's side. In 1654 he com- 
pelled the Spaniards to raise the siege of 
Arras; and in 1655 he took Conde, and 
gained the battle of the Downs, which pro- 
duced the subjugation of Flanders. In 1667 
Turenne renounced the Protestant religion ; 
which measure is supposed to have proceeded 
from ambitious rather than pious motives. 
On the renewal of the war with Holland, in 
1672, he took forty towns in less than a 
month drove the Elector of Brandenburg to 
Berlin, and compelled the imperial army to 
recross the Rhine. In the midst of this 
career of victory, he was killed by a cannon 
ball, near Acheren, July 27th, 1675. 

TURCOT, Anne Robert Jacques, a min- 
ister of finance in the reign of Louis XVI. 
of France, whose rigorous scrutiny and re- 
duction of expenditure, in hope to retrieve 
the fearful condition of the exchequer, 
aroused such enmitj^ amid the corruption of 
the court, that he was dismissed. He died 
in 1781, aged fifty-four. 

TURKEY. The Ottoman empire is situated 
in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Turkey in Eu- 
rope contains about 300,000 square miles and 
15,500,000 inhabitants; and Turkey in Asia 
560,000 square miles and 16,050,000 inhab- 



TUR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



885 



itants ; the possessions in Africa, made up 
of the states of Egypt, TripoH, and Tunis, 
though tributary, are ahnost independent; 
and the same may be said of Servia, Molda- 
via, and Wallachia in Europe. The Sultan 
of Turkey is almost absolute, his power 
being less checked by any laws than by cus- 
tom, public opinion, and the turbulence and 
fanaticism of his subjects. The inhabitants 
of the empire are divided into two great 
classes : the Turks, or more correctly, Turks- 
Osmanlis, who are the ruling race ; and the 
Raj^as, that is ' the flock,' who are de- 
scendants of the ancient inhabitants of the 
countries conquered by the Turks, and occu- 
py the disadvantageous position of a sub- 
dued people. With the exception of some 
pagan tribes, they are Christians of the 
Greek or Romish faith. In recent years 
their position has been much mitigated by 
the sultans, who have also introduced many 
European improvements and innovations 
among the customs of the Turks. 

The European countries subject to the 
Turks have enjoyed lofty renown. Here was 
Macedon, whose Alexander spread her power 
beyond the limits of the known world. Here 
was the seat of the Byzantine or Eastern 
empire, which shared with Rome the suprem- 
acy of the earth. Asiatic Turkey comprises 
regions df even greater memories. 

Syria includes Palestine, or the Holy 
Land, a country which, as being the theatre 
of so many wonderful and appalling events, 
is still visited with intense interest, and holds 
a conspicuous place in the history of the 
world. In the south-east portion of Turkey 
in Asia, lies the ancient and famous Mesopo- 
tamia. Assyria was one of the earliest and 
most noted monarchies of Asia. The splen- 
dor of the Assyrians has been celebrated by 
all historical writers. To trace the fortunes 
and varied events of this kingdom alone, 
would require a much greater space than we 
can devote to this general view. The mighty 
kingdom of Babylon gave lustre to Asia in 
its early days. During the reign of Semira- 
mis its fame was at the highest. This sove- 
reign possessed fewer feminine than mascu- 
line attributes, and yet shone no less con- 
spicuously in the court than the camp. She 
did much to beautify her city, and to extend 
the fame and power of her kingdom. The 



hanging gardens of Babylon, in which trees 
of great size were supported on terraces at an 
elevation far above the earth, constituted one 
of the wonders of the ancient world. Bagdad, 
the once celebrated seat of the Saracenic ca- 
liphs, to the splendor of which Haroun 
al Raschid greatly contributed, has lost 
most of its former magnificence. Here, when 
the star of the Saracenic empire was at its 
zenith, literature and the arts flourished un- 
der the protection of the caliphs ; poetry and 
romance shed a charm over every- day exist- 
ence, and music, with other arts, received the 
most assiduous cultivation and encourage- 
ment. We can but briefly allude to other 
reigns and events which have distinguished 
Asiatic Turkey — the fate of the celebrated 
Queen Zenobia, who was compelled to grace 
the triumph of the Emperor Aurelian, after 
victory had smiled upon the Roman banners 
as they waved over the Asiatic plains ; the 
siege of Jerusalem by Titus ; the destruc- 
tion of the sacred temple, with all its magnifi- 
cence; the wild enthusiasm of the crusa- 
ders, who made Jerusalem the rallying point 
for the chivalry of Europe in the holy wars ; 
the siege and fall of Troy, of which now not 
the slightest trace remains. Changed, in- 
deed, is the face of all that was formerly glo- 
rious in these ancient countries ! The foot- 
steps of Time are deep, and his ravages last- 
ing. A wretched village, inhabited by a 
handful of Turks, usurps the spot where 
once rose in splendor, Ephesus— that Ephe- 
sus which was the pride of Asia Minor, — 
that Ephesus which St. Paul has celebrated 
by his epistle, — that Ephesus which con- 
tained the superb temple of Diana, fired by 
Erostratus, that he might immortalize his 
name. " Great is Diana of the Ephesians ! " 
was the cry of the proud inhabitants. Ages 
have passed — and the idol and the idolaters 
have passed away. What is to be the future 
of the world, the ruins of whose by-gone 
years are so great ! 

The Turks were of Asiatic origin. The 
foundation of their empire was laid by Os- 
man, or Ochman, who seized the countries 
which had been in the possession of the 
Seleucidfe in Asia Minor, about a.d. 1300. 
He assumed the title of sultan, and, pursu- 
ing his conquests, took Prusa in Bithynia, 
which he made the seat of the Ottoman em- 



TUR 



886 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



pire or kingdom. He died in 1328, and was 
succeeded by his son, Orchan, who contin- 
ued the conquests of his father in the Greek 
empire, and took Nicca or Nicomedia. 

Murad, or Amurath T., the son and succes- 
sor of Orchan, succeeded also to his father's 
usurpation of the country, in 1356 ; and 
passing the straits of Galhpoli, he took Adri- 
anople, which he made the scat of his em- 
pire. He was succeeded by his son, Bajazct 
I., in 1380, whose brother, attempting to 
supplant him, was strangled ; and this is 
said to have been the first instance of that 
sanguinary custom, afterward so common, of 
putting to death princes of the royal blood. 
This prince is celebrated both by his victo- 
ries and by the most distressing misfortunes. 
He flew from Asia to Eyrope, and returned 
to Asia, with such inconceivable rapidity, 
that the Turks have given him the surname 
of Ilderim, 'lightning.' He provoked the 
attacks of Timur Bee,' or Tamerlane, who 
wished to accommodate their differences, but 
who accepted the challenge of Bajazet, and 
in the plains of Prusa proved completely vic- 
torious, in one of the bloodiest battles that 
had ever been fought. It continued a whole 
day, and thousands on both sides fell by the 
sword; but, while displaying the utmost 
efforts of valor, Bajazet was defeated and 
made prisoner. The iron cage that he had 
designed for Tamerlane in the sure hope of 
victory, became his own prison, and against 
its bars he dashed himself to death. 

An interregnum of twelve years succeeded, 
during which the three sons of Bajazet gov- 
erned each a separate part of the empire ; 
but, at length, in 1413, it was united under 
Mohammed, gifted by nature with strength, 
courage, and talents. He was succeeded by 
his son Murad, or Amurath II., in 1422, who 
took Thessalonica, or Salonica, and put the 
inhabitants to the sword ; invaded and sub- 
dued Servia, destroying all before him ; en- 
tered Transylvania, ravaging the country, 
and vanquishing the natives ; and acted the 
same victorious parts in Wallachia. He 
gained the famous battle at Varna, in which 
Ladislaus, king of Hungary, was slain. Amu- 
rath was less successful against Scanderbeg, 
Prince of Epirus. He was succeeded by his 
son, Mohammed II., in 1451, the greatest 
warrior of all the Turkish sultans. His 



reign lasted thirty years, and was a ccnt;:-.- 
ued series of battles and victories, almost 
without a single reverse. However, he had 
to contend with generals capable of suspend- 
ing his progress, and of checking his ambi- 
tion, had their forces been equal to their 
courage. Among these were the celebrated 
Huniades, king of Hungary ; Matthias Cor- 
vinus, his son ; and above all, Scanderbeg, 
after whose death the Turks made relics of 
his bones, which they wore as a preservative 
against dangers. On the 29th of May, 1453, 
Mohammed took the city of Constantinople. 
Thus ended the Greek empire, and the seat 
of the Turkish was founded. After Moham- 
med had taken the capital, he turned his 
arms against what still remained of the 
Greek empire, in the isles and on the conti- 
nent. 

He was succeeded by his eldest son, Ba- 
jazet II., in 1481, who subdued the Molda- 
vians ; rendered several of the Asiatic prin- 
ces tributary; had considerable success in 
Syria; reduced Croatia; occasioned great 
devastation in the Morea ; landed a body of 
troops in the island of Rhodes ; and paved 
the way for the conquest of Egypt, by depriv- 
ing the Mamelukes, who commanded in that 
country, of the necessary succors which they 
derived from Circassia. Exhausted with fa- 
tigue and debauchery, Bajazet was 'desirous 
of placing the crown on the head of his eld- 
est son, Ahmed. In this situation of affairs, 
Selim, the youngest, arrived in the neighbor- 
hood of Constantinople, under the pretense 
of paying a visit to his father. This young 
prince was soon surrounded by the whole 
court, who ranged themselves under his ban- 
ners ; and the aged monarch, foreseeing what 
would be the event of such a visit, resigned 
his crown into the hands of Selim. 

Selim ascended the throne in the forty-fiftli 
year of his age, in 1512, and caused his 
brothers, Ahmed and Korkud, Avith five of 
his nephews, and a great many of the nobil- 
ity, to be put to death. As he had received 
the crown from the suffrages of the soldiers, 
who wished only for war, he endeavored to 
gratify their desires, and leading his army 
into Syria and Egypt, completely defeated 
the Mamelukes. However, as he imagined 
he could not insure the quiet possession of 
Egypt, but by the total extinction of that peo- 



TUR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



887 



pie, he offered rewards to those who should 
discover any of them, and denounced the 
severest punishment against such as con- 
cealed them. When he thought he had 
them all assembled, he ordered a superb 
throne to be erected for him upon the banks 
of the Nile, without the gates of Cairo ; and 
these unhappy wretches being brought into 
his presence, he caused them all to be mur- 
dered before his eyes, and their bodies to be 
thrown into the river. He also made con- 
quests in Persia and Armenia. 

Solyman, the son of Sclim, had scarcely 
mounted the throne, in 1520, when he formed 
the design of extending his empire as much 
in Europe, as his father had done in Asia. 
He directed his attempts against the Chris- 
tians, and soon took Rhodes from the knights 
of St. John, who had possessed the island for 
upward of two hundred years. He attacked 
Hungary, took Buda, and entered Austria 
with Are and sword. He laid siege to Vien- 
na ; -w^here finding a desperate resistance, he 
withdrew with his troops, but previously 
massacred all his prisoners, men, women, 
and children. He made John, king of Hun- 
gary, tributary to him, and took Bagdad, the. 
whole of Assyria, and Mesopotamia. In 
short, he extended his reputation as a war- 
rior to both extremities of the world. 

Selim, the son of Solyman, made peace 
with Germany and Persia, and took the island 
of Cyprus from the Venetians, in 1566. In 
1572, the Turkish navy, heretofore the most 
formidable in Europe, was almost annihilated 
in the great battle of Lepanto. Aniurath 
III., the eldest son of Selim, who became 
sultan in 1575, to give employment to his 
untractable soldiery, made war upon Russia, 
Poland, Germany, and Venice, and subdued 
Georgia. He is said to have been of a quiet 
disposition, a lover of justice, and very zeal- 
ous in his religion. He left behind him 
twenty sons, of whom nineteen were stran- 
gled by the eldest, his successor. Moham- 
med III., having thus secured to himself the 
throne by the slaughter of his brothers, in 
1596, thought it necessary also to takeaway 
the life of all the late sovereign's wives and 
concubines, by whom it was possible that 
there should be any posthumous progeny. 
The insolence of the Janissaries now greatly 
increased, and they were perpetually revolt- 



ing and fighting with the other soldiers. 
The pachas also rebelled in many provinces ; 
and the sultan, through fear, made peace 
with them, and confirmed them in their 
office. Immersed in the pleasures of the 
seraglio, Mohammed bestowed no other at- 
tention on public affairs than was absolutely 
necessary. He caused his eldest son, a 
prince of inestimable qualities, to be put to 
death. 

Ahmed ascended the throne when he was 
scarcely fifteen years old, in 1605, and soon 
demonstrated that the sceptre was not un- 
worthily intrusted to him. Under his reign, 
began those fires which are so common at 
Constantinople, and which seldom or never 
break out but when the people are discontent- 
ed. Ahmed was succeeded by his brother 
Mustapha, in 1017. His cruelties rendered 
him so odious, that he was deposed and sent 
to prison in the castle of the seven towers, and 
his nephew, Othman, son of Ahmed, placed 
on the throne, in 1618. Othman, discontent- 
ed with his Janissaries, meditated revenge 
against them ; and as he could not drive them 
from Constantinople, he formed the design of 
transferring the seat of government into Asia. 
But the Janissaries discovering his intention, 
massacred the grand vizier, whom they sup- 
posed to be the author of the measure, im- 
prisoned Othman, who was soon after put to 
death, and reinstated Mustapha on the throne. 
The uncle, however, derived very little ben- 
efit from this event. He was treated as an 
idiot, led about upon an ass, exposed to the 
derision and insults of the populace, and then 
carried back to prison, where he was stran- 
gled by the orders of his successor. 

Araurath IV., brother to the unfortunate 
Othman, by intrepidity and courage repress- 
ed the turbulence of the Janissaries. His 
amusement was to run about the streets in the 
night, with a sabre in his hand, and to cut 
down all whom he met. He was succeeded 
by his brother Ibrahim, in 1639, who had 
languished four years in prison, and who, on 
being restored thus unexpectedly to liberty 
and empire, was so intoxicated by the new 
pleasures which they presented, that resign- 
ing the administration of government to the 
former ministers, he devoted himself entirely 
to the luxuries of the harem. The mufti 
having excited a revolt among the Janissa- 



TUR 



888 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



ries, and Ibrahim, finding himself unable to 
resist, he resigned the crown, and in a few- 
days was put to death. 

Mohammed TV., the eldest son of Ibrahim, 
succeeded his Mher, in 1648. His reign was 
long and glorious ; but after so many years 
passed in prosperity, which ought to have 
established his power, he was forced to ab- 
dicate the throne, though he survived his 
deposition, and was not molested in his apart- 
ment, which served as a prison. The ex- 
ploits of tills emperor, which, if detailed at 
length, would fill a volume, are not so far 
distant from the present period as to be 
obscured by the veil of time. The famous 
siege of Candia, which subjected the ancient 
Crete to the dominion of the crescent, makes 
a conspicuous figure in the page of history. 
At the beginning of the eighteenth century, 
fathers at Vienna were accustomed to relate 
to their children the battles which they had 
witnessed under the walls of that city, when 
great Sobieski shattered the hopes of the Mo- 
hammedans. Mohammed IV. distinguished 
himself by his inclination to mercy, and sel- 
dom commanded his troops in person ; which 
probably caused the revolt of the soldiers,, 
who placed the crown on the head of one of 
his brothers. Solyraan IT. did not seat him- 
self on the throne without apprehension, in 
1687; and, while receiving the usual con- 
gratulations, seemed everj^ moment to expect 
his formidable brother with the executioners 
and instruments of death. Solyman had to 
support a disastrous war against Germany 
and Venice, the misfortunes of which were 
attended with the most ruinous consequen- 
ces. But Kiopruli Mustapha Pacha being 
appointed grand-vizier, regenerated the em- 
pire, and putting himself at the head of the 
main army, besieged and took the fortress 
of Belgrade. Solyman died of the dropsy, 
and was succeeded by his brother, Ahmed 
II., in 1691, who had as little judgment, and 
as little influence in the government. Kiop- 
ruli being killed on the banks of the Danube, 
when on the point of obtaining a victory, the 
sovereign soon followed his general to the 
grave. 

Mustapha II., son of Mohammed FV., gave 
new vigor to the etnpire, in 1695, which had 
languished under his predecessors. He re- 
solved to command his troops in person, but 



met with a more disgraceful and more com- 
plete defeat than the Turks had ever expe- 
rienced. His troops, not receiving their pay 
in due time, took up arms, deposed Musta- 
pha, and invited Ahmed his brother to repair 
to the army. Ahmed III. in the course of 
five months put to death more than 14,000 
soldiers who had taken the greatest share in 
the rebellion ; they were carried away in 
the night-time, and drowned in the Bospho- 
rus. A war broke out between the Porte 
and Russia; that with Germany and Venice 
was rekindled ; and another was carried on in 
Persia. These military expeditions, though 
not alM'ays unsuccessful, reduced the empire 
to a state of general weakness, which was felt 
particularly in the capital : all tended to irri- 
tate the minds of men, and produced a revolt 
that dethroned Ahmed, after a reign of twenty- 
seven years. On the deposition of Ahmed, in 
1730, and the elevation of his nephew, Mah- 
moud I. or Mohammed V., a considerable al- 
teration took place in the mode of carrying on 
the government. From the time of Moham- 
med II. the whole administration had been 
usually delegated to the vizier; but as this 
and the preceding rebellion had originated in 
the overgrown power and ambition of these 
oflScers, Mohammed V. took the authority 
into his own hands, and determined to change 
his viziers frequently. This prince was \m- 
fortunate in his battles both with the Rus- 
sians and Kouli Khan, whom he was obliged 
to acknowledge as sophi of Persia. 

On the death of Mohammed, his brother 
Osman came from confinement to the throne, 
in 1754. Osman was succeeded by Mustapha 
III., the son of Ahmed, in 1757. Musta- 
pha having attacked the Russians, in 1769, a 
bloody war commenced with the exploits of 
Prince Gallitzin, w'ho gained four separate 
and complete victories over the Turks, whom 
he obliged to abandon Choczin. The Rus- 
sians speedily overran Moldavia and Walla 
chia, and gained a great naval victory ofi" 
Chesme, where the whole of the Turkish 
fleet was destroyed. These and other im- 
portant successes of the Russians compelled 
the Turks to conclude a dishonorable peace, 
soon after the death of Mustapha, and the 
accession of his brother Abdulhamid or 
Ahmed IV. The peace of 1774 was the first 
great step toward the limitation of the Turk- 



TUR 



flISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



889 



ish empire. On the death of Abdulhamid, 
in 1789, Selim III., son of Mustapha, ascend- 
ed the throne, at a time when the empire 
was engaged in another unsuccessful war 
with Russia, which terminated greatly in 
favor of the latter power. From this period, 
the most interesting and important concerns 
relating to the Ottoman empire, were for 
some time connected with internal and civil 
broils. Civil war, which was probably fo- 
mented by the French, when they invaded 
Egypt, appeared likely to become general 
throughout Turkey. A revolution was effect- 
ed by the Janissaries, who deposed Selim 
III. and raised to the throne Mustapha IV., 
son of Abdulhamid, in 1807. Mustapha was 
deposed in 1808, and succeeded by his broth- 
er, Mahmoud. 

Russia declared war against Turkey, on 
the pretext of a peace concluded with Eng- 
land by the latter power, in 1809, and the 
Turks and Russians commenced hostilities 
against each other with no other apparent 
object than mutual destruction. At length 
mutual exhaustion rendered the operations on 
both sides languid ; and Russia finding herself 
invaded by the formidable power of France, a 
treaty of peace was concluded with Turkey in 
1812, which ceded the cities and districts on the 
east of the Pruth as the price of pacification. 

The loss of Greece was a serious blow to 
Turkey, and in 1828 and 1829 another disas- 
trous war was sustained with Russia. Mehe- 
met Ali, who as pacha of Egypt had raised 
himself to independence, also resisted the 
arras of the sultan. Abdul Medjid, son of 
Mahmoud, succeeded in 1839. He carried 
on the reforms which had been commenced 
by his father, to civilize and enlighten the 
policy and customs of the Turks. The war 
with Russia, in which he was assisted by 
Great Britain and France, we have noticed 
in our sketch of Russia. 

SULTANS OF TURKEY. 

1299. Othman, or Ottoman, who assumed the 
f title of Grand Seignior. 

1326. Orchan, son of Othman. 

1360. Amurathl. : stabbed by a soldier, of which 
wound he died. 

1389. Bajazet I., his son; defeated by Tamer- 
lane, and died imprisoned. 

1402. Solyman, son of Bajazet: dethroned by 
his brother and successor. 

1410. Musa-Chelebi : strangled. 

1413. Moharamed I., also son of Bajazet. 

1421. Amurath II., succeeded by his son. 



1451. Mohammed II., by whom Coustautiuo'ile 

was taken in 1453. 
1481. Bajazet 11., deposed by his son. 
1512. Selim I., who succeeded him. 
1520. Solyman the Magnificent, son of Selim. 
1566. Seliui II., son ol Solyman. 
1574. Amurath III., his son. 
15'j5.- Mohammed ill., son of Amurath. 
16u3. Ahmed, or Achmet, his son: succeeded 

by his brother. 

1617. Mustapha I., succeeded by his nephew. 

1618. Osman I. : strangled by the Janissaries, 

and his uncle restored. 

1622. Mustapha I. again: again deposed. 

1623. Amurath IV., succeeded by his brother. 
1040. Ibrahim: strangled by the Janissaries. 
1649. Mohammed IV., son of Ibrahim : deposed. 
1687. Solyman III., his brother. 

1691. Ahmed, or Achmet II.: succeeded by his 
nephew. 

1695. Mustapha II., eldest son of Mohammed 
IV. : deposed ; succeeded by his bro- 
ther. 

1703. Ahmed or Achmet III. : deposed. 

1730. Mahmud, or Mohammed V., succeeded his 
uncle, the preceding sultan. 

1754. Osman II., brother of Mahmud. 

1757. Mustapha III., brother of Osman. 

1774. Abdul-Ahmed. 

1788. Selim III. : deposed by the Janissaries, 
and his nephew raised to the throac. 

1807. Mustapha IV. : deposed, and, with the 

late sultan, Selim, murdered. 

1808. Mahmud II. : succeeded by his son. 
1839. Abdul-Medjid. 

18t'l. Abdul Aziz, brother of Abdul Medfid. 

TURNER, Shakon, an English historian 
of some note, and a solicitor by profession. In 
1798 he published a " History of the Anglo- 
Saxons," andafterwarda "History of England 
during the* Middle Ages." The first is the 
most valuable. He received a pension of 
£300 from government, and with the habits 
evinced by the following anecdote, must have 
made both ends meet. The third volume of 
his "Sacred History of the World" was 
written upon paper which did not cost him a 
farthing. The copy consisted of torn and 
angular fragments of letters and notes ; of 
covers of periodicals, — gray, drab, or green, 
—written in thick, round hand over a small 
print ; of shreds of curling paper, unctuous 
with pomatum or bear's grease ; and of the 
white wrappers in which his proofs were 
sent from the printers. The paper, some- 
times as thin as a bank-note, was written on 
both sides, and was so sodden with ink, plas- 
tered on with a pen worn to a stump, that 
hours were wasted in discovering on which 
side of it certain sentences were written. 
First-rate compositors could hardly gain 



TUR 



890 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



money upon it suflBcient to keep them alive. 
Often, by way of hint, slips of stout white 
paper were sent with the proofs ; but the 
good old gentleman could not afford to use 
them, and they never came back as copy. 
There are too many writers who are as care- 
less in respect of copy, if not as niggardly, 
as Mr. Sharon Turner. 

TURNER, Joseph Mallerd "William, one 



of the greatest of English painters, was bom 
in London, in 17T5. After a life of almost 
unrivaled success and unsurpassed industry, 
this great landscape artist died unmarried, 
and under an assumed name, in an obscure 
lodging at Chelsea, Dec. 19th, 1851, bequeath- 
ing his pictures to the nation, and his funded 
property for the establishment of an institu- 
tion to benefit decayed artists. 




LEANING TOWEB OF PISA. 



TUSCANY, a grand duchy of central Italy, 
bounded north by Parma, Modena, and the 
States of the Church, east by the States of 
the Church, and south-west by the Tuscan 
Sea, a part of the Mediterranean. It in- 
cludes Elba and a few smaller islands, and is 
divided into Florence, Pisa, and Sienna, con- 
taining 8,494 square miles, and 1,810,000 



inhabitants. , The face of the country is 
agreeably diversified, and the well-watered 
soil produces wheat, maize, beans, peas, clo- 
ver, vines, mulberries, olives, oranges, lem- 
ons, figs and rice. The minerals are copper, 
lead, quicksilver, marble, &c. The Tuscan 
dialect is considered the purest It ilian. 
Florence, the capital, is one of the most 



TUS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



891 



beautiful cities of Italy, justly deserving the 
name which has been bestowed upon it — 
Florence the Fair. It contains 110,000 in- 
habitants. It is interesting from its histori- 
cal associations, and from the invaluable 
monuments of art which it contains, and 
with which the Florentine gallery is founded. 
The Pitti palace, the cathedral, the church 
of St. Croce, the church del Carmine, &c., 
can never be sufficiently admired. The re- 
vival of the arts took place here, and thence 
the regeneration of Europe followed. 

Tuscany anciently belonged to the empe- 
rors of Germany, who governed it by depu- 
ties till the year 1240, when the famous dis- 
tinctions of the Guelphs, who were the par- 
tisans of the pope, and the Ghibellines, who 
were in the emperor's interest, took place. 
The popes then persuaded the imperial gov- 
ernors in Tuscany to put themselves under 
the protection of the church ; but the Flo- 
rentines, in a short time, formed themselves 
into a free commonwealth, and bravely de- 
fended their liberties against both parties by 
turns. Faction at last shook their freedom ; 
and the family of Medici, long before they 
were declared either princes or dukes, in 
fact governed Florence, though the rights 
and privileges of the people seemed still to 
exist. The Medici, particularly Cosmo, who 
was called the father of his countiy, shared 
with the Venetians in the immense profits 
of the East India trade, before the discove- 
ries made by the Portuguese. Pope Pius V. 
gave one of his descendants, Cosmo (the 
great patron of the arts), the title of Grand 
Duke of Tuscany, in 1570, which continued 
in his family to the death of Gaston de Medi- 
cis, in 1T37, without issue. The great duchy 
was then claimed by the Emperor Charles 
VI. as a fief of the empire, and given to his 
son-in-law, Francis, Duke of Lorraine, in 
lieu of the duchy of Lorraine, which was 
ceded to France by treaty. 

Francis had married Maria Theresa, and so 
became Emperor of Germany. On his death 
Leopold, his second son, succeeded to the 
throne of Tuscany. When the death of his 
brother Joseph gave him the imperial sceptre, 
Tuscany devolved to his second son, Ferdi- 
nand. By the treaty of Luneville (February, 
1801), the grand duchy of Tuscany received 
the title of the kingdom of Etruria, and was 



transferred to the hereditary prince of Parma. 
In the subsequent incorporations of Bona- 
parte, it was declared an integral part of the 
French empire ; but on his downfall in 1814, 
it was restored to the Archduke Ferdinand, 
and resumed its proper designation of grand 
duchy. 

In 1849, a republic was for a while estab- 
lished in Florence, but the fugitive grand- 
duke was restored by Austrian bayonets. 
He then greatly abridged the political privi- 
leges of his subjects, which had Ijcfore been 
more liberal than those of any other nation 
of Italy. 

Much interest and sympathy were excited 
in Protestant countries, by the nnprisonment 
at Florence of the Madiai (husband and wife), 
who had embraced the English reformed 
religion, and read the Bible in due con- 
formity with the teaching of their new 
faith. For this "crime" they were separate- 
ly incui-ccrated in loathsome dungeons, and 
subjected to all the rigors of the Romish 
ecclesiastical law. A Protestant deputation 
from England, headed by the Earls of Shaftes- 
bury and Roden, proceeded to Florence in 
October, 1S52, with the view to their release 
from confinement; but the grand-duke re- 
fused to receive it. However, after some 
months' captivity, they were set at liberty, 
March, 1853. 

Upon the breaking out of war between 
Austria and Sardinia in May, 1859, the peo- 
ple of Tuscany threw oft" the rule of the 
Grand-duke Leopold IL ; and on March 22, 
1800, the duchy was formally annexed to the 
kingdom of Italy. 

TUSSAUD, Madame, the well knowTi ex- 
hibitor of wax figures in London, died April 
10th, 1850, in her ninetieth year. She was 
a native of Berne, but left Switzerland when 
but six years old for Paris, where she be- 
came a pupil of her uncle, M. Curtis, " art- 
iste to Louis XVI." by whom she was in- 
structed in the fine arts, of which he was an 
eminent professor. Madame Tussaud prided 
herself upon the fact of having instructed 
Madame Elizabeth to draw and model, and 
she continued to be employed by that prin- 
cess till October, 1789. She passed unharmed 
through the horrors of the revolution, per- 
haps by reason of her peculiar ability as a 
modeler ; for she was employed to take heads 



TUS 



892 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



of most of the revolutionary leaders, which 
of course she could not have done had they 
taken hers. In 1802 she went to England, 
and from that time occupied herself in gath- 
ering the popular exhibitions of wax-work 
which is still known by her name. 

TYLER, Wat, the leader of an insurrec- 
tion celebrated in English history, which 
arose in the opposition of the people to the 
poll-tax levied in 13Y8, in the commencement 
of the reign of Richard II. Tyler was a 
blacksmith. A collector's indecent brutality 
to his daughter to prove her of age (fifteen) to 
pay the poll, the indignant father avenged by 
striking him dead on the spot. The incensed 
populace gathered upon Blackheath, to the 
number of a hundred thousand, June 12th, 
1381. The king invited Tyler to a parley in 
Smithfield, to declare the popular grievances. 
Tyler ordered his companions to retire, till 
he should give them a signal, boldly ventured 
to meet the king in the midst of his retinue, 
and began the conference. He required that 
all slaves should be set free ; that all com- 
monages should be open to the poor as well 
as the rich ; and that a general pardon should 
be passed for the late outrages. Whilst he 
made these demands he occasionally lifted up 
his sword in a menacing manner, which so 
raised the indignation of William Walworth, 
the mayor of London, attendmg on the king, 
that he stunned Tyler with a blow of his 
mace, and one of the king's knights, riding 
up, dispatched him with his sword. Richard 
soothed the insurgents with promises of re- 
dress, and awed by their leader's murder, 
they dispersed. 

TYLER, John, tenth President of the 
United States, was born in Charles City Co., 
Va., March 29, 1Y90. He was a graduate of 
William and Mary College in 1807, admitted 
to the bar 1809, member of State Legislature 
1811-16, and 1823-25, member of Congress 
1816-21, Governor of Virginia 1826-27, and 
U. S. Senator 1827-1886. He first supported 
Gen. Jackson, but favored the "nullification 
scheme" in South Carolina, and voted alone 
against the "Force Bill." Elected by the 
Whigs to the Vice Presidency in 1840, on the 
death of Gen. Harrison in 1841 he became 
President. His vetoes of two successive 
bank bills, and his seeking support and coun- 
sel from leading; Democrats, lost him the 



confidence of the AVhigs. Betraying them, 
he selected a cabinet from the Democratic 
party. The most important event of his 
administration was the annexation of Texas. 
In February, 1861, he was President of the 
Peace Congress. Soon after, he avowed him- 
self a secessionist, was elected Senator in the 
Confederate Congres.s, and died while serv- 
ing as such, in Richmond, Jan. 18, 1862. 

TYRANTS, an aristocratical council of 
thirty, who usurped and conquered the gov- 
ernment of the Athenians, b. c. 404. Critias 
was at the head of this council, who con- 
demned to death Niceratus, the son of Nicias, 
Leon, Theramanes, and Antiphon, and ban- 
ished Thrasybulus and Anytus. After com- 
mitting innumerable atrocities, they were 
deposed by the people, and ten decemvirs 
elected in their stead. 

TYRE, a great city of Phoenicia, the site 
of which is now occupied by an insignificant 
village, eighteen miles southwest of Sidon. 
This city was built in 1048 b. c. by the Sido- 
nians, who fled from the Edomites when they 
conquered Sidon, after having been expelled 
from their own country by David. It was 
demolished by Nebuchadnezzar in 572, after 
a siege of thirteen years. The Tyrians re- 
moved to an opposite island, and built a new 
and magnificent city. Having been under 
the rule of the Persians, Syrians, Romans, 
Franks, Tartars, and Christians, it was con- 
quered by the Sultans of Egypt in 1292, with 
the fate of which it has since been connected. 

The Tyrians in early ages colonized the 
coasts of Spain, Italy, and Africa. Their 
commerce reached to Britain and India. 
Carthage was the greatest of the colonies 
they planted. 

TYROL, an Austrian province bordering 
on Bavaria, Illyria, Austria, the Lombardo- 
Venetian kingdom, Switzerlamsl, and Lake 
Constance, containing 11,141 square miles, 
and 859,000 inhabitants. The inhabitants 
have an invincible attachment to their coun- 
try, s-terile as it is. Thej^ are hardy, brave, 
honest, and cheerful. This country in 1359 
was attached to Austria, and with the excep- 
tion of the period from 1805 to 1814, has re- 
mained in her possession. 

TYRONE, Earl of, a celebrated leader in 
the Irish rebellion, who, in 1696 assumed the 
title of King of Ulster, and entered into a 



TYR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



893 





TYKOLESE PEASANTS. 



correspondence with Spain, whence he re- 
ceived a supply of arms and ammunition. 
During the violent contentions between Ty- 
rone and the forces of the Earl of Essex, 
then deputy of Ireland, every enormity was 
^committed by both parties ; but at length, 
in 1603, Tyrone's followers being reduced, 
he surrendered himself to the royal power. 
Thus the rebellion closed ; but the reduction 
of Ireland, through the gloomy tracks of fam- 
ine, pestilence, and blood, cost England no 
less a sum than £1,198,717. 

TYRREL, Sir James, employed by Rich- 
ard, Duke of Gloucester, to murder his two 
nephews in the Tower. Tyrrel chose three 
associates, who, finding the young princes in 
bed, in a profound sleep, suffocated them 
with the bolster and pillows, and showed 
their naked bodies to Tyrrel, who ordered 



them to be buried at the foot of the stairs, 
under a heap of stones. In the reign of 
Charles II. the bones of two persons were 
found in the place indicated, which corre- 
sponded, by their size, to the ages of Edward 
Y. and his brother; and being judged the 
undoubted remains of these unhappy prin- 
ces, they were deposited in Westminster 
Abbey, under a marble tomb. 

TYRREL, Walter, a French gentleman, 
who, when hunting in the New Forest with 
AYilliara Rufus, let fly an arrow, which, 
glancing from a free, struck the king in the 
breast, and instantly killed him. Tyrrel, 
fearful lest he might be accused of murder, 
gained the sea-shore, embarked for France, 
and joined the crusade, as a penance for his 
involuntary crime. 



TYR 



894 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



U. 



UKRAINE (the Frontier,) an extensive 
country in the southern part of Russia, now 
forming the governments of Kiew, PodoHa, 
Charkow, and Poltawa. The surface is level, 
extremely fertile, and the region is famous 
for its fine breed of horses and wild cattle. It 
includes part of the country of the Cossacks. 

ULM, formerly a free imperial city, is situ- 
ated at the confluence of the Danube with 
the Iller and Blau, and contains 14,000 in- 
habitants. After the battle of Blenheim (in 
170-4), it sustained a siege. In 1800 it was 
the scene of military manoeuvres, conducted 
on the part of Moreau with great skill ; and 
it was here that in 1805, the errors of Mack, 
and the combinations of Bonaparte, led to 
the surrender of a large Austrian army. In 
1810 it was transferred from Bavaria to "\Vir- 
temberg, to which government it continues 
subject. 

UMBRELLA. Described in early diction- 
aries as "a portable pent-house to carry in a 
person's hand to screen him from violent 
rain or heat." Umbrellas are very ancient : 
it appears, by the carvings at Persepolis, that 
umbrellas were used at very remote periods 
by the Eastern princes. Niebuhr, who visit- 
ed the southern part of Arabia, informs' us 
that he saw a great prince of that country 
returning from a mosque, preceded by some 
hundreds of soldiers, and that he and each 
of the princes of his numerous family caused 
a large umbrella to be carried by his side. 
The old china ware in our pantries and cup- 
boards shows the Chinese shaded bj^ an 
umbrella. It is said that the first person 
who used an umbrella in the streets of Lon- 
don was the benevolent Jonas Hanway, 
who died in 1786. He had become accus- 
tomed to it during his journeyings in the 
East. 

For a long while it was not usual for men 
to carry them without incurring the brand 
of effeminacy. At first a single umbrella 
seems to have been kept at a coffee-house for 
extraordinary occasions — lent as a coach or 
chair in a heavy shower, but not commonly 
carried by the walkers. The Female Tatler 



advertises : " The young gentleman belong- 
ing to the custom-house, who, in fear of rain, 
borrowed the umbrella from Wilhii coffee- 
house^ shall the next time be welcome to the 
maid's jmttens.-^ As late as 1778, one John 
Macdonald, a footman, who wrote his own 
life, informs us that he had "a fine silk um- 
brella, which he brought from Spain ; but he 
could not with any comfort to himself use it, 
the people calling out 'Frenchman! why 
don't you get a coach ?' " The fact was, the 
hackney-coachmen and chairmen, joining 
with the true esprit de cori^s, were clamorous 
against this portentous rival. The footman, 
in 1778, gives us some farther information. 
" At this time there were no umbrellas wore 
in London, except in noblemen's and gentle- 
men's houses, where there was a large one 
hung in the hall to hold over a lady if it rain- 
ed, between the door and her carriage." This 
man's sister was compelled to quit his arm 
from the abuse he drew down on himself and 
his umbrella. But he adds, that " he per- 
sisted for three months, till they took no 
further notice of this novelty. Foreigners 
began to use theirs, and then the English." 

UNION of the crowns of England and 
Scotland, 1603; of the two kingdoms at- 
tempted, 1604, but failed; again ditto, 1670; 
carried into effect, May 1st, 1707, and thence* 
the island is called Great Britain. Union of 
Great Britain and Ireland took place Jan. 
1st, 1801. 

UNITED STATES. The United States 
of America, originally colonies of Great Bri- 
tain, declared themselves independent in 
1776. Historical notices of the different 
states have been given under separate heads, 
and only a general view is requisite in the 
present article. 

The following dates of the settlement of 
the original colonies, and of the admission of 
the latter states, are given for reference. 
Virginia, at Jamestown, 1607. New York, 
by the Dutch, 1614; taken by the English, 
1664. Massachusetts, at Plymouth, 1620. 
New Hampshire, 1623. New Jersey, by the 
1 Dutch, 1624 ; occupied by the English, 1664. 



UNI 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



895 



Delaware, by the Swedes, 1631. Maryland, 
1633. Connecticut, 1633. Rhode Island, at 
Providence, 1636. North Carolina, 1650. 
South Carolina, 1670. Pennsylvania, 1682. 
Georgia, 1733. 

Vermont, admitted into the Union, 1791. 
Kentucky, 1792. Tennessee, 1796. Ohio, 
1803. Louisiana, 1812. Indiana, 1816. Mis- 
sissippi, 1817. Illinois, 1818. Alabama, 
1819. Maine, 1820. Missouri, 1821. Arkansas, 
1836. Michigan, 1837. Florida, 1845. Texas, 
1845. Iowa, 1846. Wisconsin, 1848. Cal- 
ifornia, 1850. Minnesota, 1857. Oregon, 1859. 
Kansas, 1861. West Virginia, 1863. Nevada, 
1864. In all, 36 states. Territories, Arizona, 
Colorado, Dakota, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, 
Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, Washington. 

The English settlers in the northern parts 
of America were influenced by different mo- 
tives from those which actuated the Spaniards 
who quitted their native country for the 
shores of the New World. The latter were 
urged onward by a reckless spirit of adven- 
ture, by the promptings of heated imagina- 
tions, and by the most insatiable cupidity. 
The former were impelled by far worthier 
motives. Manj"^ causes operated together m 
the mother country, to favor emigration 
among the resolute and hardy. 

The people of England had been led to 
examine into the nature of the power to 
which they were subjected, and the mon- 
strous doctrines of royal prerogative and 
religious intolerance were denounced by 
many who had courage to think and speak 
for themselves upon the subjects. The 
friends of republican institutions multiplied 
with great rapidity, the natural result of the 
progress of literature and the increase of 
wealth with the commons. In 1628 the 
wealth of the house of commons far exceeded 
that of the house of lords. At the same 
time the reformation which had been carried 
into effect by Henry VIII., while it had 
purged the country of the abuses of the Ro- 
mish church, had established a form of wor- 
ship which was regarded by many as little 
better than that Avhich had given way before 
it. Those who refused to conform to the 
established form, contemptuously termed 
Puritans by their opponents, anxiously 
sought scope for the exercise of religious 
rights, and, since the immunities they de 



manded were not granted them at home, 
determined to seek refuge from persecution 
in a remote quarter of the globe. The result 
was the founding of New England. 

King James granted, in 1606, letters pa- 
tent to two companies, called the London 
and Plymouth companies, by which posses- 
sion was given them of the territories lying 
between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth de- 
grees of north latitude; the southern part to 
the London, and the northern part to the Ply- 
mouth company ; the king himself having 
undertaken to frame for them a code of laws. 
Three ships were provided by the London 
company, on board of which were one hun- 
dred and five persons, who were expected to 
remain at Roanoke, which was the place of 
their destination. The command of this 
squadron was given to Captain Christopher 
Newport, who sailed from London on the 
20th of December, 1606, and after a tedious 
and disastrous passage of four months, by 
the circuitous route of the West Indies, on 
the 26th of April, discovered Cape Henry, 
the southern cape of the Chesapeake, a storm 
having driven him in a northerly direction 
from his place of destination. He soon after 
discovered Cape Charles, and entered Chesa- 
peake Bay. Charmed with the appearance 
of the country, the company determined to 
commence a settlement, and soon explored 
the neighborhood. Passing above Old Point 
Comfort, a party proceeded up a beautifil 
river, called by the Indians Powhatan, and 
by the colonists, in honor of the king, James 
River. They made a settlement on a penin- 
sula, and called it Jamestown. This was the 
first permanent settlement made by the Eng- 
lish in Virginia. Shortly after, the company 
received supplies from England, and an ac- 
cession to their numbers, swelling the amount 
to two hundred. Two vessels were freighted 
for England ; one loaded with a yellow and 
brilliant sand, common in many places in the 
vicinity, but supposed by the colonists to 
contain a large proportion of gold. The 
other vessel was loaded with tobacco. 

The most eflBcient member of the council 
was Captain John Smith, who was taken by 
the Indians while on an exploring expedi- 
tion. He was led to the place of execution, 
and his head placed upon a stone, while Pow- 
hatan, the Indian chieftain, stood over him 



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jCottage cyclopedia of 



with uplifted club, regardless of the earnest 
solicitations of his daughter Pocahontas, 
then about thirteen years of age. The mer- 
ciful maiden findmg her entreaties unavail- 
ing, fell upon Smith, folded him in her arms, 
and laid her face upon his, determined to 
meet death with him she could not save. 
Moved by this touching devotion, Powhatan 
relented, and two days afterward sent Smith 
to Jamestown. In 1609 the destruction of 
the whole colony was planned by the Indians, 
but their plans were defeated by the exer- 
tions of Pocahontas, who, in a dark night, 
went to Jamestown, and put the president 
upon his guard. Pocahontas married an 
English gentleman by the name of Rolfe, 
embraced the Christian religion, and was 
baptized by the name of Rebecca. She died 
four years after at Gravesend, on her return 
with her husband from England. 

In 1619 one hundred and fifty young wo- 
men, "handsome and uncorrupt," were sent 
to Virginia and sold to the planters for one 
hundred and one hundred and fifty pounds 
of tobacco each, tobacco being then valued 
at about three shillings the pound. At the 
same time twenty negroes were brought to 
Virginia in a Dutch vessel, and sold to the 
colonists, whence one may date the com- 
mencement of the slaveholding system. 

In 1614 Captain Smith was sent from 
England to explore North Virginia. He 
ranged the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, 
making observations on the shores, harbors, 
islands, and headlands ; and made a map of 
the country, which on his return to England, 
he showed to Prince Charles (afterward 
Charles I.), who gave it the name of New 
England. 

The Rev. Mr. Robinson, with his Puritan 
flock, removed to Amsterdam from the north 
of England, in 1008, and soon after to Ley- 
den. A variety of motives led his congre- 
gation to turn their attention to the New 
World : the principal were, the enjoyment of 
perfect liberty of conscience ; " the preser- 
vation of ecclesiastical affairs distinct from 
those of the state ; " and a hope of laying the 
foundation of an extensive empire, that should 
be purged from all religious impurities. 
Having made an arrangement with the Vir- 
ginia company, they sailed from Plymouth, 
England, on the 6th of Septen^ber, 1620, and 



on the 10th of November, anchored in Prov- 
incetown harbor. Perceiving that they were 
so far north as to be without the territory of 
the Virginia company, some hesitation arose ; 
but the winter was at hand, and it was now 
too late to go in search of a settlement with- 
in the jurisdiction of that company. Previ- 
ous to their landing, after prayer and thanks- 
giving, they formed themselves into a body 
politic, binding themselves by a written cov- 
enant to be governed by the decisions of a 
majority. This instrument was subscribed 
by forty-one persons, who with their children 
and domestics, composed a company of one 
hundred and one persons. Mr. John Carver 
was chosen, without one dissentient voice, 
governor for one year. 

Parties were sent on shore to make dis- 
coveries. Some Indians were seen but could 
not be overtaken. A considerable quantity 
of corn was found in heaps of sand, secured 
in baskets, which served for seed the ensuing 
spring, and tended to save the adventurers 
from famine. On the Gth of December, Car- 
ver, Standish, Winslow, Bradford, and others, 
sailed to various places, to discover a suitable 
situation for a settlement. Monday, Dec. 
11th, o.s., they landed at what was afterward 
called Plymouth, and from the excellence of 
the harbor, and the favorable appearance of 
the land, they resolved to commence a settle- 
ment here. . 

In 1G28 the council for New England sold 
to several gentlemen in England a patent for 
all that part of New England, lying between 
three miles north of the Merrimack, and 
three miles south of Charles River. In 1629 
Kmg Charles incorporated "The governor 
and company of Massachusetts Bay in New 
England." Their colony soon became more 
important than the older settlement at Ply- 
mouth, and in 1692 the latter was incorpora- 
ted with it. 

Such was the origin of the early settlements 
of the English on the new continent. Dur- 
ing the century they founded colonies from 
Maine to Georgia, and wrested New York, 
New Jersey, and Delaware from the Dutch. 
The colonists had to contend with the natu- 
ral difficulties of their situation, to struggle 
in an almost constant warfare with a barba- 
rous foe, and to bear a heavy burden in the 
wars of the mother country with France. In 



I 
I 



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897 



spite of all these drawbacks they throve to a 
prosperity which aroused jealousy in Eng- 
land, whose uniform policy was to advance 
her own profit rather than benefit her own 
offspring. 

We now come to the commencement of 
those acts which created that patriotic feel- 
ing in the colonies, which resulted in the 
declaration of their independence. 

In 1764 the parliament of Great Britain 
passed an act, the preamble to which ran thus : 
" Whereas it is just and necessary that a rev- 
emie be raised in America, for defraying the 
expenses of defending, protecting, and secur- 
ing the same," «fec. The act then proceeded 
to lay a duty on sugar, indigo, coffee, silk, 
molasses, calicoes, &c., being the produce of 
a colony not under the dominion of his 
majesty. To this the colonists submitted ; 
though not without complaint and remon- 
strance. Before this the subject of taxing 
the American colonies had been in agitation. 
"There is something curious," says Fox, 
** in discovering that even at this early period 
(1(585) a question relative to North American 
liberty, and even to North American taxa- 
tion, was considered as the test of principles 
friendly or adverse to arbitrary power at 
home. But the truth is, that, among the 
several controversies which have arisen, 
there is no other where the natural rights of 
man, on the one hand, and the authority of 
artificial institutions, on the other, as applied 
respectively by the whigs and tories to the 
English constitution, are so fairly put in is- 
sue, nor by which the line of separation be- 
tween the two parties is so strongly and dis- 
tinctly marked." 

When a scheme for taxing the colonies was 
proposed to Sir Robert Walpole, he replied : 
" I will leave that for some of my successors 
who may have more courage than I have, 
and be less a friend to commerce than I am. 
It has been a maxim with me, during my 
administration, to encourage the trade of the 
American colonies in the utmost latitude. 
Nay, it has been necessary to pass over some 
irregularities in their trade with Europe ; for, 
by encouraging them to an extensive, grow- 
ing foreign commerce, if they gain £500,000, 
I am convinced that, in two years afterward, 
full £250,000 of their gains will be in his 
majesty's exchequer, by the labor and pro- 



duct of this kingdom. This is taxing them 
more agreeably to their constitution and 
ours." 

Instead of a repeal of the act imposing the 
first tax, parliament, the next year, imposed 
a duty on stamps. Resolutions were passed 
by the popular branches of most of the 
colonial legislatures, against this duty. Mas- 
sachusetts recommended a colonial congress, 
to consult for the general welfare. A con- 
gress firom most of the colonies, consisting 
of twenty-eight members, met at New York ; 
remonstrated against the act of parliament ; 
petitioned for its repeal -, and made a declara- 
tion of the rights of the colonies ; declaring 
that taxation and representation were insep- 
arable, and that parliament had no right to 
take their money without their consent. 
Disturbances arose throughout the countr^^ 
Business was conducted without stamped 
paper, and the validity of obligations was 
established by the courts. Meanwhile the 
colonists entered into associations to prevent 
the importation of British goods, till the 
stamp act should be repealed. 

When information of the almost universal 
opposition of the Americans to the stamp 
act, reached the ears of parliament, great agi- 
tation arose. Mr. Pitt said, " You have no 
right to tax America. I rejoice that America 
has resisted. Three millions of our fellow- 
subjects so lost to every sense of virtue, as 
tamely to give up their liberties, would be 
fit instruments to make slaves of the rest." 
The act was repealed, but the repealing act 
had this sweeping sentence, "that the parlia- 
ment had, and of right ought to have, power 
to bind the colonies in all cases whatsoever." 

In 1767 Mr. Townshend, the chancellor of 
the exchequer, brought into parliament a 
bill for imposing a duty to be collected in the 
colonies on glass, paper, painters' colors and 
tea. The bill having passed, was, the next 
year, sent to the colonies. A bill was also 
passed for establishing at Boston a board of 
commissioners, to manage the revenue aris- 
ing from the duties. An act was also passed 
to compel the colonies to provide for the 
British troops, and support them at their 
own expense. These various acts of parlia- 
ment resuscitated the flames of resentment 
and opposition, which had been almost ex- 
tinguished. The most spirited resolutions 



57 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



were passed by the colonies, among which 
the non-importation resolutions were the 
most important. 

On the 5th of March, 1770, some British 
soldiers, being insulted and pressed upon by 
a mob in King s (now State) street, Boston, 
fired upon the populace, killed three, and 
wounded six. Captain Preston, who com- 
manded the party, and his men, were tried 
and acquitted, with the exception of two who 
were brought in guilty of manslaughter. In 
1773, but little tea having been imported into 
America, parliament enjoyed her supposed 
right without benefit, and the Americans 
denied it without injury. xVftairs therefore 
remained in the same state, till the East India 
company, who had on hand about seventeen 
million pounds of tea, were allowed by act 
of parliament to export to America free from 
the duties they had before paid in England ; 
retaining those only which were to be paid in 
America. It was thought the colonists 
would pay the small tax of three pence a 
pounfl, as even then tea would be cheaper 
than in England. But the principle involved 
was the same odious one, and the Americans 
were determined not to accept the bribe. 

The corresponding committees, which had 
been forming throughout the colonies for the 
last two years, excited resistance. The con- 
sequence was that the cargoes of tea, sent to 
New York and Philadelphia, were sent back, 
and those sent to Charleston were stored, but 
not offered for sale. The tea ships intended 
for the supply of Boston, after the inhabi- 
tants had tried in vain to have them returned, 
they being consigned to the relations of Gov. 
Hutchinson, were entered by about seventeen 
persons in the disguise of Indians, and three 
hundred and forty-two chests of tea were 
thrown into the dock, no other damage being 
done. 

In 1774 parliament, receiving information 
of the treatment of the East Indian company 
with respect to their tea, were much exas- 
perated. Though the opposition was general, 
the province of Massachusetts, and especially 
the town of Boston, were considered the fo- 
menters of disobedience to their authority. 
Boston was therefore selected as the mark 
against which to direct their vengeance. 
Hence a bill was passed, by which the port 
©f Boston was precluded from the privilege 



of landing and discharging, or of lading and 
shipping, wares and merchandize. Another 
bill was also passed, essentially altering the 
charter of the province, making the appoint- 
ment of the council, justices, judges, sheriffs, 
&c., dependent on the crown, or its innne- 
diate agent. Another act directed the gover- 
nor to send to another colony or to Great 
Britain for trial, any person indicted for mur- 
der or any other capital offense. "When 
these acts arrived in America, they were cir- 
culated with rapidity throughout the conti- 
nent. But one sentiment of indignation and 
opposition governed the people. The town 
of Boston recommended an universal associ- 
ation to stop importations. 

The house of burgesses in Virginia, which 
colony had ever been forward in seconding 
the spirits and measures of Massachusetts, 
ordered that the day on which the Boston 
port bill was to go into operation should be 
kept as a day of fisting and prayer. Pam- 
phlets, newspaper discussions, addresses and 
essays, were multiplied without number, 
proving the wickedness of the acts of parlia- 
ment, and urging an union of the colonies for 
resistance. Massachusetts recommended a 
meeting of delegates from all the colonies, 
the assembly electing five for that purpose. 
On the 4th of September, the deputies of 
eleven colonies appeared at Philadelphia, or- 
ganized themselves by choosing Peyton Ran- 
dolph president, and Charles Thompson sec- 
retary, and agreed to vote by states. A non- 
importation and non-consumption agreement 
were made ; an address to the king, a memo- 
rial to the inhabitants of British America, 
and an address to the people of Great Bri- 
tain, were also framed. After a few weeks 
they dissolved ; recommending the 10th of 
the succeeding May, if their grievances 
should remain unredressed, for another ses- 
sion of congress. 

Oct. 5th, General Gage, the governor of 
Massachusetts, as well as commander-in- 
chief of all the royal forces in North Amer- 
ica, issued writs for holding a general assem- 
bly in Salem. He afterward countermanded 
the writs. Ninety members met, formed 
themselves into a provincial congress, ad- 
journed to Concord, and chose John Hancock 
president. They afterward adjourned to 
Cambridge, and drew up a plan for placing 



UNI 



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899 



the province in a posture of defense, by en- 
listing men, choosing general officers, &c. 

In January, 1775, the Earl of Chatham 
brought forward a conciliatory bill in the 
house of peers, which was rejected two to 
one. Lord North, the prime minister, intro- 
duced a bill for restraining the trade of the 
New England colonies. Receiving informa- 
tion of the general opposition in the southern 
colonies, he introduced another bill, equally 
restraining their trade, but excepting North 
Carolina, Delaware, and New York. The 
time had now come for testing the nerve of 
the colonists. An attempt was made by the 
British troops to seize the military stores at 
Concord, April 19th, but they had to encoun- 
ter the armed opposition, of the militia at 
Concord and Lexington. Boston was now 
blockaded by the colonists, Ticonderoga and 
Crown Point were taken. The battle of 
Bunker's Hill followed, and an unsuccessful 
expedition against Canada preceded the 
Declaration of Independence. 

On May 10th, 1775, the continental con- 
gress met at Philadelphia, and on the 15th 
of June unanimously elected George Wash- 
ington, then a member from Virginia, com- 
mander in-chief of the forces raised, and to 
be raised, for the defense of the colonies. 
June 7th, 1776, Richard Henry Lee of 
Virginia, made a motion in congress, for 
declaring the colonies free and independent. 
After much debate, on the fouktii of July, 
the thirteen colonies were declared free 
AND INDEPENDENT, uudcr the titlc of the Uni- 
ted States of America. [See Declaration 
OF Independence.] 

Thus opened the great dra,ma of our Revo- 
lution. Its glorious result was won by our 
fathers against heavy odds and through much 
suffering. [See Revolution.] 

On the 19th of October, 1781, Cornwallis 
surrendered at Yorktown. The fall of this 
large British army may be considered as the 
closing of the war. Gen. Washington or- 
dered divine service in the different divisions 
and brigades. Congress went in solemn pro- 
cession to the Dutch Lutheran church in 
Philadelphia, returned thanks to Almighty 
God for the success of the combined armies, 
and recommended a day of general thanks- 
giving and prayer throughout the United 
State^ Savannah was evacuated in July 



(1782) and Charleston in December. Great 
Britain acknowledged our independence Nov. 
30th, 1782, and the cessation of hostilities 
was proclaimed April 19th, 1783. Holland 
acknowledged the independence of the Uni- 
ted States in April; Sweden in February, 
1783; Denmark in the same month; Spain 
in March ; Russia in July. 

The debt of the United States, at the close 
of the war, was about forty millions of dol- 
lars. Congress had power to make war, and 
to create debts, but no power to carry on the 
war, nor ability to pay debts, but by appeals 
or recommendations to thirteen independent 
sovereignties, whose unanimity alone, seldom 
to be expected, could support public credit, 
or give cflficacy to the proceedings of congress. 
For the payment of the public debt, a pro- 
posal was made by congress to the several 
states to lay a duty of five per cent, on all 
goods imported from foreign countries, till 
the national debt should be paid. This plan 
failed ; some states adopting it altogether, 
soijie agreeing to it in part, and some totally 
rejecting it. Thus, no efficient funds being 
provided, the evidences of the public debt 
began to decrease in value, till they were sold 
at length for two shillings in the pound. 
Another and less cumbrous form of govern- 
ment was a necessity. A convention accord- 
ingly met at Philadelphia in May, 1787, and 
framed a constitution, which was duly rati- 
fied by the several states. [See Constitu- 
tion.] 

The new federal government was estab- 
lished in 1789. Washington was unani- 
mously chosen the first president, and John 
Adams vice-president. Mr. Jefferson was 
selected for the department of state ; Alexan- 
der Hamilton was appointed secretary of the 
treasury ; Gen. Knox secretary of war, and 
Edmund Randolph attorney-general of the 
United States. John Jay was made chief 
justice of the supreme court of the United 
States ; John Rufledge, James Wilson, Wil- 
liam Gushing, Robert Harrison and John 
Blair were named associate judges. The In- 
dian war on the northwest frontier, and an 
insurrection in the western part of Pennsyl- 
vania, on account of the tax on domestic 
spirits, were favorably terminated. The 
insults and maritime depredations committed 
by the French, induced America to take up 



UNI 



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COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



anns in defense of her rights, but a change 
of rulers in France prevented the effusion 
of blood. 

The claim of searching American vessels, 
and impressing from them British seamen, 
and the British orders in council pi'O- 
hibiting the exportation of the United 
States, together with other outrages com- 
mitted by the British, produced a decla- 
ration of war against Great Britain in June, 
1812. The successes of the British were 
but few and trifling, while the American navy 
triumphed in a series of brilliant exploits, 
and the gallant defense of New Orleans by 
Gen. Jackson, crowned the American arms 
with laurels. Peace was concluded at Ghent, 
Dec. 24:th, 1814. The battle of New Orleans 
was fought the 8th of January, 1815, before 
the news of peace reached the United States. 
The country continued to increase in power 
and prosperitj^ A rapid increase of popu- 
lation by emigration followed upon the con- 
clusion of the war, and within ten years six 
states were added to the Union. The cession 
of Florida was obtained from Spain in 1 820. 
In the summer of 1824 the venerable Lafay- 
ette came, at the invitation of Congress, once 
more to the land whose freedom he had so 
largely helped to win. During his stay he 
visited every state, and was everywhere 
hailed as the nation's guest. A new frigate 
was -made ready to bear him home, and 
named the Brandywine, in memory of the 
battle in which he was wounded. He em- 
barked at Washington, attended to the ves- 
sel by a large concourse, and President 
Adams bade him an affectionate farewell in 
behalf of the nation. In passing Mount 
Vernon the veteran landed to pay his last 
visit to the tomb of Washington. A pros- 
perous voyage then bore him home. On the 
4th of July, 1826, there occurred, in striking 
coincidence, the deaths of Thomas Jefferson 
and John Adams, two of the most illustrious 
champions of the independence of which the 
day was the fiftieth anniversary. 

In 1835 the Seminoles, an Indian tribe in 
Florida, commenced hostilities in resistance 
to their removal to lands west of the Missis- 
sippi ; Osceola, their most famous chief, said 
he "wished to rest in the land of his fathers, 
and his children to sleep by his side." The 
bloody and costly war is even how hardly 



terminated. A portion of the Seminoles 
were removed to the west, but a remnant 
still lurk among the glades. Through the 
annexation of Texas, the country became 
involved in war with Mexico in 1847. The 
leading features of this contest were, the in- 
vasion of the north of Mexico, and the defeat 
of Santa Anna, by Gen. Taylor; the brilliant 
campaign of Gen. Scott, beginning with the 
capture of Vera Cruz, and ending with that 
of the city of Mexico ; the conquest of New 
Mexico by Gen. Kearney ; and the seizure 
of California by Fremont. [See Buena Vista, 
Cerro Gordo, &c.] Peace was restored by 
the treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, Feb. 2d, 
1848 ; by the terms of which the United 
States obtained a large cession of territory, 
in exchange for $15,000,000 and the liquida- 
tion of all debts due American citizens from 
the Mexican government. California, which 
was included in this cession, speedily at- 
tracted the attention of the world by the 
discovery of her teeming mines of gold. 

For the chief facts of the Kebellion, see the 
Chronology at the close of this volume. 

The government of the United States is a 
pure democracy. Each of the states has a 
separate and independent legislature for the 
administration of its local affairs, but all arc 
ruled in matters of common policy by two 
houses of congress, the senate and the house 
of representatives, to which delegates arc 
sent from the different members of the con- 
federacy. The president is elected by the 
free voice of the people. The Americans are 
truly a self-governed nation ; and exhibit the 
first example of a democracy which has suc- 
ceeded in combining a vast amount of free- 
dom with good oixler and subordination to 
the law. 

PRESIDENTS. 

1789. George Washington, of Mt. Vernon, Va. 

1797. John Adams, of Quincy, Mass. 

1801. Thomas Jeflferson, of Monticello, Va. 

1809. James Madison, of Moutpelier, Va. 

1817- James Monroe, of Loudon County, Va. 

1825. John Quincy Adams, of Quincy, Mass, 

1829. Andrew Jackson of Nashville, Tenn. 

1837. Martin Van Buren, of Kinderhook, N. Y. 

1841. William Henry Harrison, of North Bend, 

Ohio. Died in office, April 4, 1841. 

1841. John Tyler, of Williamsburg, Va. 

1845. James Knox Polk, of Nashville, Tenn. 

1849. Zacharv Taylor, of Baton Kouge, La. 

Died in office, July 9, 1850. 

1850. Millard Fillmore, of BuffiUo, N. Y. ^ 
1853. Franklin Pierce, of Concord, N. H. 



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901 



1857. James Buchanan, of Lancaster, Penn. 
1861. Abraham Lincoln, of Springfield, 111. As- 
sassinated, April 14, 1865. 
1865. Andrew Johnson, of Greenville, Tenn. 

" I appeal to History ! " says Phillips. 
"Tell me; thou reverend chronicler of the 
grave, can all the illusions of ambition real- 
ized, can all the wealth of a universal com- 
merce, can all the achievements of successful 
heroism, or all the establishments of this 
world's wisdom, secure to empire the perma- 
nency of its possessions ? Alas ! Troy 
thought so once ; yet the land of Priam lives 
only in song ! Thebes thought so once ; yet 
her hundred gates have crumbled, and her 
very tombs are but as the dust they were 
vainly intended to commemorate ! So 
thought Palmyra — ^where is she ? So thought 
the countries of Demosthenes and the Spar- 
tan ; yet Leonidas is trampled by the timid 
slave, and Athens insulted by the ser- 
vile, mindless, and enervate Ottoman ! In 
his hurried march. Time has but looked at 
their imagined immortality ; and all its vani- 
ties, from the palace to the tomb, have, with 
their ruins, erased the very impression of 
his footsteps ! The days of their glory are 
as if they had never been ; and the island 
that was then a speck, rude and neglected in 
the barren ocean,, now rivals the ubiquity of 
their commerce, the glory of their arms, the 
fame of their philosophy, the eloquence of 
their senate, and the inspiration of their 
bards ! AVho shall sa)^, then, contemplating 
the past, that England, proud and potent as 
she appears, may not, one day, be what Ath- 
ens is, and the young America yet soar to be 
what Athens was ! Who shall say, that, 
when the European column shall have moul- 
dered, and the night of barbarism obscured 
its very ruins, that mighty continent may 
not emerge from the horizon, to rule, for its 
time, sovereign of the ascendant ! " 

URIM AND THUMMIM. LiCxHT and Per- 
fection. Much dispute has existed among 
the learned as to what this ceremony was 
among the ancient Jews ; but no certainty 
has been hitherto arrived at. It is conjee^ 
tared to have been some means of inducing 
an answer from God upon extraordinary oc- 
currences. The high priest was the officiat- 
ing minister, and whenever the ceremony 
was performed, he dressed in all his richest 
pontificals, and wore the most costly orna 



ments. It was never used for a private per- 
son or occasion, but only for the king, the 
president of the sanhedrim, the general of 
the army, &c., and always upon something 
relating to the common welfare of the church 
or state. 

URUGUAY. The Oriental republic of 
the Uruguay is bounded on the north and 
east by Brazil ; south by the Atlantic, and 
west by the Uruguay, which divides it from 
the states of Corrientes and Entre Rios. It 
has an area of 120,000 square miles, and a 
population of 250,000 souls. This territory 
formerly belonged to the Spanish y ice-royalty 
of the Plata, and was called the Banda Ori- 
ental (Eastern Frontier) from its geographi- 
cal position. It was afterward claimed by- 
Brazil, but in 1828, after a bloody war be- 
tween the Brazilians and Buenos Ayreans, 
the two parties agreed to its being erected 
into an independent state. 

Monte Video, the capital of the republic, 
is situated on the Plata, and is regularly 
built, but the houses are low and the streets 
are not paved. It has a good harbor, and 
formerly enjoyed an extensive commerce. 
The prosperity of the city has been much affect- 
ed by the wars between the neighboring states, 
and its population has much diminished. 
It now contains about 12,000 inhabitants. 

Maldonado and Colonia are small towns 
on the Plata, with good harbors. 

USHANT, Battle of. Between the Brit- 
ish and French fleets, July 27th, 1778, when, 
after an indecisive action of three hours, the 
latter, under cover of the night, withdrew in 
a deceptive manner to the harbor of Brest. 
The^brave Admiral Keppel comn,ianded the 
English fleet; the Count d'Orvilliers the 
French. The failure of a complete victory 
was by many attributed to Sir Hugh Palli- 
ser's non-compliance with the admiral's sig- 
nals. This gentleman, who was vice-admiral 
of the blue, preferred articles of accusation 
against his commander, who was in conse- 
quence tried by a court-martial, but acquitted 
in the most honorable manner, and the charge 
against him declared by the court to be " ma- 
licious and ill-founded."— Lord Howe signal- 
ly defeated the French fleet, taking six ships 
of the line, and sinking one of large force, 
and several others, 4th June, 1794. While 
the two fleets were engaged in this action, a 



USH 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



large fleet of merchantmen, on the safety of 
which the French nation depended for its 
means of prosecuting the war, got safely into 
Brest harbor, which gave occasion to the en- 
emy to claim the laurels of the day, notwith- 
standing their loss in ships, and in killed and 
wounded, which was very great. 

USHER, James, Archbishop of Armagh, 
and primate of Ireland, was born at Dublin, 
in 1581. He was very earnest in opposing 
the Catholics, and some of the views he main- 
tained subjected him to the charge of being 
a favorer of Puritanism. In the political 
convulsions of the reign of Charles I., he 
wrote a treatise to assert the absolute unlaw- 
fulness of taking up arms against the king. 
The Irish rebellion in 1G41 drove Usher to 
England, where after various shiftings of 
residence made necessary by the civil war, 
he died at Ryegate in 1656. Most of the 
writings of this eminent scholar relate to 
ecclesiastical history and antiquities, to fur- 
nish arguments against the Catholics ; but 
the production for which he is chiefly cele- 
brated is his great chronological digest of 
universal history from the creation down to 
the dispersion of the Jews in the reign of 
Vespasian. 

UTRECHT, a city of the Netherlands, 
capital of a province of the same name, con- 
tains 45,000 inhabitants. The treaty of 
Utrecht was concluded April 11th, 1713, be- 
tween the allies and the French. The first 
stipulation of this famous treaty was, that 
Philip of Anjou, being acknowledged king 
of Spain, should renounce all right to the 
crown of France, the union of two such pow- 
erful kingdoms being thought dangero'us to 
the liberties of Europe. It was agreed that 
the Duke of Berri, Philip's brother, and 



after him in succession, should also renounce 
his right to the crown of Spain, in case he 
became king of Finance. It was stipulated 
that the Duke of Savoy should possess the 
island of Sicily, with the title of king, to- 
gether with Fenestrclles, and other places on 
the continent, which increase of dominion 
was in some measure made out of the spoils 
of the French monarchy. The Dutch had 
that barrier granted them, which they so 
long sought after ; and if the crown of 
France was deprived of some dominions to 
enrich the Duke of Savoy, on the other hand 
the house of Austria was taxed to supply 
the wants of the Hollanders, who were put 
in possession of the strongest towns in Flan- 
ders. With regard to England, its glory and 
its interests M^ere secured. The fortifications 
of Dunkirk, a harbor that might be danger- 
ous to English trade in time of war, were 
ordered to be demolished, and its port de- 
stroyed. Spain gave up all right to Gibraltar 
and the island of Minorca. France resigned 
her pretensions to Hudson's Bay, Nova Sco- 
tia, and Newfoundland, but was left in pos- 
session of Cape Breton, and the liberty of 
drying fish upon the shore. Among these 
articles, glorious to the English nation, their 
setting free the French Protestants confined 
in the prisons and galleys for their religion, 
was not the least meritorious. For the em- 
peror, it was stipulated that he should pos- 
sess the kingdom of Naples, the ducliy of 
Milan, and the Spanish Netherlands. The 
king of Prussia was to have Upper Guelders ; 
and a time was fixed for the emperor's acce- 
ding to those articles, as he had for some 
time obstinately refused to assist at the nego- 
tiation. The security of the Protestant sue 
cession in England was also guaranteed. 



UTR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



903 



VALENCIENNES, a fortified city of 
France, on the Scheldt, containing 28,000 
inhabitants. In 1793 this town formed one 
of the first objects of attack by the aUies, 
after the defeat of Dumouriez. The siege 
conducted under the command of the Duke 
of York, was long and obstinate, and part 
of the town was laid in ashes before the 
capitulation. It was retaken, with great 
quantities of stores and specie, by the French 
in 1794 ; escaped attack in the invasion by 
the allied powers in 1814 and 1815 ; and 
was definitely confirmed to France by the 
treaties of these years. 

VALENS, Flavius, a son of Gratian, born 
in Pannonia. His brother Valentinian took 
him as his colleague on the throne, and ap- 
pointed him over the eastern parts of the 
Roman empire. By perseverance, Valens 
was enabled to distinguish himself in his 
wars against the northern barbarians. But 
his lenity to these savage intruders proved 
fatal to the Roman power ; and by permit- 
ting some of the Goths to settle in the prov- 
inces of Thrace, and to have free access to 
every part of the country, Valens encouraged 
them to make depredations on his subjects, 
and to disturb their tranquillity. Ilis eyes 
were opened too late ; he attempted to repel 
them, but he failed in the attempt. A 
bloody battle was fought, in which the bar- 
barians obtained some advantage, and Va- 
lens was hurried away into a lonely house, 



these desperate and indigent barbarians had 
deprecated the conqueror's vengeance, Valen- 
tinian treated them with contempt, and up- 
braided them with every marl of resent- 
ment. While he spoke with such warmth, 
he broke a blood-vessel, and fell lifeless on 
the ground. He was conveyed into his pal- 
ace by his attendants, and soon after died, 
after suffering the greatest agonies, from vio- 
lent fits and contortions of his limbs, on the 
17th of November, a.d. 375. He was then 
in the fifty-fittli year of his age, and had 
reigned twelve years. 

VALENTINIAN II. About six days after 
the death of Valentinian, his second son, 
Valentinian II., was proclaimed emperor, 
though only five years old. He was associa- 
ted with his elder brother Gratian, whom he 
succeeded in 383, but his youth seemed to 
favor dissension, and the attempts and the 
usurpations of rebels. He was robbed of 
his throne by Maximus, four years after the 
death of Gratian ; and in this helpless situa- 
tion he had recourse to Theodosius, who was 
then emperor of the east. He was success- 
ful in his applications ; Maximus was con- 
quered by Theodosius, and Valentinian en- 
tered Rome in triumph, accompanied by his 
benefactor. He was some time after strangled 
by one of his officers, a native of Gaul, called 
Arbogastes, 392. He was fond of imitating 
the virtues and exemplary life of his friend 
and patron Theodosius, and if he had lived 



which the Goths set on fire. Unable to make | longer, the Romans might have enjoyed 
his escape, he was burnt alive, in the fiftieth 
year of his age, after a reign of thirteen 
years, a.d. 378. 

VALENTINIAN L, a son of Gratian, 
raised to the imperial throne of Rome by his 



peace and security. 

VALENTINIAN IIL was son of Oonstan- 
tius and Placidia, the daughter of Theodo- 
sius the Great, and therefore, as related to 
the imperial family, he was saluted emperor 



merit and valor. He kept the western part j in his youth, and publicly acknowledged 



of the empire for himself, and appointed 
over the east his brother Valens. He gave 
convincing proof of his military valor in the 
victories which he obtained over the barba- 
rians in the provinces of Gaul, the deserts 
of Africa, and on the banks of the Rhine 
and Danube. The insolence of the Quadi 
he punished with great severity ; and when 



such, at Rome, the 3d of October, a. d. 423, 
about the sixth year of his age. He was at 
first governed by his mother, and the in- 
trigues of his generals and courtiers ; and 
when he came to years of discretion, he dis- 
graced himself by violence, oppression, and 
incontinence. He was murdered in the 
midst of Rome, a.d. 454, in the thirty-sixth 



VAL 



904 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



year of his age, and thirty-first of his reign, 
by Petronius Maximus, to whose wife he had 
offered violence, who succeeded him. 

VALERIANUS, Publius Licinius, a Ro- 
man, proclaimed emperor by the armies in 
Rhajtia, a.d. 253. He took his son Gallie- 
nus as his colleague in the empire, and 
showed the malevolence of his heart by per- 
secuting the Christians, whom he had for a 
while tolerated. He also made M-ar against 
the Goths and Scythians ; but in an expedi- 
tion which he undertook against Sapor, king 
of Persia, his arms were attended with ill 
success. He was conquered in Mesopotamia, 
and when he wished to have a private con- 
ference with Sapor, the conqueror seized his 
person, carried him in triumph to his capital, 
and exposed him in all the cities of his em- 
pire, to the ridicule and insolence of his sub- 
jects. When the Persian monarch mounted 
on horseback, Valerian served as a footstool, 
and the many other insults which he suffered, 
excited indignation even among the courtiers 
of Sapor. The monarch at last ordered him 
to be flayed alive, and salt to be thrown over 
his mangled body, so that he died in the 
greatest torments. His skin was tanned, and 
painted in red ; and that the ignominy of the 
Roman empire might be lasting, it was nailed 
in one of the temples of Persia. Valerian 
died in the seventy-first year of his age, a.d. 
260, after a reign of seven years. 

VALERIUS, Publics, a celebrated Roman, 
surnamed PopUcola, from his popularity. 
He was very active in assisting Brutus to 
expel the Tarquins, and he was the first that 
took an oath to support the liberty and inde- 
pendence of his country. He was honored 
with the consulship on the expulsion of Col- 
latinus, and he triumphed over the Etruri- 
ans, after he had gained the victory in the 
battle in which Brutus and the sons of Tar- 
quin had fallen. Valerius died after he had 
been four times consul, and enjoyed the pop- 
ularity, and received the thanks and the grati- 
tude, which people redeemed from slavery 
and oppression usually pay to their deliver- 
ers. To do him honor, his body was buried 
at the public expense. 

VALERIUS, Makcus, surnamed Corvinus, 
a tribune of the soldiers under L. Furius 
Camillus. When the Roman army was 
challenged by one ol the bwuones, remarka- 



ble for his strength and stature, Valerius un- 
dertook to engage him, and obtained an eai^y 
victory by aid of a raven that .attacked the 
face of the Gaul, whence his surname of 
Corvinus. He vanquished the states that 
made war against Rome, and was six times 
honored with the consulship. He died in the 
hundredth year of his age. 

VALETTE, John Parisot, the forty-eighth 
grand-master, of the order of St. John of 
Jerusalem. During "his reign the knights' 
galleys took above fift}' Turkish ships in less 
than five years, which so enraged Solyman 
II., that he resolved to lay siege to Malta, 
and drive the knights thence. His forces set 
out from Constantmople in April, 1865, and 
arrived at Navarin the 11th of May. The 
fleet consisted of one hundred and fifty gal- 
leys, nine men-of-war, &c. The Knights 
fought with the greatest valor, defying the 
assaults of the Turks, four months. Forty- 
nine Christian galleys arriving then, the 
Turkish commander raised the siege and 
escaped by night. The Turks lost 20,000 
men, and about 9,000 Christians died of their 
wounds. Valette rebuilt the city, calling it 
by his own name. He died in 1568. 

VALMY, a village in the north-east of 
France. An action was fought here, Sept. 
■20th, 1T92, between the French and Prus- 
sians. 

VAN BLTtEN, Martin, eighth President 
of the United States, was born in Kinder- 
hook, N. Y., Dec. 5, 1782. He began the 
study of law at the age of fourteen, and in 
1812 was a prominent Democratic politician, 
warmly supporting in the State Senate the 
war with Great Britain. lie then became 
Attorney General of the State, and in 1818 
set on foot a new organization of the Dem- 
ocratic party, known for twenty years as the 
"Albany Regency." He was twice elected 
U. S. Senator, in 1821 and 1827, Governor 
in 1828, was Secretary of State under Presi- 
dent Jackson, became minister to Eng- 
land, was elected Vice President in 1832, 
and President in 1836. During his adminis- 
tration occurred the great financial crisis of 
1837, the Canadian insurrection, and the 
anti-slavery agitation. The financial distress 
of the country being ascribed to his party, 
his re-election was defeated by Gen. Harrison 
in 1840. In 1848, Gen. Cass having been 
VAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY 



905 



nominated for President, on a platform toler- 
ating the introduction of slavery into new 
territories, a portion of the party, under the 
name of Free Democracy, nominated Mr. 
Van Buren for the Presidency on a platform 
of determined opposition to the extension or 
encouragement of slavery. The Democracy 
were defeated, and Gen. Taylor, the Whig 
candidate, was elected. Mr. Van Buren died 
at Kinderhook, July 24, 1862. 

VANDALS, originally a Gothic nation, who 
came out of Scandinavia with the other 
Goths, and settled in the countries now known 
as Mecklenberg and Brandcnberg. Another 
colony settled in Pomerania. In process 
of time they extended themselves into Dal- 
matia, Illyricum, and Dacia. They attacked 
Greece, whenc ethey went to Spain ; and then 
under the famous Geneseric, passed over into 
Africa, where they fixed the throne of their 
power. This Prince reduced Carthage, Sar- 
dinia, Sicily, and all the islands between Italy 
and Africa. In 475 he concluded peace with 
the Emperor Zeno, whom he compelled to 
renounce all claim to the provinces of Africa. 
Justinian afterward gained a complete victory 
over the Vandals, and reunited the pi'ovinces 
of Africa to the Greek empire. 

VANDERLYN, John. Aaron Burr was 
riding along in a curricle and pair, one day, 
when one of his horses lost a shoe ; and he 
stopped at the next blacksmith's to have it 
replaced. It was a lonely country place, not 
far from Kingston, in Ulster Co., N. ¥. He 
strolled about while the blacksmith was at 
work, and, returning, saw upon the side of 
a stable near by, a charcoal drawing of his 
own curricle and horses, wonderfully accu- 
rate and spirited. Turning round, he noticed 
a boy a little way off, dressed in coarse home- 
spun. "Who did that?" inquired Burr, 
pointing to the picture. " I did it," said the 
boy. The astonished traveler entered into 
conversation with the lad ; found him intelli- 
gent, though ignorant ; learned that he was 
born in the neighborhood, had had no in- 
struction in drawing, and was engaged to 
work for the blacksmith six months. Burr 
wrote a few words on a piece of paper, and 
said, as he wrote. "My boy, you are too 
smart a fellow to stay here all your life. If 
ever you should want to change your em- 
ployment and see the world, just put a clean 



shirt into your pocket, go to New York, and 
go straight to that address," handing the boy 
the paper. Several months passed away, and 
the circumstance had nearly faded from the 
busy senator's recollection. As he was sit- 
ting at breakfast one morning, a servant put 
uito his hand a small paper parcel, saying it 
was brought by a boy who was waiting out- 
side. Burr opened the parcel, and found a 
coarse country-made clean shirt. Supposing 
it to be a mistake, he ordered the boy to be 
shown in. Who should enter but the genius 
of the roadside, who placed in Burr's hand 
the identical piece of paper he had given 
him. The lad was warmly welcomed. Burr 
took him into his fiimily, educated him, and 
procin-ed him instruction in the art which 
nature had indicated should be the occupa- 
tion of his lifetime. Afterward, Burr as- 
sisted him to go to Europe, where he spent five 
years in the study of painting, and became a 
famous artist — Vanderlyn. 

Vanderlyn painted the well known 'Land- 
ing of Columbus' for a panel in the rotunda 
for the capitol at Washington. He died at 
Kingston in 1852. 

VxVNDERVELDE, William, the Elder, 
born at Leyden, in 1610, was an eminent ma- 
rine painter. His son, William the Younger, 
born at Amsterdam, in 1633, was still more 
famous. Walpole calls him "the greatest 
man that has appeared m this branch of 
painting ; the palm is not less disputed with 
Raphael for history, than with Vandervelde 
for sea-pieces." Both the Vanderveldes were 
established in England in the service of 
Charles IT. in 1675. They were each gi-anted 
a pension of £100 a year by the king; the 
father " for taking and making draughts of 
sea-fights," and the son " for putting the said 
di*aughts into colors." The elder Vander- 
velde, at least, well earned his annual hundred 
sterling. At the great naval fight between the 
Duke of York and the Dutch admiral Opdam, 
he sailed between the hostile fleets in a light 
skiff, to mark their positions and observe 
their operations ; and in this manner, it is 
said, he was also a spectator of the memora- 
ble three days' engagement between Monk 
and De Ruyter. These painters dwelt at 
Greenwich, where the father died in 1693 ; 
the son died in London in 1707. 

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND. This island in 



906 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the Indian Ocean was discovered by Tasman 
in 1G33, and named after the governor of 
Batavia. It was visited by Furncaux in 
1773 ; by Captain Cook in 1777 ; and was 
deemed the south extremity of New Hol- 
land (now Australia) until 1709. A British 
settlement was established on the south-east 
part, within the mouth of the Derwcnt, and 
named Ilobart Town, which is the seat of 
government, 1804. This island was made a 
convict colony of Great Britain. It is some- 
times called Tasmania. The area is about 
22,030 square miles. 

VANDYCK, Antony, was born at Ant- 
werp, March 22d, 1599. His father, a glass 
painter, of Bois-le-Duc, was his first instruc- 
tor in art, and he was also much indebted to 
his mother, who was an elegant landscape 
artist, and very skillful in embroidery. But 
his great master was Rubens, with whom he 
lived about four years. By his advice Van- 
dyck visited Italy, where he remained some 
five years. After his return to Antwerp, 
his picture of the Crucifixion for the church 
of St. Michael at Ghent, established his 
celebrity as one of the first masters of the 
age, and in portraiture he acquired an unri- 
valed reputation. In 1G32 Charles I. sent 
him an express invitation to come to Eng- 
land. There he settled down. He was 
knighted ; a pension of £200 a j'^ear for life 
was bestowed upon him, with the title of paint- 
er to his majesty ; and his successful career 
as a portrait painter enabled him to live in 
great style. He had a country-house at 
Eltham in Kent, where he spent a portion 
of the summer ; he kept great state when in 
town; "he always went magnificently 
dressed, had a numerous and gallant equip- 
age, and kept so good a table in his apart- 
ment, that few princes were more visited or 
better served." Vandyck died in London, 
Dec. 2d, 1641, and was buried in the old 
church of St. Paul, near the tomb of John 
of Gaunt. He left a daughter, his only 
child, by his wife Mary Ruthven, grand- 
daughter of the unfortunate Lord Ruthven, 
Earl of Gowrie. Notwithstanding his ex- 
pensive style of living, he left property to 
the value of £20, 000. His portraits of women 
are especially superior. 

VANE, Sir Henry, an English statesman, 
was born in Kent, in 1589. In 1639 he was 



made treasurer of the household, and soon 
after, principal secretary of state ; but, on 
joining in the prosecution of the Earl of Straf- 
ford, he was removed from all his places. 
He died in 1054. 

VANE, Sir Henry, eldest son of the pre- 
ceding, was born in 1012. His religious 
principles led him to emigrate to New Eng- 
land. He became governor of Massachu- 
setts in 1035, but soon returned to England. 
In 1040 he was elected into parliament, where 
he was the principal mover of the solemn 
league and covenant, and also of the self-de- 
nying ordinance ; but he took no part in the 
king's trial, and he resisted Cromwell to such 
a degree, that the general sent him to Caris- 
brooke Castle. On the death of Oliver, he 
labored to institute a perfect commonwealth, 
but the Stuarts being restored, he was brought 
to trial for treason, and condemned to be 
beheaded, which was put in execution on 
Tower Hill, June 14th, 1002. 

VARRO, Marcus Terentius, a Roman 
statesman and author of great learning. He 
was eighty years old when he wrote his " De 
Re Rustica." He died u.c. 27, aged eighty- 
nine. 

VARUS, QuiNTiLius, a Roman pro-consul, 
descended from an illustrious family. He 
was appointed governor of Syria, and after- 
ward made commander of the armies in Ger- 
many. He was surprised bj'-.the Germans, 
under Hermann, and his army was cut to 
pieces. When he saw that every thing was 
lost, he killed himself, a.d. 10, and his exam- 
ple was followed by some of his officers. 

VATTEL, Emmerich, native of Switzer- 
land, author of valuable writings on jurispru- 
dence and international law, died in 1707, 
aged fifty-three. 

VAUBAN, Sebastian Lepreste de, a 
famous military engineer and tactician of 
France, was born in Burgundj^ in 1032. He 
took part in the wars of Loins XIV., and 
rose to the rank of marshal. He constructed 
or improved an immense number of for- 
tresses, directed as many as fifty -three sieges, 
and was present at one hundred and forty 
battles. He died in 1707. 

VEGA, Lopez de la, was born at Madrid 
in 1502. He was very eminent as a poet, and 
wrote an almost innimierable number of 
dramas. He died in 1035 



VEG 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



907 



VELAZQUEZ, Don Diego, a painter very 
eminent in history, portrait, and landscape, 
was born at Seville in the Spring of 1599, 
and died at Madrid, Aug. 7th, 16G0. He is 
the most eminent of Spanish painters. 

VENDEE, a department in the west of 
France. It is memorable in the history of 
the French revolution, for the resistance made 
to the republican army in 1T93, 1794, and 
1795, which was attended for a time with 
great success, though commenced without 
any concert with the other royalists of 
France, and carried on for a season with 
very limited support from England, La Ven- 
dee was also the scene of some sharp fighting 
in 1815. 

VENEZUELA, a republic in South Amer- 
ica, contains 410, GOO square miles, and 
1,356,000 inhabitants. It is a plain stretch- 
ing from the Andes westward to and beyond 
the Orinoco. The forests beyond the Ori- 
noco are in an unsubdued and savage state, 
peopled by the Caribs and other wandering 
and warlike tribes. A second division con- 
sists of the Llanos, boundless grassy plains, 
where the eye, in the compass of a wide 
horizon, often does not descry an eminence 
six feet in height. Like the pampas of La 
Plata, they are covered with luxuriant pas- 
tures, on which thousands of cattle and 
horses are fed. The export of hides forms a 
principal branch of the commerce of Vene- 
zuela. Culture and civilization are confined 
to the territory adjoining the coast. 

Venezuela, under the Spanish rule, was 
known as the captaincy general of Carac- 
cas. AVhen independence of the mother- 
country was achieved, it became part of the 
republic of Colombia ; since whose dissolu- 
tion in 1830, it has been an independent 
republic. The civil wars and convulsions 
have retarded its progress and prosperity. 
Caraccas is the capital. By the awful earth- 
quake of 1812, and the political convulsions, 
the number of inhabitants of the city of 
Caraccas was greatly reduced. It has since 
increased, and is now about 50,000, the 
former population. 

VENICE, the capital formerly of the repub- 
lic of Venice, stands upon a cluster of litfle 
isles, about eighty in number, and intersected 
by canals, at the head of the Adriatic. These 
canals serve the purpose of streets in other 



towns, and the long, black gondolas con- 
stantly plying along them answer for car- 
riages. The public buildings of Venice are 
numerous, and splendid though decayed: 
there are the great cathedral of San Marco, 
(the patron saint of Venice), the vast palace 
of the doges, many fine churches, and the 
marble mansions of a nobility that once had 
wealth. The city is divided into two parts 
by a canal broader than the rest, called the 
grand canal, over which there is only one 
bridge, the Rialto. The great arsenal, long 
the main instrument of the power of the 
republic, once employed 16,000 workmen; 
it is now the dockyard of the Austrian navy. 
The number of inhabitants is 100,000, exclu- 
sive of the garrison. All the ancient spirit 
and prosperity of the place are gone. 

In the year 452 the people of Aquileia, 
Iladua, and other Italian cities, to escape from 
the fury of the savage followers of Attila, 
fled to the islands at the mouth of the Brenta. 
There they founded two cities, Rivoalto and 
^lalamocco, which in 697 were incorporated 
under one magistrate, entitled a doge, or 
duke. The first doge was Paolo Luca Ana- 
festo. Pepin, as king of Italy, granted to 
the rising town territory along the Adige, 
and Piivoalto (Rialto), united with neighbor- 
ing islands (now also built upon) took the 
name of Venetite from the province Venetia 
(territory of the ancient Veneti), of which 
these islands formed a dependency. The se- 
cure position of the city, its facilities for trade, 
and the commercial enterprise of its inhabit- 
ants, had in the eleventh century already rais- 
ed it to great prosperity. Its fleets were pow- 
erful, and its flag respected in all parts of the 
Mediterranean. In the twelfth century Ven- 
ice bore an illustrious part in the crusades. 
In the dispute between Frederick Barbarossa 
and Pope Alexander IIL, she took the side 
of the holy see, and was thus involved in 
war with the emperor. In a naval engage- 
ment off the Istrian coast in 1177, the impe- 
rial fleet, though superior in numbers, was 
badly defeated, and Otho, the emperor's son, 
fell a captive to the Venetians. Alexander 
was then at Venice, a refugee. When Ziani, 
the victorious doge, returned, the pope has- 
tened in person to receive his deliverer. As 
soon as the doge touched the land, the holy 
father gave him a golden ring. " Take," he 



VEN 



908 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



said, "this ring; and with it take, on my 
authority, the sea as your subject. Every 
3'ear, on the return of this happy day, 3'ou 
and your successors shall make known to all 
posterity that the right of conquest has sub- 
jugated the Adriatic to Venice, as a spouse 
to her lord." Such was the origin of the 
ceremony of wedding the Adriatic, and for 
more than six hundred yeai's every return 
of the feast of Ascension witnessed these fig- 
urative nuptials. 

Genoa grew to be the commercial rival of 
Venice, and a bitter jealousy existed between 
the two republics. They came to blows in 
1258, and after that their wars were frequent 
and their battles sanguinary. In 1293 a 
Venetian fleet was defeated by an inferior 
Genoese armament, and among 7,000 cap- 
tives made was Andrea Dondolo, its admiral. 
The conquerors loaded him with chains, and 
exposed him conspicuously to the rude gaze 
of their fleet, as a signal token of victory. 
In an agony of despair, the unfortunate Ve- 
netian dashed out his brains against the side 
of the galley. In the next century the tide 
of triumph turned against Genoa. Off the 
Sardinian coast in 1353, the Venetians gained 
a great victory over her fleet, which, follow- 
ing close upon previous reverses, caused the 
utmost consternation among the Genoese, 
and in their despair they offered the sove- 
reignty of their dominions to Viscount, Arch- 
bishop of Jlilan, in return for aid against 
their foe. The end of the century saw Ven- 
ice compelled to purchase peace : nevertheless 
Genoa, though her power was apparently 
increased, rapidly verged to decline; while 
Venice retrieved her losses, extended her 
commerce, and maintained her independent 
sovereignty unshaken. 

In 1355, Marino Faliero, fiftj^-seventh doge, 
plotted a seizure of absolute power, through 
a massacre of the entire aristocracy. The 
attempt fixiled from the compunction of one 
of the conspirators, M'ho shrank from the 
murder of a bencf\ictor. He was anxious to 
save the life of Nicolo Lioni, a noble in whose 
family he had been reared ; and through a 
mysterious warning to Lioni on the eve of 
the rising, its impending danger became 
known. The ringleaders were at once ar- 
rested. The lessor of them perished on the 
rack and the gibbet ; Faliero was beheaded. 



The wealth, grandeur, and power of Venice 
continued to increase. She was embroiled in 
frequent hostilities with the Turks, with the 
Genoese, the Florentines, the Milanese, and 
sometimes indeed all Italy, — with varied suc- 
cess and reverse. In 1489 the rich island 
of Cyprus was annexed to the republic, 
which was now at the meridian of power and 
prosperity. By her growing continental ac- 
quisitions she became more and more in- 
volved in the labyrinth of European politics. 
Jealous of her strength and opulence, almost 
all the states of Christendom, suspending 
their quarrels against each other, united for 
her destruction. The famous league of Cam- 
bray, Dec. 10th, 1508, was entered into by 
Louis XII. of France, the Emperor Maximil- 
ian, Pope Julius II., and Ferdinand of Arra- 
gon, as an old chronicler says, "to ruin the 
signory of Venice, which in great pomp and 
with little regard to God lived gloriously and 
gorgeously, luakingsmallaccount of the other 
princes of Christendom." By the battle of 
Agnadello, in* which the French were victo- 
rious, the republic lost all her continental 
territories ; but her fleet, hy wealth, the 
courage and firmness of her citizens, and the 
dissension that soon broke out among the 
allies, raised her out of calamity and pro- 
longed the term of her greatness. 

In 1569, during the dogesliip of Pietro 
Loredano, Selim, the second Turkish sultan 
of that name, cast his covetous eye upon the 
fair isle of Cyprus, and at the terrible cost 
of more than fifty thousand men, it was won. 
The Venetian army had capitulated on hon- 
orable terms : nevertheless Bragadino, their 
commander, after having his ears, nose, and 
lips cut off, was flayed alive, by order of Mus- 
tapha, the Turkish general ; and several hun- 
dred of his companions were massacred. 
The success of the Ottoman arms alarmed 
Christendom, and a league was formed by 
Spain jfnd the pope with Venice. The splen- 
did victory of Lepanto, in 15Y1, filled the 
Turks v?ith consternation; yet, after all, "the 
battell loste was unto Selymus as if a man 
should shave his bearde, which would ere 
long grow again ; but the losse of Cyprus 
was unto the Venetians as the losse of an 
arme, which once cut offe could never be 
againe recovered." 

Venice had enjoyed only a brief respite 



VEN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



9oa 



from the horrors of war, when she was 
scourged by the plague, in 1575, which swept 
off thousands of her people ; among them the 
illustrious Titian. Then came a breathing 
spell of quiet. Much attention was given to 
the embellishment of the capital ; the single 
marble arch of the for-famed Rialto was 
thrown between the two great halves of the 
city ; the prisons were made the strongest 
in Europe. The commencement of the sev- 
enteenth century was marked by a contest 
with Pope Paul V. Throughout her history 
Venice maintained with unbending firmness 
stout barriers against the despotism of the 
Vaticaa Paul's bull of interdict had no 
terrors for the Venetian senate ; their coun- 
try's exclusion from a jubilee which he pro- 
claimed, troubled them as little. When the 
pope threatened to use temporal instead of 
spiritual weapons, they coolly made ready to 
receive his armies. In order to animate the 
populace, the doge, upon appointing an ad- 
miral of the fleet, proceeded to the arsenal ; 
from which establishment soldiers lined the 
way on either side to the mint. One million 
five hundred thousand ducats were spread 
upon a table before the prince ; around that 
table and the arcades of the portico was 
stretched a chain of solid gold one hundred 
feet in length ; and from the vast and glitter- 
ing heap before him Donate distributed their 
pay to the mariners. The quarrel never 
came to war, for the pope drew in his horns, 
and St. Mark triumphed over St. Peter. 

A conspiracy formed by the emissaries of 
Spain, in 1618, brought Venice to the brink 
of destruction ; but the senate obtaining in- 
formation in seaso4, had most of the accom- 
plices drowned in the canals. In a few years 
the republic was embroiled in another war 
with the Porte, an arduous struggle that 
lasted more than a quarter-century, 1641- 
1669. The Turkish attack was directed 
against Candia, the last remnant of ftie share 
of Venice in the partition of the Eastern em- 
pire. For twenty years the siege of the city of 
Candia was continued, and the grand vizier, 
and many of his officers, instead of dwelling 
in tents, erected substantial houses. The city 
was surrounded in September, 1669, and 
peace was made. During this long war, the 
Venetians won many brilliant naval victories. 

The prolonged and mighty contest had 



exhausted the resources of the republic, and 
with the loss of Candia her decline began, — 
not, however, wholly on account of the war. 
Her greatness had its rise in the commercial 
spirit of her people, and their enterprise in 
navigation and ship-building. The products 
of the east were transported by Venetian 
keels from the Levant to the island city, and 
thence distributed over Europe. The cru- 
sades threw great sums into Venetian coffers 
in pay for the transport of troops, and helped 
to render her mistress of the Morea, the 
^Egean Islands, and other parts of the Greek 
empire. But after Vasco di Gama had found 
the way to India by sea, the commerce of 
Venice gradually diminished, and with it her 
political eminence slowly dwindled away. 

Hostilities in Turkey were renewed in 
1683, and a brief season of glory rested on 
the arms of the decaying republic. The 
Morea was wrested from the infidel, and the 
peace of 1699 left it in Venice's possession. 
But she could not maintain it, and the treaty 
of Passarowitz in 1718 gave it back. Thence- 
forth she is a cipher in the history of Eu- 
rope. Twice more only did she appear in 
arms: in 1765 and in 1774 she chastised the 
pirates of Tripoli and Tunis with a spirit 
worthy of her better days. She became 
famous as a haunt of unlicensed pleasure, 
and seemed to seek in excess a compensation 
for the surrender of ambition. Her year 
was so filled with political or religious festi- 
vals as to be one continued holiday. The 
carnival seldom attracted less than fifty thou- 
sand strangers to mingle in unrestrained 
indulgence and sin among the gay masks of 
Venice. The fever of -gambling raged un- 
checked, and the trade of the courtesan was 
protected by the government. The city 
seemed abandoned to iniquity. Then came 
the French revolution, and the invasion of 
Italy by Bonaparte. The Venetians, in order 
to check the progress of the republican forces, 
put Peschiera into the hands of the imperi- 
alists, in 1796 : but Bonaparte quickly be- 
coming master of Italy, they endeavored to 
conciliate the favor of France, by warnirv^ 
out of their territories the Comte de Lille 
(afterward Louis XVIII.), the unfortunate 
brother of the late king, whom they treated 
with indignity and insult. 

Let us go back a little. On the accession 



VEN 



910 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



of Henry of Navarre to the crown of France, 
Venice was among the first powers that recog- 
nized his title; and the great benefit which 
the king derived from this early acknowledg- 
ment by a state so renowned for political 
sagacity was repaid by him with lasting 
friendship. lie knighted the ambassadors 
of the republic, and presented the treasury 
of St. Mark's with a suit of armor, and the 
sword that he wore on the field of Ivry. 
The signory, in return, entered his name in 
the Golden Book, in which the names of the 
Venetian nobles were enrolled; and in- 
structed their ambassadors to burn, in the 
king's presence, certain obligations for con- 
siderable sums which he had bori-owed dur- 
mg his necessities. Henry gaily assured the 
envoy that he had never before warmed him- 
self at so agreeable a fire. When, now, the 
Comte de Lille was ordered to depart from 
the dominions of the degenerate republic, he 
responded, with more spirit than he often 
evinced, " I will quit your territories ; but I 
first demand your Golden Book, that I may 
erase from it the name of my family; and 
next the armor which my ancestor Henry IV. 
presented as a token of amity to your repub- 
lic." The signory replied, that they would 
erase the names themselves, and would return 
the argior when the debts contracted by 
Henry IV. had been discharged. 

Bonaparte had already resolved upon the 
destruction of the Venetian government. 
What was pusillanimons Venice to resist 
him! On the 12th of May, 1797, the capital 
was surrendered to him, and the most ancient 
government in the world, which had just 
completed the eleventh century of its sway, 
ceased its existence. By the treaty of Campo 
Formio, the next October, Venice, with most 
of her dependencies, was given to Austria. 
The peace of Presburg, 1805, ceded her to 
the kingdom of Italy. In 1814 she was re- 
stored to Austria. 

In 1866, Austria, sorely defeated by Prus 
sia and Italy in alliance, 
Venetia. After 70 year 
Austrian soldier was driven out, Venice was 
liberated, and the fond hope of Italian na- 
tionality at length realized. The entrance of 
the King of Italy into this "City of the Sea," 
was celebrated by every expression of grati- 
tude and deliffht. 



In its ancient days Venice was governed 
by an elected council which shared the legis- 
lative power with the doge. The council 
afterward obtained a great preponderance of 
power, and its members even appointed their 
successors, so that the government became a 
close oligarchy. In course of time a senate 
was instituted to settle questions of peace 
and war. The senators, as well as the coun- 
selors of the doge, were appointed by the 
great council. The doge and his council con- 
stituted the signory. The discontents and 
frequent revolts of the fourteenth century 
led to the establishment of the black-robed 
Council of Ten, which by degrees sapped the 
foundations of republican government. Its 
members were chosen by the grand council. 
Its rule was darkly marked with espionage, 
assassination, and terror. It much resembled 
the inquisition. It inquired, sentenced, and 
punished, according to what it called reason 
of state. The public eye never penetrated 
the mystery of its proceedings ; the accused 
was sometimes not heard, — never confronted 
with witnesses ; the condemnation was secret 
as the inquiry, — the punishment like both. 
Though instituted only for the cognizance of 
state crimes, and dependent for existence on 
the will of the grand council, it gradually 
attributed to itself the control of all branches 
of the government. A more formidable, 
remarkable, and execrable magistracy is not 
known. It fell with the republic it helped 
to ruin. 

VERA CRUZ, the chief port and commer- 
cial town of Mexico on the gulf, has a popu- 
lation of about 11,000. The castle of San 
Juan de Ulloa, a fortress tf great strength, 
erected at a cost of $40,1)00,000, defends the 
entrance to the harbor. In February, 1847, 
an American land and naval force was con- 
centrated in the Gulf of Mexico, the army 
commanded by Gen. Scott, and the squadron 
by Commodore Conner, who was afterward 
relieved by Commodore Perry. On the 9th 
had to surrender i ^^ March the troops were debarked at Vera 
1 of tvrannv the Cruz, and on the following day a rapid fire 
' of shot and shell was opened from the town 
and castle on the position occupied by the 
x\^merican army. The landing of the mortars 
and guns for our batteries was delayed for 
several days, so that the bombardment did 
not begin till the 23d. Gen. Scott summoned 
VER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



911 



the town to surrender, a demand that was 
refused by Morales, the Mexican governor. 
A continuous fire from the American bat- 
teries was maintained with terrible effect 
until the 26th of March, and articles of 
capitulation were signed on the following day. 
The surrender of the city took place on the 
morning of the 29th, when the Mexican 
soldiers marched to a plain, a mile out of 
the town, where the Americans were drawn 
up to receive them. There they laid down 
theii; arms, and then departed for the in- 
terior. 

VERE, Sir Francis, an English general, 
was the grandson of John Vere, Earl of Ox- 
ford, and was born in 1554. He served first 
in the Netherlands, under the Earl of Lei- 
cester, and next under Lord Willoughby, 
who, for his conduct in the defense of Ber- 
gen-op-Zoom, conferred on him the honor of 
knighthood. After this he threw supplies 
into the town of Berg, on the Rhine, in which 
hazardous service he received many wounds. 
In 1591 he took a fort near Zutphen by strat- 
agem, and was chiefly instrumental in the 
capture of Deventer. In 1596 he was re- 
called from the Netherlands, and employed 
in the expedition against Cadiz, with the title 
of lord marshal. The last great action of 
this gal'lant commander was the defense of 
Ostend for the Dutch, where he succeeded in 



repelling, with a small garrison of twelve 
hundred men, an army of ten thousand Span- 
ish troops commanded by Albert, Archduke 
of Austria, who was forced to raise the siege 
in March, 1602, after lying ten months before 
the place. Sir Francis died Aug. 28th, 1608, 
and was buried in Westminster Abbey. 

VERE, Sir Horace, Baron of Tilbury, 
younger brother of the preceding, was born 
at Kirby Hall in Essex, in 1565. He served 
with his brother in the Netherlands, and had 
a considerable share in the victory near Nieu- 
port ; as he afterward had in the defense of 
Ostend. In the reign of James I., he com- 
manded the forces sent to the assistance of 
the elector palatine: on which occasion he 
effected a memorable retreat from Spinola, 
the Spanish general. He was the first per- 
son raised to the peerage by Charles I. He 
died in 1635. 

VERGENNES, Charles Gravier, Comte 
de, an eminent French statesman, was born 
at Dijon in 1717. On the accession of Louis 
XVI. to the throne he was made secretary 
of state for foreign affairs. In this situation 
he distinguished himself by what he, no 
doubt, considered a master-stroke of policy, 
that of separating England and her colonies ; 
but in this he only accelerated a more fatal 
blow to his own country. He died at Ver- 
sailles, Feb. 13th, 1787. 




VERMONT has an area of 10,212 square 
miles, and in 1860 had 315,098 inhabitants. 
The most striking feature of the state is the 
mountainous range called the Green Moun- 
tains, which traverses it from north to south. 



The Green Mountains are from ten to fifteen 
miles broad, much intersected with valleys, 
and they derive their name from their per- 
petual verdure, their sides being covered 
with evergreen shrubs and trees, and their 



VER 



912 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



summits with green moss and winter grass. 
Tiiere are many tine farms among ii\f moun- 
tains, and much of tlic land upon them is fit 
for grazing. The highest summit is Mans- 
field Mountain, in Lamoille county, 4,279 
feet. Vermont is an agricultural state. Be- 
tween the mountains and Lake Champlain 
is much good arable land, and fertile tracts 
skirt the Connecticut ; but generally the soil 
is better fitted for pasturage. Many excellent 
horses are raised for the markets of other 
states, and cattle and sheep are reared in 
large numbers. Iron ore is found in abun- 
dance along the western base of the Green 
Mountains. Large quantities of copperas 
are made from the sulphuret of iron. Hand- 
some marble is quarried, beside soapstone, 
granite, &c. 

Fort Dummer was built by Massachusetts 
on Connecticut River in 1T24, and when in 
1731 a fort \vas built at Crown Point by the 
French from Canada, they also settled on the 
opposite shore of Lake Champlain, within 
the present limits of Vermont. In 1741 a 
boundary line was run between Massachu- 
setts and New Hampshire, and in 1749 Bcn- 
ning Wentworth, gpvernor of New Hamp- 
shire, concluding that the boundary of that 
colony extended as far west as that of Mas- 
sachusetts, that is, to within twenty miles of 
the Hudson, made a grant of a township of 
land, six miles square, which from his own 
first name was called Bennington. Other 
grants were subsequently made, and several 
towns planted on the west side of Connecti- 
cut River. But New York also claimed the 
jurisdiction, and in the year 1764 the king 
annexed the territory west of the Connecti- 
cut River to that province ; the government 
of which declared the New Hampshire grants 
null and void, and demanded that the settlers 
should take out new deeds, and pay for their 
lands a second time. This was refused, and 
the next year several of the officers in at- 
tempting to execute the judgments of the 
courts of New York, were resisted and 
•wounded. At the head of this opposition 
were Ethan Allen and Seth Warner, men of 
coolness and resolution. 

In 1774 the government of New York 
passed a law demanding the surrender of all 
cfF:jnders under severe penalties, and offering 
a bounty of £50 per head on the apprehen- 



sion of eight of the most obnoxious settlers. 
"While preparing for civil war, the revolution 
commenced, the importance of which absorbed 
all minor considerations. In 1777, the dec- 
laration of independence having left the set- 
tlers in a critical situation, a convention of 
representatives from the towns on both sides 
of the mountains, was held at Westminster, 
and the district was declared a free and inde- 
pendent state. It received its name from the 
French words Verd mont (green mountain), 
which name had been conferred by Ethan 
Allen on the mountains, and was afterward 
transferred to the state. In 1790 the dispute 
between New York and Vermont was ad- 
justed, the latter giving 20,000 dollars for the 
quitclaim of the former; the claims of New 
Hampshire were also adjusted ; and the next 
j^ear Vermont was admitted into the Union. 

The present constitution was adopted in 
1793. An amendment establishing a senate 
was adopted in 1836, and the legislative 
power is now vested in the general assembly, 
elected by the people annually ; the executive 
in a governor, chosen at the same time. The 
right of suffrage belongs to every male adult 
who has resided in the state one year, and is 
of quiet and peaceable behavior. The su- 
preme court is composed of six judges, 
and holds a stated session in each county an- 
nually. 

Montpelier, the capital of the state, lies in 
a pleasant valley between the eastern and 
western chains of the mountains, at the 
junction of the north and south branches of 
the Onion or Winooski River ; population in 
1850, 2310. Burlington, the largest town 
and the chief commercial place on Lake 
Champlain, is handsomely situated on a gen- 
tly rising slope that overlooks the lake, and 
has an excellent harbor ; population in 1860, 
7,713. 

VERNON, Edward, an English admiral, 
was born in AYestminster, of a Staffordshire 
family, Nov. 12th, 1G84. His father wa.s 
secretary of state to King William, and re- 
luctantly suffered him to enter into the sea 
service under Admiral Ilopson. In 1704 he 
was with Sir George Rooke, at the battle of 
Malaga. After a variety of service under 
different commanders, he was made vice-* 
admiral of the blue in 1739, and sent with a 
squadron to Spanish America, where he took 



VER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



913 



Porto Beilo, and destroyed the fortifications ; 
but in 1741 he proved unsuccessful in an at- 
tack upon Carthagena, from disagreement 
with Gen. Wentworth, commander of the 
land forces. On his return home, he was 
employed in guarding the coasts of Kent and 
Sussex during the rebellion of 1V4-5 ; but 
soon after he was superseded, and even struck 
off the list of admirals for acting in opposi- 
tion to the ministry. He died Oct. 29th, 
1757. 

Admiral Vernon's nickname at sea was 
Old Grog, from a rough grogram cloak he 
wore, and his favorite beverage of rum and 
water took the name from him. 

VERONESE. Paolo Cagliari, commonly 
known, from the place of his birth, as Paul 
Veronese, was born at Verona in 1528. He 
established himself in Venice, where he ulti- 
mately became the rival of Titian, Tinto- 
retto, and other great masters of the Vene- 
tian school in painting ; and there he died, 
April 20th, 1588. His pictures are noted for 
their rich coloring and freedom of execution, 
though often careless in drawing and capri- 
cious in costume. Some of them have splen- 
did architectural backgrounds. 

VERRES, Caius Licinius, a Roman who 
governed the province of Sicily as pra3tor. 
The oppression and rapine of which he was 
guilty, while in office, so offended the Sicil- 
ians, that they brought an accusation agamst 
him before the Roman sQnate. Cicero under- 
took the cause of the Sicilians. Verres was 
defended by Hortensius, but as he despaired 
of the success of his defense, he left Rome 
without waiting for his sentence, and lived in 
great affluence in one of the provinces. He 
was at last killed by the soldiers of Antony 
the triumvir, about twenty-six years after 
his voluntary exile from the capital. 

VERSAILLES. In the reign of Louis 

XIII. Versailles was only a small villao-e, in 
a forest thirty miles in circuit ; and here this 
prince built a hunting-seat in 1630. Louis 

XIV. in 1687 enlarged it into a magnificent 
palace, which was finished in 1708, and was 
the usual residence of the court of France 
till 1789, when Louis XVI. and his family 
were removed from it to Paris. It was after- 
ward the residence of Louis Philippe, and is 
still a royal palace. 

The definitive treaty of peace between 



58 



Great Britain and the United States, by 
which the latter power was admitted to be a 
sovereign and independent state, was signed 
at Paris. On the same day the definitive 
treaty was signed at Versailles between 
Great Britain, France, and Spain, Sept. 3d, 
1783. In pursuance of the treaty of Ver- 
sailles, Pondicherry and Carical, with the 
former possessions in Bengal, were restored 
to France. Trincomalee at the same time 
was restored to the Dutch. 

In the park of Versailles are the two royal 
seats, the Grand Trianon and the Petit Tria- 
non ; the former was built by Louis XIV. 
the latter by Louis XV. 

VESPASIANUS, Titus Fi.avius, a Roman 
emperor, descended from an obscure family 
at Reate. He was honored with the consul- 
ship, not so much by the influence of the 
miperial courtiers, as by his own private merit 
and his public services. He accompanied 
Nero into Greece, but he offended the prince 
by falling asleep while he repeated one of 
his poetical compositions. This momentary 
resentment of the emperor did not prevent 
Vespasian from being sent to carry on a war 
against the Jews. His operations were 
crowned with success ; many of the cities 
of Palestine surrendered, and Vespasian be- 
gan the siege of Jerusalem. This was, how- 
ever, achieved bj^ his son Titus. After the 
death of Otho, a.d. 69, he was induced by 
his army to become emperor ; and he easily 
overcame Vitellius. The choice of the army 
was approved by every province of the em- 
pire ; but Vespasian did not betray any 
signs of pride at so sudden and so unexpected 
an exaltation, and he behaved, when invested 
with the imperial purple, with the dignity 
and greatness which became a successor of 
Augustus. In the beginning of his reign, 
Vespasian attempted to reform the manners 
of the Romans. He took away an appoint- 
ment which he had a few days before granted 
to a young nobleman, when the fellow ap- 
proached him to return him thanks, all 
smelling of perfumes and covered with oint- 
ment ; adding, " I had rather you had smelt 
of garlic." After he had reigned with great 
popularity for ten years, Vespasian died of a 
complaint in his bowels, a.d. 79, in the sev- 
entieth year of his age, to the great grief of 
all the empire. He was the first of the Ro- 



VES 



914 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



man emperors who was succeeded by his own 
son on the throne. Vespasian has been ad- 
mired for his great virtues. 



The CoHseum was commenced by Tcsp;i- 
sian in the last year of his life, and completed 
in the reisjn of his son Titus. 



/'LW 




VESUVIUS, Mount, threw out such a 
quantity of flame and smoke, that the air 
was darkened, and the cities of Pompeii and 
Herculaneum were overwhelmed by the 
burning lava, a.d. 79. More than 250,000 
persons perished by the destruction of those 
cities ; the sun's light was totally obscured 
for two days throughout Naples ; great quan- 
tities of ashes and sulphureous smoke were 
carried not only to Kome, but also bej'ond 
the Mediterranean into Africa ; bn-ds were 
suffocated in the air and fell dead upon the 
ground, and the fishes perished in the neigh- 
boring waters, which were made hot and 
infected by it. This eruption proved fatal 
to Pliny, the naturalist. Herculaneum was 
discovered in 1737, and many curious arti- 
cles have been dug from the ruins since that 
time ; but everything combustible had the 
marks of having been burned by fire. Nu- 
merous eruptions have occurred, causing great 
devastation and loss of life. In 1631 the 
town of Torre del Greco, with four thousand 
persons, and a great part of the surrounding 
country, were destroyed. One of the most 
dreadful eruptions ever known took place 
suddenly, Nov. 24th, 1759. The violent 
burst in 17r)7 was the thirty-fourth from the 
time of Titus, when Pompeii was buried. 



One in 1794 was most destructive : the lava 
flowed over five thousand acres of rich vine- 
yards and cultivated lands. There have been 
several eruptions since: one in May, 1855, 
caused great destruction of property, and 
another in Nov. 18G7, issuing volumes of 
smoke and flame from several new craters. 
VIENNA (Wien), the capital of the Aus- 
trian empire, stands on the south bank of tlie 
Danube, at its confluence with the little river 
Wien, which flows through the city. The 
population, exclusive of the military, num- 
bers above 410,000. Vienna consists of the 
interior or old city, which is walled, and the 
suburbs. Its palaces, churches, charitable 
establishments, literary institutions, fine 
promenades and parks, and the gayety of the 
societj% make this one of the most noted of 
Eiu'opean capitals. St. Stephen's cathedral, 
a majestic gothic structure of freestone, 
built in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, 
is one of the finest specimens of ancient Ger- 
man architecture. In the highest of its four 
towers (above 450 feet), hangs the great bell, 
weighing 357 cwt., cast in 1711 out of 180 
pieces of Turkish cannon, which had been 
used in the siege of Vienna. The crypt be- 
neath the church consists of thirty Isltih.- 
vaults, in which since the time of Ferdinant'; 



VIE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



915 



III. the bowels of all the deceased members 
of the imperial family are deposited in cop- 
per or silver urns ; their hearts being depos- 
ited in the Augustinian church, and their 
bodies in the church of the Capuchins. 
The Burg, the imperial palace, is an 
old and irregular edifice. It contains 
the imperial jewel office, one of the richest 
collections of the kind in Europe, a fine cab- 
inet of works of art, a very extensive col- 
lection of natural history, and the cabinet of 
medals, which far surpasses all other numis- 
matic collections. The imperial library is 
rich in oriental manuscripts and valuable en- 
gravings. The palace of the Archduke 
Charles also has an extensive library and 
collection of engravings and drawings. The 
university of Vienna, founded in 1365, is 
famous as the first medical school in Germa- 
ny, and is attended by over two thousand 
students. 

Vienna is the centre of the commerce and 
manufactures of Austria. Steam vessels ply 
along the Danube, and to Constantinople, 
Trebizond, Smyrna, &c. Railways connect 
the city with all the important towns of the 
empire, and the electric telegraph gives it 
instant communication with all the chief 
cities in Eui'ope. The principal manufec- 
tures are silk, velvet, shawls, gold and sil- 
ver lace, cottons, woolens, ribands, carpets, 
leather, porcelain, jewelry, mathematical and 
musical instruments, cannon and fire-arms, 
gold and silver plate, watches, fine cutlery, 
carriages, gloves, lace, straw hats, paper, &c. 
The printing of large and accurate maps, and 
of books in various dialects of human speech, 
is much encouraged by the government. 
The imperial printing-office is the most com- 
plete in the world. 

One of the favorite promenades of the 
Viennese is on the ramparts of the old town, 
and the broad glacis or esplanade between 
them and the suburbs. Here is commanded 
a fine view of the picturesque environs, — the 
beautiful islands of the Danube, the Noric 
Alps, the lofty Kahlcnberg mountain, thick 
forests, rich vineyards, ruined castles, an- 
tique churches, modern palaces, and hand- 
some country seats. Another thronged re- 
sort is the Prater, an immense park opened 
to the public by Joseph II. in 1766. It is a 
league and a half in length, and is traversed 



by six noble avenues of chestnut-trees, run- 
ning in different directions, the principal one 
being 15,000 feet long. These are divided 
into three parts, one for horsemen, one for 
pedestrians, and the broad road between 
them for carriages. Beyond the avenues are 
fine meadows, with groups of stately trees 
and large herds of deer. The Prater is 
crowded with company every Sunday in the 
spring: its grand day is Easter Monday, 
when there may be 20,000 pedestrians, and 
an uninterrupted line of carriages six miles 
in length. Along the walks are many coffee- 
houses. The most characteristic part of the 
Prater, however, is the Wurstel Prater, so 
called from the puppet-shows ( Wurstel-spiele) 
there exhibited. It is covered with innume- 
rable booths, swings, roundabouts, jugglers, 
and all sorts of diversions for the lower 
classes. The whole is like a great encamp- 
ment of sutlers' shops ; long rows of tables 
and benches are constantly supplied with 
guests. 

Vienna, called by the Romans Yindolona, 
was long the head-quarters of a Roman le- 
gion, and the capital of Pannonia. It was 
overrun by the Goths and Huns. Chai'le- 
magne annexed it to his dominions in 791. 
Vienna was made an imperial city in 1136, 
and was walled and enlarged with the ransom 
paid for Richard I. of England, £40,000, in 
1194. The most remarkable events in its 
annals are the sieges it has sustained. In 
484 it was taken by Mathias, King of Hun- 
gary, who resided in it till his death, when 
it was restored to Austria. Besieged by the 
Turks under Solyman the Magnificent, with 
an army of 300,000 men ; but he was forced 
to raise the siege with the loss of 70,000 of 
his best troops, 1529. Again besieged in 
1683, when the siege was raised by John 
Sobieski, King of Poland, who totally de- 
feated the Turkish army of over 100,000 
which had cannonaded the city from Julj' 
24th to the beginning of November. Vienna 
was taken by the French, under Murat, Nov. 
14th, 1805 ; and evacuated Jan. 12th follow- 
ing. They again captured it. May 13th, 
1809 ; but restored it once more on the con- 
clusion of peace between the two countries. 
Oct. 14th same year. Conference of the min- 
isters of the allies and France, Sept. 28th, 
1814. Congress of sovereigns, Oct. 2d, 1814. 



VIE 



916 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



In the Hungarian war of 1848-9, in an in- 
surrection here, Count Latour, minister of 
war, was assassinated; Vienna was in the 
hands of tlie insurgents, and tlie emperor 
fled, Oct. 6th, 1848. Tlie imperialists under 
Prince Windischgratz, amounting to 75,000 
men, commenced, Oct. 28th following, an at- 
tack on the city, which continued until Nov. 
1st, when they recovered possession of it, 
totally defeating the Hungarian army. 

Vienna has been an important spot in di- 
plomacy. Here was signed, April 30th, 
1725, the celebrated treaty between the Empe- 
ror of Germany and the King of Spain, by 
which they confirmed to each other such 
parts of the Spanish dominions as they were 
respectively possessed of, and by a private 
treaty the emperor engaged to employ a 
force to procure the restoration of Gibraltar 
to Spain, and to use means for placing the 
Pretender on the throne of Great Britain. 
Spain guaranteed the pragmatic sanction. 
This was followed, March 16th, 1731, by a 
treaty of aUiance at Vienna between the 
Emperor Charles VI., George II. of England, 
and the States of Holland, by which the 
pragmatic sanction was guaranteed, and the 
disputes as to the Spanish succession termi- 
nated. Spain acceded to this treaty on the 
22d of July. 

Here was made a definitive treaty of peace 
between the Emperor Charles A''! of Ger- 
many and Louis XV. of France, by which 
the latter power agreed to guarantee the 
pragmatic sanction, and Lorraine was ceded 
to France, Nov. 18th, 1738. 

One of the most noted treaties of Vienna 
is that between Napoleon and the Emperor 
Francis, Oct. 14th, 1809 ; to which the latter 
was brought by the decisive battle of Wag- 
ram. Austria ceded a great portion of her 
territory ; agreed to a contribution, to indem- 
nify France for the expenses of the war, and 
acknowledged Joseph Bonaparte king of 
Spain. To Bavaria she gave up Saltz- 
burg, and a tract of country along the 
banks of the Danube, from Passau to 
Lintz. To Saxony she yielded the whole of 
western Gallicia. To Russia so much of the 
eastern part of that province as contained a 
population of 40,000 souls. To France she 
ceded Fiume and Trieste, with the whole of 
the .country south of the Saave, to where 



that river enters Bosnia. She also gave up 
the inhabitants of the Tyrol, on condition of 
their receiving from Bonaparte a full and 
free pardon ; and engaged to adhere to the 
prohibitory system adopted toM'ard England 
by France and Russia. 

The treaty of Vienna between Great Brit- 
ain, Austria, Russia, and Prussia, confirming 
the principles on which they had acted by 
the treaty of Chaumont, March 1st, 1814; 
signed March 23d, 1815. The treaty of Vien- 
na between the King of the Low Countries 
on the one part, and Great Britain, Russia, 
Austria, and Prussia, on the other, agreeing 
to the enlargement of the Dutch territories, 
and vesting the sovereignty in the house of 
Orange, May 31st, 1815. The treaty of 
Vienna : Denmark cedes Swedish Pomera- 
nia and Rugen to Prussia, in exchange for 
Lauenburg, June 4th, 1815. The federa- 
tive constitution of Germany signed at Vien- 
na, June 8th, 1815. 

After the Russians had passed the Pruth, 
in July, 1853, a conference of the four great 
powers, England, France, Austria, and Prus- 
sia, was held at Vienna, July 24th, when a 
note was agreed on and transmitted for ac- 
ceptance to St. Petersburg and Constantino- 
ple, July 31st. This note was accepted by 
the czar, Aug. 10th, but the sultan required 
modifications which were rejected by Russia, 
Sept. 7th. On Dec. 5 th, the four powers 
transmitted a collective note to the Porte, 
deploring the war and requesting to know 
on what terms the sultan would treat for 
peace. The sultan replied in a note, dated 
Dec. 31st, containing four points : 1. The 
promptest possible evacuation of the princi- 
palities; 2. Revision of the treaties; 3. 
Maintenance of religious privileges to the 
communities of all confessions ; 4. A defini- 
tive settlement of the convention respecting 
the holy places. These points were approved 
by the four powers, Jan. 15th, 1854, and the 
conferences closed on Jan. 16th following. 
On April 9th, 1854, a treaty was signed at 
Vienna by the representatives of England, 
France, Austria, and Prussia, for the main- 
tenance of Turkey, evacuation of the princi- 
palities, &c. A new conference was proposed 
in January, 1855, which met in March, con- 
sisting of plenipotentiaries from Great Brit- 
ain (Lord John Russel), France (M. Drouin 



VIE 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



917 



de THuys), Austria (Copnt Buol), Turkey 
(Arif Eifendi), and Russia (Count Gortscha- 
koff). Two points, the protectorate of the 
principalities, and the free navigation of the 
Danube, were agreed to ; but the proposals 
of the powers as to the reduction of the 
Russian power in the Black Sea were rejected 
by the czar, and the conference was again 
closed June 5th, 1855. The English and 
French envoys' assent to the Austrian propo- 
sitions was not approved of by their respec- 
tive governments, and they both resigned 
their official positions. 

VILLARS, Louis Hector, Duke of, a 
French general, was born at Moulins, in 
1653. After a variety of services, he gained 
the battle of Friedlingen in 1762 ; for which 
he was made marshal of France. The fol- 
lowing year he took the fortress of Kehl, 
and put an end to the insurrection in the 
Cevennes, for which he was created Duke of 
Villars. In 1*707 he forced the lines at Stol- 
hoffen ; but in 1709 he lost the battle of 
Malplaquet, and was wounded. In 1712 he 
acquired glory by forcing the Austrian in- 
trenchments at Denain on the Scheldt, which 
exploit was succeeded by the capture of 
Marchiennes, Douay, Bouchain, Landau, and 
Friburg. The peace of Rastadt followed; 
after which Villars was made president of 
the council of war, and minister of state. 
In 1733 he commanded in Italy, with the 
title of marshal-general of the French camps 
and armies. He died at Turin, June 17th, 
1734. 

VILLIERS, George, Duke of Bucking- 
ham, was the son of Sir George Villiers, of 
Brookesby in Leicestershire, and was born 
there in 1592. He attracted the notice of 
James I. at the performance of the play of 
"Ignoramus," in 1G15 ; soon after which he 
was successively appointed cup-bearer to the 
king, gentleman of the bedchamber, and 
knight of the garter. He also rose to the 
rank of marquis, and became lord admiral 
of England, warden of the cinque ports, and 
master of the horse. But in 1623 he lost the 
royal favor, in a great degree, by persuading 
Prince Charles to visit the Court of Spain, 
for the purpose of paying his addresses in 
person to the infanta. Though Buckingham 
was created a duke in his absence, it was 
supposed that if the king had lived, his fall 



would have been as rapid as his rise. The 
accession of Charles in 1625 increased the 
power of the favorite, but it also multiplied 
his enemies and injured his master. The 
nation hated Buckingham, and two parlia- 
ments were dissolved for impeaching him. 
At this period the duke involved the king- 
dom in a disgraceful war with France, and 
went himself on an expedition to the Isle of 
Rhe, where he lost the flower of his army. 
He then returned to repair his fleet, and was 
about to sail for Rochelle, when he was assas- 
sinated, at Portsmouth, by Felton, a fanatical 
lieutenant, Aug. 23d, 1628. He had abused 
his power shamelessly, and displayed great 
ambition, avarice, and caprice. When he 
visited the court of Louis XIII., to finish the 
negotiations for the marriage of Charles and 
Henrietta Maria, pearl^were sewed so loosely 
upon his velvet mantle that at every step he 
scattered them for the profit of the surround- 
ing courtiers. 

VILLIERS, George, the second Duke of 
Buckingham, was the son of the preceding, 
and was born in 1627. After studying at 
Caitibridge, he went abroad, and on his re- 
turn entered into the royal army, for which 
he was deprived of his estate by the parlia- 
ment, but recovered a great part of it in 
1657, by marrying the daughter of Lord 
Fairfax. At the restoration he was made one 
of the lords of the bed-chamber, lord-lieu- 
tenant of Yorkshire, and master of the horse. 
Of these honors, however, he was deprived 
in 1666, for being concerned in a plot to 
effect a change of government. Notwith' 
standing this, he recovered the royal favor, 
and retained it awhile. In the course of his 
vagrant amours he was attracted for a mo- 
ment by the Countess of Shrewsbury. 
She was easily won. Her lord challenged 
the gallant, and fell. Some said that the 
abandoned woman witnessed the combat 
in man's attire, and others that she clasped 
her victorious lover to her bosom while he 
was yet dripping with the blood of her hus- 
band. Another of Buckingham's outrages 
was the hiring of Blood to seize the Duke of 
Ormond in his coach. In 1676 the duke, 
with the Earls of Shaftesbury and Salisbury, 
and Lord Wharton, were sent to the Tower, 
by order of the house of peers, for contempt. 
On a petition to the king, however, they were 



YIL 



918 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



all released. This profligate nobleman died 
at an obscure house at Kirkby Moorside, of 
a fever, April 16th, 1G88. His wit and tal- 
ents were brilliant, and he did something to 
improve the literary taste of his age. 

A^IMEIRA, a village of Poi-tuguese Estre- 
niadura, three miles from Torres Vcdras, and 
twenty-eight miles north-west of Lisbon. It 
is remarkable for a battle between the Brit- 
ish, under Sir Arthur Wellesley, and the 
French, under Marshal Junot, 21st August, 
1808. The French commenced the attack on 
various points with their usual impetuosity, 
and met a resistance to which they had long 
been unaccustomed. The flower of their 
troops made a charge against the British cen- 
tre and left, who received them with a tre- 
mendous volley, then charged with the bay- 
onet, and in one moment their front rank fell 
like grass before the' mower's scythe. They 
gave way, and abandoned six pieces of can- 
non in their flight. Having f\iiled in their 
other attacks, they commenced a retreat, af- 
ter sustaining a loss of 1,800 men, and thir- 
teen pieces of cannon. In this decisive vic- 
tory not more than half the British army 
was engaged. Their loss was 720. 

VINCI, Leonardo da, was born in the 
valley of the Arno near Florence, in 1452. 
He was placed early with Andrea Verroc- 
chio, a Florentine painter and sculptor, who 
finding after a short time that he was sur- 
passed by his pupil in painting, gave up that 
art in despair and confined himself thence- 
forth to sculpture, wherein he found reward 
of great success and eminence^ Leonardo 
seems to have been an almost universal genius. 
Besides his devotion to painting, he excelled 
in sculpture, architecture, engineering, and 
mechanics generally ; botanj^, anatomy, 
mathematics, and astronomy, he was well 
versed in ; he was a poet also, and an admi- 
rable extempore performer on the lyre. The 
letter in which he offered his services to 
Lodovico il Moro, Duke of Milan, about 1483, 
contained this proud passage: "I will also 
undertake any work in sculpture, in marble, 
in bronze, or in terra-cotta : likewise in paint- 
ing, I can do what can be done, as well as 
any man, be he whom he may." The duke 
took Leonardo into his service, and the cele- 
brated painting of "The Last Supper," exe- 
cuted in oil on the wall in the refectory of 



the Dominican convent of the Madonna delle 
Grazie, about 1495, was considered the great- 
est work that had been executed in the art 
up to that time, and more than redeemed the 
bold pledge we have quoted. This was his 
last great work at Milan, which he left in 
1499 when Duke Lodovico fled before Charles 
XII. of France. Leonardo afterward dwelt at 
Florence and a short time at Rome. In his 
old age he entered the service of Francis I. 
of France, and died at Cloux, near Amboise 
in that kingdom. May 2d, 1519. 

VIRGIL. PuBLius ViRGiLius Marc was 
born at Andes, a small village near Mantua, 
Oct. 15th, B.C. TO. He was no less remarka- 
ble for his varied learning than for the poeti- 
cal genius displayed in the " jEneid," the 
" Bucolics," and the " Georgics." His appli- 
cation to study at Rome enfeebled his health, 
and he retired to his little paternal farm. 
Augustus, after the triumph of his arms 
over Antony, rewarded some of his veterans 
with lands in the vicinity of Mantua. Virgil 
was thereby driven from his peaceful seclu- 
sion and robbed of his inheritance. It was 
restored, through the intercession of potent 
friends, and soon after the poet was introduced 
to the emperor and the munificent Msecenas, 
whose friendship and patronage he thereafter 
enjoyed. In the year 19 b.c. he visited 
Greece, intending to make a tour of that 
country, and to revise and perfect his 
" yEneid." Rapidly declining health drove 
him back, and he died soon after landing at 
Brundusium, on the 22d of September, 19 
B.C. In compliance with his wish his body 
was borne to Naples, and buried two miles 
out of the city. Since the "iEneid" had not 
received the finishing revision ho intended, 
he ordered, in his last illness, that it should 
be burned ; but it was saved and published, 
by his friends Varius and Tucca. 

VIRGINIA has an area of 01,352 square 
miles. In 1860 the population was 1,596,318, 
including 58,042 free negroes, and 490,865 
slaves. The great ridge of the AUcghanies 
divides the state into two sections. In her 
natural resources, in her genial and salubri- 
ous climate, her fine rivers, and her scenery, 
Virginia is favored with advantages surpassed 
by no state in the Union. The principal riv- 
ers are the Potomac, Shenandoah, Rappahan- 
nock, York, James, Appomattox, Elizabeth, 



VIR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



919 




If 'l\f. 



Kanawha, Ohio, Sandy, and Monongahohi. 
Iron, Hmcstone, lead, coal, and salt are chief 
among the rich mineral wealth. Maize, 
wheat, and tobacco are the great agricultural 
products. Cotton is cultivated in the south ; 
and hemp and wool are prominent staples in 
the western portion. 

Virginia was the first settled of all the 
English colonies in North America. 

Of the earlier occurrences in her history 
we have taken notice in the article on the 
United States. Charles II. in exile was 
highly gratified with a formal act of the Vir- 
ginia assembly, declaring that they were born 
under monarchy, and would never degene- 
rate from the condition of their birth, by 
being subject to any other government. The 
colonists invited him to come over and reign 
in Virginia. He was on the point of sailing, 
when he \^cas restored to the thrones of Eng- 
land and Scotland. He caused the arms of 
Virginia to be quartered with those of Eng- 
land, Scotland, and Ireland, as an indepen- 
dent member of the realm." Hence she re- 
ceived the name of the Old Dominion. 
Though Charles gave the fullest assurance 
that their form of government should never 
be changed; none of the colonies suffered 
more than Virginia from the despotism of a 
royal government. In violation of char 
tered rights, the colony was divided into 
parts, and conveyed away by proprietary 
grants; not grants of uncultivated wood- 
lands, but of plantations that had long been 
cultivated according to the encouragement 
and laws of kings and charters. 



The colony suffered, too, from the mise- 
ries of civil war, in 1676, during Bacon's re- 
bellion ; Jamestown was burned, and the ad- 
jacent districts laid waste. She shared 
largely in the calamities of the French wars, 
and was among the foremost in taking a de- 
cided stand in the dispute with the mother 
country. Some of the most important inci- 
dents of the great drama of the Revolution 
took place within her borders. 

Richmond, on the James River, is the cap- 
ital ; population 37,910 in 19^0. The state- 
house is a copy of the Maison Carrie of 
Nismes, and contains a statue of Washington 
by Houdon. Norfolk (population 1.5,611) is 
the chief port, and the second town in size. 
Its harbor is deep and capacious, and easy of 
access. At Gosport, near Norfolk, is one of 
the finest of the national navy-yards. Peters- 
burg on the Appomattox, Wheeling on the 
Ohio, Lynchburg and Winchester, are thriv- 
ing towns. 

In Westmoreland county, on the Poto- 
mac, is the spot where Washington was 
born; the house stood on Bridge's Creek, 
about half a mile from the river, on a plan- 
tation called Wakefield. A simple stone, 
with the inscription, " Here, on the 11th of 
February [o.s.], 1732, George Washington 
was born," designates the consecrated spot. 
i Farther up the Potomac, eight miles from 
1 Alexandria, is Mount'Vernon, where he died, 
and where his ashes lie. 

Virginia was the key-stone of the rebellion, 
the headquarters of its civil government, the 
key of its whole military position, the center 



VIR 



920 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and field of its leading military movements, the 
scene of its earliest triumphs, and of its final 
and shattering defeat by the Army of the 
Potomac. The mountains and rivers of the 
state make its eastern part, when attacked 
from the north, one of the strongest countries 
for defence in the world ; and the two sides 
of the Blue Ridge form a " whip-row " on 
either i-idi of which the rebels could maneu- 
vre at pleasure. With these advantages the 
rebels were able to maintain themselves hei'e 
as in a citadel against the successive com- 
manders of the Army of the Potomac, until 
the tremendous will and adamantine perse- 
verence of Grant assaulted their main army, 
pushed it struggling back to the lines of 
Richmond, held it within them for three- 
quarters of a j'ear, and at last dashed it to 
pieces. The state underwent a most severe 
discipline during the war, from the four 
years' constant ravages of great armies. 
Virginia seceded April 25, 1861. May 22, 
1861, the central rebel government estab- 
lished itself there. In April, 1865, that gov- 
ernment ran away and disappeared. 

One result of the secession movement was 
the formation from the western or mountain- 
ous part of Virginia, of a new state, called 
West Virginia, and which was admitted to 
the Union, June 20, 1863. 

VIRGINIA was the daughter of the cen- 
turion L. Virginius. Appius Claudius, the 
decemvir, became enamored of her, and 
attempted to abduct her. She was claimed 
by one of his favorites as the daughter of a 
slave, and Appius, in the capacity and with 
the authority of judge, had pronounced the 
sentence, and delivered her into the hands 
of his friend, when Virginius, informed of 
his violent proceedings, arrived from the 
camp. The father demanded to see his daugh- 
ter, and when this request was granted, he 
snatclied a knife and plunged it into Vir- 
ginia's breast, exclaiming, "This is all, my 
daughter, I can give thee to preserve thee 
from the lust of a tyrant." No sooner was 
the blow given than Virginius ran to the 
camp with the bloody knife in his hand. The 
soldiers were astonished and incensed, not 
against the murderer, but the tyrant, and 
they immediately marched to Rome. Appius 
was seized, but he destroyed himself in 
prison, and prevented the execution of the 



law. Spurius Oppius, another of the decem- 
virs, who had not opposed the tyrant's views, 
killed himself also ; and Marcus Claudius, 
the favorite of Appius, was put to death, and 
the decemviral power abolished, 449 B.C. 

VITELLIUS, AuLus, a Roman raised by 
his vices to the throne. He was descended 
from one of the most illustrious families of 
Rome, and as such he gained an easy admis- 
sion to the palace of the emperors. He 
passed through all the offices of the state, 
and gained over the soldier}'- by donations 
and liberal promises. He was at the head 
of the Roman legions in Germany when Otho 
was proclaimed emperor, and the exaltation 
of his rival was no sooner heard in the camp, 
than he was likewise invested with the 
purple by his soldiers. He accepted with 
pleasure the dangerous office, and instantly 
marched against Otho. Three battles were 
fought, and in all Vitellius was conquered. 
A fourth, however, in the plains between 
Mantua and Cremona, left him master of the 
field, and of the Roman empire. He feasted 
his eyes in viewing the bodies of the slain 
and the ground covered with blood, and 
regardless of the insalubrit}- of the air, pro- 
ceeding from so many carcases, he told his 
attendants that the smell of a dead enemy 
was always sweet. His first care was not 
like that of a wise conqueror, to alleviate the 
distresses of the conquered, or patronize the 
friends of the dead, but it was to insult their 
misfortunes, and to intoxicate himself with 
the companions of his debauchery on the 
field of battle. Each successive daj"^ exhib- 
ited a scene of greater extravagajice, which, 
though it delighted his favorites, soon raised 
the indignation of the people. Vespasian 
was proclaimed emperor by the army, and 
his minister Primus was sent to destroy the 
imperial glutton. Vitellius concealed him- 
self under the bed of the porter of his palace, 
but this obscure retreat betrayed him ; he 
was dragged naked through the streets, his 
hands were tied behind his back, and a 
drawn sword was placed under his chin to 
make him lift his head, xifter suffering the 
greatest insults from the populace, he was at 
last carried to the place of execution, and 
put to death with repeated blows. His head 
was cut off and fixed to a pole, and his mu- 
tilated body dragged with a hook and thrown 



VIT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHT, 



921 



into the Tiber, a.d. 69, after a reign of one 
j-^car, except twelve days. 

VITTORIA, Battle of, in Spain, was 
fought on the 21st of June, 1813, between 
the army of Lord WeUington, and that of 
the French general Jourdan, in which the 
latter was defeated. On the 19th, the French 
rear-guard was driven back toward Vittoria ; 
and on the 21st a long and fearful battle took 
place, in which the French forces, commanded 
by Joseph Bonaparte, having Marshal Jour- 
dan as his major-general, wei'e so completely 
defeated, that they were under the necessity 
of abandoning all their artillery, ammunition, 
baggage, and cattle. One hundred and fifty- 
one pieces of cannon and four hundred and 
fifteen ammunition wagons were taken on 
the field ; and among the trophies was the 
baton of Marshal Jourdan. The loss of the 
allied British, Spanish, and Portuguese was 
about 700 killed and 4,000 wounded, but that 
of the French was considerably greater. 
Wellington's fierce pursuit threw the French 
into irretrievable confusion, and on the 25th 
Jourdan's only remaining cannon was cap- 
tured. In this great engagement, the con- 
tending armies were nearly equal, numbering 
from 70,000 to 75,000 men each. 

VOLNEY, CoNSTANTiNE Chassebceuf, 
Comte de, a celebrated French deistical wri- 
ter, was born in Anjou in 1757, and inherited 
a property adequate to gratify his love for 
traveling and miscellaneous studies. He was 
a, Girondist during the revolution. He was 
created a peer after the restoration, and died 
in 1820. 

VOLTA, Alexander, born at Como, in the 
duchy of Milan, Feb. 14th, 1745, died there 
March 5th, 1827. For thirty years he was 
professor of natural philosophy in the uni- 
versity of Pavia. He was especially distin- 
guished for his discoveries in electricity, and 
in 1800 opened a new era in its importance 
by the invention of the great battery known 
by his name. 

VOLTAIRE was the name capriciously 
assumed by Francois Marie Arouet. He 
was born near Paris in 1694. He distin- 
guished himself in boyhood by his aptness 
for learning, his malignant wit, and his in- 
clination to scoff at religion. His godfather, 
a fashionable and literary abbe, introduced 
him at an early age into courtly circles, where 

V 



he speedily learned the hollowness of every- 
thing abound him, and gratified his taste for 
artful compliment and biting repartee. His 
notoriety caused him to be accused (wrong- 
fully for once) of writing indecent satirical 
lines on the death of Louis XIV., and he 
passed a year in the' Bastile. There he wrote 
his tragedy of "ffidipe" and sketched his 
epic, "L'Henriade." The latter, stolen in 
manuscript, as he alleged, was printed with 
satirical verses which he said were interpo- 
lations. The publication, thus called surrep- 
titious, made him famous; and the same 
farce was repeated so often in his literary 
career, as plainly to appear the 'device of the 
author. 

A man of quality, affronting the young 
poet in society, was silenced by an apt retort; 
he took revenge by making his servants give 
the upstart a beating; Voltaire learned to 
fence, challenged his insulter, and was an- 
swered by an imprisonment of six months. 
On his release he was banished from the 
kingdom. He dwelt in England from 1726 
to 1729. By the English profits of an edi- 
tion of the Henriade he laid the foundation 
of a fortune, which he afterward largely in- 
creased by lottery tickets, speculations, and 
usury. 

In 1750 Voltaire, on the invitation of 
Frederick II. of Prussia, went to Berlin to 
dwell. He remained there for three years, 
during which he enlivened the royal circle 
by his wit, corrected the bad French of the 
royal philosopher and poet, and learned, not 
only that courts are wearisome places, but 
that Frederick of Prussia and Francois 
Arouet were too like each other; to be really 
friends. 

In 1758 he purchased two small estates not 
far from Geneva, and at his chateau of Fer- 
ney, on one of these, he passed the last 
twenty-two years of his life, sedulously pur- 
suing his literary labors. He was a liberal 
landlord and a charitable neighbor. He died 
during a visit to Paris in 1778. 

The genius of Voltaire was of wide variety ; 
he contributed to almost all departments of 
literature. He M'as a malignant enemy of 
Christianity, and sneered at all that is true 
and holy. 

VORTTGERN, the chief of Britain, upon 
the Romans quitting that island, about 447. 

oa 



922 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



The Britons being threatened with an inva- 
sion from the Scots and Picts, they addressed 
liim from all parts for relief, and at last made 
him summon a general council of the nation, 
to provide against their approaching ruin. 
Vortigern, in the name of all the Britons, 
sent ambassadors to the Saxons, vvlio, hav- 
ing first consulted their gods, readily com- 
plied with his desire. All things being fairly 
agreed on, and the isle of Thanet in Kent 
bestowed upon them, for their encourage- 
ment, they landed in the island in 450, under 
the command of Hcngist and Horsa, who 
shortly after encountered the Picts, then 
advanced a^ far as Stamford in Lincolnshire, 
and put them to flight. Thus the Britons, 
under Vortigern, defeated the Picts, by the 
lielp of the Saxons. The latter soon quarreled 
vvith the Britons, and wars ensued, which 
ended in the total overthrow and ruin of the 
natives. Vortigern retii'cd into Wales, and 



built a strong castle in Radnorshire. His 
son Vortimer reigned in his stead, who bore 
a strong hand against the Saxons ; but he 
dying before his father, Vortigern resumed 
the government. He had two wives ; one 
of them Rowena, daughter of Hengist. On 
being restored to the crown, he was disposed 
to conclude a new treaty with his Hithcr-in 
law ; and both parties met without weapons. 
But Hengist's design being to murder, ho 
ordered his men to be secretly armed, and 
gave them the watchword for execution ; so 
that a quarrel being designedly raised, his 
men, upon the signal, stabbed each his next 
man ; and no less th.an three hundred per- 
ished by this treachery. They spared the 
life of Vortigern, but they kept him in cus- 
tody till he granted Hengist, for his ransom, 
those provinces which were afterward called 
Essex, Sussex, and Middlesex. 



W. 



W AGRAM, SEATTLE OF, fouglit by the Aus- 
trians and French, July 5th, 1809 ; the latter 
were victorious, and the former severely over- 
thrown. The slaughter on both sides was 
dreadful; 20,000 Austrians w'ere taken by 
the French, and the defeated army retired to 
Moravia. This battle led to an armistice, 
signed on the 12th ; and on Oct. 24th, to a 
treaty of peace, by which Austria ceded all 
her sea-coast to France, and the kingdoms 
of Saxony and Bavaria were enlarged at her 
expense. The emperor was obliged also to 
yield a part of his plunder of Poland in Gal- 
licia to Russia. The emperor also acknowl- 
edged Joseph Bonaparte as king of Spain. 

WAKEFIELD, Pkiscilla, author of many 
popular and useful w'orks for children and 
young persons, and one of the earliest pro- 
moters of those provident institutions called 
savings banks. She died in London, Sept. 
12th, 1832, in her eighty-second year. She 
was of Quaker parentage and her maiden 
name was Trewman. 

AVALCHEREN, an island of the Nether- 
lands. With a view^ to occasion a diversion 
on behalf of the Austrians, and also to 



attempt the capture or destruction of the 
French vessels lying in the Scheldt, a British 
army of fifty thousand men was landed in 
July, 1809, on the island of Walchcren ; but a 
considerable time having elapsed prior to the 
reduction of Flushing, the French collected 
a numerous force, raised several formidable 
batteries, and conveyed their ships up the 
river, beyond Fort Lillo. That part of the 
country also, where the English might have 
landed, was completely inundated. Walchc- 
ren, the only fruit of this expensive and 
unfortunate expedition, w^as to have been 
retained by the conquerors, for the purpose 
of shutting up the mouth of the Scheldt, and 
of facilitating the introduction of British 
manufactures into Holland. This design, 
however, was rendered abortive by the un- 
healthiness of the climate and the inefficiency 
of Lord Chatham (son of the great carl), the 
commanding general ; and after great num- 
bers of the troops had fallen a sacrifice, the 
British army evacuated the island on the 23d 
of December, having previously destroyed 
the fortifications, arsenal, docks, and basin. 
Some old ships filled with stores were also 



JVAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



sunk at the entrance of the Scheldt, to pre- 
clude an escape of the French fleet from the 
place of its retreat. 

WALDENSES. Pierre Valdo, after ac- 
(luiring a large fortune in commerce at Lyons 
in the twelfth century, devoted himself to the 
spiritual instruction of his poorer brethren. 
The only version of the Bible then in use 
was the Latin Vulgate and Valdo rendered 
the gospels into French, the first appearance 
of the Scriptures in any modern tongue. 
The teachings of Valdo were soon denounced 
i)y the priesthood as heretical. He and his 
flock took refuge in the mountains of Dau- 
phiny and Piedmont, and thence sprang those 
communities which grew in peace, and flovu'- 
ished in rustic simplicity, " pure as a flower 
amid Alpine snows." From these mountain 
valleys flowed rivulets of truth that finally 
swelled into the flood of the Reformation. 
Valdo wandered through Europe, teaching 
the purer doctrine, and died in Bohemia. 

A persecution of the Waldenses in the 
beginning of the thirteenth century led to 
the establishment of the Inquisition. Pope 
Innocent III. had commissioned some monks 
to preach against the heresies of the Wal- 
denses in Narbonne and Provence ; but the 
Romish bishops were at first jealous of this 
mission, armed as it was with great power, 
and the feudal chiefs refused to obey the 
orders of the legates, a.d. 1203-4. One of 
the monks, the first inquisitor, Peter Chateau- 
neuf, having been assassinated, the aspiring 
pontiff called on all the neighboring powers 
to march into the heretical district. All ob- 
stinate heretics were placed at the disposal 
of Simon de Montfort, commander of this 
crusade, and the whole race of the Walden- 
ses and Albigenses were ordered to be pur- 
sued with fire and sword. Neither sex, age, 
nor condition was spared ; the country be- 
came a wilderness, and the towns heaps of 
smoking ruins. Such was the era of the 
inquisition. Dominic de Guzman was con- 
stituted first inquisitor-general, 1208. 

WALES, a principality in the west of 
Great Britain from 130 to 180 miles long, 
and from 50 to 80 broad, with an area of 
7,398 square miles, and 1,000,000 inhabit- 
ants. It is very rugged and mountainous. 
Wales is now an integral part of England 
for purposes of government. Its four bish- 



oprics, Bangor, St. Asaph, Llandaff, and St. 
David, are included in the ecclesiastical prov- 
ince of Canterbury. The principality is 
divided into North and South Wales ; the 
former comprised in the counties of Angle- 
sey, Caernarvonshire, Denbighshire, Flint' 
shire, Merionethshire, and Montgomeryshire ; 
the latter, those of Brecknockshire, Cardi- 
ganshire, Caermarthenshire, Glamorganshire, 
Pembrokeshire, and Radnorshire. The mines 
and quarries of Wales are very valuable. 
Over a large portion the Welsh language is 
still spoken, though the use of the English 
is steadily inci'casing. The early history of 
Wales is uncertain, on account of the num- 
ber of petty princes who governed it. It 
was formerly inhabited by three different 
tribes of the Britons ; the Silures, the Di- 
metge, and the Ordovices. These people do 
not appear ever to have been entirely sub- 
dued by the Romans ; though part of their 
country, as appears from the ruins of castles, 
was bridled by garrisons. The ancient 
Britons retreated into the west of the island 
before the Saxons, Angles, &c. Though the 
Saxons conquered the counties of Monmouth 
and Hereford, yet they never penetrated 
farther, and the Welsh remained an inde- 
pendent people governed by their own 
princes and their own laws. About the year 
870, Roderic, king of Wales, divided his 
dominions among his three sons ; and the 
names of these divisions were, Ceredigion 
and Dyved, or South Wales ; Povesia, or 
Powis-land, comprising parts of Montgomery- 
shire, Shropshire, and Radnorshire, and Gwy- 
redd, or North Wales. This division gave 
a mortal blow to the independency of Wales, 
though in the tenth century it was reunited. 
About the ycnr 1112, Henry I. of England 
planted a colony of Flemings on the frontiers 
of Wales, and gave various noblemen estates 
and power in the marches, to serve as a bar- 
rier to England, none of the Welsh princes 
being powerful enough to extirpate them. 
They made, however, many vigorous and 
brave attempts against the Norman kings of 
England, to maintain their liberties. In 1237 
the crown of England was supplied with a 
handle for the future conquest of Wales ; the 
old and infirm prince Llewellyn, having put 
himself under subjection and homage to 
Henry IIL But no capitulation could satisfy 



WAL 



924 



COTTACxE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



the ambition of Edward I., who resolved to 
annex ^Vales to the crown of England ; and 
Prince Llewellyn, disdaining the subjection 
to which old Llewellyn (his grandsire) had 
submitted, was opposed by the army of Ed- 
ward, which penetrated as far as Flint, and 
taking possession of the isle of Anglesey, 
drove the Welsh to the mountains of Snow- 
don, and obliged them to submit to pay a 
tribute. The V^elsh, however, made several 
efforts under young Llewellyn ; but at last, 
in 1285, he was killed in battle. He was 
succeeded by his brother David, the last in- 
dependent prince of Wales, who, falling into 
Edward's hands through treachery, was by 
him barbarously and unjustly hanged ; and 
Edward, from that time, pretended that 
Wales was annexed to the crown of England. 
It was about this time, probably, that Ed- 
ward perpetrated the inhuman massacre of 
the Welsh bards. Perceiving that his cruelty 
was not sufficient to complete his conquest, 
he sent his queen to be delivered in Caernar- 
von Castle, that the AVelsh, having a prince 
born among themselves, might the more 
readily recognize his authority. This prince, 
by the death of an elder brother, came to 
the throne as Edward IL, and from him the 
title of Prince of Wales has always since 
descended to the eldest sons of the English 
kings. 

WALKER, John, a well known English 
lexicographer, died in 1807, aged seventy- 
five. 

WALLACE, Sir William, a distinguished 
hero in Scottish history, who defended the 
independence of his country against the un- 
principled invasion of Edward L of England, 
was the son of a small landholder, who pos- 
sessed the estate of Elderslie, near Paisley. 
It is probable that he had not greatly ex- 
ceeded the age of opening manhood, at the 
time when his country was subdued by the 
English. Many of his first deeds of heroism, 
although imperfectly commemorated in the 
rude and often doubtful tale of Blind Harry, 
the minstrel, have unluckily been preserved 
by no records upon the evidence of which they 
might be received into the pages of authentic 
history. Within less than a year after the 
conquest of Edward, when the whole country 
seemed to have acquiesced in this fate, he 
undertook the desperate enterprise of break- 



ing her fetters, and by the success of his 
enterprises, made himself known so advan- 
tageously to his countrymen, that he was 
joined by many who were desirous to par- 
take of his renown ; amongst the rest, by 
Sir William Douglas and some others of con- 
siderable rank. In May, 1297, he led his fol- 
lowers to attack Ormesby, the English justi- 
ciary, who was holding his court at Scone. 
Ormesby, with difficulty, made his escape 
into England, and the other officers followed 
his example. From the north-east, Wallace 
passed into the west, where his glory, an?l 
hatred of the English, procured him many 
adherents, amongst others, Robert Bruce, 
the grandson of him who had been competi- 
tor with Baliol for the crown. King Edward 
was then abroad, carrying on war in Guienne : 
but Warrene, who had been left governor of 
Scotland, collecting an army of forty thou- 
sand men, and determined to re-establish his 
authority, sent them forward under the com- 
mand of Sir Henry Piercy and Sir Robert 
Clifford. When the English army came up, 
many of the adherents of Wallace made sub- 
mission ; but he himself, with his chosen fol- 
lowers, retired into the north. Finding his 
forces increasing, he laid siege to Dundee, 
which he relinquished on hearing of the 
approach of the English army to the Forth, 
and hastened to oppose their passage, which 
they attempted at the bridge of Stirling. 
The English, under Cressingham, first crossed w 
the river, when Wallace attacked them, and Irj 
put them to the sword or drove them into 
the stream. Those on the other side, burn- 
ing their tents and leaving their baggage, 
fled to Berwick. Wallace having gained this 
victory, hastened back to Dundee, which 
now surrendered at his approach. He was 
then chosen regent by his followers, and all 
Scotland was cleared of tlie English. King 
Edward, returning from France, led a power- 
ful army into Scotland. Both armies en- 
gaged at Falkirk, July 22d, 1298, and the 
English gained the victory, from their supe- 
riority of numbers and military skill, and 
the dissensions of their opponents. Wallace 
seeing all hope lost, rallied the broken rem- 
nants of his forces and retreated beyond the 
Forth. All Scotland submitted to Edward ; 
but the dauntless spirit of Wallace never 
would surrender his country's independence. 



WAL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



925 



Whether he went abroad for a short time to 
France, or wandered in the fastnesses of the 
Highlands, can not be certainly known ; but 
in 1304 he was in Scotland, and Edward 
could never believe he had secure possession 
till Wallace was in his power. This was 
effected by the treachery of Sir John Mon- 
teith ; and Wallace was conducted to London, 
arraigned, and tried as a traitor, and con- 
demned as guilty of high treason against Ed- 
ward, although he had never acknowledged 
him as his king, nor owed him allegiance. 
Wallace, still undaunted, during and after his 
trial, asserted the rights of his country, and 
bore his fate, which was inflicted with every 
circumstance of ignominy and cruelty, with 
the magnanimity with which he had lived. He 
was executed Aug. 23d, 1305. His head was 
placed on London bridge, and his mangled 
limbs were distributed over the kingdom. It 
was reserved for Robert Bruce to accomplish 
what Wallace had so nobly attempted. 

WALLENSTEIN, Albect, Duke of Fried- 
land, born in 1583, was the most renowned 
imperial general in the thirty years' war. 
He was of a noble family, and greatly in- 
creased his wealth and power by marriage. 
He was assassinated Feb. 25th, 1634, his 
murderers rewarded by the emperor, and his 
vast possessions confiscated, upon the ground 
that he was intriguing to make himself king 
of Bohemia. 

WALLER, Edmund, an English poet 
famous in his day, was born in Hertford- 
shire in 1605, and in his infancy inherited 
an estate of £3,000 a year. His mother, 
though a sister of John Hampden, was an 
ardent royalist, and used to lecture Crom- 
well for his share in the death of Charles I. 
Her son was royalist or roundhead, as best 
served the time. He entered pai'liament, 
and wrote his first poem, when he was 
eighteen. At twenty -five he married a rich 
London heiress, who died the same year, and 
the widower at once became a suitor of Lady 
Dorothea Sidney, eldest daughter of the Earl 
of Leicester. To this proud and peerless 
fair one Waller dedicated the better portion 
of his poetry, and the groves of Penshurst 
echoed to the praises of his Sacharissa. Lady 
Dorothea, however, wedded the Earl of Sun- 
derland. Long afterward, when she was far 
advanced in years, the lady and her former 



wooer met. She asked when again he would 
write such verses upon her. " When you 
are as j^oung, madam, and as handsome as 
you were then," said ungailant Waller. The 
incident gives a key to his character : he 
was easy, witty, and accomplished, but cold 
and selfish ; destitute alike of high principle 
and deep feeling. In parliament Waller dis- 
tinguished himself on the popular side at 
first, and shortly afterward was detected in 
intrigues with the cavaliers. He was sen- 
tenced to one year's imprisonment and a fine 
of £10,000. Others implicated lost their lives, 
and he escaped only through abject submis- 
sion and cowardl}'^ betrayal of the secrets of 
his friends. At the end of his imprisonment 
he went abroad, and resided in France with 
much splendor and hospitality. He returned 
during the protectorate, and commemorated 
the death of Ci'omwell in one of his most 
vigorous and impressive poems. The restora- 
tion soon came, and Waller was ready with 
a congratulatory address to Charles II. It 
was considered inferior to the panegj-ric on 
Cromwell, and the king, who admitted the 
poet as one of his intimates, told him of the 
disparity. "Poets, sire," replied the witty, 
self-possessed Waller, "succeed better in 
fiction than in truth." Waller sat in par- 
liament through Charles's - reign. At the 
accession of James, the venerable poet, then 
eighty years of age, was chosen for a borough 
in Cornwall. His wariness and sagacity pre- 
dicted the end of James's mad career. He 
purchased a little estate at Colcshill, his 
native place, saying, "he would be glad to 
die like the stag, where he was roused." The 
wish was not fulfilled : he died at his resi- 
dence near Beaconsfield, Oct. 21st, 1687. 
He continued to write his smooth, elegant, 
and courtly verse down to the close of life. 

WALPOLE, Horace, third son of the 
great statesman, was born in 1717. The 
sinecures conferred upon him by his father 
enabled him to indulge his natural indolence, 
and he passed a lounging life, dabbling in 
literature and art, and gathering antiquarian 
nicknacks, works of art, rare books, and curi- 
ous all-sorts, in his "little plaything house" 
of Strawberry Hill at Twickenham. He was 
a shrewd and witty observer, and his " Let- 
ters" and " Memoirs" furnish sparkling and 
sarcastic pictures of the men and times of 



WAL 



926 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



his day. In 1791 the death of his nephew , eiick county, Virginia, about the year 1740. 



gave him the earldom of Orford. He died 
in 1797. 

WALPOLE, Sir Robert, afterward Earl of 
Orford, an eminent Whig statesman, was 
born in 1070. In 170U he married the daugh- 
ter of Sir John Shorter, and soon after be- 
came member for Castle Rising; but in 
1702 he was chosen for King s Lynn, which 
he represented in several parliaments. In 
1708 he was made secretary at war, and the 
year following treasurer of the navy. He 
was one of the managers of the trial of 
Sacheverel ; but on the change of ministry, 
was committed to the Tower, and expelled 
the house, for breach of trust and corrup- 
tion. The borough of Lynn, however, re- 
elected him, and he took an active part 
against ministers during the remainder of 
Queen Anne's reign. Early in that of George 
I. he became prime minister, but some 
difference arising between him and his col- 
leagues, he resigned, and joined the opposi- 
tion. In 1720 he accepted the paymaster- 
ship of the forces, and not long after was 
appointed first lord of the treasury and chan- 
cellor of the exchequer. In 1723 he was 
sworn sole secretary of state. In 1725 he 
received the order of the Bath, and the year 
following that of the Garter. He continued 
in power, though assailed by powerful ene- 
mies, till 1742, when he resigned, and was 
created Earl of Orford. He died in 1745. 
His brother, Horatio Walpole, Lord Wal- 
pole, was born in 1678. He filled several 
oflSces under government, and in 1756 was 
created a peer, but died the year following. 

WALSINGHAM, Sir Francis, an English 
statesman in the reign of Elizabeth, was born 
in 1536, at Chislehurst, in Kent. In 1573 
he was appointed one of the secretaries of 
state, and knighted. In 1583 he went on an 
embassy to James, king of Scotland, and 
three years afterward sat as one of the com- 
missioners on the trial of that monarch's 
unfortunate mother. Sir Francis was next 
made chancellor of the duchy of Lancaster ; 
and he was also honored with the order of 
the Garter. But with all these distinctions 
and services he died poor, April 0th, 1590, 
and was buried in St. Paul's. 

WALTON, George, a signer of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, was born in Fred- 



He was bred a carpenter, but studied law 
and commenced practice in Georgia. He 
was sent to congress in 1776 and returned 
in 1778. He took a prominent part in the 
affairs of the revolution, was wounded in 
the defense of Savannah, and made prisoner 
when it was taken by the British. He was 
chosen governor of Georgia in 1779, was 
again sent to congress in 1780, was afterward 
chief justice, and United States senator in 
1795 and 1796. He died at Augusta, Feb. 
2d, 1804. 

WALTON, IzAAK, the quaint author of 
"The Complete Angler, or Contemplative 
Man's Recreation," was a linen-draper in 
London till the gains of his industry permit- 
ted him to leave the town and dwell among 
the green fields and babbling brooks he 
loved so well. He wrote a life of Dr. Donne 
and other biographies, all marked by a sim- 
ple, touching, and impressive style. He died 
at Winchester in 1683, in his ninetieth 
year. 

W^ANDERING JEW. How this .most 
popular legend took its origin, whether from 
an incident mentioned in some one of the 
many gospels unaccepted by the church, 
whether brought from the orient by the cru- 
saders, or invented in the dark ages, is not 
known. So far back as the year 1000, such 
a lasting vagabond was said to be talked of; 
but since 1228 the tradition is known witli 
certainty to have been prevalent ; and thus 
an ancient writer tells it. " The Jews drag- 
ged Jesus from the judgment hall, and when 
he fell upon the threshold, Cartaphilus, or 
Calaphilus, who was the porter of Pontius 
Pilate, insolently pushed him, striking him 
on the back with his fist, and saying to him 
with a mocking laugh, ' Go faster, Jesus, go 
faster ; why dost thou linger ? ' Then Jesus 
looked on him with a frown, and said, ' I go, 
but thou shalt tarry until I come.' And, 
indeed, according to the Lord's word, Carta- 
philus yet awaits the coming of Jesus Christ. 
He was about thirty years of age at tlu' 
period of the Passion ; and ever since, when- 
ever he attains the age of a hundred years, 
he is seized with a strange infirmity, which 
seems incurable, and ends in a trance ; after 
which he becomes as young again as at the 
moment of the Passion. After tlie death c!' 



WAN 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



927 



the Saviour, Cartaphilus became a Christian, 
was baptized by the apostle Avanius, and 
took the name of Joseph. At the present 
day this Joseph generally resides in the one 
or other Armenia, and in various lands of the 
east. He is a man of holy conversation and 
great piety, speaking little, and never smil- 
ing. He perfectly remembers the death and 
resurrection of Christ." 

WARBECK, Perkin, made his appearance 
in England, in the reign of Henry VH., and 
assumed the character of Richard, Duke of 
York, the younger son of Edward IV., sup- 
posed to have been murdered in the Tower, 
together with his brother, by order of Rich- 
ard in. His cause was espoused by many 
persons of rank ; Margaret, Duchess of Bur- 
gundy, owned him her nephew ; and upon 
landing in Cornwall, he was joined by thou- 
sands of adherents. He was captured by 
Henry VII., confined in the Tower awhile, 
and eventually hanged, drawn, and quartered, 
1499. Henry published an alleged confes- 
sion of the prisoner, purporting that he was 
the son of a converted Jew of Tournay ; but 
many have thought him an illegitimate son 
of Edward IV. 

WARBURTON, William, a distinguished 
bishop of the English church, was born at 
Newark in 1G98. He abandoned the law for 
the church, and rose from obscurity to be 
Bishop of Gloucester in 1759. His great 
learning and originality were equaled by his 
arrogance and indomitable self-will. He 
wasted his powers in sustaining paradoxes 
and in ruthless tilts with his contemporaries 
in letters. His latter years were spent in a 
melancholy state of mental weakness, caused 
by grief for the loss of a son, and he died in 
1779. 

WARD, Artemas, commander at Cam- 
bridge when Washington arrived. He was 
the first of the four major-generals Congress 
commissioned under Washington, and com- 
manded the right wing during the siege of 
Boston in 177G, soon after which he resigned. 
In 1786 he was speaker of the house of repre- 
sentatives of Massachusetts, and was after- 
ward elected to congress. He died at Shrews- 
bury, Mass., Oct. 28th, 1800, aged seventy- 
three. 

WARREN, Joseph, was born at Ro.xbury, 
Mass., in 1740, and graduated at Harvard 



University in 1759. Having studied medi- 
cine he commenced the practice of it in 
Boston with great success. He was one of 
the earliest and most earnest patriots in Bos- 
ton. Four days before tlie battle of Bunker 
Hill the provincial congress of Massachusetts 
gave him a nuijor-general's commission, but 
in that contest he fought as a volunteer. On 
the retreat from the redoubt, he was shot in 
the trenches, and expired, at the age of thirty- 
five. His death was a severe loss to the 
cause he so ardently had at heart. 

WARSAAV, formerly the capital of the 
kingdom of Poland, on the west bank of the 
Vistula, contained, in 1851, 164,115 inhabit- 
ants. In the war with the Swedes, in the 
middle of the seventeenth century, Warsaw 
was occupied by these invaders, who made it 
the depot of their spoils. AVhen Charles 
XII. advanced, at a subsequent period, to 
Warsaw, it surrendered to him without oppo- 
sition. It was defended by Kosciusko against 
the Prussians, in 1794, who were obliged to 
raise the siege. Warsaw at length submit- 
ted to Suwarrow and the Russians. On the 
final partition of Poland, in 1795, this part 
of the country fell to the share of Prussia, 
and Warsaw had no other rank than that of 
a capital of a province, until the end of 1806, 
when the overthrow of the power of Prus- 
sia led to the formation, by Bonaparte, of the 
independent state called the duchy of War- 
saw. It was overrun by the Russians in 
1813, and Warsaw became the residence of 
a Russian viceroy. The Polish revolution 
commenced here, Nov. 29th, 1830. 

WARWICK, Richard Neville, Earl of, 
known by the appellation of the Mng-maler, 
was one of the most celebrated generals of 
his age. He put himself at the head of the 
Yorkists, and gave battle to the Lancastrians 
at St. Albans, in which he was defeated, in 
1461. He afterward harangued the citizens 
of London, assembled in St. John's Fields, 
setting forth the title of Edward, the eldest 
son of the Duke of York, and inveighing 
against the tyrnnny and usurpation of the 
house of Lancaster. After the decisive bat- 
tle of Towton, and Edward IV. was safely 
fixed on the throne, Warwick advised him to 
marrj', and with his consent went over to 
France, to procure Bona of Savoy as queen. 
But while the earl was hastening the nego- 



WAR 



928 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



tiation in France, the king married Elizabeth 
Woodville. Having thus given Warwick 
real cause of offense, he widened the breach, 
by driving him from the council. Warwick, 
whose prudence was equal to his bravery, 
soon made use of both to assist his revenge ; 
and formed such a combination against Ed- 
ward, that he was, in turn, obliged to fly the 
kingdom, and Henry VI. was released from 
jirison, to be placed again upon a dangerous 
throne. A parliament was called, which con- 
firmed Henry's title, with great solemnity, 
and Warwick was himself received among 



the people under the title of the king-maker. 
Edward, how^ever, did not long remain 
abroad ; and, having made a descent at Ra- 
venspur, in Yorkshire, he proceeded with an 
increasing army toward London. Nothing 
remained to Warwick, but to cut short a 
state of anxious suspense, by hazarding a 
battle. Edward's fortune prevailed. They 
met at Barnet, April 14th, 1471, and the Lan- 
castrians were defeated, while Warwick him- 
self, leading a chosen body of troops into 
the thickest of the fight, fell in the midst of 
his enemies, covered with wounds. 







-f^-- 



MOUNT VERNON. 



WASHINGTON, George, the third son of 
Augustine Washington, was born Feb. 22d, 
(11th, o.s.), 1732, on the banks of the Po- 
tomac, in the countj^ of Westmoreland, 
Virginia. His father died when he was but 
eleven years old, and the care of his edu- 
cation devolved upon his mother. That a 
mother should love such a son as George 
proved himself to be, and that a son should 



WAS 



love such a mother as Mrs. Washington cer- 
tainly was, is not at all surprising. From 
his earliest days she e.xerted her whole influ- 
ence to imbue him with a love of "whatever 
was lovely and of good report," and her ex- 
ertions were not in vain. How well he repaid 
her for her care, may be seen in the following 
incident. When about fourteen years of age 
he became strongly inclined to go to sea, 



i 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



929 



with a view of enlisting in the service of the 
mother country, at that time engaged in a 
war witli France and Spain. He was resolved 
to go. Preparation had been made. A mid- 
shipman's berth had been procured for him 
on board a British man-of-war, then lying in 
sight of Mount Vernon ; and even his trunk 
was on board. When the time arrived that 
he was to go, he passed into the sitting-room 
of his mother, to take leave of her. She 
was sitting in tears. He approached her, 
and putting his arms about her neck, affec- 
tionately kissed her. He was about to bid 
her farewell ; but he hesitated. Her affection 
and affliction unmanned him. He was young 
and ambitious; and at that early day the 
spirit of patriotism, which so nobly charac- 
terized him in after life, in respect to his 
country, was stirring within him. Yet the 
feelings of his heart were stronger than any 
other ties ; and here, nobly sacrificing his 
pride and ambition, he relinquished his pur- 
pose, and stayed to comfort her who gave 
him birth. 

His brother Lawrence, having married a 
connection of Lord Fairfax, his lordship gave 
George Washington, in his sixteenth year, 
the appointment of surveyor, to examine and 
survey his broad lands beyond the Blue 
Ridge. In 1751 he was. appointed one of the 
adjutant-generals of Virginia, with the rank 
of major. Soon afterward he was sent by 
the governor of Virginia to carry a letter to 
the French commander on the Ohio, forbid- 
ding his encroachment on the lands belonging 
to Virginia. The journey was about four 
hundred miles, half of which lay through a 
trackless wilderness, inhabited by Indians. 
He left Williamsburg on the 31st of October, 
and delivered his letter on the 12th of De- 
cember. Having received an answer, he set 
out immediately on his dangerous and toil- 
some return. The following is his own ac- 
count of it : — 

"As I was uneasy to get back, to make a 
report of my proceedings to his honor the 
governor, I determined to prosecute my jour- 
ney the nearest way, through the woods, and 
on foot. I took my necessary papers, pulled 
off my clothes, and tied myself up in a watch- 
coat. Then, with a gun in my hand, and 
pack on my back, in which were my papers 
and provisions, I set out with Mr. Gist, fitted 

59 W 



in the same manner. Wo fe\l in with a 
party of Indians, who had lain in wait for us. 
One of them fired not fifteen steps off, but 
fortunately missed ; we walked on the remain- 
ing part of the night, without making any 
stop, that we might get the start so far as to 
be out of the reach of their pursuit the next 
day, as we were well assured that they would 
follow our track'as soon as it was light. The 
next day we continued traveling until quite 
dark and got to the river. We expected to 
have found the river frozen, but it was not 
more than fifty* yards fi'om each shore. The 
ice, I suppose, had been broken up, for it was 
driving in vast quantities. There was no 
way of getting over but on a raft, which we 
set about making with one poor hatchet, and 
finished just after sun-setting: this was one 
day's work. We got it launched, then went 
on board of it, and set off; but before we 
were half-way over, we were jammed in the 
ice, in such a manner that we expected every 
moment our raft to sink and ourselves to 
perish. I put out my setting-pole to en- 
deavor to stop the raft, that the ice might 
pass by, when the rapidity of the stream 
threw it with so much violence against the 
pole, that it jerked me out into ten feet 
water." At length, on the lOth of January, 
he arrived at Williamsburg, and delivered 
the important letter to the governor. 

Having been appointed colonel of a regi- 
ment raised to defend the rights of the colo- 
nists against the encroachments of the French, 
Washington distinguished himself greatly by 
his defense of Fort Necessity, although he 
was finally forced to capitulate. Having 
resigned his commission, he retired in 1754 
to Mount Vernon, on the Potomac, a country- 
seat which had been bequeathed him by his 
brother. In 1755 he accepted the invitation 
of Gen. Braddock to enter his family as a 
volunteer aid-de-camp, and accompanied him 
in the memorable and unfortunate expedi- 
tion to the Ohio, the result of which would 
probably have been very different from what 
it was, had Braddock followed the prudent 
advice of his aid. When the troops fell into 
the Indian ambuscade, the officers were sin- 
gled out by their savage foes and deliberately 
shot, Washington being the only aid that was 
unwounded, and on him devolved the whole 
duty of carrying the orders of the com- 
.\S 



930 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



mander-in-chief. Though he had two horses 
killed under him, and four balls through his 
coat, he escaped unhurt, while every other 
ofiBcer on horseback was either killed or 
wounded. Dr. Craik, the physician who 
attended hira in his last sickness, was present 
at this battle, and says, " I expected every 
moment to see hira fall. Nothing but the 
superintending care of Providence could have 
saved him from the fate of all around him." 

After an action of three hours, the troops 
gave way in all directions, and Col. Washing- 
ton and two others brought off the mortally 
wounded Braddock. Washington attempted 
to rally the retreating troops ; but, as he said 
himself, it was like attempting to stop the 
wild bears of the mountains. The conduct 
of the regular troops w^as most cowardly. 
The enemy were few in numbers, and had 
no expectation of victory. The preservation 
of Washington during this battle was almost 
miraculous. He was exposed more than any 
other officer, and was particularly the object 
of savage attacks on account of his superior 
bravery. After the defeat, a famous Indian 
warrior who acted a distinguished part in 
that bloody tragedy, was heard to say that 
Washington was never born to be killed by a 
bullet ; " For," said he, " I had seventeen 
fair shots at him with my rifle, and yet I 
could not bring him to the ground." 

Washington continued emploj^ed in public 
affairs till the expulsion of the French from 
the Ohio, and the cessation of hostilities on 
the part of the Indians. AVhile journeying to 
Williamsburg in 1758, to transact business 
with the council, he met his future wife. 
Irving thus tells the story of the courtship. 
"In crossing a ferry of the Pamunkey, a 
branch of York River, he fell in company with 
a Mr. Chamberlayne, who lived in the neigh- 
borhood, and who, in the spirit of Virginian 
hospitality, claimed him as a guest. It was 
with difficulty Washington could be pre- 
vailed on to halt for dinner, so impatient was 
he to arrive flt Williamsburg, and accom- 
plish his mission. Among the guests at Mr. 
Chamberlayne's was a young and blooming 
widow, Mrs. Martha Custis, daughter of Mr. 
John Dandridge, both patrician names in the 
province. Her husband, John Parke Custis, 
had been dead three years, leaving her with 
two young children and a large fortune. 



She is represented as being rather below the 
middle size, but extremely well shaped, with 
an agreeable countenance, dark hazel eyes 
and hair, and those frank, engaging manners, 
so captivating in Southern Avomcn. We are 
not informed whether Washington had met 
with her before; probably not during her 
widowhood, as during that time he had been 
almost continually on the frontier. We have 
shown that, with all his gravity and reserve, 
he was quickly susceptible to female charms, 
and they may have had a greater effect upon 
him when thus casually encountered, in fleet- 
ing moments snatched from the cares and 
perplexities and rude scenes of frontier war- 
fare. At any rate, his heart appears to have 
been taken by surprise. The dinner, which, 
in those days, was an earlier meal than at 
present, seemed all too short. The afternoon 
passed away like a dream. Bishop (the mil- 
itary servant) was punctual to the orders he 
had received on halting ; the horses pawed 
at the door ; but for once Washington loitered 
in the path of duty. The horses were coun- 
termanded, and it was not until the next 
morning that he was again in the saddle, 
spurring for Williamsburg. Happily, the 
White House, the residence of Mrs. Custis, 
was in New Kent County, at no great dis- 
tance from that city, so that he had opportu- 
nities of visiting her in the intervals of busi- 
ness." They were married on the 6th of 
January, 1759. 

He continued to be an active member of 
the general assembly, and on the approach 
of hostilities with Great Britain, was chosen 
to the first congress. On the 14th of June, 
1775, he was chosen commander-in-chief of 
the armies of the united colonies. He re- 
paired immediately to the head-quarters of 
the American army at Cambridge, Mass., 
and having forced the British to evacuate 
Boston, led his army to New York, where he 
was doomed to witness the defeat of the 
Americans on Long Island, on the 27th of 
August, but his retreat of the army was con- 
ducted in a masterly manner. After the bat- 
tle of White Plains, the prospects of the 
Americans appeared hopeless, but the suc- 
cesses of Trenton and Princeton inspired the 
army with fresh courage. By these, Phila- 
delphia was saved, and New Jersey regained. 
On the 25th of August, 1777 the British for- 



WAS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



931 



ces under Howe, which had sailed for New 
York, disembarked at the ferry of Elk River, 
and on the 10th of September, the battle of 
Brandywine was fought and the Americans 
defeated. 

Major Ferguson, who commanded a British 
rifle corps a day or two previous to this bat- 
tle, was the hero of a ver^^ singular adven- 
ture which he thus describes in a letter to a 
friend. " We had not lain long, when a rebel 
officer, remarkable by a hussar dress, pressed 
toward our army, within a hundred yards of 
my right flank, not perceiving us. He was 
followed by another, dressed in dark green 
and blue, mounted on a bay horse, with a 
remarkably high cocked hat. I ordered 
three good shots to stand near, and fire at 
them ; but the idea disgusting me, I recalled 
the order. The hussar, in returning, made 
a circuit, but he passed within a hundred 
yards of us ; upon which I advanced from the 
woods toward him. Upon my calling, he 
•stopped ; but, after looking at me, again pro- 
ceeded. I again drew his attention, and made 
signs to him to stop, leveling my piece at 
him ; but he slowly cantered away. By 
quick firing, I could have lodged half a doz- 
en balls in or about him, before he was out 
of my reach. I had only to determine ; but 
it was not pleasant to fire at the back of an 
unoffending individual, who was very coolly 
acquitting himself of his duty ; so I let it 
alone. The next day, the surgeon told me 
that the wounded rebel officers informed him 
that Gen. Washington was all the morning 
with the light troops, and onl}^ attended by 
a French officer in the hussar dress, he him- 
self dressed and mounted as I have before 
described. I am not sorry I did not know 
who it was at the time." 

The battle of Brandywine opened the way 
to Philadelphia for the British, who entered 
it on the 26th of September. After the un- 
satisfactory engagement at Germantown, the 
American troops were quartered for the win- 
ter at Valley Forge, where their sufferings 
were extreme. One day a Quaker by the 
name of Potts had occasion to go to a cer- 
tain place, which led him through a large 
grove at no gr«at distance from head-quar- 
ters. As he was proceeding along, he thought 
he heard a noise. He stopped and listened. 
He did hear the sound of a human voice at 

W 



some distance, but quite indistinctly. As it 
was in the direct course he was pursuing, he 
went on, but with some caution. At length 
he came within sight of a man whose back 
was turned toward him, on his knees, in the 
attitude of prayer. Potts now stopped, and 
soon saw Washington himself, the command- 
er of the American armies, returning from 
bending before the God of hosts above. 
Potts himself was a pious man, and no sooner 
had he reached home, than in the fullness of 
his faith, he broke forth to his wife Sarah : 
"All's well! all's well! Yes, — George 
Washington is sure to beat the British — 
sure!'''' — "What's the matter with thee, 
Isaac ? " replied the startled Sarah. " Thee 
seems to be much moved about something." — 
" Well, what if I am moved ? Who would 
not be moved at such a sight as I have seen 
to-day?" — "And what hast thou seen, 
Isaac ? " — " Seen ! I've seen a man at prayer ! 
— in the woods ! — George Washington him- 
self! And now I say, — just what I have said, 
— ' All's well ! George Washington is sure 
to beat the British ! — sure ! ' " 

In June, 1778, the British evacuated Phil- 
adelphia, and retreated upon New York 
closely followed by Washington, who at- 
tacked them at Monmouth on the 24th, and 
fought them with advantage, although with- 
out gaining a decided victory. Washington 
was personally engaged in forming the line 
of the main body near the court house, and 
was speaking with Col. Hartley of the Penn- 
sylvania line, when a cannon-ball struck just 
at his horse's feet, throwing the dirt in his 
face and over his clothes. The general con- 
tinued giving orders without noticing the 
derangement of his toilette. " Never," says 
Lafaj^ette, " was Gen. Washington greater in 
war than in this conflict : his presence stopped 
the retreat, his dispositions fixed the victory. 
His fine appearance on horseback, his calm 
courage, roused by the animation produced 
by the vexation of the morning, gave him 
the air best calculated to excite enthusiasm." 

In 1781 Washington, in conjunction with 
Count Rochambeau, planned an expedition 
against New York, which was abandoned 
with a view of directing their operations to 
the south. Demonstrations, however, were 
made against the city, and Sir Henry Clinton 
was not aware of the change in their inten- 
ds 



932 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



tions. The siege of Yorktown commenced on 
the 28th of September, and Lord Cornwallis 
was compelled to surrender after much 
hard fighting, on the 19th. This was the 
last action of the war. In the trying times 
thus crowned by victory, not only did Wash- 
ington display the qualities of a great and 
prudent commander, in opposition with the 
British arnues : he hud also to contend with 
turbulence and factions in the American 
ranks and councils. The intrigues and 
jealousies of aspiring men often embarrassed 
his operations, and sometimes impugned his 
capacity for the post he held. But he rose 
above them. 

If we are called upon to admire the con- 
duct and successes of Washington in action, 
our admiration is no less due to his behavior 
in those intervals of repose when the Ameri- 
can forces had time to reflect upon their 
wants, and brood over their supposed griev- 
ances. He quelled mutiny, but he pitied the 
sutferings that produced it; and while he 
was resolved to enforce subordination, he was 
no less determined to administer all the com- 
fort which it was in his power to bestow. 

On the 25 th of November, 1783, Wash- 
ington made his public entry into the city of 
New York. On the 4th of December, the 
principal officers of the army assembled at 
Fraunces' tavern in that city, to take a final 
leave of their beloved conanander-in-chief. 
Soon after his excellency entered the room. 
His emotions overcame his usual self-com- 
mand. Filling a glass, and turning to them, 
he said : "With a heart full of love and 
gratitude, I now take leave of you. I most 
devoutly wish that your latter days may be 
as prosperous and happy as your former ones 
have been glorious and honorable." Having 
drank, he added, "I can not come to each 
of you to take my leave, but shall be obliged 
to you if each of you will come and take me 
by the hand." General Knox, being nearest, 
turned to him. Incapable of utterance, 
Washington in tears grasped his hand, em- 
braced and kissed him. In the same afTcc- 
tionate manner, he took leave of each suc- 
ceeding officer. Leaving the room, he passed 
through the corps of light-infantry, and 
walked to Whitehall ferry, where a barge 
waited to convey him to Paulus' Hook. The 
whole company followed in mute and solemn 

W 



procession, with dejected countenances, testi- 
fying feelings of melancholy which no pen 
can describe. Having entered the barge, he 
turned to the company, and waving his hat, 
he bade them a silent adieu. They paid him 
the same affectionate compliment, watched 
the barge till out of sight, and then returned 
in the same solemn manner, to the place 
where they had assembled. 

On the 23d of December, 1783, Washing- 
ton resigned his commission to Congress, 
then sitting at Annapolis. On this interest- 
ing and solemn occasion he appeared in the 
hall of Congress. As he rose to speak, eveiy 
ej^e was fixed upon him. He began by ex- 
pressing his humble joy at the accomplish- 
ment of his wishes and exertions, in the in- 
dependence of his countrj\ Next, he recom- 
mended to Congress and to the country tb.e 
companions of his toils and trials, and con- 
cluded as follows: "I consider it an indis- 
pensable duty to close this last solemn act of 
my official life, by commending tlie interests 
of our dearest country to the protection of 
Almighty God, and those who have the su- 
perintendence of them to his holy keeping. 
Having now finished the work assigned me, 
I retire from the great theatre of action, 
and, bidding an affectionate fore well to 
this august body, under whose orders I have 
long acted, I here offer my commission, and 
take ni}'^ leave of all the employments of pub- 
lic life." 

Upon accepting his commission, Congre.'^s, 
through their president, expressed in glowing 
language to Washington their high sense of 
his wisdom and energy, in conducting the 
war to so happy a termination, and invoked 
the choicest blessings on his future life. Pres- 
ident Mifflin concluded as follows : " We 
join you in commending the interests of our 
dearest countrj' to Almighty God, beseeching 
him to dispose the hearts and minds of its 
citizens to improve the opportunity afforded 
them of becoming a happy and respectable 
nation. And as for you, we address to him 
our earnest prayers, that the life so beloved 
may be fostered with all his care ; that your 
days may be as happy as they have been 
illustrious ; and that he will finally give you 
that reward which the world can not give." 

A profound stillness pervaded the assem- 
l)ly. The grandeur of the scene, the recol- 
\S 



:iSTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



933 










Washington's tomb. 



lection <?f the past, the felicitj^ of the pres- 
ent, the hopes of the future, crowded fast 
upon all, while thej^ united in invoking bless- 
ings upon the man who, under God, had 
achieved so much, and who now, in the cliar- 
acter of a mere citizen., was hastening to a 
long desired repose, at his seat at Mount 
Vernon in Virginia. Congress voted the vic- 
torious general an equestrian statue, and the 
legislature of Virginia decreed to him "a 
statue of the finest marble and best work- 
manship." 

But "Washington was not permitted to re- 
main in his dignified retirement; for the na- 
tion, aware of the importance of securing his 



wisdom and influence, chose him the first 
president, under the new constitution of 
1789. His feelings on this occasion are ex- 
pressed in a letter to a friend, of which the 
following is an extract : " I am imwiliing 
in the evening of a life almost consumed in 
public cares, to quit a peaceful abode for an 
ocean of difficulties, without the competency 
of political skill, abilities, and inclination, 
which are necessary to manage the helm. I 
am sensible that I am embarking on a haz- 
ardous voj-age, but what returns will be 
made Heaven alone can foretell. Integrity 
and firmness are all I can promise; these, 
be the voyage long or short, shall never for- 



WAS 



934 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



sake mc, although I may be deserted by all 
men, for of all consolations which are to be 
derived from these, under any circumstan- 
ces, the world can not deprive me." 

In the tirst presidenc}^, the door of the 
president's house gathered but little rust on 
its hinges, while often was its latch lifted by 
the "broken soldier." Scarce a day passed 
that some veteran of the heroic time did not 
present himself at head-quarters. The most 
battered of these types of the days of priva- 
tion and trial were "kindly bid to stay," 
were offered refreshment, and a glass of 
something to the old general's health, and 
then dismissed with lighter hearts and heav- 
ier pouches. 

Throughout the eight ya^xs of his presi- 
dential career, "Washington did nothing to 
forfeit the esteem of his fellow-citizens, who 
acknowledged him "first in peace, first in 
war, and first in the hearts of his country- 
men." An Englishman in Philadelphia, 
speaking of the presidency of Washington, 
was expressing a desire to see him. "While 
this conversation passed, " There he goes," 
cried the American, pointing to a tall, erect, 
dignified personage, passing on the other 
side of the street. " That General AYashing- 
ton ! " exclaimed the Englishman ; " where 
is his guard ? " " Here ! " replied the Amer- 
ican, striking on his breast with emphasis. 

On Friday, the 13th of December, 1799, 
exposure to wet produced an inflammatory 
disorder of the throat, which terminated fa- 
tally on the night of Saturday. The deep 
and wide-spread grief occasioned by this 
melancholy event, assembled a great con- 
course of people for the purpose of paying 
the last tribute of respect to the first of 
Americans. On "Wednesday, the 18th of 
December, attended by military honors and 
the ceremonies of religion, his body was de- 
posited in the family vault at Mount Vernon. 

So short was his illness, that, at the seat 
of government, the intelligence of his death 
preceded that of his indisposition. It was 
first communicated by a passenger in the 
stage to an acquaintance whom he met in the 
street, and the report quickly reached the 
house of representatives, which was then in 
session. A solemn silence prevailed for sev- 
eral minutes ; Judge Marshall, then a mem- ■ 
her of the house, stated in his place the mel- I 



ancholy information which had been received. 
This information, he said, was not certain, 
but there was too much reason to believe it 
true. " After receiving intelligence," he 
added, " of a national calamity so heavy and 
alliicting, the house of representatives can be 
but ill fitted for public business." He there- 
fore moved an adjournment, and the house 
adjourned. 

The expression of "Washington's counte- 
nance was serious, but very pleasing ; his 
eyes were a mild blue ; and the flush of 
health g-ave a glow to his cheeks. His step 
was always firm ; but after the toils of the 
long war, his body was a little bent as he 
walked, and his once smooth forehead and 
checks were marked with care-worn furrows. 
General AVashington^ in the prime of life, 
stood six feet two inches, and measured pre- 
cisely six feet when attired for the grave. 
To a majestic height was added correspond- 
ing breadth and firmness ; and his whole per- 
son was so cast in nature's finest mould, as 
to resemble the classic remains of ancient 
statuary, M'here all the parts contribute to 
the purity and perfection of the whole. 
Bred in the vigorous school of the frontier 
warfare, " the earth his bed, his canopy the 
heavens," he excelled the hunter and the 
woodsman in their athletic habits, and in 
those trials of manhood which distinguished 
the hard}^ days of his early life ; he was amaz- 
ingly swift of foot, and could climb the moun- 
tain steep, and "not a sob his toil confess." 

Bancroft thus sketches the character of 
Washington : " Courage was so natural to 
him, that it was hardly spoken of to his 
praise ; no one ever at any moment of his 
life discovered in him the least shrinking in 
danger; and he had a hardihood of daring 
which escaped notice, because it was so en- 
veloped by superior calmness and wisdom. 
He was as cheerful as he was spirited, frank 
and communicative in the society of friends, 
fond of the fox-chase and the dance, often 
sportive in his letters, and liked a hearty 
laugh. This joyousness of disposition re- 
mained to the last, though the vastness of 
his responsibilities was soon to take from 
him the right of displaying the impulsive 
qualities of his nature, and the weight which 
he was to bear up was to overlay and repress 
his gaycty and openness. 



WAS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



935 



" His hand was liberal ; giving quietly and 
witliout observation, as tliougli he was 
ashamed of nothing but being discovered in 
doing good. He was kindly and compassion- 
ate, and of lively sensibility to the sorrows 
of others ; so that if his country had only 
needed a victim for its relief, he would have 
willingly offered himself as a sacrifice. But 
while he was prodigal of himself, he was 
considerate for others ; ever parsimonious of 
the blood of his countrymen. He was pru- 
dent in the management of his private 
affiiirs, purchased rich lands from the Mo- 
hawk valley to the flats of the Kanawha, and 
improved his fortune by the correctness of 
his judgment ; but, as a public man, he knew 
no other aim than the good of his country, 
and, in the hour of iiis country's poverty, 
he refused personal emolument for his 
sei'vice. 

" His faculties were so well balanced and 
combined that his constitution, free from 
excess, was tempered evenly with all the 
elements of activity, and his mind resembled 
a well-ordered commonwealth ; his passions, 
which had the intensest vigor, owned alle- 
giance to reason ; and, with all the fiery 
quickness of his spirit, his impetuous and 
massive will was held in check by consum- 
mate judgment. He had in his composition 
a calm which gave him, in moments of high- 
est excitement, the power of self-control, and 
enabled him to excel in patience even when 
he had most cause for disgust. Washington 
was offered a command when there was little 
to bring out the vmorganized resources of the 
continent but his own influence, and au- 
thority was connected with the people by the 
most frail, most attenuated, scarcely discern- 
ible threads; yet, vehement as was his 
nature, impassioned as was his courage, he 
so restrained his ardor that he never failed 
continuously to exert the attracting power 
of that influence, and never exerted it so 
sharply as to break its force. 

" In secrecy, he was unsurpassed ; but his 
secrecy had the character of prudent reserve, 
not of cunning or concealment. His under- 
standing was lucid and his judgment accu- 
rate, so that his conduct never betrayed hurry 
or confusion. No detail was too minute for 
liis personal inquiry and continued supervi- 
sion ; and, at the same time, he comprehended 



events in their widest aspects and relations. 
He never seemed above the object which en- 
gaged his attention, and he was always equal 
without an effort, to the solution of the high 
est questions, even when there existed no 
precedents to guide his decision. In this 
way, he never drew to himself admiration 
for the possession of any one quality in 
excess, never made in council any one sug- 
gestion that was sublime but impracticable, 
never in action took to himself the praise or 
the blame of undertakings astonishing in 
conception, but beyond his means of execu- 
tion. It was the most wonderful accom- 
plishment of this man, that placed upon the 
largest theatre of events, at the head of the 
greatest revolution in human affairs, he never 
flviled to observe'all that was possible, and at 
the same time to bound his aspirations by 
that which was possible. 

"A slight tinge in his character percepti- 
ble only to the close observer, revealed the 
region from which he sprung, and he might 
be described as the best specimen of manhood 
as developed in the south ; but his qualities 
were so faultlessly proportioned, that his 
whole country rather claimed him as its 
choicest representative, the most complete 
expression of all its attainments and aspira- 
tions. He studied his country and conformed 
to it. His countrymen felt that he was the 
best type of America, and rejoiced in it, and 
were proud of it. They lived in his life, and 
made his success and his praise their own. 

" Profoundly impressed with confidence in 
God's Providence, and exemplary in his 
respect for the forms of public worship, no 
philosopher of the eighteenth century was 
more firm in the support of freedom of reli- 
gious opinion ; none more tolerant or more 
remote from bigotry ; but belief in God, and 
trust in his overruling power, formed the 
essence of his character. Divine wisdom not 
only illumines the spirit, — it inspires the will. 

" "Washington was a man of action, and 
not of theory or words ; his creed appears in 
his life, not in his professions, which burst 
from him very rarely, and only at those great 
moments of crisis in the fortunes of his 
country when earth and heaven seemed 
actually to meet, and his emotions became 
too intense for suppression ; but his whole 
being was one continued act of faith in the 



WAS 



936 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



eternal, intelligent, moral order of the uni- 
verse. Integrity was so completely the law of 
his nature, that a planet would sooner have 
shot from its sphere than he have departed 
from his uprightness, which was so constant 
that it often seemed to be almost impersonal. 

" They say of Giotto, that he introduced 
goodness into the art of painting : Washing- 
ton carried it with him into the camp and 
the cabinet, and established a new criterion 
of human greatness. The purity of his will 
confirmed his fortitude ; and as he never fal- 
tered in his fiiith in virtue, he stood fast by 
that which he knew to be just, free from illu- 
sions, never dejected by the apprehension 
of the difficulties and perils that went before 
him, and drawing the prqmise of success 
from the justice of his cause. Hence he was 
persevering, leaving nothing unfinished ; free 
from all taint of obstinacy in his firmness, 
seeking and gladly receiving advice, but im- 
movable in his devotedness to right. 

"Of a 'retiring modesty and habitual 
reserve,' his ambition was not more than the 
consciousness of his power, and was subor- 
dinate to his sense of duty ; he took the fore- 
most place, for he knew, from inborn mag- 
nanimity, that it belonged' to him, and he 
dared not withhold the service required of 
him ; so that, with all his humility, he was 
by necessity the first, though never for him- 
self or for private ends. He loved fame, the 
approval of coming generations, the good 
opinion of his fellow-men of his own time, 
and he desii-cd to make his conduct coincide 
with their wishes ; but not fear of censure, 
not the prospect of applause, could tempt 
him to swerve from rectitude ; and the praise 
which he coveted was the sympathy of that 
moral sentiment which exists in every human 
breast, and goes forth only to the welcome 
of virtue. 

"There have been soldiers who have 
achieved mightier victories in the field, and 
made conquests more nearly corresponding 
to the boundlessness of selfish ambition ; 
statesmen who have been connected with 
more startling upheavals of society ; but it 
is the greatness of Washington, that in public 
trusts he used power solely for the public 
good ; that he was the life, and moderator, 
and stay, of the most momentous revolution 
in human affairs, its moving impulse and its 



restraining power. Combining the centri- 
petal and the centrifugal forces in their ut- 
most strength and in perfect relations, with 
creative grandeur of instinct he held ruin in 
check, and renewed and perfected the insti- 
tutions of his country. Finding the colonies 
disconnected and dependent, he left them 
such a united and well-ordered common- 
wealth as no visionary had believed to be 
possible. So that it has been truly said, ' he 
was as fortunate as great and good.' " 

WASHINGTON, William Augustine, a 
distinguished cavalry officer in the American 
revolution, was born in Virginia. He dis- 
tinguished himself particularly at Guilford, 
and Eutaw, where, however, he M'as made 
prisoner, and detained until the close of the 
war. During the presidency of Adams, 
General Washington attached his relative to 
his staff with the rank of brigadier -general. 
He died March 6th, 1810. He had married 
a South Carolinian lady to whom he became 
attached dui'ing his captivity, and settled in 
Charleston. 

WATERLOO, Battle of, called by French 
writers the battle of Mont St. Jean. Water- 
loo, the village near which it was fought, is 
in the Belgic province of South Brabant, on the 
road from Charleroi to Brussels, ten miles from 
the latter city, at the entrance of the forest of 
Soignies. The European confederates having 
outlawed Napoleon by a declaration at Vi- 
enna, assembled their forces to invade France 
by the east and north. A Prussian army of 
130,000 was collected at Namur, under Blu- 
cher, and an English, Hanoverian, Dutch, 
and Flemish army of 100,000, under "Wel- 
lington, in advance of Brussels. To oppose 
these Napoleon had a force of 120,000. 
It was his design to attack and defeat them 
separately, before they could combine. He 
took possession of Charleroi early in the 
morning of the 15th of June, 1815. Ney 
was dispatched with 40,000 men to gain 
the important position of Quatre-bras, which 
would have cut off" Wellington from Blucher. 
It was Napoleon's intention to leave a small 
force behind the intrenchments there, to 
beat back the Russians, while he destroyed 
the army of Wellington. The news of the 
emperor's advance reached Wellington that 
night amid the gayeties of a ball given by 
the Duchess of Richmond at Brussels. He 



WAT 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



937 



was aware of the importance of Quatre-bras, 
and before morning his troops had possession 
of it. All the fierce assaults of Ney the 
next day could not gain it. 

Blucher had left Namur with 80,000 men 
to join Wellington. Napoleon met him at 
Ligny on the 16th with 60,000. A despe- 
rate conflict lasted all day, and at sunset tlie 
French were everywhere victorious. Blucher 
retreated during the night toward Wavre. 
Wellington, hearing of this, fell back from 
Quatre-bras, halted at Waterloo, and anx- 
iously awaited the arrival of Blucher. Na- 
poleon, after dispatching Grouchy to pursue 
the Prussians, joined with Ney and followed 
Wellington, reaching Waterloo at nightfliU 
on the 17th. Wellington's army is variously 
estimated at from 72,000 to 90,000; Napo- 
leon's at from 65,000 to 75,000. Blucher, at 
Wavre, a few hours' march away, had 72,000. 
Wellington was admirably posted : the cha- 
teau of Hougomont protected his right, 
acclivities of ground his left and centre, and 
the great forest of Soignies his rear. 

The battle commenced an hour before noon 
on the 18th, with a bloody attack upon the 
chateau of Hougomont, and extended to 
other portions of the field. The carnage was 
awful. In the afternoon, when the English 
line was giving way and flying in dismay 
toward Brussels, Bulow, with the Prussian 
van-guard, came upon the scene. Ten thou- 
sand French beat back this fresh force of 
thirty thousand, while the emperor continued 
with lessened numbers his terriljle attack 
upon the English, hoping every moment for 
the appearance of Grouchy. That general 
heard the booming of the guns in battle, yet 
unaccountably refused to stir. Wellington 
was no less anxious for the arrival of Blu- 
cher. As he saw his lines folter, he cried, 
"Would to Heaven that Blucher or night 
would come." Blucher came, and the odds 
of numbers were three to one against the 
exhausted French. As a last hope Napoleon 
ordered a charge of the imperial guard ; he 
wished to lead the attack in person, but the 
entreaties of his officers led him to give place 
to Ney. All the valor of this renowned and 
intrepid body could not avail, and it was 
annihilated before the overwhelming strength 
of the foe. The French fled in panic, loav- 
mg their cannon and baggage, and the Prus- 



sians followed in hot pursuit. Cambronne, 
with a little remnant of the guard, alone 
covered the flight. When summoned to 
yield, he answered, " The Guard dies, but 
neVer surrenders." And so the Guard died 
upon the field of Waterloo. 

WATT, James, was born at Greenock, 
Scotland, Jan. 19th, 1736. While yet a boy 
he got a hint of his great invention as he sat 
by the fireside and watched the tea-kettle. 
The improvements which he made in the 
steam-engine have immortalized him. He 
died near Birmingham, Aug. 25th, 1819. 

WATTS, Isaac, D.D., was born at South- 
ampton, July 17th, 1674. His parents were 
remarkable for piety. He was educated 
among dissenters, and in 1698 was chosen 
minister by a congregation at Stoke Newing- 
ton, and afterward by one in Mark Lane, 
London. Ill health drove him from his post, 
and in 1712 he was received into the house 
of a benevolent gentleman of his neighbor- 
hood. Sir Thomas Abney, of Abney Park, 
where he spent all the remainder of his life. 
There he composed those devotional hymns 
for which his name is revered by all lovers 
of Christianity. His treatises on "Logic" 
and on the "Improvement of the Mind" are 
cogent in argument and felicitous in illustra- 
tion. He died Nov. 25 th, 1748. 

WAYNE, Anthony, -a general in the 
American Revolution, born in Chester county, 
Penn., Jan. 1st, 1745. He was educated at 
a Philadelphia academy. Having served his 
country in a civil capacity, he raised a com- 
pany of volunteers in 1775, and was elected 
colonel. In the retreat from Canada he 
behaved with great prudence, and Feb. 12th, 
1777, was made brigadier-general by the con- 
tinental congress. He distinguished himself 
at the battles of Brandywinc, Germantown, 
and Monmouth, but his most brilliant service 
was performed in carrying Stony Point by 
assault. He was in continual service through- 
out the war, and in 1792 was appointed by 
Washington to succeed St. Clair in the com- 
mand of the army employed against the 
Indians on the western frontier. Aug. 20th, 
1794, he gained a victory near Miami on the 
lakes, and successfully ended the war by 
treaty the next year. While returning home 
from the west, he was seized with the gout, 
and died in a hut at Presque Isle, on the 



WAY 



938 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



shore of Lake Erie, in December, 1796. His 
reckless daring gained him the name of Mad 
Antony. 

WEBER, Carl von, a great German com- 
poser, the author of "Der Freischutz," 
"Oberon," &c., was born at Eutin in Hol- 
stein, in December, 1786. "Oberon" was 
composed for the English stage, and was 



brouglit out at Covent Garden, conducted by 
Weber himself, April 12th, 1S2(). Symptoms 
of pulmonary disease soon showed them- 
selves ; the health of the talented composer 
sank rapidly ; and his illustrious career 
closed on the 5th of June, 1826, M'hen he 
was found lifeless in his bed. 




■> -^^w^^*" 



BIRTHPLACE OF WEBSTER. 



WEBSTER, Daniel, was the second son 
of Ebenezer Webster, of Salisbury, N. H., a 
captain in the Revolutionary army, and after- 
ward, though not bred to the law, one of the 
judges of the court of common pleas. He 
was born in that part of Salisbury now called 
Boscawen, the 18th of September, 1782. He 
received his academical education at Exeter 
and Hanover, graduating at Dartmouth Col- 
lege in 1801. at the age of nineteen. He had 
scantily replenished his slender exchequer by 
teaching school during his vacations. After 
one year's experience as a pedagogue at 
Fryeburg, Me., he returned home and com- 
menced the study of law. In 1804 he 
betook himself to Boston, continued his 



studies with Christopher Gore, a leading 
counselor, afterward governor of Massachu- 
setts, and in the following year was admitted 
to the bar. He returned to Salisbury and 
began practice. His father strongly urged 
him to take the clerkship of the court of 
common pleas, which was tendered for his 
acceptance. The position was tempting then, 
but he fortunately persisted in refusing it. 
After his father's decease in 1807, he removed 
to Portsmouth, where he made the acquaint- 
ance of Dexter, Story, Mason, and others, 
afterward eminent at the bar and in public 
life. His abilities soon won him a prominent 
position in his profession and public esteem; 
so that in 1812 he was chosen representative 



WEB 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



939 



in congress. He took his seat at the extra 
session in May, 1813, and on tiie 10th of 
June delivered his first speech, on the subject 
of the orders in council, manifesting clearly 
the extraordinary powers of mind which 
were so fully developed in after life. 

He was re-elected to congress for the next 
term. In 1817 he removed to Boston, where 
for several years he devoted himself assidu- 
ously to the practice of his profession, in 
which he had acquired a high standing. He 
was a member of the convention which 
revised the constitution of Massachusetts in 
1821, and the next year was elected to con- 
gress from the Boston district. His famous 
speech on Greek independence was delivered 
in 1823. He was re-elected in 1824 and 182G, 
and in 1825 delivered the address on laying 
the corner-stone of the Bunker Hill monu- 
ment. In 1827 he was chosen to the United 
States senate, by the legislature of Massa- 
chusetts, and in that year uttered his eulogy 
on Adams and Jefferson. In the senate he 
at once i-anked among the master minds. 
His memorable speeches in reply to Hayne, 
in 1830, established undeniably his claim to 
the highest position among American states- 
men. 

Mr. Webster continued in the senate till 
1841. At the presidential election in 183G, 
he received the electoral vote of Massachu- 
setts. Upon the accession of General Harri- 
son to the executive chair in 1841, Webster 
was appointed secretary of state. The sud- 
den death of Gen. Harrison, and the course 
pursued by his successor, Mr. Tyler, soon 
caused a disruption of the cabinet, and all 
the members but Webster resigned. He re- 
mained in oflBce, and negotiated the Ashbur- 
ton treaty in 1842, which settled the vexed 
question of the north-eastern boundary, and 
ended a protracted dispute which had thrSat- 
ened war with Great Britain. This accom- 
plished, he retired from the cabinet. In 1845 
he was again chosen to the senate, in which 
he remained till in 1850 he was called by 
Mr. Fillmore again to the head of the cabinet. 
Tn this office he died, at his residence in 
Marshfield, the 24th of October, 1852. 

Such is a meagre outline of the public life 
of one of the most eminent statesmen of 
America. As a man he was warmly esteemed 
and loved by his intimates. His heart was 



as deep and strong as was his intellect. He 
was country-bred, and he never lost his love 
for nature. He loved out-door and manly 
sports, — boating, fishing, fowling. He loved 
New Hampshire's mountain scenery. He 
had started small and poor, had risen great 
and high, and honorably had fought his way" 
alone. He was a farmer, and took a country- 
man's delight in country things, — in loads 
of hay, in trees, in noble Indian corn, in 
monstrous swine. He had a patriarch's love 
of sheep, and choice breeds thereof he had. 
He took delight in cows — short-horned Dur- 
hams, Herefordshires, Ayrshircs, Alderneys. 
He tilled paternal acres with his own oxen. 
He loved to give the kine fodder. It was 
pleasant to hear his talk of oxen. And but 
three days before he left the earth, too ill to 
visit them, his oxen, lowing, came to see 
their sick lord, and as he stood in his door, 
his great cattle were driven up, that he might 
smell their healthy breath, and look his last 
on those broad, generous faces that were 
never false^o him. He was a friendly man : 
all along the shore there were plain men that 
loved him — whom he also loved ; a good 
neighbor, a good townsman — ■ 

" Lofty and sour to those that loved him not. 
But to those men that sought him, sweet as 
summer." 

WEBSTER, Noah, the great American lex- 
icographer, was born at West Hartford, Conn., 
Oct. 16th, 1758. He was bred to the bar, 
and practiced his profession with success, 
but a great share of his life was devoted to 
the compilation of his dictionary and other 
literary avocations. He died at New Haven, 
May 28th, 1843. 

AVELLINGTON. Aktouk Wellesley was 
born at Dangan Castle, county of Meath, Ire- 
land, May 1st, 17G1). His father was Lord 
Mornington, an Irish peer of Norman descent. 
He was placed at Eton school, and received 
a military education at the military school of 
Angers in France. His first active service 
was seen in 1793, when his regiment (the 
thirty-third) was ordered against the French 
in Flanders. Young Wellesley acquitted 
himself well in the disastrous campaign, and 
gained the rank of major. In 17!)9 his regi- 
ment was ordered to India, of which empire, 
his elder brother, the Marquis of Wellesley, 
was then governor-general. The services he 



WEL 



940 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



rendered in the campaigns against Tippoo 
Saib and the Mahrattas, won him the rank 
of general. His career in India cuhninated 
with his splendid victory at Assaye. He had 
stormed the strong fortress of Achmednaghur, 
and came up with the Mahratta army, posted 
at the village of Assaye. While Gen. Wel- 
lesley's force was but a handful of 4,500 
men, of whom only 1,700 were Europeans, 
the Mahrattas were 30,000 strong. His ar- 
my, moreover, was divided, a half of it march- 
ing by another road, separated from his own 
by a ridge of hills. He, nevertheless, at 
once threw himself upon the outnumbering 
foe without awaiting the arrival of the re- 
serve. Such boldness the event proved true 
wisdom, and his heroism won a brilliant tri- 
umph, which materially broke the power of 
the Mahrattas, and aided in compelling them 
to make peace. He was made a knight of the 
order of the Bath, and returned to England 
in 1805, Sir Arthur Wcllesley. 

Soon after, he was appointed secretary for 
Ireland, stipulating that ministerial service 
should not interfere with his professional du- 
ties. The same year (1807) he commanded 
a division in the Copenhagen expedition un- 
der Lord Cathcart. He was not engaged in 
the siege, but headed a corps detailed to dis- 
perse a Danish force that had collected in the 
rear of the British army on the island of 
Zealand. He returned to England, after the 
fall of Copenhagen, and in 1808 was ordered 
to Portugal. The next year he received the 
chief command of the army there. His suc- 
cess in the Peninsula is historical. The des- 
perate battle of Talavera, the passage of the 
Douro, the impregnable lines of Torres 
Vedras, the terrible contests of Fuentes 
d'Onore and Albuera, the storming of Ciudad 
Rodrigo and Badajoz, the severe fight of Sal- 
amanca, the decisive victory of Vittoria, the 
siege of St. Sebastian, the capture of Pam- 
peluna — these are the prominent features of 
the Peninsular campaigns. Seven of Napo- 
leon's marshals were foiled or defeated there 
by Wellington — Junot, Soult, Ney, Massena, 
Mortier, Marmont, and Jourdan. The last 
of this great series of encounters was fought 
between Wellington and Soult, at Toulouse, 
April 10th, 1814, and was won by the for- 
mer. 

When Napoleon returned from Elba, Wel- 



lington was appointed to command the army 
of British, Hanoverians, and Belgians, gath- 
ered in the Netherlands to help annihilate 
the French emperor. The two great gene- 
rals met on the bloody field of Waterloo, and 
Napoleon was defeated. Wellington com- 
manded the army of observation which he'.d 
the frontier fortresses of France for the next 
three j'ears. The victories he had gained 
were rewarded by England with munificent 
donations, and an enumeration of the titles 
and honors bestowed upon him at home and 
abroad would fill pages. He was not so suc- 
cessful as a statesman. He was prime-minister 
from 1828 to 1830. He. was again made 
commander-in-chief, and discharged the du- 
ties of that position regularly till his death, 
which took place at Walmer Castle, Sept. 
14th, 1852. The nation gave him a public 
funeral, and he was interred by the side of 
Nelson, beneath the great dome of St. Paul's. 

The Duke of Wellington was very simple 
and abstemious in his habits ; noted for his 
punctuality, and rigid observance of duty. 
The ascendency he obtained was attested by 
the frequent familiar mention of him as The 
Duke, par excellence. 

AVESLEY, CuAitLES, was born at Epworth 
in April, 1708. He was an important coad- 
jutor of his brother John in founding Meth- 
odism. He wrote many devotional hynms 
of great beauty. He died in 1788. 

WESLEY, John, came of a clerical stock. 
The great-grandfather, John Wesley, was a 
reverend and very learned clergyman in the 
church of England, who suffered severely 
for nonconformity in the reign of Charles 
H. : his wife was a niece of Thomas Fuller, 
the church historian. Samuel Wesley, the 
Mher, was also a clergyman of the Anglican 
church. John was born at Epworth, Lin- 
coliishire, June 17th, 1703. Under the teach- 
ings of his mother his heart was early imbued 
with piety. At Christ Church college, with 
his brother Charles and a few other students, 
he entered upon a strict sj'stem of pious 
study and discipline, which won them the 
nickname of Methodists. John Weslej^ was 
well fitted, by nature and scholastic attain- 
ments, to found a new sect. Macaulay says 
his genius for government was not inferior to 
that of Richelieu. After officiating a short time 
as curate to his father, the young enthusiast, 



WES 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



941 



accompanied by Charles, set off on a mission 
to Georgia, where he remained about two 
years. Shortly after his return in 1738, he 
commenced field-preaching, traveling through- 
out Great Britain and Ireland, and establish- 
ing Methodist congregations. Thousands 
flocked to his standard. For a time he was 
associated with Whitefield, but they differed 
upon the doctrine of election, which Wesley 
rejected, and so they separated. ^ 

Wesley continued writing, preaching, and 
journeying, till he was eighty-eight years of 
age ; his apostolic earnestness and venerable 
appearance procured for him everywhere pro- 
found respect. He had preached about forty 
thousand sermons and traveled three hundred 
thousand miles. His useful and laborious 
career ended on the 2d of March, 1791. 
His body lay in a kind of state in his chapel 
at London the day previous to interment, 
dressed in his clerical habit, with gown, cas- 
sock, and band ; the old clerical cap on his 
head, a Bible in one hand, and a Mdiite hand- 
kerchief in the other. The funeral service 
was read by one of his old jjreachers. When 
he came to that part of the service, " Foras- 
much as it hath pleased God to take unto 
himself the soul of our dear hrotlier,'" his 
voice changed, and he substituted the word 
father ; and the feeling with which he did 
this was such, that the congregation, who 
were shedding silent tears, burst at once into 
loud weeping. 

WEST, Sir Benjamin, a very eminent 
painter, born in Pennsylvania, in 1738, of 
Quaker parentage; went to Rome in 1760, 
thence to England in 1763, where he became 
successor to Sir Joshua Reynolds, the presi- 
dent of the Royal Academy ; he died in 1820. 
From 1767 to 1802 his services were almost 
constantly engrossed by George III. In the 
latter year, the king's illness lost Sir Benja- 
min the patronage of the court, and he then 
commenced his series of great religious pic- 
tures. In his historical paintings he sensi- 
bly abandoned the absurdity of the Greek 
and Roman costume, and dressed his heroes 
in the garb of their day. 

WEST POINT, a village of New York, and 
military post, on the west bank of the Hud- 
son, fifty-three miles above New York. It 
was the scene of the treachery of Arnold. 

During the war of the Revolution it was a 



fortress of great importance, as it commanded 
the river, and prevented communication be- 
tween Canada and the city of New York. 
The rocky promontory juts into the stream, 
impelling the current toward the opposite 
bank, and reducing the channel to less than 
half a mile in breadth. This natural forma- 
tion was eminently favorable to the object of 
the fortifications erected here. The cliff rises 
from the river in terraces ; upon the third of 
which, 188 feet above the water, and spread- 
ing out into a broad plateau, old Fort Chnton 
was erected. Upon eminences still higher 
in the rear, redoubts were erected covering 
this fort ; one of which was Fort Putnam, at 
the height of 598 feet above the river, the 
ruins of which are still seen. On Constitu- 
tion Island, the opposite side of the river, 
works were also constructed; and a heavy 
chain, supported by buoys, was stretched 
across the angle made by the river, forming 
an effectual bar to the passage of the enemy's 
ships. 

The works were erected in 1778 under the 
superintendence of Kosciusko, assisted by 
French engineers. They were completed 
within a year, and West Point was considered 
the strongest fortress in the country. After 
the Revolution they fell into decay. In 1802 
the United States established the military 
academy here. 

WEST INDIES, the great Archipelago 
which lies between North and South Amer- 
ica. The richness of their products, the 
splendor of their tropical vegetation, the 
beauty of their scenery, their history, and 
the singular forms of society existing among 
them, render these islands peculiarly inter- 
esting. Nature is not so partial as she seems. 
For the wealth of soil and clime wherewith 
she endowed these islands, they have paid 
heavy taxes in sweeping hurricanes, deso- 
lating earthquakes, and terrible volcanic fires. 
They were the portal through which the 
Spaniards entered upon the riches of the 
New World. By the cruelty of the Spanish, 
the natives were almost utterly exterminated. 
For about a century and a half they remained 
in the possession of Spain, though neglected 
for the more splendid regions of Mexico and 
Peru. During the seventeenth century the 
smaller isles became the haunt of desperate 
outlaws and pirates, the buccaneers, who 
ES 



942 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



waged with success a predatory warfare 
along the Spanish main ; and at the same 
time England and France, not without con- 
currence with these adventurei's, sought to 
ohtain possession in the archipelago. Before 
the end of the century, the English were 
masters of Jamaica, the French held half of 
St. Domingo, and the two nations had divided 
between them nearly the whole of the Wind- 
ward Islands. Other European nations gained 
a foothold also, and the buccaneers being put 
down, the isles, with the exception of those 
held by decayed Spain, rose in cultivation 
and importance. Slavery has been gradually 
done away by the various powers, till it only 
remains on those held by the Spanish. 

Various names are given by seamen of 
different nations to different portions of the 
archipelago. The Windward Islands are 
Martinique and those south of it ; those be- 
tween Martinique and Porto Rico are called 
the Leeward Islands : these two groups, with 
the islets along the coast of Venezuela, con- 
stitute the Lesser Antilles. The most north- 
erly of the Leeward Islands are also known 
as the Virgin Isles. Porto Rico, St. Domin- 
go, Jamaica, and Cuba are called the Greater 
Antilles ; while outside of these are the great 
banks on which rest the Lucayas, or Baha- 
mas. 

Hayti, or San Domingo, is divided into the 
independent republics of Hayti and Domin- 
ica. Cuba and Porto Rico belong to Spain. 
Guadaloupc, Martinique, and the north side 
of St. Martin's are held by the French. The 
Dutch have the south side of St. Martin's 
and Curacoa; the Danes, Santa Cruz, St. 
Thomas, and St. John's ; the Swedes, St. Bar- 
tholomew's. The remainder, Jamaica, Trin- 
idad, Barbadoes, Antigua, &c., are under 
British rule. 

WESTERN EMPIRE. The Roman em- 
pire was divided by Valentinian and Valcns, 
of whom the former had the western portion, 
or Rome, properly so called, a.d. 364. Odo- 
acer, a chief of the Heruli, entered Italy, de- 
feated Orestes, took Rome and Ravenna, 
deposed Augustulus, and assumed the title 
of king of Italy, Aug. 23d, which ended the 
Western empire, 507 years after the battle 
of Actium, A.D. 476. [^fee Eastern Empire.] 



EMPEROKS. 

Valentiuian, son of Oratian, takes the West 



307. 



orn Einpiro, and his brother Valons, t!ii> 
Kasteru Jjiiiph-e. 

Gratiaii, a youth, son of Valentinian, made 
a colleague in the government, by his 
father. 

Valentinian II., another son, also very 
young, is, on the death of his father, asso- 
ciated with his brother in the empiro. 
Gratian is assassinated by his general, 
Andragathius, in 383 : Valentinian niui- 
cUrcd by one of his officers, Arbojrastes, 



39-2 



505. 



Eug^nius, a usurper, assumes the imperial 
dignity : he and Arbogastes are defeateil 
by Theodosius the Great, who becomes 
sole emperor. Andragatliius throws him- 
self into the sea, and Arbogastes dies by 
his own hand. • 

Ilonorius, son of Theodosius, reigns, on his 
lather's death, in the West, and his brother, 
Areadius, in the East. Ilonorius dies in 
423. 

[Usurpation of John, the Xotary, who is 
defeated and slain, near Ravenna.] 
425. Valentinian III., son of the Empress Pla- 
cidia, daughter of Theodosius the Great: 
murdered at the instance of his successor. 
4u5. Maximus : he marries Eudoxia, widow of 
Valentinian, who, to avenge the death of 
her first husband and the guilt of her 
second, invites the African Vandals into 
Italy, and Rome is sacked. Maximus 
stoned to death. 
456. Marcus Majcilius Avitus : forced to resign, 
and dies in his flight toward the Alps. 

Julius Valerius Majorianus : murdered at 
the instance of his minister, Ricimcr, who 
raises 

Libius Severus to the throne, but holds the 
supreme power. Severus is poisoned by 
Rieimer. 

[Interregnum. Rieimer retains the author- 
ity, without assuming the title, of enipc- 
ror.] 

Anthemius, chosen by the joint suffrages 
of the senate and army : murdered by 
Rieimer, who dies soon after. 
472. Flavins Anicius Olybrius : slain by the 

Goths soon after his accession. 
4*73. Glycerins: forced to abdicate by his sucecs- 
sor. 

474. Julius Nepos: deposed by his general, 
Orestes, and retires to Salon.-B. 

475. Romulus Augustulus, son of Orestes. Ores- 
tes is slain, and the emperor deposed by 

476. Odoacer, king of tlie Heruli, who takes 
Rome, assumes the style of king of Italy, 
and completes the fall of the Western 
I']inpire. 

WESTPHALIA. This duchy belonged, 
in former times, to the dukes of Saxony. 
On the secularization of 1802, it was made 
over to Hesse Darmstadt; and in 1814, was 
ceded for an equivalent to Prussia. The 
kingdom of Westphalia, one of the tempo- 
rary kingdoms of Bonaparte, composed <!' 
WES 



457. 



4G1. 



465. 



4G7. 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



943 



conquests from Prussia, Hesse Casscl, Hano- 
ver, and the smaller states to the west of the 
Elbe, was created Dec. 1st, 1807, and Jerome 
Bonaparte appointed king. Hanover was 
annexed March 1st, 1810. This kingdom 
was overturned in 1813. 

WESTPHALIA, Peace of. Signed at 
Munster and at Osnaburg, between France, 
the emperor, and Sweden ; Spain continuing 
the war against France. By this peace the 
principle of a balance of power in Europe 
was first recognized ; Alsace given to France, 
and part of Pomerania and some otiier dis- 
tricts to Sweden ; the elector palatine restored 
to the Lower Palatinate ; the civil and polit- 
ical rights of the German states established ; 
and the independence of the Swiss confede- 
ration recognized by Germany, Oct. 24th, 
1648. 

WHIPPLE, William, a signer of the Dec- 
laration of Independence, was born at Kit- 
tery. Me., in 1730. After voyaging some- 
what, he left the sea, and commenced busi- 
ness as a merchant at Portsmouth, N. IL, in 
1759. He was an active republican, and in 
1776 was elected to Congress. He was brig- 
adier of the state militia in 1777, fought in 
the battles of Stillwater and Saratoga, and 
assisted in escorting Burgoync's captive army 
toward Boston. He was appointed judge in 
1782, and died in November, 1785. 

WHITE, Henky Kirke, born in Notting- 
ham, Aug. 21st, 1785, died Oct. 19th, 1806. 
His parents were in humble life. In early 
childhood he gave promise of genius as a 
rhymer and a student. At the age of four- 
teen, he was placed at a stocking loom, but 
his soaring spirit could not be happy 
there ; to all kinds of trade he had an ex- 
treme aversion. His temper and tone of 
mind at this period, are displaj-ed in an ad- 
dress to Contemplation. About a year after 
this, he entered upon the study of the law. 
He applied himself to the study of Latin 
during his leisure hours, in which language 
he received only some trifling instruction ; 
yet in ten months he enabled himself to read 
Horace with facility, and had made some pro- 
gress in Greek, studying at the same time 
the Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese langua- 
ges, in all which he became a tolerable pro- 
ficient. Chemistry, astronomy, and electri- 
city were among his studies ; he paid some 



attention to drawing and music, and had a 
turn for mechanics. His friends procured 
him a sizarship at Cambridge. Close appli- 
cation to study, and the strivings of a her- 
culean intellect, wore out a constitution nat- 
urally feeble. Kigidly correct in morals, and 
amiable in all the relations of life, his feelings 
inclined toward deism ; but an inquiring 
mind, open to conviction, could not resist the 
sublime truths of the Scriptures ; he read, 
and believed, and from this moment religion 
engaged all his anxiety, as of all concerns 
the most important. The proofs of his inde- 
fatigable industry which his papers evinced, 
were astonishing ; law, electricity, chemistry, 
the Latin and Greek languages, to the high- 
est branches of critical knowledge, history, 
chronology, divinity, the Fathers, poetry, 
tragedies, &c., &c., had been studied, under- 
stood, and commented upon, by a youth who 
died at the age of twenty-one years, though 
borne down by poverty and ill health. 

AVHITE FRIARS. These were an order 
of Carmelite mendicants, who took their 
name from Mount Carmcl, lying south-east 
of Mount Tabor, in the Holy Land. They 
pretended that Elijah and Elisha were the 
founders of their order, and that Pythagoras 
and the ancient Druids were professors of it. 
At first they were very rigid in their disci- 
pline, but afterward it was moderated, and 
about the year 1540 divided into two sorts, 
one following and restoring the ancient sever- 
ities, and the other th^. milder regimen. 
They had numerous monasteries throughout 
England ; and a precinct in London without 
the Temple, and west of Blackfriars, is called 
Whitefriars to this day, after a community 
of their order, founded there in 1245. 

WHITE PLAINS, Battle of. After the 
defeat on Long Island, Washington was com- 
pelled to abandon the city of New York to 
Sir William Howe. Various skirmishes oc- 
curred between the British and the gradually 
retreating Americans. On the 28th of Octo- 
ber, 1776, Howe attacked the American camp 
at White Plains. In the short but severe 
action the advantage belonged to the British, 
who gained an eminence overlooking Wash- 
ington's position. Night came on, and the 
armies lay within long cannon-shot of each 
other, anticipating a more deadly conflict on 
the morrow ; before which tune Washington 



WHI 



944 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



SO strengthened his defenses in appearance 
that IIowc dared not attack till Lord Percy 
should come up with six battalions more. 
Percy arrived on the thirtieth, but a severe 
tempest delayed the operations of the Brit- 
ish, and in the night of the 81st, Washington 
decamped to a height five miles off, where 
he had thrown up stronger works than the 
redoubts of sods and cornstalks that had so 
deceived Ilowe at White Plains ; and thus his 
feeble and shattered army was saved. 

WHITEFIELD, Geokge, founder of the 
sect of Calvinistic Methodists, born at Glou- 
cester, England, 1714, and died at Newbury- 
port, Mass., 1770, where he lies interred. His 
eloquence in the pulpit was very remarkable. 
He was in early life associated with John 
Wesley, but in after life they wei'e separated 
by difference of opinion. He visited Amer- 
ica seven times, traveling and preaching 
through nearly all the colonies, and he jour- 
neyed also through England, Scotland, and 
Wales. When his strength began to fail, he 
put himself on what he termed "short allow- 
ance," preaching once only every week-day, 
and three times on the Sabbath! 

WHITFIELD, James, Catholic Archbishop 
of Baltimore, was born at Liverpool in Eng- 
land on the 3d of November, 1770, and died 
at Baltimore on the 19th of October, 1834. 
At the age of seventeen he was bereaved of 
his father and became the protector of his 
mother. To assuage her grief, and to restore 
her sinking health, he accompanied her to 
Italy. On his return from that countr}'. 



When Dr. Marcclial was elevated to t;ic 
archicpiscopal see of Baltimore, he wrote to Mr. 
AVhitfield, earnestly soliciting him to give 
his assistance to the flock which Providence 
had placed under 'his charge. He complied 
with the request, and landed on our shores 
on the 8th of September, 1S17. In 1825 he 
received the degree of doctor of divinity from 
the court of Rome. At the death of Arch- 
bishop Marcchal, his name was on the list 
which was first sent to Rome to receive the 
sanction of his holiness, and he was soon 
after consecrated Archbishop of Baltimore in 
the cathedral of that city. 

WICIvLIFFE, or Wycliffe, John, a learned 
ecclesiastic and professor of theology at Ba- 
liol College, Oxford, the "morning star of 
the Reformation," was boi'n at a village of the 
same name, in Yorkshire, in 1324. He was 
nominated one of the king's commissioners, 
to require of the pope that he would not in- 
terfere in ecclesiastical benefices. This treaty 
was carried on at Bruges ; but nothing was 
concluded, upon which the parliament passed 
an act against the papal usurpations. This 
encouraged Wickliffe to go on in exposing 
the corruptions of the church, and the tyr- 
anny of the pope, who, in 1377, denounced 
the reformer as an heretic, and required the 
Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop 
of London to proceed in judgment upon 
him. Wickliffe, however, was supported by 
the Duke of Lancaster (John of Gaunt) and 
Earl Percy, who appeared with him at St. 



Paul's, Feb. IDth, 1378. High words ensued 
where he had been for some time engaged in I on that occasion between the Bishop of Lon- 
mercantile pursuits, he found himself in ! don and the temporal lords ; in consequence 



France at the time when Napoleon had de- 
creed that every Englishman in France was 
a prisoner. He spent the greatest part of his 
exile in Lyons, where he became acquainted 
with Dr. Marechal, who wa.s then professor 
of theology in the seminary in that city. 
The piety of his youth inclined his mind to 
the sacerdotal state, and he commenced the 
study of divinity under the direction of his 
learned and pious friend. He distin- 
guished himself by his solid judgment and 
persevering industry. In the year 1809 he 
was ordained priest in the city of Lyons. 
After the death of his mother, he returned to 
England, and was employed in the discharge 
of parochial duties in the town of Crosby. 



of which, the populace took the bishop's 
part, and plundered the duke's house in the 
Savoy. Wickliffe, being thus countenanced 
at court, undertook a translation of the Scrip- 
tures from the Vulgate into English, which 
work he accomplished, and thereby increased 
the number of his enemies. In 1381 Wick- 
liffe ventured to attack the doctrine of tran- 
substantiation, in a piece entitled " De Blas- 
phemia," which being condemned at Oxford, 
he went thither and made a declaration of 
his faith, and professed his resolution to 
defend it with his blood. The marriage of 
Richard IL with Anne of Luxemburg, proved 
very advantageous to Wickliffe ; for she was 
a most exemplary princess, and a great friend 



WIC 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



945 



to scriptural knowledge. By her means the 
writings of the English reformer were sent 
to Germany, where they afterward produced 
an abundant harvest. WicklifTe received a 
citation from the pope to appear at Rome ; 
but he answered, that " Christ had taught 
him to obey God rather than man." He 
died of the palsy, at the rectory of Lutter- 
worth, in 1384. The council of Constance de- 
nounced him as a heretic, and decreed that his 
remains should no longer deseci-ate consecra- 
ted ground. His bones were exhumed and 
burnt in 1428, therefore, and the ashes thrown 
into the neighboring brook. Fuller, the 
church historian, quaintly says : " Thus this 
brook has conveyed his ashes into Avon, Avon 
into Severn, Severn into the narrow seas, they 
into the main ocean, and thus the ashes of 
Wickliffe are the emblem of his doctrine, 
which is now dispersed all the world over." 

WILBERFORCE, William, one of the 
most celebrated philanthropists of modern 
times, one whose able, zealous, long con- 
tinued, and ultimately successful exertions 
in favor of the abolition of the slave-trade, 
have given him a high rank among the bene- 
factors of the human race, was born Aug. 
24th, 1759, at Hull. He was educated at St. 
John's College, Cambridge, where he formed 
an intimacy with William Pitt ; was elected 
a member of parliament for Hull in 1780 ; 
for the county of York in 1784 ; and in 1787, 
be brought forth a motion for the abolition 
of the slave trade, and the question, after a 
long and laborious struggle, was finally car- 
ried during the ministry of Mr. Fox, June 
10th, 1806. In 1797 Mr. Wilberforce pub- 
lished his celebrated "Practical View of 
Christianity," a work which has been trans- 
lated into most European languages, and of 
which numerous editions have been printed 
in Great Britain and America. He died in 
London, July 28th, 1833. His remains were 
consigned to the sanctuary of the illustrious 
dead in Westminster Abbey ; and his " fune- 
ral train included the great and the good of 
all parties." 

WILKES, John, was born in Clerkenwell, 
London, where his father was a distiller, in 
1727. He obtained the rank of colonel of the 
Buckinghamshire militia, and a seat in par- 
liament for Aylesbury. He conducted the 
North Briton, and for its violent attacks 



60 



upon the Earl of Bute's administration, he 
was expelled from the House of Commons ; 
and convicted in the court of king's bench. 
Previous to this, however, he had gained a 
verdict in the common pleas against the sec- 
retary of state, for an illegal seizure of his 
papers by a general warrant. In the mean 
time, Wilkes incurred another prosecution 
for printing an obscene poem, called an 
" Essay on Woman ; " and for not appearing 
to receive judgment, was outlawed. He 
went to France, where he resided till 1768, 
when he was elected for Middlesex ; but was 
prevented from taking his seat, and com- 
mitted to the King's Bench prison, which 
occasioned dreadful riots in St. George's 
Fields. Wilkes was again expelled the House 
of Commons ; but was rechosen, and the 
election as repeatedly declared void. His 
popularity was now at its height, and a large 
subscription was made for the payment of 
his debts. In 1770 he was chosen an alder- 
man of London, and in 1774 lord mayor. 
The same year he was returned again for 
Middlesex, when he was permitted to take 
his seat without farther opposition. In 1779, 
after three unsuccessful attempts, he was 
elected chamberlain of London. He died 
Dec. 26th, 1797. In private character Wilkes 
was very profligate. 

WILLIAM I., King of England, was born 
in 1027, and though illegitimate, succeeded 
his father as Duke of Normandy. In 1051 
he paid a visit to his kinsman Edward the 
Confessor, in England. In 1066 he made a 
claim to the crown of England, invaded Eng- 
land, landed at Pevensey in Sussex, and de- 
feated the English troops at Hastings, Oct. 
14th, when Harold was slain. William was 
crowned at Westminster, Dec. 25th, 1066. 
In 1072 he repelled the attack of Malcolm, 
King of Scotland, in Northumberland. In 
1086 he invaded France. He soon after fell 
from his horse, and contracted a rupture: 
he died at Hermentrude, near Rouen, in Nor- 
mandy, 1087. He was buried at Caen, and 
was succeeded in Normandy by his eldest 
son, Robert, and in England by his second 
son, William Rufus. 

WILLIAM (Rufus) IL was born in 1057, 
and crowned at Westminster, Sept. 27th, 
1087. William was killed by accident, while 
hunting in the New Forest, in 1100. 



WIL 



946 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



WILLIAM III., Prince of Orange, was the 
son of AVilliam II., Stadtholder of Holland, 
and of Mary, daughter of Charles I. of Eng- 
land. He was born Nov. 14th, 1650. He 
wedded his cousin Mary, daughter of James 
IL His landing at Torbay, Nov. 4th, 1688, 
marks the epoch of the English revolution. 
He was crowned with his consort Mary, Feb. 
16th, 1689. William, being a Presbyterian, 
began his reign b}' repealing those laws that 
enjoined uniformity of worship ; and though 
he could not entirely succeed, a toleration was 
granted to such dissenters as should take 
the oaths of allegiance, and hold no private 
conventicles. In the mean time, James, 
whose authority was still acknowledged in 
Ireland, embarked at Brest for that country, 
and arrived at Kinsale. He soon made a 
public entry into Dublin, and was well 
received. After the unsuccessful siege of 
Londonderry, his army encountered the 
royal forces, commanded by William in per- 
son, on the banks of the Boyne, in 1690, 
when the latter gained a splendid victory. 
After a series of disasters, James died Sept. 
16th, 1700. William, in the mean time, be- 
came fatigued with opposing the laws which 
parliament were every day laying around 
his authority, and thus gave up the contest. 
He admitted every restraint upon the prerog- 
ative in England, upon condition of being 
properly supplied with the means of hum- 
bling the power of France. For the prose- 
cution of the war with France, the nation 
(mortgaged the taxes, and involved themselves 
in what is now called the national debt. 
The war with France continued during the 
greatest part of William's reign, but was at 
length intermitted by the treaty of Ryswick, 
in 1697. William was thrown from his 
horse, Feb. 21st, 1702, when his collar-bone 
was fractured ; and this hastened his disso- 
lution. He died in the following month, of 
an asthma and fever. 

WILLIAM IV., King of England. [See 
Hanover, House of.] 

WILLIAMS, Otho Holland, a brigadier- 
general in the American army, born in Prince 
George's County, Maryland, in 1748, and 
died in July, 1794. He distinguished him- 
self at the battles of Guilford, Hobkirk's 
Hill, and the Eutaw. 

WILLIAMS, Roger, was born in Wales 



in 1598, and having completed his collegiate 
education at Oxford, took orders in the estab- 
lished church, but soon became a non-con- 
formist, in consequence of which he was 
obliged to come to America in 1631. His 
religious principles also drcM' down upon 
him the indignation of the authorities of 
Massachusetts Bay, and he was banished. 
He settled at Providence, Rhode Island, 
where he founded a community in which in- 
tolerance was unknown. He died in April, 
1683. 

WILLIAMS, William, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born at 
Lebanon, Conn., April 8th, 1731, and was 
educated at Harvard College. He prepared 
for the ministry, but preferring a military 
life, engaged in the frontier wars in New 
York in 1755. He was chosen to the conti- 
nental congress from Connecticut in 1776, 
was an active member, and retired from 
public life in 1804. His death occurred Aug. 
2d, 1811. 

WILSON, Alexander, a distinguished 
naturalist; author of the "American Orni- 
thology;" he died in 1813, aged about forty. 
He was born at Paisley, Scotland, 1766. 

WILSON, James, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, born in Scotland about 
1742, and educated at Edinburgh, came to 
America in 1766. He was at first tutor in 
the college at Philadelphia, studied law, and 
practiced in that city. He was a member 
of congress, 1775-78, 1782-1783, and 1785- 
1787. He was also member of the conven- 
tion that framed the federal constitution, and 
chairman of the committee which reported 
it. Upon the organization of the judiciar}' 
in 1789, Mr. Wilson was appointed one of 
the justices of the supreme court of the 
United States. He died August 28th, 1798. 

WILSON, John, was a native of Paisley, 
where he was born on the 19th of May, 1785. 
In youth he was given to adventurous excur- 
sions among the mountains and glens of his 
native land, and he early came to a great skill 
in all athletic sports, — in leaping, wrestling, 
curling, boxing, running, and swimming. His 
passionate love for these, and all rural sports 
and bodily exercise, lasted through his life. 
He was an excellent scholar, withal, and after 
a sound preliminary course at tlie university 
of Glasgow, he became a gentleman com- 



WIL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



947 



moner of Magdalen, Oxford. Then he pur- 
chased the beautiful little demesne of EUe- 
ray, on the shores of Windermere, and went 
there to reside. He married — built a house 
and a yacht — enjoyed the magnificent scenery 
of the lakes— wrote poetry — and tasted the 
happy days that belong to a man with youth, 
robust health, fortune, and an exhaustless 
imagination. Reverses came, and after en- 
tering the Scottish bar, he obtained the 
chair of moral philosophy at Edinburgh. 
He was the leading contributor to Blach- 
wood^s Magazine, in whose pages he poured 
forth a flood of fancy, humor, learning, and 
eloquence, like the rush of mighty waters. 
At last, after a companionship of thirty years, 
his gentle wife died, and he was almost over- 
powered. The first time he met his class in 
the university, after this event, he apologized 
in a broken voice for not having examined 
the essays before him : " I could not see to 
read them in the darkness of the shadow of 
the valley of death." The tears rolled down 
his cheeks ; he said no more, but waved his 
hand to the class, who had risen to their feet, 
and hurried from the room. In 1851 he was 
smitten with paralysis of the lower limbs. 
He died April 3d. 1854. 

The physique of Wilson was striking. He 
was stout, tall, atliletic, with broad shoul- 
ders and chest, and prodigiously muscular 
limbs. His face was magnificent ; his hair, 
which he wore long and flowing, fell round 
his massive features like a lion's mane, to 
which, indeed, it was often compared, being 
much of the same hue. His lips were always 
working, while his gray flashing eyes had a 
weird sort of look which was highly charac- 
teristic. The splendor of his varied genius 
was rivaled by his warmth of heart for all 
that was generous and good and sacred. He 
was loved by all men who came within the 
charm of his presence. 

WINDER, William H., an eminent law- 
yer of Maryland, brigadier-general in the 
army of the United States during the second 
war with Great Britain, died in 1824. 

WINTHROP, John, first governor of Mas- 
sachusetts, immigrated with the first colo- 
nists, and died in 1649, aged sixty -two. 

WINTHROP, John, son of the preceding, 
governor of the colony of Connecticut, died 
in 1676, aged forty-three. He was a man of 



great learning and talents, and fellow of the 
Royal Society of London, of which he was 
one of the founders. 

WINTHROP, FiTz John, son of the pre- 
ceding, and distinguished like his father, for 
learning and piety; governor of Connecti- 
cut; died in 1707. 

WIRT, William, was born at Bladens- 
burg, Md., on the 8th of November, 1772, 
and was the youngest of six children. In 
1795 he married the eldest daughter of Dr. 
George Gilmer, a distinguished physician, 
and took up his residence at Pen Park, the 
scat of his father-in-law, near Charlottesville, 
where he was introduced to the acquaintance 
of Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, and other 
persons of celebrity. He contracted habits 
of great dissipation, from which he is said to 
have been recovered by a sermon which he 
heard from a blind preacher, James Waddell, 
whom he has celebrated in his "British Spy." 
In. 1799 his wife died. He was, in 1802, 
appointed chancellor of the eastern district 
of Virginia, and then took up his residence 
at Williamsburg ; and in the same year he 
married the daughter of Colonel Gamble of 
Richmond. He soon after resigned his chan- 
cellorship, and at the close of the year 1803, 
removed to Norfolk, and entered upon the 
assiduous practice of his profession. Just 
before he removed to Norfolk, he wrote the 
letters published in the Riclimond Argus, 
under the title of " The British Spy," which 
were afterward collected into a small volume, 
and have passed through many editions. In 
1806 he took up his residence at Richmond, 
and, in the following year, he greatly distin- 
guished himself in the trial of Col. Burr. 
In 1812 he wrote the greater part of a series 
of essays, which were originally published 
in the Riclimond Enquirer under the title 
of " The Old Bachelor." The " Life of Pat- 
rick Henry," his largest literary production, 
was first published in 1817. 

In 1816 he was appointed by Mr. Madison 
the United States' attorney for the district 
of Virginia; and in 1817, by Mr. Monroe, 
attorney-general of the United States, a post 
which he occupied with di.stinguished repu- 
tation till 1829, through the entire adminis- 
trations of Monroe and Adams. In 1830 he 
took up his residence at Baltimore, for the 
remainder of his life. As a public and pro- 



WIR 



948 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



fessional man, Mr. Wirt ranked among the 
first of his time. He died at Washington, 
Feb. 18th, 1835, aged sixty-two. 

WIRTEMBERG, a mountainous kingdom 
in the western part of Germany, containing 
1,800,000 inhabitants, on a mountainous 
area of 7,500 square miles. In the wars of 
the French revoUition, Wirtemberg was re- 
peatedly traversed by the hostile armies ; its 
territory was, in 1796, the ground chosen 
for conflicts in the advance, as well as in the 
celebrated retreat, of Morcau. In 1799 it 
was the scene of the defeat of the French 



under Jourdan; in 1800 of their renewed 
success under Moreau. This is one of the 
most ancient states of Germany, and most 
populous for its extent. The dukes were 
Protestants until 1772, when the reign- 
ing prince became a Roman Catholic. The 
Elector of Wirtemberg assumed the title of 
king, Dec. 12th, 1805, and was proclaimed 
Jan. 1st, 1806. His majesty, as an ally of 
France, lost the flower of his- army in Russia, 
in 1812. The kingdom obtained a free con- 
stitution in 1819 from William I. 



.U 




WISCONSIN, whose area extends over 
53,924 square miles, contained in 1860, 
775,881 inhabitants. The northern part hav- 
ing never been fully explored, excepting by 
traders and trappers, is consequently but 
little known. It is, however, represented as 
a rugged and mountainous wilderness, though 
frequently presenting large tracts of extra- 
ordinary fertility, and watered by numerous 
broad and rapid streams. The surface, in 
the southern part, consists mostly of prairie 
land, well timbered along the river sides ; 
m the central part of the state, the face of 
the country is more diversified. The rough 
and hilly tracts at the north produce the 
white pine in great abundance. The entire 
region is bountifully supplied with navigable 
streams, by which it is penetrated in all 
directions. The soil is generally of an ex- 
cellent quality, and varies from one to ten 
feet in depth. It is especially productive on 



the margins of the Mississippi and Wiscon- 
sin Rivers, where also are found extensive 
forests of ponderous timber : and the land 
throughout the state, so far as it has been 
surveyed, proves to be admirably adapted to 
agricultural purposes, particularly to the 
growth of corn and wheat. Indeed, every 
species of vegetable suited to the climate can 
be cultivated with perfect success ; and mul- 
titudes of cattle may find ample pasturage 
upon the rich and almost boundless prairies. 
The lead, copper, and iron ores of Wisconsin 
are of great importance ; the lead mines the 
richest in the world. Its position on the 
lakes and on the Mississippi, gives it excel- 
lent facilities for inland trade, and its pros- 
perity, population, and power are advancing 
at a rapid pace. 

Wisconsin was organized as a distinct ter- 
ritory in 1836. Iowa and Minnesota have 
since been cut from within the bounds then 



WIS 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY, 



949 



set to it. It was admitted into the Union in returned to Connecticut and in 1817 



1848. 

Madison, the capital, occupies a picturesque 
site between two small lakes. When Wiscon- 
sin was organized as a territory, this was 
selected as the seat of government ; the con- 
tractor for erecting the necessary buildings 
was, with his party, eleven days in cutting 
his way through the wilderness from Mil- 
waukee. The city of Milwaukee, on Lake 
Michigan, has had a very rapid growth. It 
was laid out in 1835, had a population of 
1,Y12 in 1840, and in 1860, 4-5,246. It is the 
chief town in the state, has an extensive 
commerce, and busy manufactories, and is 
the natural outlet of one of the finest grain 
regions in the country. The cream-colored 
brick of which the town is so largely built, 
give it a peculiarly bright and handsome 
look. Beloit, Janesville, Kenosha, and Ra- 
cine are important towns, with that pecul- 
iarity of Western cities, that their growth 
will not stop long enough to be chronicled. 

WITIiERSPOON, John, a signer of the 
Declaration of Independence, was born at 
Tester, near Edinburgh, Feb. 5th, 1723, and 
was a descendant of John Knox. He came 
to America in 1768, to take charge of the 
college at Princeton, N. J. ; became very 
popular as a Christian divine and patriot ; 
and in 1776 was elected a member of Con- 
gress, at which post he continued till 1783. 
He afterward resumed his duties at Prince- 
ton, and died Nov. 15th, 1794. 

WOLCOTT, Oliver, a signer of the Decla- 
ration of Independence, was born Dec. 1st, 
1726, at East Windsor, Conn., graduated at 
Yale College, and studied medicine, but never 
practiced it ; became a successful lawyer. 
During the French war he served as captain. 
He was delegate to the congresses of 1776, 
1778, 1780, and 1784. He was an active 
patriot and an ardent friend of the proposi- 
tion for independence. He served at the 
head of a volunteer corps in the army which 
forced Burgoyne to surrender. After serv- 
ing ten years as lieutenant-governor, he was 
chosen governor of Connecticut. He died 
Dec. 1st, 1797. 

WOLCOTT, Oliver, son of the preceding, 
succeeded Hamilton as secretary of the treas- 
ury during Washington's administration. 
After residing some years in New York, he 



chosen governor, which office he held ten 
years. He died in 1833, aged seventy-four. 

WOLFE, James, was the son of Lieuten- 
ant-general Edward Wolfe, born at Wester- 
ham, in Kent, in 1726. He entered early 
into the ai-my, and before he was twenty, 
distinguished himself at the battle of Laf- 
feldt. At that of Minden he gained addi- 
tional laurels, as he afterward did in leading 
the expedition that besieged Louisburg, 
whence he had but just returned, when he 
was appointed to command the hazardous 
expedition against Quebec. As soon as the 
St. Lawrence was clear of ice in 1759, he was 
to ascend the river in a fleet of ships of war, 
with 8,000 men, and lay siege to the city. 

Wolfe came up the St. Lawrence in June ; 
his troops disembarked on the fertile Isle of 
Orleans, below Quebec. The strong citadel 
they were to attack was commanded by the 
Marquis of Montcalm, a brave and vigilant 
officer. Anxious lor a decisive action, Wolfe 
changed his position to the lower side of the 
ilontniorency. That tumultuous stream ran 
between him and the French camp ; at both 
the fords Jlontcalm had thrown up breast- 
works and posted troops. An attack upon 
the French position met a severe check. 
Wolfe's natui'e was extremely sensitive, and 
the acute mortification threw him into a fever 
which kept him from the field. On his bed 
he changed his plan of operations, and re- 
solved upon an attempt above the town, 
though the shore was an almost inaccessible 
cliff. The camp at Montmorency was accord- 
ingly broken up, the troops transported to 
Point Levi, and suitable measures taken to 
deceive the French as to the object of the 
movement. 

The eventful night of the 12th of Septem- 
ber, 1759, was clear and calm, with no light 
but that of the stars. Within two hours be- 
fore daybreak, thirty boats, crowded with 
sixteen hundred soldiers, cast off from the 
vessels, and floated downward, in perfect or- 
der, with the current of the ebb tide. To 
the boundless joy of the army, Wolfe's mal- 
ady had abated, and he was able to command 
in person. His ruined health, the gloomy 
prospects of the siege, and the disaster at 
Montmorency, had oppressed him with the 
deepest melancholy, but never impaired for 



WOL 



950 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



a moment the promptness of his decisions or 
the impetuous energy of his action. He sat 
in the stern of one of the boats, pale and 
weak, but borne up to a cahn height of reso- 
lution. Every order had been given, every 
arrangement made, and it only remained to 
face the issue. The ebbing tide sufficed to 
bear the boats along, and nothing broke the 
silence of the night but the gurgling of the 
river, and the low voice of Wolfe, as he re- 
peated to the officers about him the stanzas 
of Gray's " Elegy in a Country Churchyard," 
which had recently appeared, and which he 
had just received from England. Perhaps, 
as he uttered those strangely appropriate 
words, — 

" The paths of glory lead but to the grave," 
the shadows of his own approaching fate 
stole with mournful prophecy across his mind. 
" Gentlemen," he said, as he closed the reci- 
tal, "I would rather have written those lines 
than take Quebec to-morrow." 

They reached the selected landing-place in 
safety — an indentation in the shore about a 
league from the city, and now bearing the 
name of Wolfe's Cove. Here a narrow path 
led up the face of the heights, and a French 
guard was posted at the top to defend the 
pass. By the force of the currents, the fore- 
most boats, including that which carried 
Wolfe himself, were borne a little below the 
spot. The general was one of the first on 
shore. He looked up at the rugged heights 
that towered above him in the gloom. " You 
can try it," he cooll)- observed to an officer 
near him ; "but I don't think you'll get up." 

At the point where the Highlanders landed, 
one of their captains, Donald Macdonald, was 
climbing in advance of his men, when he was 
challenged by a sentinel. He replied in 
French, by declaring that he had been sent 
to relieve the guard, and ordering the soldier 
to withdraw. Before the latter was unde- 
ceived, a crowd of Highlanders vrere close at 
hand, while the steps below were thronged 
with eager climbers, dragging themselves up 
by trees, roots, and bushes. The guard 
turned out, and made a brief though brave 
resistance. In a moment they were cut to 
pieces, dispersed, or made prisoners ; while 
men after men came swarming up the height, 
and quickly formed upon the plains above. 
Meanwhile the vessels had dropped down 



ward with the current, and anchored opposite 
the landing-place. The remaining troops 
were disembarked, and with the dawn of 
day the whole were brought in safety to the 
shore. 

The sun rose, and from the ramparts of 
Quebec the astonished people saw the plains 
of Abraham glittering with arms, and the 
dark red lines of the English forming in array 
of battle. Montcalm hastened to repel the 
unexpected attack. At nine o'clock the ad- 
verse armies stood motionless, each gazing 
on the other. The clouds hung low, and at 
intervals, warm, light showers descended, 
sprinkling both alike. The coppice and corn- 
fields in front of the British troops were 
filled with French sharp-shooters, who kept 
up a distant spattering fire. Here and there 
a soldier fell in the ranks, and the gap was 
filled in silence. 

At a little before ten, the British could see 
that Montcalm was preparing to advance, and 
in a few moments all his troops appeared in 
rapid motion. They came on in three divi- 
sions, shouting after the manner of their 
nation, and firing heavily as soon as they 
came within range. In the British ranks, 
not a trigger was pulled, not a soldier stirred ; 
and their ominous composure seemed to 
damp the spirits of the assailants. It was 
not till the French were within forty yards 
that the fatal M'ord was given. At once, 
from end to end of the British line, the mus- 
kets rose to the level, as if with the sway of 
some great machine, and the whole blazed 
forth at once in one crashing explosion. 
Like a ship at full career arrested with sud- 
den ruin on a sunken rock, the columns of 
Montcalm staggered, shivered, and broke be- 
fore that wasting storm of lead. The smoke, 
rolling along the field, for a moment shut 
out the view ; but when the white wreaths 
were scattered on the wind, a wretched spec- 
tacle was disclosed — men and officers tumbled 
in heaps, columns resolved into a mob, order 
and obedience gone ; and when the British 
muskets were leveled for a second volley, the 
masses were seen to cower and shrink with 
uncontrollable panic. 

For a few minutes, the French regulars 
stood their ground, returning a sharp and not 
ineffectual fire. But now, echoing cheer on 
cheer, redoubling volley on volley, trampling 



WOL 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



951 



the dying and the dead, and driving the fugi- 
tives in crowds, the British ti'oops advanced, 
and swept the field before them. The ardor 
of the men bm'st all restraint. They broke 
into a run, and with unsparing slaughter 
chased the flying multitude to the very gates 
of Quebec. Foremost of all, the light-footed 
Highlanders dashed along in furious pursuit, 
hewing down the Frenchmen with their 
broadswords, and slaj-ing many in the very 
ditch of the fortifications. Never was vic- 
tory more quick or more decisive. 

In the short action and pursuit, the French- 
men lost fifteen hundred men, killed, wounded, 
and taken. Of the remainder, some escaped 
within the city, and others fled across the 
St. Charles, to rejoin their comrades who had 
been left to guard the camp. The pursuers 
were recalled by sound of trumpet ; the bro- 
ken ranks were formed afresh, and the Eng- 
lish troops withdrawn beyond reach of the 
cannon of Quebec. Bougainville, with his 
detachment, arrived from the upper country, 
and hovering about their rear, threatened an 
attack ; but when he saw what greeting was 
prepared for him, he abandoned his purpose, 
and withdrew. Townsend and Murray, the 
only general ofiicers who remained unhurt, 
passed to the head of every regiment in turn, 
and thanked the soldiers for the bravery they 
had shown : yet the triumph of the victors 
was mingled with sadness, as the tidings 
went from rank to rank that Wolfe had fallen. 
In the heat of the action, as he advanced 
at the head of the grenadiers of Louisburg, 
a bullet shattered his wrist ; but he wrapped 
his handkerchief about the wound, and 
showed no sign of pain. A moment more, 
and a ball pierced his side. Still he pressed 
forward, waving his sword and cheering his 
soldiers to the attack, when a third shot lodged 
deep within his breast. He paused, reeled, 
and staggering to one side, fell to the earth. 
Brown, a lieutenant of the grenadiers, Hen- 
derson, a volunteer, an officer of artillery, 
and a private soldier, raised him together in 
their arms, and bearing him to the rear, laid 
him softly on the grass. They asked him if 
he would have a surgeon ; but he shook his 
head, and answered that all was over with 
him. His eyes closed with the torpor of ap- 
proaching death, and those around sustained 
his fainting form. Yet they could not with- 

W 



hold their gaze from the wild turmoil before 
them, and the charging ranks of their com- 
panions rushing through fire and smoke. 
" They run ! they run ! see how they run," 
one of the officers exclaimed, as the French 
fled in confusion before the leveled bayonets. 
"Who run?" demanded Wolfe, opening his 
eyes like a man aroused from sleep. " The 
enemy, sir," was the reply; "'they give 
way everywhere." The spirit of the expiring 
hero flashed up. " Go, one of you, my lads, 
tell Colonel Burton to march Webb's regi- 
ment with all speed down to Charles River, 
to cut off their retreat by the bridge. Now, 
God be praised, I will die in peace," he mur- 
mured ; and turning on his side, he calmly 
breathed his last, Sept. 13th, 1Y59. 

WOLSEY, Thomas, a cardinal and states- 
man, was born in 1471 at Ipswich, where his 
father was a butcher. In 1508, being then 
chaplain to Henry VII., he was made Dean of 
Lincoln ; and in the next reign he gained an 
absolute ascendency over the young monarch 
by flattering his passions and sharing in his 
amusements. He was accordingly made al- 
moner to the king, a privy councilor. Canon 
of Windsor, registrar of the garter, and Dean 
of York. Soon after this accumulation of 
honors, he was appointed chancellor of the 
garter, and rewarded with the grant of the 
revenues of the bishopric of Tournay in 
Flanders. In 1514 he was consecrated Bishop 
of Jjincoln, and within a few months after- 
ward was elevated to the see of York and the 
dignity of a cardinal. In 1516 he was appoint- 
ed legate with the fullest powers, and at the 
same time was made lord chancellor. In 
1519 he obtained the temporalities of the see 
of Bath and Wells, to which were added those 
of Worcester and Hereford, with the rich ab- 
bey of St. Alban's. Wolsey now aspired to the 
papacy, and on being disappointed of ir, re- 
ceived, as a compensation from the Emperor 
Charles V., a pension of nine thousand 
crowns of gold, while his own sovereign 
gave him the bishopric of Durham. On the 
death of Adrian VI. he made another effort 
to gain the tiara, but without success. In 
1528 he exchanged Durham for Winchester ; 
but a cloud now arose, occasioned by the 
king's dissatisfaction with his conduct in the 
business of the divorce. Accordingly while 
the cardinal sat in the court of chancery, an 
OL 



952 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



indictment was preferred against him in the 
king's bench, on the statute of provisos, in 
consequence of which the great seal was 
taken from him, all his goods were seized, 
and articles of impeachment were soon ex- 
hibited in parliament. The prosecution, 
however, was stayed, and he received the 
king's pardon ; but while he was endeavor- 
ing to reconcile himself to his fallen state at 
Cawood Castle, his capricious master caused 
him to be arrested for high treason, and hur- 
ried from Yorkshire toward London. The 
agitation and fatigue brought on a disorder, 
of which he died at the abbey of Leicester, 
Nov. 28th, 1530. 

All who know anything of his history, 
know that he was proud and ostentatious, 



and accustomed to the use of gorgeous cos- 
tume, in which he piqued himself in out- 
shining all the other courtiers of Henry 
VIII. One day,* a prodigal nobleman, who 
was deeply in debt, and paid nobody, came 
into court in a dress, the splendor of which 
outshone that of Wolsey, who being piqued, 
addressed the nobleman, and said, " My lord, 
it would be more commendable in you to pay 
your debts, than to lavish so much money on 
your dress." " May it please your reverence," 
replied the nobleman, "you are perfectly 
right ; I humbly thank you for the hint, and 
now make a beginning to show how I value 
your kind admonition. My father owed j'our 
deceased father a groat for a calf's head : 
here is sixpence — let me have the change." 




THE SPHINX AND PYRAAIIDS. 



WONDERS OF THE WORLD, so called 
by the ancients, were seven in number. 
1. The Pyramids of Egypt, celebrated from 
antiquity as most stupendous monuments of 
art. Such superb piles are to be found no- 
where but in Egypt. Pyramids elsewhere 
are puerile and diminutive imitations of tliese 



in Egypt, rather than attempts at a similar 
magnificence. The three most famous stand' 
on the west bank of the Nile at Gizeh, not 
fiir from the site of the ancient Memphis. 
The largest, that of Cheops, is four hundred 
and sixty-one feet in height, and the length 
of its base is four hundred and seventy-six 



WO^r 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



953 



feet. It covers eleven acres of giound, and 
is constructed of such huge blocks of stone, 
that a more marvelous achievement of human 
labor has not been found on the earth. These 
vast piles were erected for sepulchral and re- 
ligious purposes. 2. The tomb built for Mau- 
solus, king of Caria, by Artemisia, his queen. 
He was the own brother of Artemisia, and 
famous for his personal beauty. So fond was 
she, that at his death she drank in her liquor 
the ashes of his incremated body, and erected 
to his memory a monument of great gi-andeur 
and magnificence. This monument she called 
Mausoleum, a name since given to tombs of 
unusual splendor. She summoiied all the 
poets and bards ot the time, and offered a 
reward to him who composed the best elegiac 
panegyric upon her husband. Theopompus 
won the prize, 357 B.C. 3. The temple of 
Diana at Ephesus. This superb edifice was 
built at the common charge of all the Asiatic 
states. Pliny says that two hundred and 
twenty years were employed in its comple- 
tion. Its riches were immense. It was four 
hundred and twenty-five feet long, two hun- 
dred and twenty-five feet broad, and was sup- 
ported b}' one hundred and twenty-seven 
columns of Parian marble (sixty feet high 
and each weighing a hundred and fifty tons), 
furnished by as many kings. On the night 
of Alexander's nativity, 356 B.C., it was fired 
by an obscure rascal named Eratostratus, who 
confessed that his sole motive was a desire to 
transmit his name to future ages. The temple 
was rebuilt, and again burnt by the Goths in 
their naval invasion, a.d. 256. 4. The walls 
and hanging gardens of Babylon. Where 
now is desolate ruin, once stood the most 
magnificent city in the ancient world, Babylon 
the Great. The hanging gardens are described 
as having been of a square form, and in ter- 
races one above another until they rose as 
high as the walls of the city, the ascent be- 
ing from tei-race to terrace by steps. The 
whole pile was sustained by vast arches raised 
on other arches ; and on the top were flat 
stones closely cemented together with jjlaster 
of bitumen, and that covered with sheets of 
lead, upon which lay the mould of the gar- 
den, where there were large trees, shrubs, 
and flowers, with various sorts of vegetables. 
There were five of these gardens, each con- 
taining about four acres. 5. The Colossus 



at Ehodes. This was a brazen statue of 
Apollo, seventy cubits high, erected in honor 
of the sun, and built m twelve years by 
Chares of Lindus, a pupil of Lysippus, 290 
B.C. The figure stood on two moles, some say 
straddling the entrance to the harbor, so that 
a vessel in full sail could enter beneath. A 
winding staircase ran to the top, from which 
could be seen the shores of Syria and sails 
on the coast of Egypt. An earthquake laid 
the Colossus low, 224 b.c. ; an oracle forbade 
its restoration ; and it was finally destroyed 
by the Saracens, a.d. 672. 6. The statue of 
Jupiter at Olympia in Elis, sculptured in 
ivory and gold by Phidias, the most eminent 
statuary among the ancients, 433 b.c. The 
Elians accused the artist of 'cabbaging' the 
costly materials they furnished him, and 
threw him into prison, where he died. Time 
proved the accusation false, and in expiation 
the charge of the great image was given as 
an heir-loom to the descendants of Phidias. 
Six hundred years afterward his posterity 
still had the care of it. The Olympian .Jupi- 
ter adorned Elis for about eight centuries ; 
it was then removed to Constantinople, hy 
the Emperor Theodosius, and was either lost 
at sea, or destroyed in the fire of the Lau- 
deion, a.d. 475. 7. The Pharos or watch- 
tower at Alexandria, erected by order of 
Ptolemy Philadelphus, about 280 b.c It 
was built of white marble, and could be seen 
at the distance of a hundred miles. Fires 
were constantly kept on the top, to direct 
sailors in the bay. The building of this 
tower cost 800 talents, which are equivalent 
to above $825,000, if Attic, or if Alexan- 
drian, double that sum. There was this in- 
scription upon it: "King Ptolemy to the 
gods, the saviors, for the benefit of sailors ; " 
but Sostratus, the architect, wishing to claim 
all the glory, engraved his own name upon 
the stones, and afterward filled the hollow 
with mortar, and wrote the above inscrip- 
tion. "When tlie mortar had decayed by 
time, Ptolemy's name disappeared, and the 
following inscription then became visible : 
" Sostratus the Cnidian, son of Dexiphanes, 
to the gods, the saviors, for the benefit of 
sailors." 

WOODWORTH, Samuel, the author of 
" The Old Oaken Bucket," died at New York 
in 1842, aged fift3'--seven. He was a printer, 



WOO 



954 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



and served his apprenticeship at Boston, in 
the office of Major llusscll, the pubhshcr of 
the Centinel. The beautiful and popular bal- 
lad for which he is best known, is said to 
have had its origin under the following cir- 
cumstances. He was employed in an office 
on the corner of Chestnut and Chambers 
streets in New York. One day, with a knot 
of brother typos, he dropped in at an estab- 
lishment kept by Mallory, on Franklin street, 
for the purpose of taking " some brandy and 
water," which Mallory was famous for keep- 
ing. The liquor M'as excellent, and Wood- 
worth seemed inspired by it ; for, after tak- 
ing a draught, he set his glass upon the ta- 
ble, and smacking his lips, declared that Mal- 
lory's eau tie vie was superior to anything he 
ever tasted. "No," said a comrade, "you 
are quite mistaken; there ^ was one thing 
which, in both our estimations, far surpassed 
this, in the way of drinking." " What was 
that?" asked Woodworth dubiously. "The 
draught of pure, fresh spring-water that we 
used to drink from the old oaTcen hucket that 
hung in the well, after our return from the 
labors of the field on a sultry day in sum- 
mer." The tear-drop glistened for a moment 
in Woodworth's eye. " True ! true ! " he 
replied, and soon after quitted the place. 
He returned to the office, grasped the pen, 
and in half an hour "The Old Oaken Bucket," 
one of the most delightful compositions in 
our language, was ready, in manuscript, to 
be embalmed in the memories of succeeding 
generations. 

How denr to this heurt are the scenes of my child- 
hood, 
When fond recollection presents them to view ! 
The orchard, the meadow, the deep-tangled wild 
wood, 
And every loved spot which my infancy knew ; 
The wide-spreading pond, and tlie mill that stood 
by it, 
The bridge and the rock where the cataract fell, 
The cot of my father, tiie duiry-honse nigh it, 

And e'en the rude bucket that hung in the well ! 
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 
The moss-covered l»icket that hung in the well. 

That moss-covered vessel I hailed as a treasure; 

For often at noon, when returned from the field, 
I found it a source of an exquisite pleasure. 

The purest and sweetest that nature can yield. 
How ardent I seized it, with hands that were glow- 
ing, 

And quick to the white pebbled bottom it fell, 
Then soon with the emblem of Truth overflowing. 

And dripping with coolness, it rose from the well; 
The old oaken'bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 
, The moss-covered bucket arose from the well. 



How sweet from the green mo-sy brim to receive it, 

As poised on the curb it iiichnetl to my lips! 
Not a full blushing goblet could tempt me to leave it, 

Though filled with the nectar tiie fabled god sips. 
And now far removed from the loved situation. 

The tear of regret will intrusively swell. 
As fancy reverts to my father's plantation, 

And sighs for the bucket that hung in the well, 
The old oaken bucket, the iron-bound bucket, 

The moss-covered bucket which hungs in the 
well. 

WOOSTER, David, was born in Strat- 
ford, Coim., March 2d, 1711, and was edu- 
cated at Yale. He served as a captain at the 
taking of Louisburg, and in the next French 
war rose to the rank of colonel. At the 
opening of the Revolution he was appointed 
brigadier-general, and served with distinction 
in Canada. He was mortally wounded in 
repelling the foray of tHe British upon Fair- 
field, Conn., in 1777. 

W^ORCESTER, the chief town of Worces- 
tershire, England. It sutFercd much during 
the wars between the houses of York and 
Lancaster ; but the most remarkable event 
here was the famous battle between the Eng- 
lish army under Cromwell, and the Scotch 
in the cause of Charles H., Sept. Cd, 1G51 ; 
when the royalists had 2,000 killed and 8,000 
taken prisoners, most of whom were sold as 
slaves to the American colonies. 

WORDSWORTH, AYilliaji, the greatest 
philosophical poet of England in the present 
century, was born at Cockermouth in Cum- 
berland, April 7th, 1770, and educated at the 
university at Cambridge. His parents de- 
signed him for the church, but poetry and 
new prospects turned him into another path. 
The worship of the muses was almost his 
only business through life. Coleridge and 
he became acquainted in 1796, and soon 
ripened into warm friends, and in 1798 the 
two poets, accompanied by Miss Wordsworth, 
made a tour in Germany. In 1803 he mar- 
ried Miss ]\Iary Hutchinson, his cousin, and 
settled down among his beloved lakes, first 
at Grasmere, and afterward at Rydal Mount. 
Various handsome bequests were bestowed 
upon him, and influential friends soon pro- 
cured for him the easy and lucrative situa- 
tion of stamp distributor for the counties of 
Cumberland and Westmoreland, a post that 
left the greater part of his time at his own 
disposal, and which he held till 1842, when he 
resigned it in favor of his son, receiving from 
government a pension of £300 joe/' annum. 



WOR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



955 



Wordsworth appeared as a poet in his 
twenty-third year, 1793, issuing two small 
volumes, "An Evening Walk" and "De- 
scriptive Sketches in Verse." The Walk is 
among the mountains of Westmoreland ; the 
Sketches refer to a pedestrian tour made in 
Switzerland. The latter was read by Cole- 
ridge (then a stranger) with delight, and he 
has said, "Seldom, if ever, was the emer- 
gence of an original poetic genius above the 
litei'ary horizon more evidently announced." 
Wordsworth's next publication was a volume 
of "Lyrical Ballads," a few of which were 
from Coleridge's pen. The "Lyrical Bal- 
lads" were designed by Wordsworth to try 
how far a simpler kind of poetry than that 
in vogue would be relished. The experiment 
was a failure, and years elapsed before he 
again appeared in print. Having settled 
down by his native lakes, Southey's subse- 
quent retirement to the same beautiful region, 
and Coleridge's visits to his brother poets, 
originated the name of the Lake School of 
Poetry, — " the school of whining and hypo- 
chondriacal poets that haunt the lakes,"^ — 
by which the opponents of their principles 
and t'ne admirers of the Edinhurgh JReview 
distmguished these three great poets. 

In 1807 two more volumes of the "Lyri- 
cal Ballads" were put forth, proving "more 
popular than the first. In 181-4 appeared 
" The Excursion," a pliilosophical poem in 
blank verse, being a portion of the "Recluse," 
the balance of which the poet left behind 
him unpublished. The critics were hard 
upon it. "This will never do," was the 
memorable opening of the article upon it in 
the Eilinburgh Review. Yet the poem found 
its admirers among men who thought for 
themselves. A critic has characterized it as 
"the noblest production of the author, con- 
taining passages of sentiment, description, 
and pure eloquence, not excelled by any liv- 
ing poet; while its spirit of enlightened 
humanity and Christian benevolence ex- 
tending over all ranks of sentient and ani- 
mated being— imparts to the poem a peculiarly 
sacred and elevated character." While the 
critics were yet discussing the merits of " The 
Excursion," Wordsworth published "Peter 
Bell," which had been written years before. 
This brought down upon his head a still 
heavier shower of ridicule from his deriders. 



and even his fast admirers were somewhat 
startled at first, and could not praise it. 

The subsequent works of the poet are 
numerous: "The White Doe of Rylstone," 
" Sonnets on the River Duddon," " The 
Waggoner ; " his last publication of import- 
ance being "Yarrow Revisited, and other 
Poems," in 1835. On Southey's death, he 
was appointed poet-laureate, in 1843 ; an ap- 
propriate appointment, if such an office was 
to be retained at all ; for the laurel dignified 
by the brows of Ben Jonson, Davenant, 
Dryden, Thomas Warton, and Southey, had 
been sullied and degraded by appearing on 
the unworthy heads of Tate, Whitehead, and 
Pye. Once only did Wordsworth have occa- 
sion to sing in his new office, and in what 
he wrote there was great obscurity and little 
poetry. The last years of his life, in his 
poetical retirement, were passed in even an 
added quietness to that he had so much 
loved. He died at Rydal Mount, the 2od of 
April, 1850, in the eighty-first year of his 
age. Those who are curious in the accidents 
of birth and death, observable in the bio- 
graphies of celebrated men, have thought it 
noteworthy that the day of Wordsworth's 
death was the anniversary of Shakspeare's 
birth. 

If Wordsworth was unfortunate — as he 
certainly was — in not finding any ri^cognition 
of his merits till his hair was gray, he was 
luckier than other poets similarlj^ situated 
have been, in living to a good old age, and in 
the full enjoyment of the amplest fame which 
his youthful dreams had ever pictured. His 
admirers have carried their idolatry too far ; 
but there can be no doubt of the high posi- 
tion which he must always hold among Brit- 
ish poets. His style is simple, unaffected, 
and vigorous; his blank verse manly and 
idiomatic ; his sentiments both noble and 
pathetic ; and his images poetic and appro- 
priate. His sonnets are among the finest in 
the language ; Milton's are scarcely finer. 
" In imaginative power," says his enthusias- 
tic friend Coleridge, " he stands nearest of 
all modern writers to Shakspeare and Milton, 
and yet in a mind perfectly unborrowed and 
his own. To employ his own words, which 
are at once an instance and an illustration, 
he does indeed, to all thoughts and to all 
objects, — 



WOR 



956 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



'Add the gleam, 
The light that never was on sea or laud, 
The consecration and the poet's dream.'" 

"The Prelude, or Growth of a Poet's Mind, 
an Autobiographical Poem," was published 
after his death, having lain in his desk for 
forty-five years. 

WORMS, an ancient city in Hesse Darm- 
stadt. Here was held the celebrated impe- 
rial diet before which Martin Luther was 
summoned, April 4th, 1521, and by which 
he was proscribed. Luther was met by two 
thousand persons on foot and on horseback, 
a league from Worms. Such was his con- 
viction of the justice of his cause, that when 
Spalatin sent a messenger to warn him of his 
danger, he answered, "If there were as 
many devils in Worms as there are tiles upon 
the roofs of its houses, I would go on." Before 
the emperor, the Archduke Ferdinand, six 
electors, twenty-four dukes, seven margraves, 
thirty bishops and prelates, and many 
princes, counts, lords, and ambassadors, Lu- 
ther appeared, April 17th, in the imperial 
diet, acknowledged all his writings and opin- 
ions, and left Worms, in fact, a conqueror. 
But Frederick the Wise advised him to 
seclude himself to save his life, which he did 
for about ten months, and his triumph was 
afterward complete. 

AYORTH, William, was born at New 
York, N. Y., in 1794. In the w^ar of 1812 
he. volunteered as a private. Bravery soon 
won him promotion from the ranks. At 
Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, and at Monte- 
rey, Cerro Gordo, Molino del Key, &c., in 
Mexico, his gallantry shone. He died in 
Texas, 1849, holding the rank of major- 
general by brevet. 

WOTTON, Sir Hexry, an English states- 
man, was born at Boughton Hall, in Kent, in 
1568. He became secretary to the Earl of 
Essex, on whose fall he went abroad, and 
while at Florence was honored with the con- 
fidence of the grand-duke ; who sent him on 
a secret mission to James VI. of Scotland, 
which gained him the favor of that mnoarch. 
He died in 1639. 

WOTTON, Nicholas, a statesman, was 
uncle to the preceding, and born in Kent, 
about 1497. During the reign of Henry 
VIII. he was employed on different embas- 
sies : and in that of Edward he was made 



secretary of state. In 1551 he went on a 
mission to the emperor of Germany ; after 
which he became resident at the court of 
France. He died in London, in 1560 ; and 
was buried at Canterbury. 

WREN, Sir Christopher, was born in 
Wiltshire, in 1632. The great fire in Lon- 
don opened a wide field for his architectural 
labors, and the city abounds with masterly 
churches of his construction. He died in 

1723, and lies buried in the crypt of St. 
Paul's, his most stupendous work, with the 
concise epitaph. Si monumentum requiris, 
circumspice. (" Do you seek his monument ? 
look around"). He was a man of learn- 
ing, and before devoting himself to archi- 
tecture, held a professorship of astronomy at 
Oxford. 

WURMSER, Dagobert Sigismund, Count, 
an Austrian general, was born in Alsace in 

1724. In his youth he served in the French 
army, and next in that of the emperor, 
where he rose to the highest honors. In 
the revolutionary war he drove the republi- 
cans out of Alsace ; but at last was obliged 
to retreat before superior numbers. In 1794, 
however, he took Manheim ; and in ] 796 
defeated the French in Italy. At last being 
obliged to throw himself into Mantua, he 
was forced to capitulate. He died in Hun- 
gary in 1797. 

VVURTZCHEN, Battle of. One of the 
most bloody and fiercely contested battles of 
the campaign of 1813 ; fought between the 
allied Russian and Prussian armies, and the 
French army commanded by Napoleon in 
person. May 21st, 1813. The carnage was 
dreadful on both sides, but in the end the 
allies retreated from the field. The defeat 
of the allies here, and in the equally momen- 
tous battle of Bautzen, Avhich immediately 
preceded, obliged them to recross the Oder. 

WYATT, Sir Thomas, an English states- 
man, was born at Allington Castle, in Kent, 
in 1503. His father, Sir Henry Wyatt, was 
imprisoned in the Tower in the reign of 
Richard III., where he is said to have been 
preserved by a cat that fed him daily, for 
which reason all the portraits of him are 
painted with that animal in his arms or by 
his side. On the accession of Henry VII. he 
was knighted ; and in the next reign made 
master of the jewel ofiBce. He died in 1533. 



WYA 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



957 



Thomas became a great favorite with Henry 
VIII., and by one of his jests hastened on 
the Reformation. Tlie king having com- 
plained of the delay of the court of Rome in 
granting his divorce, Sir Thomas exclaimed, 
" Lord ! that a man can not repent him of 
his sin without the pope's leave!" This 
witticism hastened the king's resolution, and 
he soon afterward acted upon it as a maxim 
of sound reason. Wyatt, however, fell into 
some trouble afterward by his freedom of 
speech, and was twice tried for sedition, 
but acquitted. Pie died at Sherbourne, 
in Dorsetshire, in 1541. Sir Thomas was a 
poet as well, dealing in amatory elegies and 
odes. 

His son, of the same name, was a zealous 
Protestant, and was beheaded by or.ler of 
Queen Mary in 1554, for his share in a rebel- 
lion aroused by her marriage with Philip of 
Spain. 

WYNDHAM, Sir William, a statesman, 
was born at Orchard Wyndham, in Somer- 
setshire, in 1G87. In 1710 he was made 
secretary at war; and in 1713, chancellor 
of the exchequer. On the accession of 
George I. he was dismissed from office ; and 
when the rebellion broke out in Scotland, he 
was sent to the Tower, but never brought to 
trial. He continued to act in opposition till 
his death, which happened at Welles, in 
1740; when he was succeeded in his title 
and estate by his eldest son, Sir Charles 
Wyndham, who became Earl of Egremont, 
and died in 17G3. 

WYOMING. The delightful valley of 
Wyoming in Pennsylvania has been conse- 
crated both by the blood of martyrs and by 
the deathless muse of Campbell. Its first 
settlers were chiefly from Connecticut, which 
claimed the country by virtue of her ancient 
charter, and there was a severe struggle be- 



tween them and the Pennsylvanians for its 
possession. In June, 1778, when many of 
the yeomen of Wyoming were absent in the 
army, an incursion into the valley was made 
by a force of Tories and Indians, commanded 
by Col. John Butler, a notorious partisan. 
The marauding parties spread desolation 
throughout the valley ; farm-houses were 
fired; husbandmen were murdered in the 
fields. Some 360 of the settlers, rudely 
armed, headed by Col. Zebulon Butler, at- 
tempted to drive out the invaders, July 8d. 
The contest was suddenly ended by a panic 
among the patriot militia; the savages 
dropped their rifles, rushed on with toma- 
hawks and scalping-knives, and a terrible 
massacre ensued, from which only a few of 
the men of Wyoming escaped. The desola- 
tion of the valley was now completed : fields 
were laid waste, houses burnt, and their in- 
habitants murdered. Many women and 
children perished in fleeing through the wil- 
derness. In retaliation for the atrocities at 
Wyoming, Gen. Sullivan invaded the country 
of the Senecas the next year. 

WYTHE, George, a signer of the Declara- 
tion of Independence, was born in Elizabeth 
county, Va., 1726. He was wealthy, and 
until thirty years of age lived a life of great 
dissipation ; but at that age he applied him- 
self assiduously to the study of the law, and 
an avenue of distinction opened before him. 
He was a member of the colonial legislature 
of Virginia, and in 1775 was elected a mem- 
ber of congress. His labors in the cause of 
independence were strenuous and unceasing ; 
and for them he suffered much loss of prop- 
erty during the war. He was a member of 
the convention that formed the federal con- 
stitution, and died June 8th, 1806, having 
been chancellor of Virginia more than twenty- 
five years. 



WYT 



958 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



X, 



XANTIPPUS, a Lacedaemonian general 
who assisted the Carthaginians in the first 
Punic war. lie defeated the Romans, 256 
B.C., and took the celebrated Rcguhis prisoner. 
Such signal services deserved to be rewarded, 
but the Carthaginians looked with envious 
jealousy upon Xantippus as a stranger, and 
he retired to Corinth after he had saved them 
from destruction. Some authors suppose 
that the Carthaginians ordered him to be 
assassinated, and his body to be thrown into 
the sea as he was returning home ; while 
others say that they had prepared a leaky 
ship to convey him to Corinth, which he 
artfully avoided, 

XENOPHON, an Athenian, son of Gryl- 
lus, celebrated as a general, a historian, and 
a philosopher. He was invited by Proxenus, 
one of his intimate friends, to accompany 
Cyrus the younger in an expedition against 
his brother Artaxerxes, king of Persia ; but 
he refused to comply without previously con- 
sulting his venerable master, and inquiring 
into the propriety of such a measure. Soc- 
rates strongly opposed it, and observed that 
it might raise the resentment of his country- 
men, as Sparta had made an alliance with 
the Persian monarch; and before he pro- 
ceeded further, advised hmi to consult the 
oracle at Delphi. Xenophon was ambitious 
of glory, and eager to engage in a distant 
expedition. He merely asked the oracle to 
what gods he should sacrifice to insure suc- 
cess, and hastened with precipitation to Sar- 
dis, where he was introduced to the young 
prince, and treated with great attention. In 
the army of Cyrus, Xenophon showed that 
he was a true disciple of Socrates, and that 
he had been educated in the warlike city of 
Athens. After the decisive battle in the 
plains of Cunaxa, 401 B.C., and the fall of 
young Cyrus, the prudenct. and vigor of his 
mind were called into action. The ten thou- 
sand Greeks who had followed the standard 
of an ambitious prince, were now at a dis- 
tance of above six hundred leagues from 
their native home, in a country surrounded 
on every side by a victorious enemy, without 
money, without provisions, and without a 



leader. Xenophon was selected to superin- 
tend the retreat, and though he was often 
opposed by malevolence and envy, yet his 
persuasive eloquence and his activity con- 
vinced the Greeks that no general could ex- 
tricate them from every difficulty better than 
the disciple of Socrates. He rose superior 
to danger, and though under continual alarms 
from the sudden attacks of the Persians, 
he was enabled to cross rapid rivers, pene- 
trate through vast deserts, gain the tops of 
mountains, till he could rest secure for 
a while, and refresh his tired companions. 
This celebrated retreat was, at last, happily 
effected ; the Greeks returned home after a 
march of two hundred and fifteen days, and 
an absence of fifteen months. Xenophon 
was lio sooner returned from Cunaxa, than 
he sought new honors, in following the for- 
tune of Agesilaus in Asia. He enjoyed his 
confidence, he fought under his standard, and 
conquered with him in the Asiatic provinces, 
as well as at the battle of Coronsea. His 
fame, however, did not escape the asper- 
sions of jealousy ; he was publicly banished 
from Athens for accompanying Cyrus against 
his brother, and being now without a home, 
he retired to Scillus, a small town in the 
neighborhood of Olympia. He died at Cor- 
inth in the nineteenth year of his age, 359 
years before the Christian era. 

XERXES succeeded his father Darius on 
the throne of Persia, for though but the 
second son of the monarch, he was preferred 
to his elder brother Artabazanes. Xerxes 
continued the warlike preparations of his 
father, and added the revolted kingdom of 
Egypt to his extensive possessions. He after- 
ward invaded Europe, and entered Greece 
with an army of millions, the most numer- 
ous which had ever been collected together 
in one expedition ; but badly armed and dis- 
ciplined, and encumbered with a useless at- 
tendance of servants, women, and eunuchs. 
It was stopped at Thermopylae, by the valor 
of three hundred Spartans, and their allies, 
under Leonidas. Xerxes, astonished that 
such a handful of men should dare to oppose 
his progress, ordered some of his soldiers to 



XER 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



959 



bring them alive into his presence ; but for 
three successive days the most vaUant of the 
Persian troops were repeatedl}' defeated in 
attempting to execute the monarch's injunc- 
tions, and the courage of the Spartans might 
perhaps have triumphed longer, if a Trach- 
inian had not led a detachment to the top 
of the mountain, who suddenly fell upon the 
devoted Leonidas. The king, himself, nearly 
perished on this occasion, and it has been 
reported, that in the night the desperate 
Spartans sought, for a while, the roj-al tent, 
which they found deserted, and wandered 
through the Persian army, slaughtering thou- 
sands before them. The battle of Ther- 
mopylae was the beginning of the disgrace 
of Xerxes ; the more he advanced, it was to 
experience new disappointments ; his fleet 
was defeated at Artemisium and Salamis ; and 
though he burnt the deserted city of Athens, 
and trusted to the artful insinuations of The- 
mistocles, yet he found his myriads unable 
to conquer a nation that was superior to him 
in the knowledge of war and maritime affairs. 
Mortified with the ill success of his expedi- 
tion, and apprehensive of imminent danger 
in an enemy's country, Xerxes hastened to 
Persia, and in thirty days marched over all 
that territory which before he had passed 
with much pomp and parade in the space of 
six months. Mardonius, the best of his gene- 
rals, was left behind with an array of 300,000 
men, and the rest that had survived the 
ravages of war, of famine, and pestilence, 
followed their timid monarch into Thrace, 
where his steps were marked by the numer- 
ous birds of prey that hovered round him, 
and fed upon the dead carcases of the Per- 
sians. When he reached the Hellespont, 
Xerxes found the bridge of boats which he 
had erected there, totally destroyed by the 
storms, and he crossed the straits in a small 
fishing vessel. Restored to his kingdom and 
safety, he forgot his dangers, his losses, and 



his defeats, and gave himself up to riot and 
debauchery. His indolence and luxurious 
voluptuousness offended his subjects, and 
Artabanus, the captain of his guards, con- 
spired against him, and murdered him in his 
bed, in the twenty-first year of his reign, 
about 4G4 years before the Christian era. 

The bridge above alluded to, constructed 
for the passage of the army of Xerxes across 
the Hellespont, was formed by connecting 
together ships of different kinds, some long 
vessels of fifty oars, others three-banked gal- 
leys, to the number of 3G0 on the side toward 
the sea, and 318 on that of the archipelago ; 
the former were placed transversely, but the 
latter, to diminish the strain of their cables, in 
the direction of the current, — all secured 
by anchors and cables of great strength. On 
extended cables between the lines of ship- 
ping were laid f;ist-bound rafters, over these 
a layer of unwrought vpood, and over the 
latter was thrown caith ; on each side was a 
fence, to prevent the horses and beasts of 
burthen from being terrified by the sea, in 
the passage from shore to shore. This won- 
derful work was completed, it is said, in one 
week, 480 b.c. 

XIMENES, Francis, a Spanish cardinal, 
was born in 1437, at Torrelaguna, in Old 
Castile. In 1507 the pope gave him a cardi- 
nal's hat, and soon after the king appointed 
him prime minister, which office he dis- 
charged with the greatest honor. He was 
very successful in the conversion of the 
Moors, three thousand of whom were bap- 
tized in one day at Grenada. On the death 
of Ferdinand, in 1516, the cardinal was ap- 
pointed regent of the kingdom ; and one of 
his first acts was to introduce a reformation 
in the government. He died Nov. 8th, 1517. 
He was a great patron of letters, and the 
Complutensian Bible, the first polyglot edi- 
tion published, was printed at his cost. 



XIM 



960 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



Y. 



YALE, Elihu, the donor of Yale College, 
New Haven, Conn., died in 1724, and was 
buried at the church in Wrexham, Wales. 
His monument, a plain altar tomb, bears this 
inscription : — 

Born in America, in Europe bred, 
In Africa traveled, in Asia wed, 
Where long he lived and thrived, in London dead, 
Much good, sonic ill, he did ; so hope all's even. 
And that his soul through mercy's gone to heaven. 
You that survive and read this tale, take care, 
For this most certain exit to prepare. 
Where blest in peace the actions of the just 
Smell sweet, and blossom in the silent dust. 

His father, Thomas Yale, from one of the 
mcst respectable families in Wales, came 
from England with the first colonists of New 
Haven, and there Elihu was born, xVpril 5th, 
1658. Elihu went to the East Indies at the 
age of thirty as an adventurer, became 
wealthy, obtained the presidency of Madras, 
and is said to have ruled with oppressive 
authority. He caused his groom to be hanged 
for riding out a favorite horse without leave. 
For this murder he was ordered to England, 
where he was tried for the crime, but by 
some means escaped punishment, except a 
heavy fine. 

YORKE, Philip, Earl of Hardwick, chan- 
cellor of England, died in 1764, aged seventy- 
four. 

YORKE, Charles, second son of the pre- 
ceding, was an elegant and profound scholar. 
In 1770 he was appointed chancellor, and 
created Lord Mordan ; but he died in three 
days, before the seals were affixed to his 
patent of peerage. 

YORKTOWN, Siege of. In the summer 
of 1781 Washington succeeded in cooping up 
Lord Cornwallis and his army of 7,000 men 
at Yorktown, Va. The French fleet under 



Count de Grasse guarded the mouth of 
Chesapeake Bay, and prevented succor by 
sea. The combined American and French 
armies, commanded by Washington and 
Rochambeau, were 12,000 strong, exclusive 
of the Virginia militia that patriotic Gov. 
Nelson had brought into the field. Gen. 
Lincoln opened the first parallel on the 6th 
of October, and on the 9th the batteries com- 
menced fire, Washington putting the match 
to the first gun. Cornwallis looked in vain 
for relief from Sir Henry Clinton, who was 
hampered by naval dela3^s ; he held out as 
long as was possible, and surrendered on the 
10 th. 

Congress voted thanks to the victors, with 
appropriate trophies to Washington, Rocham- 
beau, and De Grasse, and appointed a day 
for general thanksgiving and prayer. When 
Lord North, the British premier, heard of 
the capture of Cornwallis and his army, he 
wildly exclaimed, " O God ! it is all over ! " 
The event was a death blow to the war. 

YOUNG, Edward, the author of "Night 
Thoughts," was born at his father's parson- 
age near Winchester in 1684, and died in 
1765. He commenced life as a courtier and 
poet, and continued such till his death. 
When upward of fifty he took orders. 

YVRES (now Ivry), Battle of, March 2d, 
1590, between Henry IV. of France, aided 
by his chief nobility, and the generals of the 
Catholic league, over whom the king obtained 
a complete victory. This success enabled 
Henry to blockade Paris, and reduce that 
capital to the last extremity by famine ; but 
the Duke of Parma, by orders from Philip 
of Spain, marched to the relief of the league, 
and obliged the king to raise the blockade. 



YVR 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



961 



ZAMA, Battle op. Between the two 
greatest commanders in the world at the 
time, Hannibal and Scipio Africanus, b.c. 202. 
This battle has been called the most impor- 
tant that was ever fought ; it was won by 
Scipio, and was decisive of the fate of Car- 
thage ; it led to an ignommious peace, which 
was granted the year after, and closed the 
second Punic war. The Romans lost but 2,000 
killed and wounded, while the Carthaginians 
lost, in killed and prisoners, more than 40, 000 ; 
some historians make the loss greater. 

ZAMOSZ, a strong fortress in the south- 
east of Poland. In 105 6 it was unsuccess- 
fully besieged by the Swedes; in 1715 it was 
surprised by the Saxons ; and in the civil 
contests of 1771, the Poles were defeated in 
its vicinity, by the Prussians. In 1812 it 
was one of the few towns in which the French 
left a garrison, after their retreat from Rus- 
sia. 

ZAMOSKI, John, great chancellor of Po- 
land, and general of the army of that king- 
dom. He was one of the ambassadors to 
France to offer the crown to the Duke of 
Anjou, whom the Polanders had chosen king. 
This prince being recalled to take possession 
of the kingdom of France as Henry III., 
Stephen Bathori, Prince of Transylvania, 
was chosen king of Poland, who had so great 
a consideration for Zamoski, that he gave his 
niece to him in marriage, made him chancel- 
lor of the kingdom, and first gave him the 
command of eight thousand men in the war 
with Muscovy, and afterward of all the army 
of Poland. Zamoski acquitted himself in 
all these employments with much courage 
and great success. He died in 1605. 

ZANTE (Zakynthos), one of the Ionian 
Islands, in the Mediterranean Sea. Zante, 
the capital, has a population of 24,000. Its 
harbor is spacious, and its environs are 
pleasant and picturesque. In 1820 several 
hundred houses were overthrown by an 
earthquake. The island was in possession 
of the Venetians from the end of the four- 
teenth to the end of the eighteenth century. 
In 1797 it was taken by the French, and in 
1799 by the Russians. In 1815 it became 



one of the members of the Ionian repub- 
lic. The wine of Zante is in great request, 
but the most important product of the 
[&\^d is the currant, which is the fruit of a 
dwarf species of the vine originahy brought 
from Corinth. 

ZELA, Battle of. In which Julius Caesar 
defeated Pharnaces, king of Pontus, son of 
Mithridates, 47 b.c. Cissar, in announcing 
this victory, sent his famous dispatch to the 
senate of Rome, in these words, " Veni, vidi, 
vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered), so rapidly 
and easily was his triumph obtained. This 
battle concluded the war; Pharnaces es- 
caped into Bosphorus, where he was slain by 
his lieutenant Asander; and Pontus was 
made a province of Rome, and Bosphorus 
given to Mithridates of Pergamus. 

ZENO, of Cittium in Cyprus, lived from 
362 B.C. to 264 b.c. He was the founder of 
the sect of the Stoics, which was so called 
from a public portico, from which the phi- 
losopher delivered his harangues. It was 
the most famous portico in Athens, and was 
called by way of eminence, stoa, the porch. 
In order to form his own school of philoso- 
phy, and to collect materials for a new sys- 
tem, Zeno had attended the schools of 
various masters, and among others he offered 
himself as a disciple of Polemo. This philoso- 
pher, aware of Zeno's object, said, " I am 
no stranger, Zeno, to your Phoenician arts. 
I perceive that your design is to creep slyly 
into my garden, and steal away my fruit. 

As a man Zeno appears deserving of the 
highest respect. Although sharing the doc- 
trines of the Cynics, he did not learn their 
grossness, their insolence, or their affecta- 
tion. In person he, was tall and slender ; 
and although of a weakly constitution, he 
lived to a great age, being rigidly abstemi- 
ous, feeding mainly upon figs, bread, and 
honey. His brow was furrowed with thought ; 
and this gave a tinge of severity to his as- 
pect, which accorded with the severity of his 
doctrines. So honored and respected was he 
by the Athenians that they intrusted to him 
the keys of the citadel ; and when he died 
they erected to his memory a statue of braas. 



61 



ZEN 



962 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



His death is thus recorded. In his ninety- 
eighth 3'ear, as he was stepping out of his 
school, he fell and broke his finger. He was 
so affected at the consciousness of his in- 
firmity, that striking the earth he exclaimed, 
"Why am I thus importuned? Earth, I 
obey thy summons." He went home and 
strangled himself." $f- 

ZENOBIA was a celebrated princess of 
Palmyra, who married Odenatus, whom 
Gallienus acknowledged as his partner on 
the Roman throne. After the death of her 
husband, which, according to some authors, 
she is said to have hastened, Zenobia reigned 
in the east as regent of her infant children, 
who were honored with the title of Caesars. 
She assumed the name of Augusta, appeared 
in imperial robes, and ordered herself to be 
styled the queen of the east. The troubles 
which at that time agitated the western parts 
of the empire, prevented the effeminate Gal- 
lienus from checking the insolence and am- 
bition of this princess, who boasted to be 
sprung from the Ptolemies of Egypt. Au- 
relian was no sooner invested with the 
imperial purple, than he marched into the 
east, determined to punish the pride of Ze- 
nobia. He well knew her valor, and he was 
not ignorant that in her wars against the 
Persians, she had distinguished herself no 
less than Odenatus. She was the mistress 
of the east ; Egypt acknowledged her power, 
and all the provinces of Asia Minor were 
subject to her command. When Aurelian 
approached the plains of Syria, the Palmy- 
rean queen appeared at the head of seven 
hundred thousand men. She bore the labors 
of the field like the meanest of her soldiers, 
and walked on foot fearless of danger. Two 
battles were fought ; the courage of the queen 
might have gained the superiority in the 
last, but an imprudent evolution of the Pal- 
myrean cavalry ruined her cause ; and while 
they pursued with spirit the flying enemy, 
Jhe Roman infantry sudaenly fell upon the 
main bodj^ of Zenobia's army, and the defeat 
was inevitable. The queen fled to Palmyra, 
determined to support a siege. Aurelian fol- 
lowed her, and after he had almost exhausted 
his stores, he proposed honorable terms of 
capitulation, which were rejected with dis- 
dain by the warlike princess, in an arrogant 
letter which incensed Aurelian highly. Her 



hopes of victory, however, soon vanished, 
and though she harassed the Romans night 
and day by continual sallies from her w^alls, 
and the working of her military engines, she 
despaired of success when she heard that 
the armies which were marching to her relief 
from Armenia, Persia, and the east, had 
partly been defeated and partly bribed from 
her allegiance. She fled from Palmyra in 
the night ; but Aurelian, who was apprised 
of her escape, pursued her, and she was 
caught as she was crossing the river Euphra- 
tes. She was brought into the presence of 
Aurelian, and though the soldiers were clam- 
orous for her death, she was reserved to 
adorn the trmmph of the conqueror. She 
was treated with great humanity, and Aure- 
lian gave her large possessions and a superb 
villa at Tivoli, where she was permitted to 
live the rest of her days in peace, with all 
the grandeur and majesty which became a 
queen of the east and a warlike princess. 
Her children were patronized by the emperor, 
and married to persons of the first distinc- 
tion at Rome. She fell into the hands of 
Aurelian about the two hundred and seventy- 
third year of the Christian era. 

Zenobia was eminently beautiful, with ori- 
ental eyes and complexion, teeth like pearls, 
and a voice of uncommon power and sweet- 
ness. Her courage, prudence, and fortitude 
were remarkable. The strangest feature in 
her character, if we consider the manners of 
her country and age, was her passion for 
study, and her taste for the Greek and Latin 
literature. Longinus, one of the most ele- 
gant writers of antiquity, was lured to her 
court, and made her secretary and minister. 
In imitation of Cleopatra, her pretended an- 
cestress, she affected great splendor in living 
and attire. In dignity and discretion, as 
well as beaut}^, she far surpassed the Egyp- 
tian queen. There is one black spot in her 
history. When she fell into Aurelian's 
power, his ferocious soldiery clamored for 
her blood. She forgot her former vaunts 
and intrepidity ; terror made her base ; in 
her panic she threw herself on the mercy of 
the emperor, accused her ministers as the 
cause of her determined resistance, and said 
that Longinus had written in her name that 
eloquent and defiant letter which had so en- 
raged Aurelian. Longinus, with the rest of 



ZEN 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY 



963 



^ her immediate friends and counselors, were 
at once sacrificed to the fury of the soldiers. 

ZEUXIS, one of the most celebrated paint- 
ers of antiquity, 490-400 B.C. 

ZIMISCES, John, a noble Armenian, con- 
tributed to the elevation of Nicephorus II. 
to the throne of the eastern empire, but in- 
stead of being rewarded for his services, was 
sent into disgraceful exile. He afterward 
conspired with the empress ; she in person 
opened the chamber-door of Nicephorus to 
the conspirators, who massacred him without 
opposition, a.d. 969. Zimisces was then pro- 
claimed emperor of the east, and signalized 
himself in many engagements and victories, 
but was at length taken off by poison, a.d. 
975. 

ZIMMERMANN, John George, Chevalier 
von, an eminent phj^sician and miscellaneous 
writer, born at Brug, in the canton of Berne, 
in 1728. Having made choice of the medi- 
cal profession, he was appointed public phy- 
sician to his native town, employing his 
leisure hours in writing many pieces in prose 
and verse, the most popular of which is his 
work on Solitude. His professional and lite- 
rary celebrity gained him the post of royal 
physician at Hanover and in Prussia. He 
died deranged in 1795. 

ZINZENDORF, Nicholas Louis, Count 
von, was born at Dresden in 1700. He was 
the founder and head of the sect of Moravian 
Brethren, whose devoted missionaries, under 
his direction, soon spread, not only over Eu- 
rope, but in Greenland and America, in Af- 
rica, and in China. Zinzendorf came to 
America in 1741, and preached at German- 
town, Bethlehem, and Nazareth, in Pennsyl- 
vania. He returned to Europe in 1748, and 
died among his people, on the 9th of June, 
1760. 

ZISKA. The real name of this renowned 
leader in the early religious wars of Germany 
was John Tkocznow. He acquired the name 
of Ziska (which means 'one-eyed') from the 
loss of an eye in battle. He was born about 
1380, of a noble Bohemian family, and was 
bred in the imperial court and camp. When 
John Huss was martyred at Constance, the 
Bohemians flew to arms, to avenge his death 
and resist the bigotry and tyranny of the 
Emperor Sigismund. Ziska was a follower 
of Huss, and the Bohemians made him their 



general. The war was ferocious on both sides. 
The fierce Ziska was everywhere successful, 
even after made wholly blind by the loss of 
his other eye at the siege of Raab. The em- 
peror concluded a humiliating treaty, and 
Ziska soon after died of the plague, Oct. 11th, 
1425. There is a legend that, by his dying 
orders, his skin was made into a drum, to 
animate the Hussites with the remembrance 
of his valor. 

ZOE. This extraordinary woman, daugh- 
ter of the Emperor Constantino, married 
Romanus, who, in consequence, succeeded to 
the throne of the Eastern empire, a.d. 1028. 
Zoe, after prostituting herself to a Paphlago- 
nian money-lender, caused Romanus to be 
poisoned, and wedded her paramour, who 
reigned as Michael IV. On his death, Zoe 
placed her adopted son in power, as Michael 
V. ; the trade of his father (careening vesseLs) 
had procured him the surname of Calaphates. 
Within twelve months, she dethroned him, 
and his eyes were put out. Zoe and her 
sister, Theodora, were made sole empresses 
by the populace ; but after two months, Zoe 
although she was sixty years of age, took 
for her third husband Constantine X. She 
died in 1050. 

ZOLLVEREIN, the name given to the 
German commercial union, of which Prussia 
is the head. It was first formed in 1818, and 
was gradually joined by nearly all the Ger- 
man states, except Austria. Feb. 19th, 1853, 
an important treaty of commerce and navi- 
gation, between Austria and Prussia, to last 
from January, 1854, till December, 1865, was 
signed, to which the other states of the ZoU- 
verein gave in their adhesion, April 5th, 1853. 
The word Zollverein means in English 'cus- 
toms union.' 

ZOPYRUS, a Persian, son of Megabyzus, 
who, to show his attachment to Darius, the 
son of Hystaspes, while he besieged Baby- 
lon, cut off his ears and nose, and fled to the 
enemy, telling them that he had received 
such treatment from his royal master be- 
cause he had advised him to raise the siege, 
as the city was impregnable. This was cred- 
ited by the Babylonians, and Zopyrus was 
appointed commander of all their forces. 
When he had totally gained their confidence, 
he betrayed the city into the hands of Darius, 
for which he was liberally rewarded. The 



ZOP 



y64 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



regard of Darius for Zopyrus could never be 
more strongly expressed than in what he 
used often to say, "that he had rather have 
Zopyrus not mutilated than twenty Baby- 
Ions." 

ZSCHOKKE, PIeinrich, a celebrated au- 
thor, was born at Magdeburg in 1781. He 
inherited in childhood a moderate patrimony, 
which enabled him during his youth and 
early manhood to gratify his desire for ad- 
venture and various knowledge. He finally 
settled down for life near Aargau in Swit- 
zerland, in 1802, and died in 1848. The best 
known of his numerous works are his novels, 
in which he displays much agreeable humor. 

ZOUAVES. To give a complete under- 
standing of the origin of this singular corps, 
we must go back a little. Algiers was set- 
tled in 1492 by Moors driven from Spain. 
They recognized only a nominal allegiance to 
the Turkish sultan. But in 1509, when hard 
pushed by the Spaniards, they sent in haste 
to Turkey for aid. Barbarossa, a noted pirate, 
sailed to their help, drove off the Christians, 
and fixed upon the Moors the yoke of Turk- 
ish sovereignty. In 1516 he declared him- 
self Dey of Algiers, and his brother succeed- 
ing him, the Ottoman power was firmly 
established. Hated by both Moors and 
Arabs, and frequently attacked by Europeans, 
to sustain themselves the deys were obliged 
to form a body of mercenary soldiers drawn 
entirely from Turkey. Brave these mercen- 
aries proved themselves in many a fierce fight. 
Hardy and ready they were, for they were 
hated and dreaded beyond measurie by the 
Arabs, and theirs was a life of constant ex- 
ertion. United they must be, for in union 
was their strength and safety. They were 
called the Odjacl\ and elected or deposed 
deys at pleasure ; the dey, nominally their 
ruler, was in reality their tool. In one pe- 
riod of twenty years there were six deys, of 
whom four were decapitated, one abdicated 
through fear, and one died peacefully. When 
one dey was strangled or deposed, they chose 
in his stead the boldest and bravest of their 
number. Their number was supposed not 
to exceed 15,000, and they were recruited 
from the meanest classes in the ports of the 
Levant. In 1629 they declared the kingdom 
free from the dominion of Turkey ; soon after 
they expelled the Koulouglis, or half-breed 



Turks, and enslaved the Moors. Admitting 
some of the latter to service in the militia, 
they never allowed them to hope for promo- 
tion. Only Turks or renegade Christians 
could lead the soldiers, whom thus no feeling 
of local patriotism mollified in their course 
of savage cruelty, grinding the face of the 
poor natives till spirit and hope were lost, 
and resistance ceased to be a settled idea in 
their minds. 

When the French fleet came up to Algiers 
in 1830, the bond between the soldiery and 
their master Hussein Pacha, was nearly 
broken ; he had just slain the ringleaders of a 
plot against his life, and the surviving con- 
spirators felt they were not safe with him. 
Beaten in every skirmish or battle, they con- 
ceived a high respect for the military gen- 
ius of the French, and, ere the close of the 
summer campaign, offered their services in 
a body to General Clausel ; this offer he 
promptly declined, and they carried their 
swords to the aid of less scrupulous powers. 
The news of this offer spread a lively terror 
among the Arab tribes. Perceiving the fear 
in which these Algerine praetorians were held 
l»y the tribes, Marshal Clausel conceived the 
plan of replacing them by a corps of light 
infantry, consisting of two battalions, to per- 
form the services of household troops, and to 
receive some name as significant as that of 
the terrible Odjack. The new corps was 
therefore called by the name oi Zouaves, from 
the Arabic word Zouaoua. The Zouaoua are 
a tribe, or rather a confederation of tribes, of 
the Kabyles, who inhabit the gorges of the 
Juijura Mountains, between Algeria and the 
province of Constantine. Thej^ are a brave, 
fierce, laborious people, whose submission to 
the Turks was never more than nominal; 
they had the reputation of being the best 
soldiers in the regency. They were well 
known in the city of Algiers, whither they 
came frequently to exchange the products of 
their industry for the luxuries of comparative 
civilization. 

The number of native soldiers received into 
the ranks of the Zouaves was limited, and all 
the officers, from the highest to tlie lowest 
grade, were required to be native-born 
Frenchmen. Service in the corps was alto- 
gether voluntary, none being appointed to the 
Zouaves who did not seek the place ; l)ut 



ZOU 



HISTOEY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



965 



there were found enough young and daring 
spirits who embraced with entiuisiasm this 
life, so harassing, so full of privation, of 
rude labor, of constant peril. The first bat- 
talion was commanded by Major Maumet, 
the second by Captain Duvivier. 

Scarcely six weeks after their formation the 
Zouaves took the field under Marshal Clausel, 
marching against Medeah, an important sta- 
tion in the heart of western Algeria. On 
the hill of Mouzaia they fought their first 
battle, and were completely successful. They 
remained two months as a garrison in Me- 
deah, showing great valor and patience. 
Left alone in a frontier post, constantly in the 
vicinity of a savage foe, watching and fight- 
ing night and day, leaving the gun only to 
take up the spade, compelled to create every- 
thing they needed, reduced to the last ex- 
tremities for food, cut off" from all communi- 
cations, — it was a rough ti'ial for this little 
handful of new soldiers. The place was often 
attacked ; they were always at their posts ; 
till in the last days of. April they were re- 
called, and the fortress yielded up to the 
feeble bey whom the French had decided to 
establish there. In June, troubles having 
again risen. General Berthezene conducted 
some regular troops to Afedeah, together with 
the second battalion of Zouaves, under its 
gallant captain, Duvivier. On his return the 
troops were furiously attacked on the hill of 
Mouzaia, the spot where in February the 
Zouaves had received the baptism of fire. 
Weared with the long night-march, borne 
down by insupportable heat, stretched in a 
long straggling line through mountain passes, 
the commander of the van severely wounded 
at the first discharge, they themselves sep- 
arated, without chiefs, and surrounded by ene- 
mies, the French troops recoiled; when 
Duvivier, seeing the peril that menaced the 
army, advanced vi^ith his battalion. Shout- 
ing their war-cry and the Marseillaise, they 
rushed upon the Kabyles, turned the pursu- 
ers into piu'sued, and covered the retreat of 
the army till it could rallj'-. This affair 
made the Zouaves — before regarded, if not 
with contempt, at least with dislike— /ree of 
the camj). 

Losses in the two battalions Tiegan to be 
seriously felt, for the growing hostility of the 
Arabs made it difficult to recruit from native 



sources. In March, 1883, the two were 
united into one battalion, consisting of ten 
companies, eight of M^iich were to be exclu- 
sively European, and in each of the other com- 
panies it was required there should be at least 
twelve Frenchmen. Captain Lamoriciere 
was appointed chief of the battalion. To 
the trainmg the Zouav£s received under this 
remarkable man much of their after success 
must be attributed. In his dealiftgs with 
the Arabs he had shown himself the first who 
could treat with them by other means than 
the rifle or the bayonet. As commander of 
the Zouaves he showed talents of a high order. 
He infused into them the spirit, the activity, 
the boldness and impetuosity which he him- 
self so remarkably possessed, with a certain 
independence of character that demanded 
from those who commanded them a resolute 
firmness on essential, and a dignified indul- 
gence on unessential points. To the course 
of discipline used by him, and still maintained 
in this arm of the service, are due their tre- 
mendous working power, their tirelessness, 
their self-dependence, and all their qualities 
differing from those of other soldiers ; so that 
by his means one of the most irregular spe- 
cies of warfare has produced a body of irre- 
sistible regular soldiers, and border combats 
have given rise to the most rigid discipline in 
the world. 

The post of Dely Ibrahim was assigned to 
the Zouaves. They were obliged to work la- 
boriously, making for themselves whatever 
was needed; whether as masons, ditchers, 
blacksmiths, carpenters, or farmers, — what- 
ever was to be done, they were, or learned to 
be, sufficient for it. What time was not de- 
voted to labor was given to the practice of 
arms and the acquisition of instruction in all 
departments of military science; so that many 
a soldier was there fitted for the position he 
afterward acquired of officer, colonel,, or gen- 
eral. To fence with the mounted bayonet, 
to wrestle, to leap, to climb, to run for miles, 
to swim, to make and to destroy temporary 
bridges, to throw up walls of earth, to carry 
great weights, — these served as the relax- 
ations of the unwearied Zouaves. To vary 
the monotony of such a life, there was enough 
adventure to be found for the seeking, — an 
incursion into the Sahel, or into the plains of 
Mitidja, or a wild foray through the northern 



ZOU 



966 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OF 



gorges of the Atlas. They learned to march 
rapidly and long, to sustain the extremes of 
hunger, thirst, and weather, and to maneuvre 
with intelligent precision. Their costume 
and equipment were brought near perfection ; 
they wore the Turkish dress, slightly modi- 
fied, — a dress suited to the changes of that 
climate, and without which their movements 
would have been cramped and constrained. 
The cost of a Turkish uniform suitable for an 
officer would be heavy ; besides, the dress of 
a Turk of rank is somewhat ridiculous; so 
the officers retained the hussar uniform, which 
is rich and easy to wear. Certain officers 
used on the march, however, to wear the fez, 
or, as the Arabs called it, the cliechia. La- 
moriciere was known in Algeria as Bou Che- 
chia, or Pajxi loith the Cap. The corps was 
the best practical school for soldiers and offi- 
cers, and many of the best French generals 
began their military career in the wild guer- 
rilla combats or the patient camp-life of that 
band of heroes. 

There was work enough for the Zouaves 
in Algiers ; they gained fresh laurels, and 
they were raised to a regiment. In the sec- 
ond expedition into Constantine, in 1837, they 
formed part of the division headed by the 
Duke of Nemours. Lamoriciere was still 
their leader. Fighting by the side of the best 
soldiers, they proved themselves bravest 
where all were brave. In the assault upon 
Constantine, they were placed at the head of 
the first column of attack ; Lamoriciere was 
the first officer on the breach, and carried all 
before him. The soldiers he had trained sup- 
ported him nobly ; but when they had won 
the day, they found that many companies 
were decimated, some nearly annihilated, and 
numbers of their officers had fallen. " Those 
who are not mortally wounded rejoice at this 
great success," said an officer to the duke. 

One anecdote will give some idea of the 
troops among whom the Zouaves shone brav- 
est of the brave. The rear-guard at Man- 
sourah was under the command of Changar- 
nier ; it was reduced to three hundred men ; 
he halted this little troop and said, " Come, 
my men, look these fellows in 'the face ; they 
are six thousand, j'ou are three hundred; 
surely the match is even." This speech was 
sufficient. The Frenchmen awaited the onset 
till the enemy was within pistol-shot, then 



after a murderous volley, they charged on the 
Arabs, who broke and fled in dismay. Dur- 
ing the remainder of the day they would not 
approach this band nearer than long rifle 
range. 

In 1839 alarming symptoms of mutiny ap- 
peared among the native Zouaves. "Wild 
San tons of the desert — emissaries, doubtless, 
of Abd-el-Kader — held secret meetings near 
the camp ; many soldiers attended them, and 
were seduced by artful harangues and prophe- 
cies. In December, 1839, at the raising of the 
standard of Islam, the natives flocked in vast 
numbers to rid the land of the French, and 
most of the native Zouaves deserted to join 
the fortunes of the prince whom they rever- 
enced as a prophet. Old soldiers, trained in 
the French service to a thorough acquaintance 
with European tactics, and gray with battling 
long for Lamoriciere, suddenly left him, and 
by their knowledge of the art of war gave 
great advantage to the Arab force. The Zou- 
aves not infrequently found that a sharp re- 
sistance or a masterly retreat on the part of 
the enemy was executed under the direction 
of an old conn-ade. It was a critical moment 
for the Zouaves ; but volunteers flowed in, 
young men full of ardor and excitement, and 
in many instances old soldiers who had al- 
ready served their time. After a winter of 
petty skirmishing, and re-establishing in Al- 
geria the semblance of security, the Duke of 
Orleans led the army against Abd-el-Kader 
in the Arabs' own territory. Whether in 
charges against the mountaineers, who, with 
the aid of the Arab regulars, defended each 
pass ; or sustaining the shock of the provin- 
cial cavalry ; or even standing unmoved be- 
fore an attack of Abd-el-Kader's terrible 
mounted body guard, — the Zouaves maintain- 
ed their character of rapid, intrepid, success- 
ful soldiers. What names we find in this 
regiment! Lamoriciere, Regnault, Renault, 
Cavaignac, Leflo, St. Arnaud — future gener- 
als, marshals, dictatoi-s. 

A singular instance of the hardiness of the 
Zouaves occurred during a forced march in 
this campaign to support a retreat of the sev- 
enteenth light infixntry. Their cartridges 
were fired aM-aj% the regulars of Abd-el-Kader 
were upon them, and nothing seemed to re- 
main but a heroic death, when, " Comrades," 
cried one, "see, here are stones!" Not a 



zou 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



967 



word mere ; each caught the hint ; and with 
volleys of stones they drove off the charging 
enemy, and broke their way to where the 
remains of the seventeenth rallied, after a re- 
treat more properly to be called a continual 
attack. 

With the arrival of Marshal Bugeaud the 
war was changed; hitherto it had been a 
mere war of occupation, — a holding of the 
ground already French against the attacking 
Arabs ; Bugeaud's design was, to follow the 
Arabs into^ the desert, to climb the steep 
mountains, to plunge into their chasms, to 
storm evei'y hill fort, and to drive, step by 
step, the swift Abd-el-Kader from the land ; 
but how ? for swift troops are light-armed, 
carry no* baggage, and but little provision; 
and to follow without food the Arabs who 
concealed food in silos, caches in the ground, 
seemed hopeless. This was work for Lamor- 
iciere and his Zouaves. They carried only 
four days' provisions, and no baggage of any 
sort. When they drew near any of these 
silos, which were always, of coui'se, near the 
deserted villages, he spread out his troops in 
a long crescent, and they advanced slowly, 
working up the ground with their bayonets 
till some one struck on the stone or pebbles 
covering the precious deposit. Trained to 
tireless activitj^ they could thus follow the 
Arabs with little delay and fatal effect. 

The native Algerines were gradually be- 
coming fewer among the Zouaves, and in 1842 
disappeared finally from their ranks. The best 
and bravest soldiers in the African army 
eagerly sought their places, attracted bj' the 
uniform, the manner of life, the constant dan- 
ger and no less constant excitement, the lib- 
erty allowed, the glory ever open to nil. In 
1848 the corps received a large accession 
from Paris; the i7rtm//is of the revolution 
were sent to them in great numbers, and out 
of these unpromising, rebellious materials, 
some of the finest Zouaves have been made. 
In February, 1852, Louis Napoleon, then 
president of the republic, decreed that three 
regiments of Zouaves should be formed, one 
on each of the existing battalions as a nu- 
cleus. Officers of the infantry were eligible 
to the new regiments, holding the same grade ; 
the men were to be drawn from any infantry 
corps in the army, on their own application, 
if the minister of war saw proper. None were 



accepted but men physically and morally in 
excellent condition ; the officers had, for the 
most part, already seiwed with credit ; the 
subalterns and privates had been many years 
in the service ; and even many corporals and 
not a few ensigns and lieutenants voluntarily 
relinquished their positions to serve in the 
rank and file of the Zouaves. 

It was in the winter of 1853-4 that Louis 
Napoleon said, " If the war break out, we 
must show our Zouaves to the Russians. 
They were a body trained in the school of a 
terrible experience for twentj^-four years; 
they had learned, like the lion-hunter Gerard, 
to take death by the mane, and look into his 
fiery eyes without blenching. They went to 
the Crimea. Russell, the brilliant corres- 
pondent of the London Times, thus describes 
the first of them he saw: — "The Zouave 
wears a sort of red fez cap, with a roll of 
cloth aJt the base to protect the head ; a jacket 
of blue cloth, with red facings, decorated with 
some simple ornaments, and open in front so 
as to display the throat ; and a waistcoat, or 
under coat, of red comes down to the hips. 
Round his waist a broad silk sash is folded sev- 
eral times, so as to keep up the ample panta- 
loons and support the back. The pantaloons, 
of scarlet cloth, fit close over the hips, and then 
expand to the most Dutchman-like dimen- 
sions, till they are gathered just below the 
knee in loose bagging folds, so that they look 
almost like a kilt. From the knee to the 
ankle the leg is protected by a kind of greaves, 
made of stout, j^ellow, embroidered leather, 
laced (with black stripes) down the back, and 
descending over the shoe. The whole cos- 
tume is graceful, easy, and picturesque. The 
men (natives of France, and not Arabs, as 
many suppose) are young smart fellows, 
about five feet six inches in height, burnt to 
a deep copper tint by the rays of an African 
sun, and wearing the most luxuriant beards, 
moustaches, and whiskers; it is, however, 
hard to believe these fierce-looking warriors 
are Europeans." 

All Europe, at first wondering at these 
strange troops, with their wild dress, their 
half-savage manners, and strange method of 
warfare, found speedy cause to admire their 
courage and success. At the battle of the 
Alma, Marshal St. Arnaud was unable to re- 
press his admiration, calling them " the brav- 



ZOU 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



est soldiers in the world." They rushed like 
tigers to rescue the liritisli at Inkerman. 
Russell thus describes their capture of the 
Mamelon : " The French went up the steep to 
the Mamelon in most beautiful order, and eve- 
vv straining ej^e was upon their movements, 
wnich the declining daylight did not throw out 
into bold relief Still their figures, like light 
shadows, flitting across the dun .barriers of 
earthwork, were seen to mount up unfailing- 
ly — were seen running, climbing, scrambling 
like skirmishers up the slopes on to the body 
of the work, amid a plunging fire from the 
guns which, owing to their loose formation, 
did them as yet little damage. As an officer, 
who saw Bosquet wave them on, said at the 
moment, ' they went in like a clever pack of 
hounds.' In a moment some of these dim 
wraiths shone out against the sky. The Zou- 
aves were upon the parapet firing down into 
the place from above ; the next moment a flag 
was up as a rallying point and defiance, and was 
seen to sway hither and thither, now up, now 
down, as the tide of battle raged round it ; 
and now like a swarm they were in the heart 
of the Mamelon, and a fierce hand-to-hand en- 
counter, here with the musket, there with the 
bayonet, was evident. It was seven minutes 
and a half from the commencement of the 
enterprise. Then there came a rush through 
the angle where they had entered, and then a 
momentary confusion outside. Hardly had 
the need of support become manifest, and 
a gun or two again flashed from the em- 
brasure against them, than there was another 
run in, another sharp bayonet fight inside, 
and this time the Russians went out, spiking 
their guns. Twice the Russians made head 
against the current, for they had a large 
mass of troops in reserve, covered by the 
guns of the round tower. Twice they were 
forced back by the onsweeping flood of 
French, who fought as if they had eyes upon 
them to sketch the swift event in detail. 
For ten minutes or so the quick flash and roll 
of small arms had declared tliat the uncer- 
tain fight waved and waved inside the enclos- 
ure. Then the back door, if one may use a 
humble metaphor, was burst open. The noise 
of the conflict went away down the descent 
on the side towards the tower, and the area 
gi'ew larger. It was apparent by the space 
over which the battle spread, that the Rus- 



sians had been reinforced. When tfie higher 
ground again became the seat of action ; when 
there came the second rush of the French 
back upon their supports ; when rocket after 
rocket went up ominously from the French 
general's position, and seemed to emphasize 
by their repetition some very plain com- 
mand, — we began to get nervous. It was 
growing darker and darker, so that with our 
glasses we could with difficulty distinguish 
the actual state of affairs. There was even 
a dispute for some time as to whether our 
aUies were going in or out of the works. At 
last, through the twilight, we discovered that 
the French were pouring in. Our ears could 
gatiier that the swell and babble of the 
fight was once more rolling down the inner 
face of the hill, and that the Russians were 
conclusively beaten. The musket flashes 
were no more to be seen within the work. 
There was no more lightning of the heavy 
guns from the embrasures. A shapeless 
hump upon a hill, the Mamelon was an ex- 
tinct volcano." 

In 1855 a fourth regiment of Zouaves was 
created, consisting of forty picked men from 
each compan3% and enrolled in the imperial 
guard. They are distinguished by wearing a 
white turban; that of the other regiments is 
green. 

At the end of the Russian war the Zou- 
aves returned to Africa, where thej^ found 
employment in war till the final submission 
of the last tribes, July 15th, 1857, dissolved 
the army of Kab3'lia, and made them per 
force peaceful till hostilities with Austria in 
1859 brought them to win fresh laurels on 
new fields — at Montebello, and Magenta, and 
Solferino. 

Some reports represent the Zouaves as 
cruel. War is always cruel, but tha^Zou- 
aves are more cruel than other soldiers may 
be doubted. On one occasion in Africa the 
Zouaves had in their charge a large body of 
prisoners, wounded, and helpless women, old 
men, and children, whom they were conduct- 
ing to restore to their homes. The weather 
was intensely hot, even for Africa ; the near- 
est well was eleven leagues distant ; and the 
sufferings of the poor people were dreadful 
indeed. Mothers flung down their infants 
on the burning sand, and pressed madly on 
to save themselves from the most horrible of 



ZOU 



HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 



969 



deaths ; old men and boys sunk exhausted, 
declaring they could go no farther. Then it 
■was, an eye-witness says, that the Zouaves 
behaved like very sisters of charity rather 
than rough-bearded soldiers; they divided 
their last morsel with these unfortunates, 
gave them drink from their own scanty stores, 
and, putting their canteens to the mouths of 
the djing, revived them with the precious 
draught. They raised the screaming inflmts ; 
overturned and held ewes, that they might 
suckle the poor creatures abandoned to des- 
pair by their mothers ; and, in many instan- 
ces, carried them the whole distance in their 



even rash, seek to win their epaulettes anew 
in this hard service, and gain either a glo- 
rious position or a glorious death, — old offi- 
cers of the garde mobile^ — broad-shouldered 
marines, who have served their time on ship- 
board, accustomed to cannon and the thun- 
derings of the tempest, — young men of fam- 
ily, desirous to replace with the red ribbon 
of the legion of honor, bought and colored 
with their blood, the dishonor of a life gaped 
wearily away on the pavements of Paris. 

The officers are generally chosen from the 
regiments of the line, — men remarkable for 
strength, courage, and prudence; full of 



arms. At night they ate nothing, giving | energy, pushing the love of their colors to 
their food to the helpless prisoners, whose | its last limit, always ready to confront death 



lives they thus saved at the risk of their own. 
In accordance with Arab customs, the Zou- 
' aves, who live in common, compose circles, 
to which they give the name of tribes. In 
the tribe each one has his allotted task ; one 
attends to making the fires and procuring 
wood; another draws water and does the 
cooking; another makes the coffee and ar- 
ranges the camp, &c. The colonel is the man 
most venerated by them ; they look upon him 
as the father of the family, and familiarly 
speak of him as papa. They are now the 
militar}'- notabilities of the world; once it 
was the grenadiers of England, then the old 
guard of Napoleon, then the imperial guard 
of Russia; now it is the Zouaves. They 
upset all the old rules for behavior in battle. 
They attack upon a sharp run; one man 
after another mounts upon the shoulders of 
his follows, forming human pyramids, and 
scaling windows and portholes ; they bound 
up hill like tigers, swim streams without 
wetting their arms, and climb cliffs like the 
chamois. They despise cartridges and be- 
lieve in cold steel, wielding their bayonet 
swords with the skill of fencers. The meth- 
od of recruitment adds to their eflBciency : 
the soldiers are all drawn, not from con- 
scripts, but from applicants for the service. 
They are proud of their unique costume; 
proud of that name, Zouave ; proud of the 
splendid actions that enrich the history of the 
corps ; happy in the liberty they have, both 
in garrison and on expeditions. In the ranks 
are officers, who tired of a lazy life, have 
taken up the musket and the Chechia, — under 
officers, who having already served, brave, 



and to run up to meet danger, they seek glory 
rather than promotion. Esprit de corps is 
carried by the Zouaves to its highest pitch ; 
the common soldiers would not consent to 
change their turbans for the epaulettes of an 
ensign in any other branch of the army. 
There exists between the officers and the 
men a military fraternity, which, far from de- 
stroying discipline, tends rather to draw 
more closely its bonds. The officer sees in 
his men rather companions in danger and 
in glory than inferiors ; he willingly attends 
to their complaints, and strives to spare them 
all unnecessary privations. When they are 
exposed. to difficulties, he does not hesitate 
to employ all the means in his power to aid 
them. In return, the soldier professes for 
his officer an affection, a devotion, a sort 
of filial respect. Discipline, he knows, must 
be severe, and he does not grumble at its pen- 
alties. He does not abandon his chief in 
battle ; he watches over him, will die for his 
safety, will not let him fall into the hands of 
the enemy if wounded. At the bivouac he 
makes the officer's fire, though his own should 
die for want of fuel; cares for his horse; 
arranges his furniture ; if any delicacy in the 
way of food can be procured, he brings it to 
the chief 

Our sketch is in part condensed from an 
article in the Atlantic Monthly. 

ZUTPHEN, an inland town of the Nether- 
lands, province of Guelderland. In the wars 
of Philip TI., Zutphen was besieged in 1572 
by the Spaniards, who refusing the citizens 
a capitulation, entered the town by storm, 
and committed frightful ravages. It was 



ZUT 



970 



COTTAGE CYCLOPEDIA OP 



retaken in 1591, and during this siege Sir 
Philip Sidney was killed. 

ZWINGLE, Ulkicii, whose name in the 
annals of Protestantism ranks second only to 
that of Luther, was born on New Year's day, 
1484, in a remote Swiss village, high up in 
the mountains. From his earliest j^ears he 
loved and admired his native heights ; in after 
days his friend Oswald Myconius said of him 
that "from living so near to heaven he had 
caught something of a divine influence." 
He was fond of study, was educated at Basle, 
Berne, and Vienna, and entered the priest- 
hood. In 1528 he was elected preacher to 
the cathedral church at Zurich. His theo- 
logical studies had led him to a sense of the 
corruptions of the church ; he preached the 
pure gospel, and cried for reform. He de- 
claimed against the indulgences, and effected 
the same separation for Switzerland from the 
papal dominion, which Luther did for Saxony. 
He procured two assemblies to be called ; by 
the first he was authorized to proceed, and 
by the second the ceremonies of the Romish 
church were abolished, 1519. Zuinglius, 
who began as a preacher, died in arms as a 
soldier. The religious dissensions brought 
on civil war in Switzerland, and he was slain 
on the field of Cappel, Oct. 12th, 1531. 

Zwingle's life was not that of a priest, "a 
churchmaii, a theologian, but that of a Swiss, 
a patriot, a man. He did not begin life with 
a cut-and-dricd religious system which he 
was resolved to impose upon the world ; he 
did not insist that all truth was contained in 
certain religious dogmas more or less diffi- 
cult of comprehension. He was born among 
the mountains, and early learnt from Nature's 
teaching the love of God and of his country. 
As he grew up, he perceived in the mer- 



rupted, a grievous sin against God and a 
heavy blow and scandal to Switzerland. The 
circumstances of his education, no less than 
the cast of his own mind, led him to seek 
for a remedy in a healthier state of morals, 
and this he believed, could only be brought 
about by religion. He found religion, as it 
existed, corrupt, and altogether inadequate 
for this purpose, and thus he was brought 
into collision with the established doctrines, 
not with the furious uncalculating enthu- 
siasm of a speculative theorist, but with all 
the calm temperate energy of a practical re- 
former. This was the object of his life, 
which he pursued steadily, though perhaps 
not always wisely. It may be that at the 
end of his life he played too deep a stake — 
that not even the greatness of the evil and 
the danger, justified the dreadful remedy' of 
war which he sought to apply. If this be so, 
at least he paid the penalty; his error, if 
such it was, may be buried on the field of 
Cappel ; his virtue, his patriotism, and his 
courage, softened as these qualities were by 
his gentle temper and winning manners, his 
proficiency in humanizing arts, his famil- 
iarity with what is noblest in letters, — these 
remain purified and illumined by the fire of 
posthumous persecution. His character had 
not the brilliant light nor the deep shade of 
Luther's ; he had not that rugged honesty, 
that tempestuous energ)'", that deeply stir- 
ring humor, which secure for the German 
reformer the first place among European 
heroes ; but he had an even, well-balanced 
temperament, which if less attractive is cer- 
tainly not less rare. There is no passage in 
his life, except indeed the last, equal in thrill- 
ing interest to Luther's journey to and ap- 
pearance at Worms; but his whole career 
up to 1523 was one most remarkable for its 



cenary levies by which, for no cause but 
money, life was sacrificed and society cor- j deliberate progressive success. 

ZWI 



CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



AMERICAN HISTORY 



923, Discovery of Greenland by the Icelanders. 
1435. Columbus born at Genoa, in Italy, 

1492. Aug. 3d, Columbus sails from Palos in Spain. 

Oct. 12th, he discovers Guanahani, one of the Bahamas. 

Oct. 27, Cuba discovered. 

Dec. 6th, Hayti or Hispaniola discovered. * 

1493. Jan. 16th, Columbus returns to Spain. 

Sept. 25th, he sails from Cadiz on his second voyage. 

Dec. 8th, he founds Isabella in Hispaniola, the first European town in the New World 

1494. Columbus discovers Jamaica. 

1496. Columbus returns to Spain. 
Tobacco discovered in Hayti, 

1497. Newfoundland and Labrador discovered by the Cabots. 

1498. May 30th, Columbus sails from Spain on his third voyage. 
July 31st, Trinidad discovered. 

Aug. 1st, Columbus discovers the South American contment 

1499. South America visited by Americas Vespucius. 

1500. The Amazon at its mouth discovered by Pingon. 
Columbus sent back in chains to Spain by Bovadilla. 
April 23d, Brazil discovered by Cabral. 

1502. May 11th, Columbus sails from Spain on his last voyage. 

Aug. 14th, he discovers the Bay of Honduras. 
1504, Columbus returns to Spain, 

1506. May 20th, he dies at Valladolid, in his fifty-ninth year, 
1508, St. Lawrence River first navigated by Aubert. 
1510. First colony planted on the main land, at the Isthmus of Darien, by Balboa. 

1512. April 2d, Florida discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon. 
Baracoa, the first town in Cuba, built by Velasquez. 

1513. Sept 26th, Pacific Ocean discovered by Vasco Nunez de Balboa. 

1516. Rio de la Plata discovered by Juan Diaz de Sohs. 

1517. Patent granted by Charles V. for an annual import of 4,000 negro slaves to Hi> 

paniola, Cuba, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico. 
Yucatan explored by Francis Hernandez Cordova. 



972 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

1518. Grijalva discovers the southern part of Mexico. 

1519. March 13th, Cortez lands at Tabasco in Mexico. 
April 22d, he arrives at San Juan de Ulloa. 
Vera Cruz settled by Cortez. 
Nov. 8 th, he enters Mexico. I 

1520. Montezuma dies. 
Magellan discovers Patagonia. 
De Ayllon discovers Carolina. 

1521. Death of Guatemozin, and conquest of Mexico by Cortez. 

1522. Bermudas discovered by Juan Bermudez. 
152-i. Verrazani explores the coast of North America. 

1525. First invasion of Peru by Pizarro and Almagro. 

1526. Sebastian Cabot explores the La Plata. 
1531. Second invasion of Peru by Pizarro. 
1533. Lima founded by Pizarro. 
1535. Chili invaded by Almagro. 

Cartier explores the St. Lawrence. 
1537. California discovered by Cortez. 

1539. Ferdinand de Soto heads an expedition to conquer Florida. 
1510. Orellana explores the Amazon from Peru to the Atlantic. 
1541. De Soto discovers the Mississippi. 
1545. Silver mines of Potosi discovered. 

1548. Platina discovered in the south of Mexico. 

1549. Roberval sails for Canada with a colony. • 

1562. Coligny attempts to found a colony of French Protestants in Florida. 

1563. Slaves first imported into the West Indies by the English. 
1565. St. Augustine founded by the Spaniards. 
1576. Elizabeth's and Frobisher's Straits discovered by Martin Frobisher. 

1584. Sir Walter Raleigh dispatches two vessels to Virginia. 

1585. He attempts to found a colony at Roanoke. 

1586. Discovery of Davis's Straits. 
Tobacco introduced into England by Mr. Lane. 

1587. Aug. 18th, first Indian baptized in Virginia. 

1602. May 15th, Cape Cod discovered and named by Bartholomew Gosnold. 
May 21st, he discovers Martha's Vineyard. 

1603. Coast of Maine visited by Martin Pring. 

1605. Port Royal, Acadie [Nova Scotia], founded by the French under De Monts. 

1606. James L grants North Virginia to the Plymouth Company, and South Virginia to 

the London Company. 

1607. The Plymouth Company send George Popham to found the "Sagadahoc Colony," ;a 

the mouth of the Kennebec, in North Virginia. 
The London Company send Christopher Newport to found the "Jamestown Colony/' 

in South Virginia. 
May 13th, Jamestown is founded. 

1608. July 3d, Quebec founded by Champlain. 
Pocahontas saves the life of Captain John Smith of Virginia. 

1609. Hudson River discovered by Henry Hudson. 

1610. Delaware Bay named in honor of Lord de la War, who visited the bay at that time 

and died on his vessel at its mouth. 



OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 973 

1611. Lake Chaniplain discovered by Champlain. 
1613. Pocahontas weds John Rolfe. 

,1614. New York settled by the Dutch on Manhattan Island (now New York) and at Fort 
Orange (Albany). 

1616. Tobacco first cultivated in Virginia. 
Baffin's Bay discovered by BaflBn. 

1617. Pocahontas dies in England. 

1619. June 19th, first colonial assembly in Virginia. 

1620. Slaves first introduced into Virginia by the Dutch. 

Nov. 10th, the Mayflower anchors in Cape Cod harbor; first white child born in 

New England. 
Dec. 11th, landing of the Puritans at Plymouth. 

1621. May 12th, first marriage at Plymouth. 

1622. Massacre of 347 men, women, and children of the Virginia colony, by the Indians. 

1623. Maine and New Han)pshire settled by the English. 
New Jersey settled by the Swedes and Dutch. 

1627. Delawai'e settled by Swedes and Finns. 

1628. Salem, Mass., founded by John Endicott. 

1629. Charlestown founded by the Massachusetts Bay colony. 

1630. Boston, Cambridge, Roxbury, and Dorchester founded. 
John Winthrop first governor of Massachusetts Bay colony. 
Oct. 19 th, first general court holden at Boston. 

1633. First house erected in Connecticut, at Windsor. 

1634. Maryland founded by Lord Baltimore. 
Roger Williams banished from Massachusetts. 

1636. Hartford settled. 

Providence, R. I., founded by Roger Williams. 

1637. First synod convened at Newtown (now Cambridge), Mass. 
Destruction of the Pequots in Connecticut. 

Mrs. Anne Hutchinson banished from Massachusetts. 

1638. New Haven founded by Eaton and Davenport. 
Harvard College founded. 

June 1st, earthquake in New England. 

1639. First printing-press set up at Cambridge, Mass., by Stephen Day. 

1640. Montreal founded. 

1642. Oct. 9th, first commencement at Harvard College. 

1643. Maj^ 19th, union of the New England colonies. 

1645. Clayborne's rebellion in Maryland. 

1646. First act passed by the general court of Massachusetts, for the spread of the gospel 

among the Indians. 
1648. First execution for witchcraft. 

New London settled. 
3650. Harvard College chartero'l. 

Constitution of Maryland settled. 

1651. Navigation act passed by England, restricting the commerce of the colonies. 

1652. First mint established in New England. 

1654. Yale College first projected by Mr. Davenport. 

1655. Stu3'^vesant captures the Swedish settlement in Delaware. 
Conquest of Jiimaica by the English. 



974 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

\C>r,Q. First arrival of Quakers in Massachusetts, and persecution. 

1659. Four Quakers executed on Boston Common. 

1660. Restoration of monarchy in England under Charles II. ; the regicides Whalley and 

Goffe seek refuge in New England. 

1663. Carolina granted to Lord Clarendon by Charles 11. 

1664. Aug 27th, surrender of New Amsterdam to the English. 

1665. June 12th, New York city incorporated, 
Elizabethtown, N. J., settled. 

1672. Charleston, S. C, founded. 

First copyright granted by Massachusetts. 

1673. New York retaken by the Dutch ; restored in 1674. 
Mississippi River explored by Marquette and Joliet. 

1675. June 24th, commencement of King Philip's war ; attack on Swanzey. 

1676. Aug. 12th, death of King Philip. 

New Jersey divided into East and West Jersey. 
Bacon's rebellion in Virginia. 

1681. Grant of Pennsylvania to William Penn. 

1682. Oct. 24th, Penn arrives in America. 

De la Salle takes possession of the country on both sides of the Mississippi River, 
and calls it Louisiana. 

1683. First legislative assembly in New York. 
Roger Williams dies, in his eighty-fourth year. 

1686. First Episcopal parish formed in Boston. 

Sir Edmund Andros appointed governor of New England by James II. 
Massachusetts deprived of her charter. 

1687. First printing-press established near Philadelphia by William Bradford. 

1688. New York and New Jersey united to New England under Sir Edmund Andros. 

1689. William III. accedes to the English throne. 

Sir Edmund Andros seized and imprisoned in Boston, and sent home to England. 
War between England and France. 

1690. Feb. 8th, Schenectady burned by the French and Indians. 
First paper money issued in Massachusetts. 

Successful expedition of Sir William Phips against Port Royal, Nova Scotia. 

1691. Trial and execution of Leisler and ]\tilborne at New York, on a charge of treason. 

1692. Massachusetts Bay colony and Plymouth colony united under a new charter. 
The witchcraft delusion rife at Salem. 

William and Mary College, Virginia, chartered. 
1698. Episcopal church established at New York. 

First printing-press established in New York, by William Bradford. 

1695. Rice introduced into Carolina from Africa. 

1696. Indian attack on Haverhill. 

1697. Peace of Ryswick ; close of King William's war. 

1698. First French colony arrive at the mouth of the Mississippi. 
Earl of Bellamont governor of New York. 

1699. Kidd the pirate apprehended at Boston. 

1701. Yale College founded at Saybrook. 
Commencement of Queen Anne's war. 

1702. Episcopal church established in New Jersey and Rhode Island. 



OF AMERICAN HISTORY, 975 

1703. Culture of silk introduced into Carolina. 

Duty of £4 laid on imported negroes in Massachusetts. 

1704. Tonnage duty laid by Rhode Island on foreign vessels. 

Act " to prevent the growth of popery," passed by Maryland. 

First newspaper {Boston News Letter) published at Boston, by Bartholomew Green. 
French and Indians attack Dccrfield, Mass, 
1706. Bills of credit issued by Carolina. 

1709. First printing-press in Connecticut, set up at New London, by Thomas Short. 

1710. First colonial post-oflBce' a.t New York. 
German settlements in North Carolina. 

Nova Scotia permanently annexed to the British crown. 

1711. South Sea Company incorporated. 

1712. Free schools founded in Charlcstown, Mass. 

1713. The Tuscaroras join the Five Nations. 

Peace of Utrecht ; close of Queen Anne's war. 

1714. First schooner built at Cape Ann. 

1717. Ne-w Orleans founded by the French. 

Yale College removed from Saybrook to New Haven. 

1718. Impost duties laid by Massachusetts on English manufactures and English ships. 

1719. First Presbyterian church founded in New Y'ork. 

1720. Tea first used in New England. 

1721. Inoculation for small-pox introduced into New England. 

1722. Paper money first issued in Pennsylvania. 

1724. Fort Dummcr built in Vermont. 

1725. First newspaper in New York {New Yorh Gazette) published by William Bradford. 

1726. First printing-presses established in Virginia and Maryland. 

1727. Earthquake in New England. 

1729. North and South Carolina separated. 

1730. First printing-press and newspaper established at Charleston, S. C. 

1731. Fort built at Crown -Point. 

1732. Tobacco made a legal tender in Maryland at Id, per pound, and corn at 20d. per 

bushel. 
Feb. 22d, George Washington born. 
First printing-press and newspaper established at Newport, R. I. 

1733. Georgia settled by Oglethorpe. 
Freemasons' lodge first held in Boston. 

1737. Earthquake in New Jersey. 

1738. College founded at Princeton, N. J. 

1741. Jan. 1st, General Magazine and Historical Chronicle, first published by Benjamin 

Franklin. 

1742. Faneuil Hall erected at Boston by Peter Faneuil. 

1744. King George's war begins. 

1745. Louisburg, on Cape Breton Island, taken by the English, 
1748. Treaty of Aix la Chapelle ; King George's war closed. 
1750. First theatrical performance in Boston, 

1753. George Washington sent on an embassy to the French commandant on the Ohio. 

1754. Columbia College in New York founded. 
Beginning of the old French war. 



976 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

1754. April 18th, Fort Du Qucsne built. 

May 28th, Washington defeats a part)^ of French under Jumonville at the Great 

Meadow.s. 
July 4th, Benjamin Franklin proposes a plan of union for the colonies. 
Tennessee first settled. 

1755. June 4th, Col. IMonckton destroys the French settlements on the Bay of Fundy. 
July 9th, Braddock's defeat. 

Sept. 8th, battle of Lake George. 

Expeditions against Niagara and Crown Point. 

First newspaper {Connecticut Gazette) published at New Haven. 

1756. May 17th, war declared with France by Great Britain. 

Loudon and Abercrombie command the British forces in America ; Montcalm the 

French. 
First printing-press and newspaper established at Portsmouth, N. H., by Daniel 

Fowle. 

1757. Fort William Henry taken by the French. 

1758. July 2r>th, Louisburg taken by the English. 
Aug. 27th, Fort Frontenac taken by the English. 

Nov. 25th, Fort Du Quesne (now Pittsburg) taken by the English. 

1759. Niagara, Ticondcroga, and Crown Point taken by the English, in July. 
Sept. l.Sth, battle on the Plains of Abraham ; Wolfe and Montcalm slain. 
Sept. 18th, Quebec surrenders to the English. 

1761. March 12th, earthquake in New England. 

1763. Feb. 10th, treaty of Paris ; France surrenders to Great Britain all her possessions in 

North America east of the Mississippi. 
First newspaper printed in Georgia. 

1764. March, right to tax American colonies voted by house of commons. 
April 5th, first act for levying revenue passed by parliament. 
April 21st, Louisiana ordered to be given up to Spain. 

1765. The stamp act passed by parliament; it receives the royal" assent March 22d. 
May 29th, Virginia resolutions against the right of taxation. 

June 6th, Massachusetts proposes a congress of deputies from the colonies. 
Oct. 7th, a congress of twenty-seven delegates convenes at New York, and publishes 
a declaration of rights and resolutions against the stamp act. 

1766. February, Dr. Franklin examined before the house of commons, relative to the repeal 

of the stamp act. 
March 18th, the stamp act repealed. 

1767. June 20th, taxes laid on paper, glass, painters' colors, and teas. 
Non-importation agreements adopted by the colonial assemblies. 

1768. February, circular issued by the Massachusetts assembly to the other colonies, to 

unite in obtaining a redress of grievances. 

1769. Dartmouth College incorporated. 

American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia. 

1770. March 5th, the Boston massacre ; citizens killed by British troops in State street. 
April 12th, Lord North's partial repeal act passed. 

1773. Dec. 16th, destruction of 342 chests of tea in Boston harbor. 

1774. March 31st, Boston port bill passed by parliament ; declaring that no person .should 

be allowed to land or discharge, or to ship, any wares or merchandise at the port 
of Boston. 



OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 977 

1774. Geii. Gage fortifies Boston Neck. 

The inembers of the Massachusetts assembly resolve themselves into a provincial 
congress. 

Sept. 4th, continental congress meets at Philadelphia. 

Dr. Franklin dismissed from the post-office. 

Committees of "safety" and "supplies" appointed by Massachusetts; twelve thou- 
sand men to be equipped for service. 

1775. Several ships of the line and ten thousand troops ordered to America. 
April 19th, battle of Lexington. 

May 10th, Ticonderoga and Crown Point taken by the provincials under Ethan Allen. 

Congress votes to raise an army of twenty thousand men. 

June 15th, George Washington appointed commander-in-chief of the American army. 

June 17th, battle of Bunker's Hill. 

July 12th, Washington takes command of the army at Cambridge. 

Sir William Howe succeeds Gen. Gage as commander of the royal forces in America. 

The royal governors take refuge on board the British shipping. 

Dec. 13th, resolution of Congress to fit out a navy of thirteen ships. 

Dec. 31st, assault on Quebec; Gen. Montgomery falls, and Gen. Arnold is wounded. 

1776. Jan. 1st, Lord Dunmore burns Norfolk, Va. 

March 4th, Washington fortifies Dorchester Heights^ 

March 17th, the British evacuate Boston. 

April, Washington removes his army to New York. 

June 2Sth, repulse of the British at Charleston. 

July 4th, declaration of independence. 

Dr. Franklin sent to Paris, to obtain the favor of the French government. 

Aug. 27th, battle of Long Island ; the British victorious. 

Washington abandons New York city ; the British take possession, Sept. 15th. 

Oct. 28th, battle of White Plains. 

Nov. IGth and 18th, the British take Fort Washington and Port Lee. 

November and December, Washington retreats through New Jersey. 

Dec. 2Gth, battle of Trenton ; Washington captures one thousand Hessians. 

1777. Jan. 3d, battle of Princeton ; the British are defeated. 
Washington encamps at Morristown. 

April 26th. Tryon destroys Danbury, Conn. 

Lafayette arrives from France with troops and supplies ; congress gives him a major- 
general's commission, July 31st. 

Aug. 16th, battle of Bennington. 

Sept. 11th, battle of Brandy wine. 

Sept. 19th, battle of Stillwater. 

Sept. 26th, the British occupy Philadelphia. 

Oct. 4th, battle of Germantown. 

Oct. 7th, battle of Saratoga. 

Oct. 17th, surrender of the British army under Burgoyne. 

Nov. 15th, articles of confederation adopted by congress, and finally ratified by the 
states in March, 1781, Maryland being the last to accept them. 

Nov. 16th and 18th, the British capture Forts Mifflin and Mercer on the Delaware. 

Dec. 8th, Washington's army encamps at Valley Forge. 

Conspiracy to supplant Washington. 

62 



978 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

1778. Feb. 6th, treaty of alliance with France ; she acknowledges the independence of the 

United States. 
March 11th, Lord North's conciliatory bills passed by parliament. 
June 18th, the British evacuate Philadelphia. 
June 28th, battle of Monmouth. 

July 11th, arrival of a French fleet under Count d'Estaing. ^ 

July 3d and 4th, massacre of Wyoming. 
Aug. .30th, Gen. Sullivan retreats from Rhode Island. 
Dec. 29th, Savannah taken by the British. 

1779. March 3d, battle of Briar Creek. 

May 14th, Norfolk taken by the British. 

June 16th, war between England and Spain. 

June 20th, battle of Stono Ferry. 

July 5th and 7th, Fairfield and Norwalk, Conn., burned by the British. 

July 16th, storming of Stony Point by the Americans under Wayne. 

July and August, Sullivan's expedition against the Indians on the Susquehannah. 

Sept. 23d, Paul Jones captures two British frigates off the coast of Scotland. 

Oct. 9th, repulse of the Americans at Savannah. 

1780. April 14th, battle at Monk's Corner, S. C. 
May 6 th, battle on the Santee River. 

May 12th, surrender of Gen. Lincoln and American army at Charleston. 

July 12th, arrival at Rhode Island of French fleet and army, under Admiral de 

Ternay and Count de Rochambeau. 
Aug. 16th, battle of Sander's Creek, near Camden; Gates defeated. 
Sept. 23d, treason of Gen. Arnold, and arrest of Major Andre. 
Oct. 2d, Major Andre hanged. 
Oct. 7th, battle of King's Mountain. 
Nov. 12th, Battle of Broad River. 
Nov. 20th, battle at Blackstock. 
Dec. 20th, war between England and Holland. 

1781. Jan. 1st, revolt of the Pennsylvania troops at Morristown. 
Bank of North America established. 

Expedition of the British under Arnold to Virginia. 

Gen. Greene appointed to command the Southern army. 

Jan. 17th, battle of the Cowpens. 

January and February, remarkable retreat of Gen. Greene across the Catawba, Yad- 
kin, and Dan Rivers. 

March 15th, battle of Guilford Court-house. 

April 25th, battle of Ilobkirk's Hill near Camden. 

Aug. 14th, American and French allied army march from the Hudson near New York 
to Virginia ; Cornwallis is hemmed in at Yorktown. 

Sept. 6th, burning of New London by Arnold. 

Sept. 8th, battle of Eutaw Springs, and close of the campaign in South Carolina. 

Sept. 30th, siege of Yorktown by the Americans and French. 

Oct. 19th, surrender of Cornwallis and 7,000 troops at Yorktown. 

1782. Feb. 27th, resolutions of the house of commons in favor of peace. 

March 20th, resignation of Lord North, and accession of a whig administration under 
the Marquis of Rockingham. 



OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 979 

1V82. April 17th, Holland acknowledges our independence. 

June 24th, last battle of the Revolutionary war — a skirmish near Savannah ; some 
slight skirmishes in South Carolina in August, in one of which Col. John Lau- 
rens of South Carolina was slain. 
Nov. 30th, preliminaries of peace between the United States and Great Britain signed 
at Paris. 

1783. Jan. 20th, preliminary treaties between France, Spain, and Great Britain, signed at 

Versailles. 

Independence of the United States acknowledged by Sweden, Feb. 5th ; by Den- 
mark, Feb. 25th ; by Spain, March 24th ; and by Russia, in July. 

April 11th, peace proclaimed by congress ; April 19th, announced to the army by 
Washington. 

Sept. 3d, definitive treaties of peace between England and the United States, France, 
Spain, and Holland. 

Oct. 18th, proclamation for disbanding the army ; Nov. 2d, Washington's farewell 
orders. 

Nov. 25th, New York evacuated by the British. 

Dec. 23d, Washington resigns his commission. 

1784. February, first voyage from China to New York. 

1785. Treaty with Prussia. 

June 2d, John Adams, the first ambassador from the United States to Great Britain, 
has his first interview with George III. 

1786. Shay's insurrection in Massachusetts. 

1787. May to September, convention to form a federal constitution in session at Phila- 

delphia. 

1788. Federal constitution adopted by eleven states. 

1789. George Washington elected president ; inaugurated April 30th. 

1790. District of Columbia ceded by Virginia and Maryland. 
May 29th, federal constitution adopted by Rhode Island. 

1791. March 4th, Vermont admitted into the Union. 
Bank of the United States established. 

1792. June 1st, Kentucky admitted into the Union. 

1793. Washington re-elected president. 
Death of John Hancock. 

1794. Insurrection in Pennsylvania. 

1796. June 1st, Tennessee admitted into the Union. 
Dec. 7th, Washington's last speech to congress. 

1797. March 4th, John Adams inaugurated president. 

1798. Washington reappointed commander-in-chief; war with France threatened. 

1799. Dec. 14th, death of Washington. 

1800. Seat of government removed to the city of Washington. 
May 13th, disbanding of the provisional army. 

1801. March 4th, Thomas Jefferson inaugurated president. 

1802. July 20th, Louisiana ceded to France by Spain. 

1803. Feb. 19th, Ohio admitted into the Union. 

April 30th, Louisiana purchased by the United States. 
August, Commodore Preble bombards Tripoli. 

1804. Alexander Hamilton killed by Aaron Burr in a duel. 



980 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

1805. June 3d, treaty of peace with Tripoli. 

1806. Expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the Columbia River. 

1807. Trial of Aai'on Burr for treason. 

June 22d, attack on the frigate Chesapeake. 
July 2d, interdict to armed British vessels. 
Nov. 11th, British orders in council, prohibiting all neutral nations from trading with 

France or her allies, excepting upon a payment of tribute to England. 
Dec. 17th, Bonaparte's Milan decree, confiscating all vessels submitting to search by 

an English ship, or paying the above tribute. 
Dec. 22d, embargo laid by the United States government. 
Steamboat invented by Robert Fulton. 

1808. Jan. 1st, the slave trade abolished. 
April 17th, Bayonne decree. 

1809. March 1st, the embargo repealed. 

March 4th, James Madison inaugurated president. 

1810. March 23d, Rambouillet decree. 

1811. May 16th, engagement between the President and Little Belt. 
' Nov. 7th, battle of Tippecanoe. 

1812. April 3d, embargo laid for ninety days. 
April 8th, Louisiana admitted into the Union. 
June 18th, war declared. 

June 23d, British orders in council repealed. 

Aug. 15th, surrender of Gen. Hull at Detroit. 

Aug. 19th, capture of the frigate Guerriere, Capt. Dacres, by the frigate Conf^titu- 
tion, Capt. Hull. 

Oct. 13 th, defeat of the Americans at Queenstown. 

Oct. 18th, capture of the British brig Frolic by the United States sloop Wasp. 

Oct. 2oth, capture of the British frigate Macedonian by the frigate United States, 
Capt. Decatur. 

Dec. 29 th, victory over the British frigate Java by the Constitution, Capt. Bain- 
bridge. 

1813. Feb. 25th, the Hornet, Capt. Lawrence, captures the British sloop Peacock. 
April 27th, capture of York, Upper Canada. 

May 27th, battle of Fort George. 

June 1st, capture of the frigate Chesapeake, Capt. Lawrence, by the British frigate 

Shannon. 
Aug. 14th, American sloop Argus taken by the British sloop Pelican. 
Sept. 10th, Commodore Perry's victory on Lake Erie. 
Oct. 5th, battle of the Thames ; Tecumseh is slain. 
Dec. 13th, Buffalo burnt. 

1814. March 28th, action between the frigates Essex and Phoebe ; the former captured. 
July 5 th, battle of Chippewa. 

July 25th, battle of Bridgewater, or Lundy's Lane. 

Aug. 9th, 11th, Stonington bombarded. 

Aug. 25th, the British occupy the city of Washington, and burn the capitol 

Sept. 11th, Macdonough's victory on Lake Champlain. 

Sept. 12th, battle near Baltimore, and bombardment of Fort McHenry. 

Dec. 24th, treaty of Ghent signed. 



OF AMERICAN HISTORY. 981 

1815. Jan. 8th, battle of New Orleans. 

Feb. 17th, treaty of Ghent ratified by the president. 
March, war declared with xYlgiers. 

1816. December, Indiana admitted into the Union. 

1817. March 4th, James Monroe inaugurated President. 
Dec. lOtli, Mississippi admitted into the Union. 

1818. Dec. 3d, Illinois admitted into the Union. 

1819. Dec. 14th, Alabama admitted into the Union. 
First steamship sailed for Europe. 

1820. March 15th, Maine admitted into the Union. 

Cession of Florida to the United States ratified by Spain. 

1821. Gas first used for lighting streets in the United States, at Baltimore. 
July 1st, Jackson takes possession of Florida. 

Aug. 10th, Missouri admitted into the Union. 
First settlement of Liberia. 

1824. March 13th, convention with Great Britain for the suppression of the slave trade, 
jlpril 5th, convention with Russia in relation to the north-west boundary. 

Aug. 13th, arrival of Gen. Lafayette, on a visit to the United States. 

1825. March 4th, John Quincy Adams inaugurated president. 
Sept. 7th, departure of Lafayette. 

1826. July 4th, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson die. 

1829. Feb. 20th, resolutions passed by the Virginia house of delegates, denying the right 

of congress to pass the tariff bill. 

March 4th, Andrew Jackson inaugurated president. 

May 2d, hail falls in Tuscaloosa, Ala., to the depth of twelve inches. 

May 17th, death of John Jay, hi Bedford, New York. 

Sept. 15th, slavery abolished in Mexico. 

Nov. 9th, separation of Yucatan from Mexico, and union with the republic of Cen- 
tral America. 

Dec. 4th, revolution commences in Mexico. 

1830. Jan. 20th, Gen. Bolivar resigns his military and civil commissions. 
Jan. 27th, city of Guatemala nearly destroyed by earthquakes. 
April 4th, Yucatan declares its independence. 

1831. Jan. 12th, remarkable eclipse of the sun. 
July 4th, death of James Monroe. 

Oct. 1st, free- trade convention at Philadelphia. 
Oct. 26th, tariff convention at New York. 

1832. Feb. 6th, attack on Qualla Battoo in Sumatra by the United States frigate Potomac, 
June 8th, cholera breaks out at Quebec, its first appearance in America. 

Aug. 27th, capture of Black Hawk. 

Sept. 26th, University of New York organized. 

November, union and state-rights convention of South Carolina. > 

Dec. 28th, John Caldwell Calhoun resigns the office of vice-president. 

Electro-magnetic telegraph invented by Professor Morse. 

1833. March 1st, new tariff bill signed by the president. 

March 4th, Andrew Jackson inaugurated president for a second term. 
March 11th, state-rights convention of South Carolina. 
May 16th, Santa Anna inaugurated president of Mexico. 



982 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

1833. Oct. 1st, public deposits removed from the Bank of the United States, by order 

of Gen. Jackson. 
Nov. 13th, remarkable meteoric showers in the United States. 

1834. March 28th, vote of censure by the senate against Gen. Jackson, for removing the 

deposits. (Expunged soon after.) 

1835. April 18th, French indemnity bill passed the chamber of deputies. 
Dec. 16th, great fire in New York. 

Seminole war in Florida begun. 

1836. April 21st, battle of San Jacinto in Texas. 
June 14th, Arkansas admitted into the Union. 

Dec. 15th, burning of the general post-office and patent-oflBce at Washington. 

1837. Jan. 26th, Michigan admitted into the Union. 
March 4th, Martin Van Buren inaugurated president. 

1840. Jan. 19th, Antarctic continent discovered by the United States exploring expedi- 

tion. 
June 30th, sub-treasury bill becomes a law. 

1841. March 4th, William Henry Harrison inaugurated president. 

April 4th, death of Gen. Harrison ; John Tyler succeeds to the executive. 
Aug. 9th, sub-treasury bill repealed. 
Aug. 18th, bankrupt act becomes a law. 

1842. March 3d, bankrupt act repealed. 

Contest for the extension of suffrage in Rhode Island. 

June 17th, Bunker Hill monument celebration. 

Aug. 9th, treaty of Washington negotiated by Daniel Webster and Lord Ashbur- 

ton, defining our north-eastern boundary, and for suppressing the slave trade 

and giving -up fugitive criminals. 
Oct. 2d, death of Dr. Channing. 

1845. March 1st, Texas annexed to the United States. 
March 3d, Florida admitted into the Union. 

March 4th, James Knox Polk inaugurated president. 
June 8th, death of Andrew Jackson. 
Dec. 24th, Texas admitted into the Union. 
Treaty with China. 

1846. May 8th, battle of Palo Alto, on the Rio Grande. 

May 9th, battle of Resaca de la Palma, on the Rio Grande. 

May 13th, proclamation of war existing with Mexico. 

June 18th, the senate advise the president to confirm the treaty with Great Britain 

settling the boundary of Oregon on the forty -ninth parallel. 
July 28th, new tariff bill passed. 

Aug. 3d, President Polk vetoes the river and harbor bill. 
Aug. 6th, revolution in Mexico in favor of Santa Anna. 
Aug. 8th, President Polk vetoes the French spoliation bill. 
Aug. 10th, congress adjourns. 

Aug. 18th, Gen. Kearney takes possession of Santa Fe. 

Aug. 19th, Commodore Stockton blockades the Mexican ports on the Pacific. 
Sept. 20th to 24th, storming of Monterey, and surrender of Gen. Ampudia. 
Sept. 26th, California expedition with Col. Stevenson's regiment of 780 officers and 

men sails from New York. 



OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 983 

1846. Oct. 25th, Tabasco in Mexico bombarded by Commodore Perry. 
Nov. 14th, Commodore Conner takes Tampico. 

Dec. 6th, Gen. Kearney defeats the Mexicans at San Pasqual. 

Dec. 25th, Col. Doniphan defeats the Mexicans at Brazito, near El Paso. 

Dec. 28th, Iowa admitted into the Union. 

1847. Jan. 8th, the Mexican congress resolve to raise $15,000,000 on the property of the 

clergy, for the war with the United States. 

Jan. 8th and 9th, battles of San Gabriel and Mesa in California • Gen. Kearncv de- 
feats the Mexicans. 

Jan. 14th, revolt of the Mexicans in New Mexico against the United States au- 
thorities. 

Jan. 24th, battle of Canada, in New Mexico ; the Americans under Col. Price are 
successful. 

Feb. 22d and 23d, battle of Buena Vista. 

Feb. 28th, battle of Sacramento ; Col. Doniphan and 924 Americans defeat 4,000 
Mexicans. 

March 1st, Gen. Kearney declares California a part of the United States. 

March 29th, city and castle of Vera Cruz taken by the army and fleet under Gen. 
* Scott and Commodore Perry. 

April 2d, Alvarado taken by Lieut. Hunter. 

April 1 8th, battle of Cerro Gordo. 

April 18th, Tuspan taken by Commodore Perry. 

Aug. 20th, battles of Contreras and Churubusco. 

Sept. 8th, Gen. Worth storms Molina del Rey. 

Sept. 13th, storming of the citadel of Chapultepec. 

Sept. 14th, the American army enters the city of Mexico. 

Sept. 13th to Oct. 12th, siege of Puebla, held by the Americans against the Mexicans ; 
the latter are repulsed by the former under Col. Childs. 

Oct. 9th, the city of Huamantla taken by the Americans, under Gen. Lane. 

Oct. 20th, port of Guayamas bombarded and captured by the Americans. 

Dec. 31st, the several Mexican states occupied by the American army placed under 
military contributions. 

1848. Feb. 18th, Gen. Scott relinquishes the command in Mexico to Gen. Butler. 
Feb. 23d, John Quincy Adams expires in the capitol at Washington. 
May 29th, Wisconsin admitted into the Union. 

May 30th, treaty of peace between the United States and Mexico, which had been 
signed at Guadalupe Hidalgo, Feb. 2d, 1848, afterward modified at Washington, 
and confirmed by the Mexican congress, — ratified at Queretaro by the American 
commissioners, Sevier and Clifford, and the Mexican minister of foreign relations, 
Don Luis de la Rosa. It is proclaimed in the United States, July 4th, 1848. 

July 4th, corner-stone of a monument to Gen. Washington laid at Washington ; 
oration by Robert C. Winthrop, speaker of the house of representatives. 

Aug. 13th, Oregon territorial bill, w^ith a prohibition of slavery, passed by congress. 

Dec. 8th, first deposit of California gold in the mint. 

1849. March 5th, inauguration of Zachary Taylor as president. 
May 15th, the cholera breaks out in New York. 

June 15th, death of James Knox Polk, at Nashville, Tenn. 

Aug. 11th, President Taylor issues his proclamation against the armed expedition 
fitting out for Cuba. 



i'8-i CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

1S4!). Aug. 31st, convention of delegates, called by Gen. Riley of the United States army, 

to frame a state constitution foi- California, meet at Monterey. 
Oct. 10th, initial point of the boundary line with Mexico settled, and a monument 

with inscriptions erected. Lat. 32" 31' 59.o8." Lony. 119*^ 35' U.15" west from 

Greenwich. 
Nov. 19th, the survey of the boundary line between Penns3"lvania, Delaware, and 

Maryland, comprising the greater part of Mason and Dixon's line, is com^-leted. 
1S50. Feb. r2th, the original manuscript of Washington's Farewell Address is sold at auc- 
tion, by the heirs of Mr. Claypole, prmtcr, and purchased by James Lenox, of 

New York, for $2,300. 
Feb. 22d, President Taylor attends the laying of the corner-stone of the Virginia 

monument to Washington at Richmond. 
March 31st, death of John Caldwell Calhoun at Washington. 
April 27th, the Collins line of steamers goes into operation ; the Atlantic sails from 

New York for Liverpool. 
May 23d, two vessels, the Advance and the Rescue, fitted out by Henry Grinnell, 

of New York, to search for Sir John Franklin in the Arctic seas, sail from New 

York. 
July 9th, death of President Taylor at Washington. 
July 10th, Millard Fillmore takes the oath of office as president. 
Sept. 9th, California admitted into tlic Union, and the territories of Utah and New 

Mexico organized. 
Sept. 18th, fugitive slave bill passed. 
Sept. 20th, act passed for the suppression of the slave trade in the District of 

Columbia. 
Sept. 17th, death of James Feniraore Cooper. 

1851. Dec. 24th, principal room of the congressional library destroyed by fire, with loss 

of about 35,000 volumes. 

1852. June 29th, Heniy Clay dies at Washington. 
Oct. 24th, Daniel Webster dies at Marshfleld. 

1858. March 4th, Franklin Pierce inaugurated president. 

July 2d, Koszta affair at Smyrna ; Capt. Ingraham demands Koszta's release. 
July 14th, crj-stal palace at New Yoi'k opened. 

1854. Feb. 28th, the American mail steamer Black Warrior seized at Havana. 

March 23d, commercial treaty concluded between Japan and the United States by 

• Commodore Perry. 

July 13th, American sloop of war Cyane, Capt. Hollins, bombards San Juan de 
Nicaragua, or Greytown. 

Aug. 2d, reciprocity treaty with Great Britain ratified, respecting the Newfound- 
land fisheries, international trade, &c. 

1855. Troubles in Kansas. 

July, dispute with the British government concerning the attempt to recruit for 

the Crimean army in the United States. 
Sept. 7th, the firs Hebrew temple in the Mississippi valley is consecnitod in St. Louis. 
Oct. 17th, barque Maury seized at New York on suspicion of being intended for 

the Russian service in the war; she is discharged Oct. 19th. 
Oct. 24th, snow in Vermont, northern New York, Louisville, Ky., and Nashville, 

Tenn. 



OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 985 

1 Sj5. Dec. 23d, Biilish discovery ship Resolute, abandoned in the Arctic seas by her officers 

and crew, is brought into New London by a whaler. 
1856. Jan. 23d, the Collins steamer Pacific, Capt. Asa Eldridge, leaves Liverpool for New 
York, and is never heard from afterward. 

April 11th, the great bridge across the Mississippi at Rock Island completed, and 
locomotives pass from the Illinois to the Iowa side. 

April 15th, affray at Panama between the passengers of the American Transit 
Company and the natives, in which thirty passengers are killed and twenty 
wounded. 

May 18th, the vigilance committee of San Francisco take the murderers Casey and 
Cora from the jail, try them, and on the 22d hang them. 

May 22d, Charles Sumner, senator from Massachusetts, violently assaulted in the 
senate chamber at Washington by Preston S. Brooks, representative from South 
Carolina. 

May 2Sth, Mr. Crampton, the British envoy at Washington, dismissed by our gov- 
ernment. 

July, a submarine diver from Buffalo raises the safe of the American Express 
Company, which was lost with the steamer Atlantic in 1852 ; its contents are 
in a good state of preservation. 

Aug. 10th, Last Island, a summer resort on the Louisiana coast, is entirely' sub- 
merged during a terrific storm of three days ; 173 persons are lost. 

Aug. 21st, the famous Charter Oak at Hartford blown down. 

Aug. 28th, the Dudley Observatory at Albany inaugurated. 

Nov. 9th, d-eath of John Middleton Clayton, at Dover, Del. 

Dec. 30th, the Arctic discovery ship Resolute, purchased from its finders and refitted 
by the United States, is surrendered to the British government at Portsmouth, 
England, by Capt. Hartstein on behalf of the United States. 

1857. Feb. IGth, Elisha Kent Kane dies at Havana. 
March 4th, James Buchanan inaugurated president. 

March 6th, Chief Justice Taney delivers the opinion of the supreme court in the 

famous Dred Scott case. 
Aug. 5th, the shore end of the Atlantic telegraph cable is received from the United 

States steam-frigate Niagara, with much ceremony, at Valencia Bay, by tiie lord- 
lieutenant of Ireland, and is made fast. 
Aug. 7th, the Agamemnon and Niagara, with their attendant vessels, leave A^alencia 

Bay, the Niagara paying out the cable. 
Aug. 11th, the cable breaks, 335 miles having been paid out. 
Sept. 15th, Brigham Young forbids any armed force entering Salt Lake City on any 

pretense, orders the Mormon troops to hold themselves in readiness, and declarei' 

martial law. 
Sept. 26th, the Philadelphia banks suspend specie payments. 
Oct. 14th, the New York banks suspend specie payments. 
Oct. 15th, the Boston banks suspend specie payments. 
Dec. 12th, the New York banks resume specie payments, and on the 14th the 

Boston banks. 
Dec. 14th, the Utah army reaches Fort Bridger, and encamps for the winter. • 

1858. April 10th, Thomas Hart Benton dies at Washington, aged seventy-six. 
May 11th, Minnesota admitted into the Union. 



966 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, ETC. 

1858. June 14th, Gov. Gumming of Utah proclaims pardon for all treason and sedition 

heretofore committed in the territory. 

Aug. 5th, news of the successful laying of the Atlantic telegraph cable is received 
throughout the country with great demonstrations of joy. The cable was spliced 
in mid ocean July 29th ; the Agamemnon reached Valencia, Aug. 4th, and the 
Niagara Trinity Bay, Aug. 5th. 

Aug. 16th, first message sent across the Atlantic telegraph cable, from Queen Victo- 
ria to President Buchanan. 

Aug. 28th, Rev. Eleazer Williams, who claimed to be the lost dauphin of France, 
son of Louis XVI., died at Hogansburg, N. Y. 

1859. Oregon admitted into the Union. 
Feb. 10, Treaty with Paraguay. 

May 11, Vicksburg Convention resolves in favor of opening slavetrade. 

July 9, Gen. Harney occupies San Juan Island, W. T. ; danger of collision with 

Great Britain. 
Oct. 6, John Brown's seizure of Harper's Ferry ; he is taken, and hung Dec, 2. 
18G0. April 23, Democratic convention meets at Charleston; final nominations, S. A, 

Douglas, and by a seceding portion, J. 0. Breckinridge. 
May 9, Bell and Everett nominated by a " Constitutional Union Convention," at 

Baltimore. 
May 12, Japanese embassy reaches Hampton Roads ; visits Baltimore, Washington, 

&c. ; sails from New York, May 30. 
May 18, Lincoln nominated by Republican convention at Chicago. 
Aug. 5, Walker the "fiUibuster" lands in Honduras for the last time; is taken, and 

shot Sept. 12. 
Sept. 20, The Prince of Wales enters the United States at Detroit ; goes to Chicago, 

Cincinnati, Washington, Richmond, New York ; sails from Portland, Oct. 20. 
Nov. 6, A. Lincoln elected president. 
Dec. 20, South Carolina secedes, followed within six months by the ten other states 

south of Maryland and Kentucky. 
1861. Feb. 4, Seceders' convention at Montgomery, Ala. ; they call themselves " Confed- 
erate States of America," and adopt a constitution. 
Feb. 14, Jeff. Davis made president of the confederates ; they raise troops and arm 

for war. 
April 14, Fort Sumter surrenders after two days' bombardment by the confederates, 

who seize all U. S. vessels, forts, mints and other property in their states, except 

Forts Monroe, Taylor, Jefferson and Pickens. 
April 15, President Lincoln calls out 75,000 volunteers to defend Washington against 

the confederate forces in Virginia. 
April 19, a murderous attack on the Massachusetts troops going througli Baltimore 

to Washington. 
May 24, murder of Col. Ellsworth, during the occupation of Alexandria by U. S. troops. 
June 10, an attack from Fortress Monroe on the confederate battery at Big Bethel, 

repulsed. 
July 21, the battle of Bull Run lost by the U. S. forces under McDowell. 
, Aug. 10, battle of Dug Springs, Mo., won by U. S. troops, but their leader. Gen. 

Lyon, killed. 
Aug. 29, rebel forts at Hatteras Inlet, and 700 troops, taken by U. S. fleet. 



OF AMEEICAN HISTORY. 987 

1861. Aug. 30th, Fort Morgan abandoned by the rebels. 

Aug. 3Lst, Gen. Fremont issues proclamation freeing slaves ih Missouri. 
H Sept. 3d, Massacre on Hannibal and St. Joseph E. R. ; Platte Bridge burned. 

Sept. 5th, rebels occupy Columbus, Ky. ; union troops next day occupy Paducah. 

Sept. 10th, Rosecrans defeats the rebels under Floyd, at Carnifex Ferry, Ya. 

Sept. 12th, 13th, rebels twice defeated m attacks on Cheat Mountain, W. Va. Col. 

John A. Washington proprietor of Mt. Vernon, killed. 
Sept. 20th, Col. Mulligan surrenders Lexington, Mo., to the rebel Price, after 59 

hours without M'ater. Loss, 2,500 prisoners, and a large amount of gold. 
Oct. 3d, Battle of Green Briar, Va. ; rebels defeated, considerable loss. 
Oct. 5th, rebels attack union troops at Chicomacomico, N. C, but destructively 

shelled by gunboat Monticello and driven off. 
Oct. 9th, rebel attack on Wilson's Zouaves at Santa Rosa Island ; severely repulsed. 
Oct. 11th, rebel steamer Nashville escapes out of Charleston. 
Oct. 12th, rebel ram and flreships attack union fleet at Southwest Pass ; repulsed. 
Oct. 12th, steamer Theodora escapes out of Charleston with Slidell and Mason. 
Oct. 16th, Lexington, Mo., recaptured by union troops. 

Oct. 21st, battle of Ball's Bluff, Va. ; Col. Baker killed, and unionists defeated. 
Oct. 2Gth, Zagonyi with 162 cavalry, at Springfield, Mo., rout 2,000 rebels. 
Oct. 29th, the Port Royal naval expedition sails from Fortress Monroe, under Dupont. 
Nov. 1st, Lieut. Gen. Winfield Scott placed on retired list with full pay. Gen. 

McClellan made general-in-chief in his stead. 
Nov. 2d, Fremont removed and Hunter succeeds him in Missouri. 
Nov. 7th, battle of Belmont, Mo. ; Gen. Grant attacks rebels, damaging them much. 
Nov. 7th, union fleet bombards and carries rebel works at Port Royal. 
Nov. 8th, Capt. Wilkes in the San Jacinto takes Slidell and Mason out of the Trent. 
Nov. 9th, Gen Halleck placed over Department of West, and Gen. Buell in Kentucky. 
Nov. 19th, Missouri legislature passed an ordinance of secession. 
Nov. 22d, 23d, bombardment between Fort Pickens and rebel batteries ; little result. 
Nov. 24th, Mason and Slidell placed in Fort Warren. 

Dec. 3d, Gen. Phelps lands on Ship Island with advance of Gen. Butler's expedition. 
Dec. 4th, John C. Breckinridge expelled from U. S. Senate by unanimous vote. 
Dec. 12th, great fire at •Charleston, S. C. One-third of the city burned. 
Dec. 17th, stone fle^-.t sunk to block up mouth of Savannah River. 
Dec. 18th, Gen. Pope defeats rebels with great loss at Shawnee Mound, Mo. 
Dec. 20th, battle of Drainesville ; Gen. McCall severely defeats the rebels. 
Dec. 21st, Charleston harbor shut by sinking a stone fleet at its mouth. 
Dec. 30th, Slidell and Mason surrendered, on the justifiable demand of England. 
Dec. 31st, U. S. forces to-day, 660,971 soldiers, 22,000 sailors, and 246 ships, with 

1,892 guns. 

1862, Jan. 1st, Fort Pickens breaches Fort Barrancas and burns the navy yard. 
Jan. 8th, battle of Blue Gap, Va. ; rebels defeated after sharp contest. 

Jan. 10th, battle of Middle Creek, Ky , Gen. Garfield severely defeating H. Marshall. 
Jan. 10th, Waldo P. Johnson and Trusten Polk of Mo., expelled from U. S. Senate. 
Jan. 11th, Burnside's expedition leaves Fortress Monroe for North Carolina. 
Jan. 13th, Simon Cameron, Secretary of War, resigned. Edwin M Stanton ap- 
pointed his successor. 
Jan 19th, battle at Mill Springs 5 rebels severely defeated and Gen Zo.licoffer killed. 



088 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

18G2. Jan. 30th, Ericsson's Monitor launched at Green Point, L. L 

Feb. 6th, Fort Henry, on Tennessee River, taken by Commodore Foote's g-unboats. 

Feb. 7, 8th, battle of Roanoke I., Burnside taking 2,500 prisoners and the isBhd. 

Feb. 16th, Gen. Grant takes Fort Donelson with over 13,000 prisoners, after four 
days of tremendous fighting. 

Feb. 18th, the first regular rebel Congress assembled at Richmond. 

Feb. 21st, Gordon the slaver hung at New York ; the first execution under U. S. 
slave trade law. 

Feb. 21st, severe but indecisive battle between Canby and rebels near Fort Graig. 

Feb. 22d, JefF. Davis inaugurated rebel president for six years. 

Feb. 24th, Gen. Nelson's troops occupy Nashville, the rebels retreating. 

Feb. 25th, the U. S. government seizes all the telegraph lines. 

March 3d, rebel forces evacuate Columbus, Ky., and union troops occupy it, 

March 6th-8th, battle of Pea Ridge, Ark., desperate fight and severe rebel defeat. 

March 8th, rebel ram Virginia (the Merrimad,) comes out of Norfolk, sinks the Cum- 
berland and captures and burns the Congress, U. S. ships of war. 

March .9th, the Monitor engages and drives oif the Merrimac, saving the Minnesota. 

March 10th, rebels evacuate position at Manassas Junction, and union forces occupy it. 

March 13th, Gen. Pope drives rebels from New Madrid, taking vast stores, &c. 

March 14th, battle of Newbern ; Burnside defeats rebels and occupies the place. 

March 16th, Gen. Garfield surprises and utterly routs the rebels at Pound Gap. 

March 23d, battle of Winchester, Va. ; rebels badly defeated, losing over 1,000 
besides prisoners. 

April 4th, Army of Potomac advances towards Yorktown ; beginning of Peninsular 
campaign. 

April 6-7th, battle of Shiloh or Pittsburg Landing; rebels gaining first day, but 
severely defeated on the second, losing 20,000 or more. 

April 7th, Island No. Ten, surrenders to Pope, after 23 days' siege, the position 
being flanked by cutting a canal. Rebel loss, 13 steamers, 6,000 men, 70 guns, &c. 

April 11th, Fort Pulaski surrendered by rebels after 30 hours' bombardment. 

April 11th, Gen. Mitchel makes a forced march and takes Huntsville, Ala. 

April 16th, bill abolishing slavery in the District of Columbia becomes a law. 

April 18th, bombardment of Forts Jackson and St. Philip, below New Orleans, begun. 

April 19th, battle of Camden or South Mills, N. C, ©en. Reno routs the rebels. 

April 24th, Farragut's fleet runs past Forts Jackson and St. Philip, amid a tremen- 
dous cannonade. 

April 25th, Farragut's fleet arrives before New Orleans. 

April 25th, Fort Macon, N. C, taken by union forces, after 11 hours firing. 

April 28th, New Orleans formally surrendered, and Gen. Butler enters. Forts Jack- 
son and St. Philip surrendered the same evening. 

April 29th, Gen. Mitchell defeats the rebels and captures Bridgeport, Ala. 

May 4th, McClellan's forces enter Yorktown, the rebels having fled in the night. 

May 5th, battle at Williamsburg ; rebels defeated, and thej^ evacuate at night. 

May 7th, battle of West Point, Va. ; rebels driven over the Chickahominy. 

May 9th, Banks having advanced nearly to Staunton, Va., returns down the Valley. 

May 10th, union troops enter Norfolk, the rebels evacuating it. 

May 10th, severe naval fight on the Mississippi near Fort Wright ; rebels defeated. 

May 11th, rebels blow up their ram Virginia or Merrimac, at Craney Island. 



OP AMLRICAN HISTORY. 989 

1862. May 13th, Eobert Smalls, a negro, runs steamer Planter out of Charleston. 
May 17th, union gunboats repulsed by Fort Darling on James River. 
May 20th, McClellan's advance within eight miles of Richmond. 
May 22d, McClellan advances in force, crossing the Chickahominy in two places. 
May 22d, Col. Kenly badly defeated at Front Royal by tU rebel Ewell ; Banks also 

attacked at same time at Strasburg in the Valley. 
May 23d, McClellan in position 5 miles from Richmond. 
May 25th, Banks defeated at Winchester and retreats to Potomac River. 
May 30th, Halleck's troops occupy Corinth, Miss., the rebels evacuating it. 
May 31st, battle of Fair Oaks, McClellan's advance defeated severely by rebels. 
May 31st, union troops enter Little Rock, Ark., the rebel government running off. 
June 1st, second day's fight at Fair Oaks, resulting in decided union advantages. 
June 1st, Fi"emont advancing up the Valley, occupies Strasburg. 
June 6th, great naval battle in the river before Memphis ; rebel fleet nearly annihi- 
lated ; Memphis surrendered on the same day to Commodore Davis. 
June 8th, battle of Cross Keys, Va. ; rebels retire after a severe fight. 
June 9th, battle of Port Republic, Va. ; Gen. Shields driven back with los.« 
June 14th, union troops repulsed with much loss on James Island, near Charleston. 
June 17th, Halleck's forces advance to Holly Springs, Miss. 
June 17th, union gunboats carry rebel works at St. Charles, Arji., but "Mound 

City" disabled. 
June 20th, bill prohibiting Slavery in the Territories becomes a law. 
June 24th, McClellan begins to " change his base" to James River 
June 25th, Gen. Pope placed over forces in the Valley, and Gen. Fremont relieved. 
June 26th, battle of Mechanicsville, both sides losing heavily, and union troops 

retreating. 
June 27th, battle of Gaines' Mill, union troops crossing the Chickahominy at night. 
June 29th, battles of Peach Orchard and Savages' Station ; both sides losing heavily. 
June 30th, battles of White Oak Swamp and Charles City Cross Roads, union troops 

nearing the James, and the gunboats aiding them materially. 
July 1st, battle of Malvern Hill, last of the Seven Days' Battles ; rebels repulsed 

with great loss, and the position on the James maintained. Total union losses in 

seven days, 15,224. 
July 1st, President LincoUi calls for 600,000 volunteers. 

July 7th, battle of Bayou de Cache, Ark., Gen. Curtis severely defeats Albert Pike. 
July 11th, Gen. Halleck General-in-Chief of all the armies of the U. S. 
July 13th, Murfreesboro', Tenn., taken by rebels, with garrison and Gen. Crittenden. 
July 14th, Gen. Pope takes command of the Army of Virginia and issues address. 
July 15th, battle of Payetteville, Ark., Maj. Miller thoroughly beating Gens. Rains, 

Coffee and others. 
July 22d, Vicksburg canal completed and found useless ; siege postponed. 
July 27th, Gen. Pope takes the field in northern Virginia. 

Aug. 2d, Gen. Pope's advance crosses the Rapidan and occpoies Orange Court House. 
Aug. 3d, rebel Gen. Jeff Thompson defeated with freat loss near Memphis. 
Aug. 3d, Gen. Halleck orders McClellan to bring his army out of the Peninsula. 
Aug. 4th, Draft for 300 000 men ordered unless volunteering prevent. 
Aug. 5th, Gen. Breckinr'dge attacks Baton Rouge, La., and repulsed with heavy loss. 
Aug. 6th, Commander Porter destroys rebel ram Arkansas near Vicksburg. 



990 CHRONOLOGICAL TABL« 

1862. Aug. 8th, battle in New Mexico, Gen. Canby routing rebels under Sibley, •s'ho is 

killed by his own men. 

Aug. 9th, battle of Cedar Mountain, Va., Banks defeated with heavy loss. 

Aug. 22d, McClcllan's advance reaches Alexandria, his removal being safely made. 

Aug. 28th, Sigel and McDowell defeat rebels at Centreville, Va. 

Aug. 29th and 30th, Gen. Pope defeated at Bull Kun after very heavy fighting, and 
falls back. 

Aug. 30th, Gen. Nelson defeated by rebels under Kirby Smith, at Richmond, Ky. 

Sept. 1st, battle of Chantilly, Va. ; rebels defeated, but Gens. Kearney and Stevens 
killed. 

Sept. 3d, Gen. Pope transferred to department of the northwest. 

Sept. 4th, Lee's army begins to cross the Potomac at Poolesville, Md. 

Sept. 14th, battle of South Mountain ; rebels pushed back after very heavy fight- 
ing Post at Harper's Ferry surrendered by Col. Miles, to rebels, 

Sept. 16th and I7th, battle of Antietam ; rebels defeated, losmg 25,000. 

Sept. 17th, Cruiser Alabama takes her first prize, near Azores. 

Sept. 19th, rebels retreat over the Potomac. 

Sept. 20th, Rosecrans wins battle of luka over Gen. Price, who loses 1,438 men. 

Sept. 22d, Emancipation Proclamation announced for Jan. 1st, 1863. 

Sept. 24th, proclamation of suspension of writ of habeas corpus in military cases. 

Oct. 3d-5th, severe battles at Cormth, Miss., and very damaging defeat of the rebels. 

Oct. 8-9th, two days battle at Perryville, Ky., Rousseau thoroughly defeats rebels, 

Oct. 10-12th, Stuart's rebel cavalry enter Penn., seize and rob Chambersburg. 

Oct. 22d, Gen. Blunt routs the rebels at Maysville,, Arkansas. 

Oct 26th, Gen. McClellan after repeated orders advances into Virginia. 

Nov. 5th, Gen. McClellan reheved, and Gen. Burnside put in his place. 

Nov. 28, Gen. Blunt defeats the rebel Marmaduke, with heavy loss, at Cane Hill, Ark. 

Dec. 7th, Gens. Blunt and Herron defeat Hindraan, at Prairie Grove, Ark. 

Dec. 11th, Burnside's troops cross the river at Fredericksburg. 

Dec. 13 th, battle of Fredericksburg ; entire failure to carry the rebel position.s, 

Dec. 16th, Banks supersedes Butler in the department of the Gulf. 

Dec. 23d, JefiF. Davis issues a proclamation outlawing Gen. Butler, 

Dec. 26th, 29th, Attack of Vicksburg by Gen. Sherman, but it fails. 

Dec. 31st, and next four days ; battle of Stone Ri^er or Murfreesboro', Rosecrans 
defeating Bragg after a terrific and exhausting series of combats. 

Dec. 31st, the Monitor founders at sea, off Cape Hatteras. 

1863. Jan. 1st, the definite Emancipation Proclamation issued. 
Jan. 11th, Arkansas Post surrenders to Gen. McClernand. 

Jan. 24th, Gen. Hooker succeeds Gen. Burnside over the Army of the Potomac 

Jan. 27th, monitors in vain bombard Fort McAllister, on Ogeechee River. 

Feb. 25th, act to provide a national currency becomes a law. 

Feb. 28th, rebel steamer Nashville destroyed by the Montauk in Ogeechee River. 

March 8th, twenty-three rebel steamers captured up Yazoo River. 

March 14th, severe bombardment of Port Hudson, and attempt by fleet to pass 

rebel batteries. 
April 1st, Farragut runs batteries at Grand Gulf, and ravages Red River country. 
April 7th, attack by ironclads on Fort Sumter ; five out of seven vessels disal'lod. 

fort unhurt. 



OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 991 

1863. April 16th, Admiral Porter's fleet of gunboats runs the batteries at Vicksburg. 

April 27th, advanced movements of Gen. Hooker's Chancellorsville campaign begin. 
May 1st, battle of Thompson's Hills or Port Gibson ; beginning of Grant's move 

to rear of Vicksburg. 
May 1 -5th, battle of Chancellorsville ; indecisive, but great losses on both sides. 
May 2d, Col. Grierson's force reaches Baton Rouge safe, after his fifteen days ride 

through Mississippi. 
May 3d, Col. Streight and his command of 1,600 men captured in Ala. 
May 5 th, Vallandigham arrested for treason at Dayton, 0. 
■May 5th, Hooker's army retires over the Rappahannock ; Lee does not follow. 
May 10th, death of Stonewall Jackson, from wound at Chancellorsville. 
May 14th, battle of Jackson, Miss., Logan and Crocker defeating the rebels and 

taking the place. 
May 15th, battle of Edwards' Station ; Grant defeats the rebels 
May 16th, battle of Baker's Creek or Champion Hill ; Grant completely routs Pcm- 

berton, who loses 4,000 men and 29 guns. 
May 17th, battle of Black River Bridge ; Grant takes 2,000 men and 17 guns, and 

Pemberton retreats to Vicksburg. 
May 18th, Gen. Grant's troops take position round Vicksburg and the siege begins. 
May 25th, Admiral Porter has destroyed ten millions' worth of property up the Yazoo. 
June 13th, rebels under Lee are moving northward ; Hooker starts to meet them. 
June 17th, rebel advance at Chambersburg and in Maryland. 
June 17th, rebel ram Atlanta captured by the Weehawken in fifteen minutes. 
June 28th, Gen. Meade supersedes Gen. Hooker in command of Army of Potomac. 

Lee's forces are within four miles of Harrisburg. 
July l-8d, battle of Gettysburg; Lee defeated and retreats at once southward. 
July 4th, unconditional surrender of Vicksburg and 31,000 men to Gen. Grant. 
July 8th, Port Hudson with 7,000 men surrenders to Gen. Banks. The Mississipp 

is thus opened. 
Jul} 8-15th, the guerrilla Morgan invades Indiana and Ohio. 

July 10th, Gen. Gillinore begins his attack on Forts Wagner and Gregg, Charleston 
July 18th, Lee recrosses the Potomac into Virginia. 
July 13-18th, draft riots in New York City, several negroes tortured and hung bj 

mob, and much burning and robbing ; 1,300 rioters killed, and riots put down 
July 18th, unsuccessful assault on Fort Wagner 

July 26th, Morgan and 400 guerrillas captured near New Lisbon, Ohio. 
Aug. 16th, Rosecrans begins his march upon Chattanooga. 

Aug. 21st, Quantrell's guerrillas rob Lawrence, Kansas, murdering several citizens. 
Aug. 23d, shells thrown nearly six miles into Charleston ; Beauregard protests. 
Aug. 80th, Rosecrans crosses the Tennessee River near Chattanooga. 
Sept. 1st, Gen. Burnside's advance occupies Knoxville, Tenn. 
Sept. 6th, rebels evacuate Forts Wagner and Gregg, and Gillmore occupies them. 
Sept. 9th, Rosecrans' advance occupies Chattanooga. 
Sept. 12th, the Sabine Pass expedition returns to New Orleans a failure. 
Sept. 19th, 20th, battle of Chickamauga ; Rosecrans severely defeated by Bragg, 

losing 15,661. 
Oct. 16th, Gen. Grant placed over the three departments of the Ohio, Cumberland 

and Tennessee. 



992 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 

1863. Oct. 17th, President Lincoln calls for 300,000 more men. 
Oct. 20th, Gen. Thomas succeeds Rosecrans in his command. 
Oct. 28th, Gen. Hooker's forces take Lookout Mountain. 

Nov. 2-4th, Gen Banks' forces occupy Brazos Island, and Brownsville, Texas. 

Nov. 7th, Gen. Meade crosses the Rappahannock southward ; Lee retiring. 

Nov. 17th, Burnside, falling back before Longstreet, enters the works at Knoxville; 

the siege begins. 
Nov. 23-5th, battle of Chattanooga ; splendid victory over Bragg, who loses sixty 

guns and retreats rapidly. 
Nov. 28tli, Morgan and six of his officers dig out of Ohio State Prison. 
Nov. 29th, rebels repulsed with great slaughter in attack on Knoxville 
Dec. 1st, Mead recrosses the Rapidan. Grant's anxy concentrates at Chattanooga. 
Dec. 4th, Longstreet raises the siege of Knoxville and retreats toward Virginia. 
Dec. 6th, monitor Weehauken sinks at her anchors at Charleston, 31 men lost, 
Dec. 8th, President Lincoln issues his amnesty proclaniation 
Dec. 16th, Gen. Averill's raid destroys vast rebel supplies at Salem in S. W. Virginia. 

1864. Jan. 1st, Emancipation anniversary celebrated by many colored people. 

Jan. 25th, Cornehus Vanderbilt thanked by Congress tor his gift to the U. S. of the 

Vanderbilt, worth $800,000. 
Jan 29th, Gen. Palmer occupies Tunnel IIiU, Ga.. the rebels having left m the night. 
Jan. 31st, Gen. Hood having succeeded Bragg, falls back from Ringgold and Dalton. 
Feb. 1st, draft ordered of 500,000 men. 

Feb. 8-5th, Gen. Sherman marches from Vicksburg eastward to Jackson. 
Feb. 7th, Gillmore's advance lands at Jacksonville, Fla., under Gen. Seymour. 
Feb. 14th, Sherman occupies Meridian, Mis^., and destroys immense rebel stores. 
Feb. 17th, gunbo'at Housatonic sunk at Charleston by rebel torpedo boat Davis, 

which sunk too. 
Feb. 20th, Gen. Seymour with Gilmore's troops very severely defeated at Olustee, Fla. 
Feb. 21-23d, Gen. Smith has three days running fight with Forrest and others in 

Miss., and at last defeats them. 
Feb. 23d, Gen. Palmer drives the rebels at Tunnel Hill, Ga. 
Feb.' 28th, Kilpatrick and Custar start on raid round Richmond; Kilpatrick goes 

within 2 miles of the city. On this raid Col. Dahlgren is shot. 
March 2d, Gen. Grant made lieutenant-general. 
March 6th Sherman is marching eastward again from Vicksburg. 
March 10th, Bank's Red River expedition sets out from Vicksburg. 
March 14th, Gen. f'mithand Admiral Porter take FortDeRussy, La. 
March 15th, President Lincoln calls for 200,000 more men, to be drafted April 15. 
March 16th, Arkansas votes to become a free state. 

March 16th, Gen's Banks and Smith reach Alexandria, La., the rebels retiring. 
March 17th, Gen. Grant assumes supreme command of all the armies of the U. S. 
March 28th, battle of Cane River, La. ; Gen. Smith's forces defeat the rebel Gen. Taylor. 
April 4th, Gen. Steele defeats the rebel Marmaduke on Little Missouri River, Ark. 
April 4th, New York Metropolitan Sanitary Commission Fair opened. 
April 8th, Gen. Banks' army severely defeated at Sabine Cross Roads, by Kirby Smith. 
April 9th, rebels attacking Banks' retreating army at Pleasant Hill are repulsed. 
■April 12th, The massacre of surrendered negro soldiers by Forrest at Fort Pillow. 



OF ABIERICAN HISTOEY. 998 

18G4 April I7th, rebel Gen. Hoke with 10,000 men begins the siege of Plymouth, N. C. 

April 19th, rebel ram Albemarle attacks and drives union ships at Plymouth. 

April 19th, Red River falls, and leaves Porter's fleet helpless above Grand Ecore. 

April 20th, Plymouth, N. C, surrenders to Hoke, after stout resistance. 

April 23d, N. Y. Sanitary fair closes ; receipts over a million dollars. 

April 24th, rebels following up Banks, severely defeated at Cane River. 

April 28th, Washington, N, C, evacuated by union troops ; the ram Albemarle 
controls the sounds. 

May 2d, Lt. Col. Bailey begins to dam Red River to let the fleet out. 

May 3d, Gen. Grant breaks camp and the Army of the Potomac moves to the Rapidan. 

May 4th, Grant's army crosses the Rapidan. 

May 5-6th, the tremendous battle of the Wilderness ; resulting in Lee's retiring. 

May 5th, Gen. Butler occupies Bermuda Hundred. 

May 5th, sea fight in Albemarle Sound with the ram Albemarle, which is driven off. 

May 7th, Sherman advances from Chattanooga, on his Atlantic campaign. 

May 9th, Gen". M'Pherson forces his way through Snake Creek Gap. 

Ma)'- 9th, Crook defeats the rebel Jenkins and McCausland at Cloyd's Mountain, Ya. 

May 10-18th, Grant fighting and assaulting Lee's Spotsylvania lines with immense 
fury ; but stubbornly met. Grant at last flanking by the left, Lee retires. 

May 11th, Sheridan wins a cavalry fight at Yellow Tavern, killing Gen. Stuart. 

May 13-16th, Butler's attack on Fort Darling, finally broken up by a sortie. 

May 13th, Admiral Porter's fleet has passed down Red River by Col. Bailey's dam. 

May 15th, battle of Resaca, Ga., Hooker carrying an important rebel position. 

May 15th, battle of New Market, W. Va, ; Sigel defeated bj^ Breckenridge, and others. 

May 15th, Banks' troops defeat the rebels at Aroyelles Prairie, La. 

May 18th, Sherman to-day occupies Kingston, pursuing Johnston. 

May 19th, J. Howard's forged proclamation for 400,000 troops appears. 

May 21st, Grant advances from Spotsylvania. 

May 23-24th, Grant crosses the North Anna, Lee still retiring. 

May 28th, battle of Dallas ; Johnston thrice assaults Sherman in vain, losing heavily. 

June 1st, First day's battle of Cold Harbor, Grant holding his lines against furious 
rebel assaults. The fighting on this ground continues for a week. 

June 2d, Sherman's cavalry occupy Allatoona Pass, the door to the level country. 

June 5th, battle of Mt. Crawford, Ya., Gen. Hunter severely defeating the rebel Jones. 

June 7th, Mr. Lincoln renominated at Baltimore. 

June 10th, Gilmore and Kautz attack Petersburg. Kautz enters the town, but Gill- 
more not being up to time, can not hold it and has to retreat. 

June 10th, Gen. Sturgis very badly defeated by the rebels at Tishemingo Creek, Miss. 

June 11th, Sheridan defeats the rebels in hot cavalry fight at Trevillian Station. 

June 12-15th, Grant moves his army to the south side of James River. 

June 12th, Gen. Burbridge defeats Morgan at Cynthiana, recapturing many prison- 
ers made the 11th. 

June 13th, Fugitive Slave Law repealed. 

June 15-18th, a series of determined and powerful assaults on Petersburg, but none 
successful ; that city is from this time forward constantlj^ bombarded and besieged. 

June 15th, battle of Pine Mountain ; Sherman drives rebels back to their works. 

June 15th, fifty union officers, prisoners, placed under fire at Charleston by the rebels. 
63 



994 ClfRONOLOGlCAL TABLE 

1864. June 17th, battle of Quaker Church, which convinces Hunter that he can not reach 
Lynchburg, and next day he retreats. 
June 19th, The Alabama sunk off Cherbourg by the Kearsarge, Capt. "Winslow. 
June 22d, emancipation amendment submitted to the states by Congress. 
June 24th, Maryland constitutional convention adopts emancipation clause. 
June 27th, Sherman vigorously but vainly attacks the. rebels at Kenesaw. 
June 28th, Wilson and Kautz attacked and their troops dispersed at Double Ridge 

on Nottoway River. 
July 3d, Sherman occupies Kenesaw and Marietta, having flanked the rebels out, 
July 5-13th, rebels under Early enter Maryland, come within five miles of Washington 

and retreat M'ith great plunder. 
July 10th, Rousseau with 2,700 men moves into Alabama on a raid. 
July 12th, Clay, Holcombe and Sanders write to Mr. Greeley to get themi passes to 

Washington to treat for peace. 
July 13-15th, Gen. Smith defeats Forrest and others in five battles in Mississippi. 
July 15th, incendiaries burn six steamers, worth $300,000 at St. Louis. 
July 16th, gold about this time at its highest in New York, viz., 284 per cent. 
July 17th, Hood succeeds Johnston in command in Atlanta. 
July 17th, Jaquess and Gilmore in Richmond, try in vain to treat for peace. 
July 18th, Rousseau is destroying an immense value in railroads and provisions in 

Alabama ; and cuts road between Atlanta and Mobile. 
July 18th, Greeley's negotiation with the rebels at Niagara comes to nothing. 
July 20th, first attack of Hood on Sherman ; it fails, and rebel loss 6,000. 
July 22d, Hood attacks Sherman furiously but vainly, and loses 14,000. Rousseau 

joins Sherman, 
July 22d, first publication of statements about the " Order -of American Knights." 
July 30th, great mine under rebel works at Petersburg exploded, but by mismanage- 
ment, the attack results in union repulse with loss of 4,000. 
July 30th, McCausland burns two thirds of Chambersburg, Pa. 
July 30th, Gen. McCook's raiding force dispersed by rebels in Ga. ; and next day 

Stoneman's captured. 
Aug. 5th, Admiral Farragut's splendid victory, in forcing his way into Mobile Harbor, 

defeating rebel fleet and capturing ram Tennessee and Admiral Buchanan. 
Aug. 7th, Averill totally defeats McCausland and other rebels at Moorfield, W. Va, 
Aug. 7th, Sheridan takes command of the Valley and concentrates at Harper's Ferry. 
Aug. 8th, Fort Gaines at Mobile surrenders to Farragut and Granger. 
Aug. 10th, canal at Dutch Gap, below Richmond, begun. 
Aug. 18th, battle at Reams' Station ; Warren holds his position on the railroad ; 

fierce rebel attacks made also in vain in the next two days. 
Aug. 23d, Fort Morgan at Mobile surrenders to Granger and Farragut. 
Aug 25th, severe battle at Reams' Station, the rebels finally obtaining our works. 
Aug 26-30th, Sherman moves suddenly round and cuts the railroad south of Atlanta. 
Aug, 31st, Gen. McClellan nominated at Chicago. 

Sept, 1st, Gen. Davis routs Hardee's corps with great loss, insuring Hood's retreat. 
Sept. 2d, Hood evacuates Atlanta, destroying enormous stores, &c. Sherman enters it. 
Sept. 4th, the guerrilla Morgan shot by GiUem's men at Greenville, E. Tenn. 
Sept. 16th, rebels boldly drive 2,500 cattle safe off from behind Gen. Kautz's lines. 
Sept. 19th, battle of Opequan, abriUiant victory by Sheridan over Early. 



OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 995 

1864. Sept. 19th, Lake Erie steamers Island Queen and Parsons seized by rebels. 

Sept. 22d, battle of Fisher's Hill ; very thorough defeat by Sheridan of Early. 
Sept. 27th, obstinate defence of fort at Pilot Knob, Mo., deranging Price's invasion- 
Sept. 29th, battle at Chapin's Farm north of James River ; rebel works taken, 
Sept. 29th, Hood moves on the march which ends in his Nashville defeat. 
Oct. 9th, battle of Round Top Mountain ; Torbert chasing Rosser26 miles. 
Oct. 19th, battle of Cfedar Creek ; Sheridan utterly routing and dispersing Early's army 
Oct. 19th, rebel refugees from Canada rob banks and citizens at St. Alban's, Vt. 
Oct. 25th, Pleasanton routs Price at Marais des Cygnes, Ark. 
Oct. 27th, reconnoisance in force along all Grant's lines, but without much result. 
Oct. 28th, Lieut. Cushing with torpedo boat sinks ram Albemarle. 
Nov. 8th, Lincoln and Johnson elected. Gen. McClellan resigns his commission. 
Nov. 14th, Sherman's great march from Atlanta to the sea begins to-day. 
Nov. 25th, a gang of rebel incendiaries fire several hotels in New York, and Barnum's 

Museum, fortunately without success. 
Nov. 30th, battle of Franklin, Tenn., an important victory, decisively checking Hood. 
Dec. 1st, Hood takes position before Thomas' works at Nashville, for a siege. 
Dec. 6th, Mr. Chase appointed Chief Justice of the U. S., in place of Roger B. Taney. 
Dec. 10th, Sherman is before Savannah, and on the 12th communicates with the fleet. 
Dec. 13th, Hazen's division of Sherman's army storms Fort McAllister in half an hour. 
Dec. 13th, the Canadian Judge Coursol releases the St. Alban's raiders. 
Dec. 15-1 6th, battle of Nashville ; Gen. Thomas fatally defeats Hood's army. 
Dec. 17th, passports required on the Canadian frontier, a great damage to Canada. 
Dec. 18-20th, Gen. Stoneman, raiding inS. W. Va., has a severe 3 days' fight with 

Breckinridge, defeating him and breaking up the forts and salt works at Saltville. 
Dec. 19th, President Lincoln orders 300,000 more volunteers, or a draft. 
Dec. 21st, Sherman enters Savannah, Hardee having retreated northward. 
Dec. 22d, Hood is safe beyond Duck River, having lost 20,000 men in Tennessee. 
Dec. 24-25th, Butler and Porter attack Fort Fisher, N. C, but in vain. 
Dec. 31st, Farragut presented with $50,000 by his admirers in New York. 
1865. Jan. 8th, Blair and Singleton visit Richmond to treat about peace, but in vain. 

Jan. 12-15th, second expedition against Ft. Fisher, bombards it and storms it on 15th. 
Jan, 14th, Sherman moves out of Savannah on his march northward to join Grant. 
Jan. 16th, Sherman sets apart lands for freedmen, from Charleston southward. 
Jan. 31st, constitutional amendment abolishing slavery submitted to states by Congress. 
Feb. 3d, President Lincoln's abortive conference with the rebels Stephens, Hunter 

and Campbell. 
Feb. 16-l7th, Sherman shells and enters Columbia, S. C, Beauregard evacuating. 
Feb. 18th, union troops occupy Charleston, rebels evacuating; 450 good cannon taken.* 
Feb. 22d, Wilmington occupied by Gen. Terry's troops, coming from Fort Fisher. 
Feb. 24th, Beall, the Lake Erie pirate, sentenced on the 14th, hanged to-day. 
March 2d, Sheridan moving to join Grant, defeats Early at Waynesboro', Va., and 

captures almost his whole force. 
March 9th, the emancipation amendment thus far adopted by 16 states and rejected 

by 2, Del. and N. J, 
March 16th, battle of Averysboro ; N. C, Hardee withstands Sherman's attacks, but 

retires at night. 
March 19th, battle of Bentonsville, N. C. Johnston attacks Sherman in vain. 



996 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, ETC. 

1865. March 25th, rebels take Ft. Steadman before Petersburg, but are quickly expelled, 
losing 2,500. 
March 25th, Kennedy, the N. Y. hotel burner, hanged at Fort Lafayette. 
March 29th, the Army of the Potomac moves out for the final assault upon Lee. 
April 1st, Sheridan and Warren severely defeat rebels at Dinwiddle C. H., 6,000 taken. 
April 2d, Grant attacks heavily along his whole line ; Lee decisively defeated, Peters 

burg and Richmond evacuated at night, and Davis flees. 
April 9th, Lee surrenders remains ot his army; being 26,115 men, 
April 11th, blockade changed by proclamation into a legal closure of ports. 
April 12th, Canby's troops enter Mobile, the siege having lasted since March 11. 
April 14th, Gen. Anderson hoists on Fort Sumter the same flag he lowered there. 
April 14th, Booth assassinates President Lincoln, and his confederate Payne tries to 

kill Mr. Seward; Mr. Lincoln dies. at 7.22 next morning. 
April 18th, Sherman and Johnston negotiate a peace, which is promptly repudiated 

at Washington. 
April 25 th, Booth discovered in a barn in Va., and refusing to surrender, is shot and 

dies in four hours. 
April 27th, Johnston surrenders his forces on new and proper terms. 
April 28th, steamer Sultana burned near Memphis ; 1,500 souls lost out of 2,106. 
May 9th, assassins of Mr. Lincoln put on trial at Washington. 

May 10th, President Johnson's proclamation forbidding neutrals to harbor rebel ships- 
May 10th, Jeflf Davis captured in female disguise at Irwinsville, Ga. 
May 23d, President Johnson reviews 80,000 troops in Washington. 
May 26th, Kirbj' Smith surrenders to Canby the last rebel forces in the field. 
May 29th, President Johnson proclaims an amnesty with 14 kinds of exceptions. 
June 10th, great fire at Nashville, burning 8 or 10 millions worth of U. S. stores, &c. 
June 15th, Galveston quietly occupied by Admiral Thatcher; last rebel port yielded. 
June 17th, Gov's Johnson of Ga., and Hamilton of Texas, appointed by the President. 

Sharkey of Miss., and Holden of N. C, already appointed. 
June 23d, up to this date the pirate Shenandoah has destroyed 10 whalers. 
June 23d, blockade finally ended, and next day trade restrictions removed. 
July 7th, the assassins Harold, Payne, Atzeroth and Mrs. Surratt, hung at Wash- 
ington ; Arnold, Mudd, Spangler and McLaughlin imprisoned for life. 
July loth, Barnum's Museum, New York, destroyed by fire. 
July 13th, Gov. Marvin of Fla., appointed; Perry of S. C. appointed on the 1st. 
Aug. 14th, great Ketchum forgery of some ^2,000,000 comes out in New York. 
Aug. 15th, Wirz, keeper of rebel Andersonville prison, put on trial. 
Aug. 23d, Mississippi convention adjourns, having nullified secession ordinance and 

accepted emancipation. 
Sept. 1st, removal of restrictions from Southern ports. 
Sept. 12th, Alabama declared the ordinance of secession " null and void," abolished 

slavery, and repudiated the rebel debt. 
Sept. 14th, chiefs of rebel Indians sign treaty of loyalty with XJ. S. 
Sept. 15th, South Carohna repealed the ordinance of secession. 
Sept. 19th, South Carolina declared slavery abolished. 

Sept. 23d, Alabama convention recognized abolition and passed emancipation clause. 
Sept. 29th, Gov. Sharkey of Mississippi recognized, by proclamation, the rights of 

the negro. 



OP AMERICAN HISTORY. 997 

1865. Sept. 30th, Maj. Gen. Terry suspended the Commercial Bulletin at Richmond. 
Oct. 2d, Govern'iient of Cuba surrendered the pirate Stonewall to the U. S. 

Oct. 7th, North Carolina declared the secession ordinance "null and void;" prohibited 
slavery in the state forever, on the .9th, and repudiated the rebel debt on the 19th. 

Oct. 11th, Alexander H Stephens and other prominent rebels released from Fort 
Warren. 

Oct. 12th, Proclamation of the President ending Martial Law in Kentucky. 

Oct. 10th, Champ Ferguson the guerilla, hung in Nashville, and Magruder the guer- 
illa, hung in Louisville. 

Oct. 25th, Florida annulled the ordinance of secession. 

Oct. 28th, President Johnson declared that the Southern States must repudiate their 
war debts. 

Nov. 4th, Georgia declared slavery abolished, and on the 8 th declared her war debt 
" null and void." 

Nov. 6th, Florida declared slavery abolished. 

Nov. 10th, Henry Wirz was executed at the Old Capitol Prison. 

Nov. 13th, South Carolina passed the constitutional amendment abolishing slavery. 

Nov. 13th, Gen. Augur forbad.e the whipping of negroes in his department. 

Dec. 1st, Writ of habeas cor2nis restored in the Northern States by the President. 

Dec. 2d, Alabama ratified the anti-slavery amendment. 

Dec. 18th, The Sec. of State, Mr. Seward, ofiicially declared slavery abolished through- 
out the United States, 27 states having ratified the constitutional amendment. 

Dec. 21st, President Lincoln's remains transferred to their final resting place in Oak 
Ridge Cemetery, Springfield, 111. 

Dec. 28th, Florida ratified the anti-slavery amendment. 

Dec. 30th, Hon. Wm. Henry Winter Davis, of Maryland, died. 

1866. Jan. 12th, Order by Gen. Grant for the protection of loyal persons in the South. 
Jan. 22d, Free School bill defeated in the.Tenn. Senate. 

Jan. 22d, a freedman ordered to be sold into slavery by the Sampson County Court, 

North Carolina. 
Jan. 23d, The constitutional amendment passed the New Jersey Senate. 
Jan. 23d, Negro testimony bill passed the Tenn. House of Representatives. 
Jan. 29th, Death of Rev. Eliphalct Nott, D. D., Pres. of Union College, N. Y. 
Feb. 8th, Freedmen's Bureau Bill passed in the House. 
Feb. 20th, President Johnson vetoed it. 
Mar. 10th, North Carolina passed an act securing for negroes all the privileges of 

white persons in the courts. 
April 2d, Proclamation of the President declaring the insurrection ended in the late 

rebellious states. 
April 6th, Civil Rights bill passed the Senate over the President's veto, by a vote of 

33 to 15 ; and the House, on the 9th, by a vote of 122 to 41, and became a law. 
June 8th, the 14th constitutional amendment passed the Senate by a vote of 33 to 11 ; 

and the House, on the 13th, by a vote of 120 against 32. 
July 4th, extensive conflagration in Portland, Me. ; one third of the city burnt, and 

property amounting to S10,000,000. 
July 16th, President Johnson vetoed the Freedmen's Bureau liill and the House 

passed it over his veto. 



998 CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE, ETC. 

1866. July 23d, Tennessee having ratified the constitutional amendment a resolution ad- 
mitting her Representatives and Senators, passed both Houses of Congress. 

July 27th, laying of the Atlantic Cable successfully completed. 

July 30th, Massacre in New Orleans of leading Unionists and Colored men. 

Aug. IJrth, Philadelphia Convention to form a new party. 

Aug. 20th, Writ of habeas corjnis restored by proclamation of the President. 

Sept. 4th, Southern Loyalist Convention at Philadelphia. 

Sept. 16th, bloody aflfray at Piatt City, Mo., between Unionists and several hundred 
rebels. 

Dec. 2d, John H. Surratt, implicated in the assassination of President Lincoln, was 
arrested in Alexandria, Egypt. 



ECCLESIASTICAL CHKONOLOGY. 999 



ECCLESIASTICAL CHRONOLOGY. 

A.D. 

I. Jesus Christ born in Judea, now called the Holy Land, in the 4004:th year of the 

world. 
26. John the Baptist commences his ministry. 
29. Christ is baptized by John in the river Jordan. 
33. Crucifixion of Jesus Christ, under Pontius Pilate ; six weeks after which event, he 

ascends to heaven. 
35. The miraculous conversion, and beginning of the apostleship, of St, Paul 
39. St. M9,tthew writes his gospeL 
44. St. Mark pens his gospel. 

52. The Apostles assemble in council at Jerusalem. 
62. St. Paul bound and sent to Rome. 
64, The first persecution of the Christians. Nero, having set fire to Rome, threw the 

odium of the act upon them. Multitudes were massacred. Some were wrapped in 

the skins of wild beasts, and torn and devoured by dogs ; others were crucified and 

many were burned alive. 

66. The last Jewish war against the Romans commences. 

67. Peter and St. Paul sutfer martyrdom at Rome by crucifixion, the former with his head 

downward. 
70. Jerusalem, as foretold by Christ, totally destroyed by the Romans, and the plough- 
share driven over its ruins. During this terrible siege, upward of 3,000,000 of the 
Jews perished. 
95. The second persecution against the Christians. 

99. St. John dies, in the 102d year of his age. Prior to this event, he had been cast into 
a caldron of boiling oil, taken out unharmed, and banished to the isle of Patmos, 
where he wrote the Revelation. 

102. Pliny, the younger, writes his epistle to the Emperor Trajan at Rome, informing him 
of the mode of worship practiced by the early Christians. Among other charges, 
he says, "Solent statu die convenire, et carmina dicere quasi Deo;" i. e., "They 
were accustomed to assemble on a stated day, and sing hymns to God." 

107. Third persecution against the Christians. 

118. Fourth persecution against the Christians. 

130. The Emperor Adrian attempts to rebuild Jerusalem and restore the temple, but his 
workmen are foiled by earthquakes and fiery eruptions. 

202. Fifth persecution against the Christians. 

235. Sixth persecution against the Christians. 

250. Seventh persecution against the Christians. 

257. Eighth persecution against the Christians. 

272. Ninth persecution against the Christians. 

303. Tenth persecution against the Christians ; after which a series of persecutions broke 
out with the bitterest violence and cruelty. Droves of victims were bound together 
with ropes, and cast into the sea. 

311. The Emperor Constantine becomes a convert to Christianity, and abolishes heathen- 
ism from his empire. ; 



1000 ECCLESIASTICAL CHRONOLOGY. 

315. Rise of Arianism. 

325. The first grand council of Nice, in which the Eastern and Western churches were 

represented. 
343. The Christians are persecuted in Persia. 

496. Clovis, King of France, is baptized, and embraces the Christian religion. 
510. The computation of time from the birth of Christ, introduced by Dionysius, a 

monk. 
597. Augustine, the monk, goes to England and teaches the Christian religion. 
606. The Bishop of Rome is ordained the universal head of the church. 
622. Mahomet begins to promulgate his religion by the sword. 
63T. Jerusalem captured by the Saracens. 
698. The Picts in Great Britain are converted to Christianity. 

748. Middle or dark ages, in which science slumbers, or is confined chiefly to the cloisters. 
756. The popes are constituted civil lords in Italy, and arrogantly claim dominion over the 

whole world. 
800. The German empire instituted by Charlemagne, or Charles the Great, the Germans 

heretofore having been divided into different tribes or separate kingdoms. 
878. The university at Oxford founded by Alfred the Great, King of England. 
915. The university of Cambridge established. 
1065. Jerusalem captured from the Saracens by the Ottomans or Turks. 
1065. William, Duke cf Normandy, conquers England, and takes possession of the throne. 
1096. The first crusade to Palestine, or the Holy Land, undertaken by several Christian 
sovereigns, with the avowed object of recovering Jerusalem and the holy sepul- 
chre out of the hands of the Turks and Saracens. 
1110. Revival of literature in the university of Cambridge. 
1147. Second crusade to Palestine. 

1177. Saladin defeated before Jerusalem. The crusade attended with immense loss of blood 

and treasure. 

1178. The Albigenses and Waldenses, two Christian sects, take their rise in the south of 

Europe. 
1189. Third crusade against the Holy Land, conducted with great fierceness and bravery, 

under the kings of England and Franqe. 
1192. Richard Coeur de Lion defeats Saladin at Ascalon. The victorj^, however, is not decis- 

i\ie. The crusades are finally abandoned as not being worth the immense sacrifice 

of blood and treasure they had already cost. 
1215. Magna Charta signed by King John of England, 

1233. The Dominican friars get the management of the inquisition into their hands. 
1369. John WicklifFe commences preaching in England. 

1414. The council of Constance assemble. 

1415. John Huss and Jerome of Prague are condemned and burnt for their religious 

opinions. 
1509. John Calvin born. 
1517. Martin Luther writes against indulgences in (lermany, which paves the way for the 

reformation. 
1519. Zninglius begins the reformation in Switzerland. 

1529. The diet of Spires in Germany meet; the protesting against which gave rise to the 
name of Protestants. 



ECCLESIASTJ-CAL CHRONOLOGY. 1001 

1533. Henry VIII., of England, renounces his allegiance to the pope, and styles himself the 
supreme head of the church of England. 

1540. Foundation of the order of Jesuits. 

1545. The Council of Trent convenes. 

1555. Michael Servetus burnt at the instigation of John Calvin at Geneva, for disbelieving 
the doctrine of the Trinity. 

1560. John Knox introduces the Reformation into Scotland, and the monasteries are torn 
down and burnt. 

1572. Massacre of St. Bartholomew in France, when 70,000 Huguenots were slain through- 
out the kingdom, by secret orders from Charles IX., at the instigation of his 
mother, Catherine de Medici. 

1598. Henry IV. of France publishes the edict of Nantes, permitting Protestants the free 
exercise of their religion. 

1618. The synod of Dort in Holland held. 

1685. Revocation of the edict of Nantes by Louis XIV. 

1686. The duke of Savoy persecutes the Waldenses. 

1689. Toleration act for dissenters passed by the English parliament. 

1712. Great Arian controversey between Clarke and Waterland. 

1722. Count Zinzendorf becomes head of the Moravians, or United Brethren. 

1729. Christianity declared "part of the law of the land," in England. 

1731. First rise of Methodism, by preaching of Wesley and Whitefield. 

1773. Jesuits suppressed by bull of Clement XIV. 

1778. Voltaire dies, aged 82, 

1781. Raikes opens the first Sunday School, at Gloucester, England. 

1782. Inquisition abolished in Tuscany and Naples. 

1784. Bishop Seabury, first Episcopal bishop in U. S., consecrated, 

1790. Bishop Carroll, first Catholic bishop in U. S. consecrated. 

1791. John Wesley dies, aged 88. 

1803. British and Foreign Bible Society founded. 

1807, Andover Theological Seminary, the first in the United States, founded. 

1810, American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions organized. 

1820. Rise of the Unitarian controversy in the United States. 

1829. Catholic Emancipation Bill passed in England. 

1830. Origin of Mormonism, by publication of Book of Mormon by Joseph Smith, 
1841. Dr. Alexander made Protestant bishop of Jerusalem. 

1841. Schism in the Scotch church, 

1841. Puseyite controversy rises on condemnation of Puseyite tracts by Oxford University. 

1844. Rouge's Catholic religious reform in Germany. 

1845. Pius IX. becomes pope ; undertakes many reforms. 

1847. Revolted Catholic cantons of Switzerland subdued, and Jesuits expelled. 

1850. A Catholic hierarchy established in England ; Dr, Wiseman archbishop of West- 
minster. 

1852. The Madiai family persecuted at Florence; liberated by English influence. 

1850. Christians legally equalized with Mohammedans in Turkey. 

1860. Great Epoch in History of Russia; the beginning of the movement for the emanci- 
pation of the serfs, and for translating the Scriptures into Modern Russ, the 
vernacular of 50,000,000 people. 
Manuel Miitamoros and others persecuted in Spain for Bible reading. 



1002 ECCLESIASTICAL CHRONOLOGY. 

18GL April 8th ; " Patent" granted by Emperor of Austria by which the rights and liber- 
ties of Protestants were acknowledged and guaranteed. 
IS ,2. Victor Emanuel suppressed monasteries in Italy ; devoting them to educational uses. 
Aug. 24th ; Bi-centenary celebration of the exodus of 2000 faithful ministers from 
the Church of England, because they would not submit to the "Act of Uniformity." 
Sept. 2d ; Triennial celebration of the adoption of the Belgic Confession in Holland. 
1860. First meeting of the General Synod of the Lutheran and Reformed Churches, jn 
Vienna. 
Jesuits expelled from New Granada, or United States of Columbia, and the great 
movement for civil and religious liberty brought to a successful completion by 
Gen. Mosquera. 

1864. Imperial decree suppressing the smaller convents in Poland. 

Aug. 26th ; Monument to the memory of John Calvin at Geneva, was inaugurated 

on the bi-centenary anniversary of the death of the Reformer. 
Dec. 21st ; Pope Pius' encyclical letter denouncing religious liberty. 

1865. National Council of the Congregational Churches of the United States, held in Bos- 

ton 10 days, June 14-24. 

1866. Religious toleration guaranteed in Chili. 

Religious toleration declared by both governments in Mexico, Juarez's and Maxi- 
milian's. 
Oct; First Centenary Anniversary of the introduction of Methodism into the U. S. 



THE LATE WAR. 1003 

THE WAR BETWEEN FRANCE AND SARDINIA, AND AUSTRIA. 

The Emperor Louis Napoleon publicly expresses to the Austrian envoy at his court his 
regret that the two governments are not on better terms — which leads to mutual arma- 
ments — January 1st, 1859. 

Events growing daily more threatening, it is announced that England has sent Lord 
Cowley on a peace mission to Vienna, February 22d. 

The announcement is made that a Peace Congress will be held, March 19 th. 

All hopes of peace are quenched by the news that Austria has insisted upon the disarma- 
ment of Sardinia alone, as a condition precedent to any peace negotiations, April 8th. 

Austrian and Sardinian forces having assembled in the neighborhood of the Ticino, Count 
Gyulai forwards a peremptory summons to the King of Sardinia to disarm within three 
days, on penalty of war, April 22d. 

Victor Emmanuel having returned an indignant refusal, is invested with dictatorial pow- 
ers, April 23d. 

Lord Malmesbury issues a final proposition for negotiation — which is accepted by Austria, 
and rejected by France, April 25th. 

French troops begin to land at Genoa, April 25th. 

Tuscany tnrows off its government and declares for Victor Emmanuel, April 25th. 

The Austrian army, in three divisions, crosses the Ticino, April 29th. 

A detachment of Austrians, in attempting to cross the Po at Frassinetto, is repulsed by 
the Sardinians, May 3d. 

Louis Napoleon issues decrees relating to his departure for the army. 

Louis Napoleon leaves Paris May 10th, reaches Genoa on the 12th, and joins the army 
on the 14th. 

The battle of Montebeilo is fought between the r>tif posts of the two armies, the French, 
under Gen. Forey, compelling the Austrians to withdraw. May 20th. 

Garibaldi, at the head of 6,000 Italian volunteers, crosses the Ticino, May 23d. 

Garibaldi fights his way into the city of Como, May 27th. 

The battle of Palestro is fought by about 12,000 Sardinians, under their king, and 20,000 
Austrians, under Gen. Zobel. the latter withdrawing, June 1st. 

The battle of Magenta is fought, in which 100,000 allies, under Gen. McMahon, rout 
120,000 Austrians, under Gen. Gyulai, June 4th. 

The Emperor Napoleon and King Victor Emmanuel enter Milan, June 8th. 

The battle of Malegnano is fought, the Austrians, under Benedick, being driven from 
their position by the allies under D'Hilliers, June 9 th. 

The battle of Solferino is fought, under the command of the two Emperors, by nearly 
400,000 troops, the Austrians being compelled to retire, June 24th. 

The Sardinians begin to invest the fortress of Peschiera, June 28th. 

The allies cross the Mincio, June 30th. 

The Frenc'a Emperor takes up his head-quarters at Vallcgio, on the east bank of tlie 
Mincio, July 3d. 

The armistice between the belligerents, to last until August 15th, is signed July 8th. 

Peace between the two Emperors agreed upon at Villafranca, July 11th. 



1004 THE LATE WAR. 

THE WAR OF PRUSSIA AND ITALY WITH AUSTRIA. 

By the treaty of Vienna, the duchies of Schleswig and Holstein, which had belonged ti 
Denmark for a long time, were fully confirmed to her. But in 1863 the king of Denmark 
granted independent rights to Holstein and annexed Schleswig to his own kingdom. Aus- 
tria and Prussia both protested against this, and the German Diet demanded the annul- 
ment of the decree of annexation, and that both duchies be united with the German Con- 
federation. The refusal of Denmark led to a war with Prussia, backed by Austria, which 
resulted in wresting the duchies from Denmark. But Austria and Prussia were soon at 
variance as to what should be done with the provinces. Prussia, ever anxious to extend 
her boundaries, proposed to absorb Holstein. Austria, jealous of her neighbor, protested 
against it. In the German Diet, Austria demanded the mobilization of the Federal army, 
and though opposed by Prussia, carried the measure June 14th, 1866 by a vote of 9 to 6. 
The Prussian representative thereupon declared the Diet dissolved and that Prussia would 
regard any state voting for mobilization, as having committed an act of hostility against 
herself From this blunder ot Austria came the war of 1866. The very next day, June 
15th, Prussia invaded Saxony and Hanover occupying their capitals. Italy allied herself 
with Prussia, hoping to regain Venetia from Austria, and thus strike a blow for "Italian 
unity." Both simultaneously declared war, June 18th, the anniversary of Fehrbelin, Kolin 
and Waterloo, great Prussian battles. A severe battle at Custozza, near Verona, was 
fought by Italians against Austria, June 24th, the Austrians being victorious. Occupying 
Holstein, overrunning Saxony and Hanover, the Prussian army moved into Bohemia, in 
two columns. The Prussian and Austrian armies first felt each other June 26th, at Lie- 
beneau, the former being the victors. A larger battle was fought at Podal, and two more 
at Nachod and Skalitz on the 27th, the Prussians winning the day. The next day at 
Trauteneau the Prussians, after a severe engagement, remained masters of the field. The 
other column defeated the Austrians at Munchengratz. On the 29th a great and sanguinary 
conflict occurred at Gitschin with a Prussian victory. The Austrians in full retreat made 
a stand at Sadowa July 3d, and were badly routed. This was the decisive battle of the 
war, and a great Prussian victory — 195,000 Austrians and 225,000 Prussians being engaged, 
making this one of the greatest battles of history. 

The Austrian Emperor, admonished by such continued defeat, seeing that he could not 
cope with Prussia and Italy both, ceded Venetia to France and besought Napoleon's medi- 
ation to procure an armistice with Italy. Victor Emanuel declined this, saying he could 
do nothing without the consent of his ally, Prussia, and immediately renewed military 
operations. Proposals for an armistice were offered by Austria to Prussia July 12th, but 
they were rejected. Flushed with victory, Prussia pushed her advantages and moved on to- 
ward Vienna, the Austrian capital and would have captured it, and was also on the eve of 
winning a battle that would have cut off Hungary, when an armistice was agreed upon July 
18th. A treaty of peace was signed between Austria and Prussia, Aug. 30th, 70 days after 
the decision of the German Diet. As the results of the war, first, Prussia acquired Han- 
over, Schleswig, Holstein, Hesse Cassel, Nassau, Frankfort, a portion of Hesse Darmstadt 
and Bavaria. Second, the Germanic Confederation, 50 years old, was dissolved. 

The cession of Venetia to Italy was concluded Oct. 19th. The joy of the Venetians in 
deliverance from the despotism of Austria was evinced by the vote for annexation with 
Italy, viz: 641,758 for, and 68 against. The entrance of Emanuel, King of Italy into 
Venice Nov. 7th, to take possession, was celebrated by one of the grandest and most jubi- 
lant demonstrations, and thus "Italian unity" was restored. 

King Emanuel, on Dec. 15th, announced to his Parliament the crowning of the national 
edifice in Italy. 



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